Does anyone know if I can download/ purchase any music composing software for FREE? I want a program that will allow me to create my own music (on Windows, not Mac) but I want it for FREE (and legally). Does such a program exist?

you made a small mistake in your post search for it

I think there is a free version of pro tools, I DONT KNOW if it is only for sound editing or music, I know there is a freeware version. google it

good luck

if you're just talking about using samples and loops, yeah, theres tons of crap. free? not likely. If you play guitar, just get Goldwave (free) and record a nice acoustic track.

If you can read/write music then try Anvil Studio. Not great, but it is free. Also I think there is a simple version of cubase (cubasis) which is free. If you're looking to create high quality film scores though, you'd want to look into orchestra/instrument libraries, samples and a sequencer (cubase, cakewalk), and that's not free.

However for now you could get by with something like Anvil and soundfonts (google it) for your samples. Soundfonts are generally pretty easy to find and mostly free.

(PS. You know, since you're cheap and in need of music, you could get a composer to do music for your films! (like me or one of the other composers on this site.))

-Chris

No HSJFilm, Protools isn't at all designed for music composing. Maybe to jazz it up a little bit, if need be. ProTools is the industry standard audio editing program.

You may wanna check out Finale. I've never really used it as I'm not a composer but it looked great, and easy. A user-friendly interface with a sheet you can digitally put your notes on. Not too much of a hassle. Google that one.

Cubase and Steinberg will prolly cost you quite some time get used to it, at least in my experience.

Gotan

Free Looping Programs are a hard find - however secondary programs that are also essential can be found for free. At best, your looping software will be shareware, and the sound loops and effects will be copyrighted.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Audacity is a wonderful sound editor for OSX, Linux, and Windows. Quite useful and some great features.

I would recommend using Royality Free Music and Sound FX to avoid any "copyright" problems if your movie is going anywhere. Create your own sound loops - just for this reason alone. Most sound loops, sound libraries, and sound effects ARE copyrighted, so be careful. In most cases, if you know of musicians in your area, they will work for credit.

So, in a nutshell, create your OWN loops with Audacity and then import them into your looping program, output the result and slap them into your movie. Otherwise, if this sounds like poop, which it probably will, ask everyone and thier mother to add music for credit ONLY. Be firm and look under EVERY rock. That's the filmmaking way!

Uhmmm.. so practically you need a sound studio but you don't have a budget to afford its services? Or you just want a music software for fun?