| Hi Bill
I thought I'd give an opinion based on my experiences with sound software.
I have been using Cakewalk Pro for a while now, and I feel that it is a very
useful tool to be used in conjunction with many other programs. CSound is
my latest addition to the list of software that I use. I intend to use it
for a variety of purposes, including creation of instruments to use inside
Cakewalk (inserting your own instrument sounds instead of using the general
midi (ugh) or GS midi (okay but not really good) sounds should be really
easy - I'm using an AWE64 gold, and all I need to do is create a soundfont
and insert it.)
I also create sections of wave sound for use in wave editors such as cool
edit (my personal current choice is Soundforge.)
I would recommend that you use everything you can to produce the results you
want, and I think that giving up on CSound will seriously restrict the scope
of what you can do. There are not enough decent and interesting instruments
out there. We must create our own if we want truly interesting music.
this is my current setup :
Roland R5 hardware drum machine
Hammerhead rhythm station - create simple drum loops
rebirth - same (I don't use the 303s much, just the drum
machines)
Cakewalk - midi sequencing
Soundforge - wave construction,editing and mixing
CSound - creation of original sounds for use in Cakewalk and
Soundforge
Yamaha SoftSynthesizer - superior midi sounds for using in Cakewalk
Just a question while on the subject of midi - can anyone tell me why midi
sounds are so quiet compared to wave audio (this is true even for my Roland
R5 - midi just seems to be really quiet - I have tried sampling drum sounds
from the R5 and this has resulted in lots of background noise [recording
through Soundforge as a wav sound])? This is not a problem, I'm just
curious.
Although my maths is only up to 1st year University level (except for
integration, which I just failed to grasp) I don't find CSound hard to get
into. I can see that for some of the more complex stuff I will need to know
more, but I am just going to teach myself about DSP and related subjects at
whatever pace I can. I suppose that my knowledge of C++ may help me,
because the general syntax of CSound was immediately readable to me, but I
don't think that extensive knowledge of either C/C++ or maths is going to be
neccessary for what you are wanting to do.
Don't give up just yet. Try something whenever you have the time. Learn
the basic opcodes and manipulate them. All of my initial experiments so far
have been personal modifications and amalgamations of stuff in the tutorials
in the manual. Although I have yet to produce anything really worthwhile, I
feel that I am learning something, and it's just a matter of time before I
have usable sounds. Remember, unless you make it so, there is no hurry.
take as much time as you need. Ask questions when you are stuck.
Well, enough from me. Until later, cheers
Paul
http://www.freeyellow.com/members2/trancehead/
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When you hear sweet syncopation
And the music softly moans
'T 'ain't no sin to take off your skin
And daance around in your bones
Tom Waits - 'T 'Ain't No Sin
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