There are some freebie sound editors; haven't used them, so I can't comment on them (although I do have ockham's script all safe and snug for future use.. ;) . I have used the Magix Sound Studio (not a lot of $$$, either. I paid $39 for the package, and it was wav editing, MIDI, a digital mixer board, and a few other things). It was more than worth the small price, and was a good starting place. I use Adobe Audition now (used to be another package before Adobe bought it, just can't remember which one). It supports up to 128 separate sound channels, has the spatial processing, so that if your sound card supports it, you can do 5:1 effects, and so on. Audition also ships with a nice CD of wave clips to piece together music tracks (Magix offers a yearly DVD of the same, btw. Both excellent products) If you are serious about scoring, then take a look at Sonic Fire Pro 4. It isn't as capable an editor as the likes of Audition, but what is does in incredible. Smartsound.com has taken to releasing variable length multi-layered musical scores; the app truncates the music sections, so you are not limited to the length of wave files. Change the ending time, and the tracks adjust to end correctly. The multilayered effect is just that; horns would be on one layer. drums on another. strings on a third, etc. And in Sonic Fire Pro you can mute any one of those layers, or all of them. So if you found an orchestral theme that really turned your crank, you could edit the ML track to start with say percussion, play for a time, then bleed the woodwinds in to build on the score, then low strings, high strings, brass, until you had your full symphony roaring. The separate tracks aren't cheap; neither are the DVD's for purchase, but read the usage info. It's worth it.