First off, do you have any prior musical knowledge or experience? If not, that is where you should start. It would be extremely hard to write music if you have never played it or have no knowledge of music (i.e. basic musical theory, how to read music, different musical styles, etc.)

It would also help to know a few more things:

*What kind of budget are you able to work with?

*What kind of style(s) of music would you like to create?

*What is the function of this music?

Fill in some of the blanks and then I (or someone else on this board) will get back to you.

There are tons of very helpful composers and musicians on here, and I know we can point you in the right direction.

Hope that helps,

Nsmadsen is right. Is there ány musical knowledge you have? Knowing what a note is, is a start. Reading is another. Try to build up from simplicity and work up to the more advanced stuff (scales, chords progressions). I'm sure there are enough tutorials on the internet to be found. If you really wanna do this you might even try looking for a teacher in your neighbourhood (it's your friendly neighbour, Spiderman!)

Quote:easily without "In Real Life" instruments

That should easily be possible. In fact, hiring a complete orchestra is one of the most expensive means of making music, and a lot of us use these so-called 'samples'. They (if the quality's good of course), sound like real instrument and can be 'programmed' on the computer.
But samples are also rather expensive. In the end, being a composer is just rather expensive.

If you need any help, just ask, and where here for you.

-Stenny

Well, you still haven't mentioned being able to play any kind of musical instrument. Do you play anything? If not, then even the act of inputting your songs into Reason or any other DAW is going to be a long and taxing process. I'm also concerned that you mainly want to do orchestral because that is a complex style to write in. It involves many instruments and a good deal of knowledge the roles of different musical instruments and orchestration.

I'm not saying that this isn't possible, so please don't take it that way. I just want you to be prepared for the task you'll be undertaking. Especially if you do not remember much from your musical education. Do you know what the notes of both staffs are? Can you identify different rhythms written out?

Feel free to down load the demos, but I still think the most important thing to do first is learn about music and how to play music. Music now...software later. That would be my advice.

Pick out an instrument you'd like to learn, get a private teacher and study study study!!! If you can not afford a private teacher then maybe a group class (those can be cheaper) or use books. Learning to play by reading books is quite hard though and books can't catch mistakes and teach like a person can.

I admire your enthusiasm, but you'll need some good training and experience before tackling an orchestral piece. For example, I started taking piano in third grade, saxophone in sixth all the way through graduate school. I have two degrees in music and I'm STILL learning a ton of stuff about music. I'm now taking more guitar lessons to learn even more about that instrument. You can always learn more and better yourself.

Good luck!!!

Hey Wesleygames,

Recording and mixing music is one of the harder things to do. It is an art in itself. Just like a good musician must have some innate, built in talent for music, a producer (which is what you're describing) must have a very good ear for hearing a piece of music and being able to identify what needs to be fixed and how to fix it.

While you can learn and hone your ear, there has to be some talent there to start off with. You can learn all of the theory and techniques in the world, but if you can HEAR what the differences are...then you'll not go far in the professional audio world.

That being said- there are many things you can do right now to get started. First off, I would get some software and start trying to mix now. You can get a watered down version first (that can still handle audio, etc) and save some cash up front. You didn't mention in your post if you had any software already, and you also didn't mention if you play any musical instruments yourself. If you do, start tying to make the music yourself. I know you're not as interested in the composing part of things, but this can be a good way to get your feet wet without a band waiting over your shoulder.

This is how I started. I got a free version of Cakewalk (really old one too!) and started playing on my computer. I can play piano, guitar and sing so I started making up stupid, silly songs. At first it was just for fun, but looking back I can see how playing around with the tools and constantly trying to make better songs (even if they did talk about "math being fun" or "I have to take a crap") taught me many lessons. I didn't go to a trade school for ADR, and I didn't take many classes in it at college, so I was mostly self taught.

Besides doing this, I'd read Computer Music, a monthly magazine that has great tutorials, demos and content that you can use. I'd also pick up some books and start learning what goes into making a solid musical track (from the producers point of view). You'll need to learn the terms and practices if you want to do this professionally.

About headphones, I would not recommend using them for mixing purposes. The reason why is what sounds good on a set of headphones, may not on monitor speakers or car stereos, etc. The most ideal mixing environment is a mid to large room with the speakers not being within four feet of any walls. This allows all of the frequencies to be heard correctly. Also, you don't want to be right in front of the monitors either. I can test this at work (I'm a composer-sound designer by day, Batman by night). I can load up a song and sit right at my desk and the bass freq don't sound that over powering, but if I move back about four feet I can really sense them more. I didn't increase the volume, I'm positioning myself where the freq can be best heard.

This is what you eventually want to do. If you mix on headphones only, then what you're giving the client may only work best on headphones. What happens when the client pops it into a stereo and the mix is off...you look bad.

As far as tinnitus goes...I don't know what that is and am not a doctor, so I can not answer that question. Sorry.

Finally, the salary can vary (and don't worry about appearing to be a money grabber!). Some positions can start off in the mid 30s, while others can start as high up as in the 60s. The important thing is if you're good at it, there is no telling how high you can eventually go. Also, if this is what you love to do, the money (while important to live and such) is secondary. You're having so much fun and loving your job. This is, at least, the way I feel. Sure, I don't want to be vastly underpaid, but I don't feel like I have a job. I feel like I have "playtime" and best thing yet...it PAYS! :)