software suitable for 12 year old?

Yoru son can do what you would like with Music Creator. However, if you skim through this forum quickly, you will find two things that will require some further research:

1. There is a learning curve for this software (and most recording software). There can be lots of frustration while learning - and I suspect that you will be doing most of the learning.

2. I don't use the sheet music/notation feature in Music Creator, but just type in "Sheet Music" or "Notation" in the search box - you will find lots of problems/complaints for this particular program.


Music Creator is a very inexpensive, yet powerful, program for recording. It does work and works well for what it does. If you are looking for a beginner program that will allow him to input MIDI data from his keyboard and make good looking sheet music, MC will do that. You can download the Sonar demo HERE and give it a whirl - MC is a watered down version of Sonar.

You should also look at SONGWRITER from Finale. I don't use that program, but it is a sheet music generation program that will write the sheet music from keyboard input. I don't know what it sounds like and I don't know if you can change what internal synth (or if you can route the output to your kids keyboard) that the program uses. I also don't know what the learning curve is, but it may be less than MC. You may be able to download a trial version of Songwriter.

I'm sure others will weigh in with their opinions, so stay tuned and good luck.

That's a great start, thanks.

One more point I'll make is that, since none of the software appears prohibitively expensive, I don't mind buying a simpler program at first, if it enables my son to get interested and have some relatively quick satisfaction. I can always get something more sophisticated if his interest persists.

The keyboard is a Yamaha PSR 292.

The computer was bought this summer and is running XP, service pack 2, so should have ample memory and speed. I just tried checking the sound card, but I'm not even sure where to look for that. I looked under device manager and saw something that said Realtec AC' 97 Audio. Is that the same thing as the sound card?

In any event, I am certainly prepared to buy a better sound card.

I am prepared to invest some time in the initial set-up, and also don't mind future upgrades. I just don't want to spend the next few weeks of my life devoted entirely to getting everything to work right.

Beside i think Jeff is a 12 year old right guys?

ORIGINAL: Robomusic

Beside i think Jeff is a 12 year old right guys?

Next May.....

Give MC3 to your 12-year-old, and like most every other 12-year-old, he'll be showing you how to use it in about a day or so.

I'd say MC3 is the perfect choice - and he'll be in a position to migrate to a pro level DAW when the time comes with minimum relearning.

Hey yea - how did I time travel so far into the past? - Thanks for the heads up - I'll keep an eye on the DOP.

"Like putting a cup of instant coffee into a microwave and going backwards in time" - Stephen Wright - LOL

Just shot wynton an email for an update. No reply - no prognosis?