Question Concerning String Arrangements

[Doll]

What would be the best way to write for strings? Are there any programs out there that might speed up the process? I don't really want to spend a lot of time writing this stuff out on paper. I'd like to just be able to perform the piece and then have it on my computer for me to edit as I see fit.

[Nicko_Shmicko]

sibelius is good for score writing, the scores look really good and you can play it back to hear what it sounds like.

[Trigger_003]

Same deal with Guitar Pro (http://www.guitar-pro.com - costs but there's a free demo. The demo's fine, but there's a restriction on how much you can save and you can't print the scores) and PowerTab (http://www.powertab.net - completely free).

[Flik]

powertab, to my knowledge, is as good as you'll get without spending anything. Although I believe that you can only notate for three instruments in one single peice.

sibelius on the other hand can write, i've done as many as twelve, but i'm sure you can do more.

[SoleFactionBassist]

In sebelius I've written scores for 18 different instruments and you can put on more. I've got version 3.

[airborne50caliber]

yeah but sibelius is professional notation software

[Doll]

awesome, thanks for the info guys. i have another question though. this is going to sound pretty stupid i'm sure. when writing strings for a song, and the strings don't actually come in until later, would you have to include the bars of the song that don't feature strings? because i don't actually want to have to write the entire song in standard notation, just the strings. i hope that didn't sound completely idiotic but i don't have much experience with this kind of thing. thanks in advance.

[Nicko_Shmicko]

you could just write out the part with strings and say to the performers "this comes in here" and show them and count them in. Good Luck

[Doll]

great, thanks for the help