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I actually do exactly as Robin does... except I do some of my brainstorming (actually a lot of it) in Finale as well. While I do enjoy being able to write things down normally (it's so much more satisfying), I do love the benefit of having it played back instantly whenever I please. Unlike Monsieur MuseScience, I like to keep the 'mistakes' and preserve them as much as possible. In fact, on my laptop I have a folder with several files dedicated to copying and pasting away the ideas I don't use immediately for later use. Whenever I need something to fill a section of a piece and have no idea what to do, I turn to these files. I have them for different ensembles and everything! Piano, string quartet, choir, string orchestra, etc. I call them my "Purgatory files" where the ideas await entry into the next life. My one huge problem when I'm composing is that I come up with an idea and it's fully fleshed out harmonically and everything... but when I try to determine which key it's in I have to plunk around on the piano until I find the right key. At which point I've gotten distracted and no longer am sure if I'm in the key I originally intended and I often forget the harmonic figures I had come up with that were so perfect just 5 minutes ago. This problem arises from the fact that my best ideas come to me in the shower... which isn't the most convenient place to jot things down at a moment's notice. Wet, naked and covered in soap isn't exactly the ideal state to be in if I'm gonna rush to the piano or try and grab some paper and a pencil desperately. So by the time I'm in decent condition to go figure it all out, the ideas have become muddled and are slipping away. It's frustrating as hell. On the bright side though, it gives me a scapegoat for my mediocre compositional achievements. I just blame it on the shower. And the boogie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkBS4zUjJZo

It is possible to brainstorm in Finale or Sibelius, just like with pencil and paper. I usually have a bunch of disjointed possible ideas copy and pasted to the end of the "fairly settled" part of a score in progress. Sometimes they get used. Some get deleted when I'm done, some are moved to a new file to be possible starter ideas for another project. If I'm trying to decide between two chords, sometimes I'll have both written, smooshed on top of each other for a while, until I decide for sure. Makes the playback sound delightful while I'm still in progress, but I know what I mean. And I write in notes to myself of possible other ideas using the staff text function that you usually use to write in dynamics and playing instructions. Just because you're digital doesn't mean you play it all in with a midi keyboard and keep the first run-through without editing. (:

I wonder how many of your "mistakes" would have turned out to be amazing music, if you weren't so quick to delete them! Might be a worthy experiment for you "digital only" composers - force yourselves to work out the kinks on an idea you would normally have dismissed. :hmmm: I know how it can be frustrating, and the (relatively) instant gratification of hearing something that sounds OK is satisfying, but for me, the satisfaction comes from taking "something" and extracting that tiny bit of greatness from it. The cliched "diamond in the rough"... or the less glamourous "polished turd" R

There was a thread from a long time ago that was really interesting and insightful, but I can't track it down. Either way, here's me: Poke a piano. Write down some random crap. Save everything. Find the 6% of stuff that's not garbage. Play it a lot. Refine / Revise Don't forget to write it down again. Keep poking. Throw it away and start something else. Do this 7 or 8 times. Eventually find something that works. Work it baby. Finished? Print it. Get real people to play it. Start again. Here's what it looks like at step 2 or 3.