Hi, I'm looking for a simple windows program that doesn't use much resources and that will allow me to quickly note down or record musical ideas. Basically something like Notepad, I double click it, write something down and that's it. I would like to either have access to very basic instruments, or the ability to load vst plugins. It should be able to recognize my midi controller and use it as an input device. I used to use my DAW for this but I find it hard to organize the ideas I record. It's become a mess with several dozens of project files, and if I want to take a quick listen to the few seconds I recorded, I have to load the projects and that is just so damn slow. Would be cool to have something simple that is specialized for this. And it would be great if it would start up quickly. Anyone have a suggestion? Thanks.

Edit: When I say "note down" I mean make a recording of it, preferrably midi, but also sound.

 

Last edited: Jul 26, 2019

How about using Reaper? It loads in seconds, as long as it isn't a huge project, ofc. But even then it's faster than almost all the other DAWs because it's so small.

 

Yeah I've been using Reaper. Thing is, it's too convoluted for a tool to load up quickly, for me personally. I still have to insert plugins first and then I would have one full project with a track just to record a few notes or chords. I'd wish there was a tool that was specifically tailored towards organizing small recordings or snippets.
Although, I guess I could just use a single project and keep recording on the same track. But when I want to use another instrument, I would have to either swap out the plugin or make a new one, and that's just too much work for fleeting moments of creativity, for me.

 

I record on my phone with two taps. Voice-memo style. It loads to cloud when I'm done. Drag that into project.

 

... why am I making it so hard on myself? lol that is probably the the easiest solution, just sing it.
PS although that would probably suck for chords

 

You can always sing the chords, or arp them. And then edit once it's in your DAW. It's just for ideas anyways. I usually hear what chords there are meant to be even if I sing the bass and layer melody (after each other).

 

Gadget on iPhone is quite usable and that's my go-to idea capture utility. Although its concept is pattern-based, you can record audio takes as well.

 

Thank you. Yeah I can arp chords, it's just that most often I find inspiration while also playing on the keyboard so in that case it would make more sense to actually play exactly what I am hearing including the exact synth or whatever sounds.

As for iPhone, I would prefer a windows software. But thanks for the recommendation.

 

A setup I made for one of my close relatives (he only writes scores for real orchestra so, notation prgs only ;) But for quick audio ideas..

I took Blue Cat's PatchWork (standalone), only 2 columns. I put a small footprint instrument (piano, strings,..) on the left column and Melda MRecorder on the right and made all default config. It loads in a second and you just enter a filename like "my intro", press record, pause, stop rec as many times as you want.. As a result you get numbered audio files ("my intro" 001, 002,.. in a folder of your choice). The numbered audio file is generated automatically, when you stop recording.

I use my phone, when I wake up in the middle of the night w/ a fantastic idea in mind and arp the chords/harmonies, as Baxter said. The downside is poor "quality" of my voice at that time. Usually I have hard time figuring out what I wanted later, in the morning.. kind of Schoenbergianian experience :D

 

maybe https://www.finalemusic.com/products/notepad/ ?

 

@waverider requirements list...
1. simple windows program
2. doesn't use much resources
3. allow me to quickly note down or record musical ideas
4. I mean make a recording of it, preferrably midi, but also sound.
5. have access to very basic instruments
6. ability to load vst plugins
7. recognize my midi controller and use it as an input device
8. would be great if it would start up quickly

----

Two ways I can think of...
In both cases, not simple to initially set up, but very simple to use after you've set them up to suit your needs.

[1] Cantabile, https://www.cantabilesoftware.com/guides/
This is a VST rack for keyboard players, aimed at live performance,
but has very convenient record features. www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7G1_OG59Wo


[2] My preferred approach... I use an antique - Logic Platinum 5 - from around 2003

Because it was built for ancient computers... (Pentium, 128MB ram, etc) it is bloat free, uses minimal resources, and launches quickly. Because it was a major DAW in its day, it is incredibly flexible. You can think of this as a vehicle to design your own dream notepad. Whatever kind of notepad you want, you can configure this old version of Logic to be that.

Only downside; you said 'simple windows program'.
From Windows point of view it is simple. From a user point of view, there's a learning curve if you've never encountered the Logic way of doing stuff. But if you're prepared to get past that learning curve, it can then be very, very simple to use.

Re: your complaints about using your existing DAW.
Old Logic is obviously still a DAW, but you can use it with just one project file (what Logic calls a song file) and that one project file can store any number of midi recordings; and those midi recordings are trivially easy to export as standard midi files. I don't know what DAW you're using that makes it so complicated, but for me, with old Logic, it's trivially easy to manage hundreds of midi files.

Before the 'nay sayers' dive in with comments like "you can't run Logic on Windows" or "you can't run old Logic on anything after XP", I run Logic Platinum 5 on XP, Windows 7, and Windows 10.
It is fabulous to use as a tiny flexible notepad, but it can also still do tricks that many modern DAWs have yet to achieve.

---

p.s. I love all the comments above about quickly capturing ideas on portable gizmos, especially the singing arps, etc, just to catch the ideas; I do that all the time. The value of hanging on to an idea (in the middle of the night, etc) is huge, but the vocal recordings are hysterically funny. If I was in a singing contest with a constipated whining dog, I would lose that contest, but those embarrassing sketchy recordings are precious to me.

 

Last edited: Jul 27, 2019

rather than looking for new tools, maybe built upon what you have learn and used to it. seems like organizing project files + lyrics + quick preview + etc : is the problem here.

since you already started in a daw, maybe you can try Microsoft OneNote to organize your projects. Just quick render preview in mp3 format, and attach it there + your lyrics + any other image/sketch/reference.. think of it like a sketchboard/whiteboard to capture and dumps in all related ideas/media files on each individual project in one place. You can then preview/review/revise from there.

Just another ideas

 

*Dont be a smart ass, dont be smart ass, Dont be a smart ass...*
PENCIL AND PAPER
...my bad.

 

Thank you for your replies.

@Matt777 That sounds like a great setup. I take it that Bluecat plugin is basically a VST host or something like that? I have to try it out. Looks like it will only record audio though, and no midi. Perhaps I can also use a VSThost or something similar. MAudio free plugins have a good rep but I don't know if I want to install every single paid plugin as a demo and then a bunch of other plugins just to get one thing. I have to check if the installer allows to select or deselect components.

@junh1024 That is a notation program - not suited for recording midi or audio as far as I can tell.

@Ad Heesive Thank you for this. I actually have Cantabile, never looked at its recoding features. Will try it out later. I downgraded to version 2 because I couldn't get comfortable with the new interface of version 3. Using an old DAW is a great idea. Is that the old version of what would later become Apple's Logic? It sounds very interesting. Also looks like Emagic is no longer around so I'd need a "try before not able to buy" version. My DAW is Reaper and I just don't like how the playhead or the cursor behaves on the timeline. I mean it's a fabulous DAW but doesn't click with me in terms of super quick sketching. And I agree about the importance to write down ideas whenever they come. I've often heard something in my mind when I woke up in the middle of the night, but was too lazy to record it or write it down. Of course it was gone in the morning.

@Futurewine Yeah I've had that idea as well, it's just that previewing those mp3 files or the project files is fairly time consuming. You'd have to either open the recordings in your music player, or open the project files. I can do that with Reaper but it's not very simple to work with.

@NeverenoghFun Too bad pencils can't write down the actual sound of the music :p

 

Yes, Logic Platinum v5.5.1 was the final version available on Windows when Apple bought emagic and deprived Windows users of any future versions.
> so I'd need a "try before not able to buy" version
I was just starting to assemble a mini kit of what you need, and then had the sense to check on sister site.
There's a Logic Platinum post there that is exactly what you need. it's huge of course - a whopping 27MB
I will just say again, that when you first boot up Logic Platinum, it's easy to think "this looks nothing like what I want", but it really is very customisable. You can easily set up dozens of completely different screens, each customised to different needs, and then quickly flip between them using just key presses.

 

That's True.
But if I can nail one thing into your head its learn how to read and write music. It sucks.. ALOT its a little difficult at first but 6 months from now You'll be composing whole beats in your head using the notation.
just makes ideas easier. But im like you too I like to let my fingers talk on the keyboard and just see what i ome up woith some times.

I use studio one Wich has scratch pad but thats not very mobile.

I use to hum beat box sing into recording apps on my phone if i really didnt want to lose something

 

Thank you again for your replies. In the meantime I checked out @Matt777 's suggestion with Blue Cat Patchwork and the MRecorder. Cool thing is, even with the demo it's usable for this exact purpose, I didn't even need to install any "try before buy" versions - there is one second of cutoff every minute, but since the ideas I have in mind are a lot shorter, that actually works out nicely. The cool thing about Patchwork is, it saves the position of your plugin windows as well. So you don't need to open the plugin at first, but you can actually have everything open and ready to go, so you only have to press record, and voila, there's your audio recording. Now I just wish it would have some way to easily play back those wavs, but I'm already happy with this. I tried to patch in a midi recorder but couldn't get that to work. Anyway, this is an elegant solution for now! Thank you!

@Ad Heesive
Yeah I took a look at the sister site, there is indeed a version of this. Must have been cool to see this uploaded there, considering it's such an old piece of software. I wonder how today's DAW landscape would look like if Logic was still around for Windows. I'm currently fairly happy with the Patchwork solution but once I should need a better workflow I will check out this one. I like this idea of taming a complex piece of software and making it slim to fit a specific purpose. I heard people do that with Reaper all the time.

@NeverenoghFun
Yeah you are right, technically it is much better to be able to write down notes - thing is, I am not good enough at that to be 100% certain that what I write down is actually what I heard. So I'd rather just play it until I get it right.
You do beatboxing? That is so cool, I wanted to do that too a long time ago, but never really got into it. You are right about the Scratchpads of Studio One, thing is that software takes ages to start up on my machine. I hope they improve the startup time at some point, and that they also implement improvements to the scratchpads (would be cool if you could extend the scratchpads over the entire horizontal length). So you're into Rap music? I figure you're probably gonna have to write down words and sentences much more so than music, so you can probably do quite will with a pencil and a piece of paper I suppose :p

 

I use Reaper and I use templates. I have many templates for whatever I want to do, e.g. 2 guitars & drums, piano & drums, synth & electronic drums, etc.. I store my ideas in a folder named Musical Ideas. I use regions in my templates, and typically have Intro, Verse, Pre-chorus, Chorus & Outro sections mapped out. I also setup instrument and FX chains, so I can access various instruments and effects quickly. Using this setup I can record the outline of a song in around 5 minutes.

I always have a project notebook nearby to write down relevant info about musical notes, chords, scales, keys and lyrics, etc.. I also have a camera setup to quickly record spontaneous guitar parts, so I don't forget them!

 

Last edited: Aug 1, 2019

Another free, tiny, great, powerful, pattern-oriented Windows solution: Caustic!
https://singlecellsoftware.com/caustic

You can get things going very fast, also thanks to the pattern-based workflow.

 

@waverider, glad you find this setup useful. The point was to put together something that doesn't get in your way, when an idea strikes. Like said, it was for my relative, who then uses Finale 2006 ;) to write down the score where every part, note and accidental has to be put down properly.. Anyway, you just record, stop, next. No "save as" and stuff. It's the neatest solution I've found, plus Blue Cat's soft always looks nice

For checking wav files I use resonic. Look at the recent thread for other "sample organizers" - https://audiosex.pro/threads/sample-loop-library-organiser-for-pc.45202 for other suggestions.

If you want a MIDI "notepad" and you like trying your ideas with piano sound (like me), you can check Pianoteq (STAGE) standalone. It saves everything you played on it for a year, lol.. even if you don't want to (I think there is a way to switch that off). You can of course record and save the midi and/or export audio.