Could an Orchestral Composer Use MuseScore 4 as A DAW?
If one knows how to use MuseScore 4 well, can this person use it without using a DAW for professional scores?
An author of a course on orchestration I am learning from states you can get more out of using a DAW for your final / master draft (i.e., due to what quality orchestral plug-ins can do). However, I beg to differ, since I believe this changed when MuseScore 4 came out with MuseSounds and extra plug-ins you can use for the needed "orchestral extras." This is the course I am taking for the moment, getting me started with strings!
Orchestration 1: Compose Orchestral Music for Strings
https://www.udemy.com/course/orchestrationcourse/
Comments
i would agree with the course author. exporting the Musescore as MIDI (and hopefully all the nice work in the score translates well into MIDI...) then import that into a DAW (which is often a powerful plugin hosting engine as well as many features to optimize and mix and master) would be the better choice for the creation of the final product. i'm pretty sure Musescore could not handle 30+ VSTi plugins (on my system, a small sampler based one could use 750Mb - 1Gb per instrument) used to generate the sounds (most DAW struggle with that number), never mind having the tools to convert to audio (like if you want to share raw tracks for example), use various EQ, dynamics controls, FX automation, pre-mastering, surround translations, etc etc).
In reply to i would agree with the… by glennmstanton
Thanks for your post!
This opinion I have may change, as I do not know everything there is to know about scores, DAWs, and digital orchestrations holistically. However, I have been creating scores in MuseScore, based on my own musical knowledge and experience. And I am still impressed with both MuseScore and MuseSounds!
I believe what you are saying, if my understanding is correct, is that there are extra things you can do to enhance the audio experience / performance of the piece and that requires more power that professional DAWs resolve that need?
I know people that are proficient with DAWs that pretty much laugh out loud at anything produced with notation software. These are people that can afford a good DAW and the many thousands of dollars worth of sounds that it takes to use them. And they have had the time to tackle the vast learning curve involved. The results are, of course, very professional.
OTOH, I don't have that kind of time or money. I write as a hobby for playback and some video work. Lately, I have been using MU4 instead of Sibelius. In some respects MU4 sounds better. But not in everything. But as a composer I get to craft what I want. If it doesn't sound good, I don't write it. I don't have to fix it in the mix.
In reply to I know people that are… by bobjp
I see what you mean. Cost is a factor for me, too.
And another analogy might be like a gamer creating a game using The Unity or Godot engine (i.e., I've seen videos where some AAA game studios laughed at them)! However, the target audience for those engines is mostly Indie game developers and smaller sized studios!
However, I know there are also projects like Ardour and Reaper and I'm sure one could couple that with great orchestral libraries while combining and becoming the master at any of those as well.
Ardour (DAW)
https://ardour.org/
Reaper (DAW)
https://www.reaper.fm/