Cool start! But may I suggest trying out Mixcraft? It's fairly cheap for computer software ($70ish), and the sounds are much better. It doesn't have the notation power that Finale specializes in (I own the full version of Finale, as well), but I like it since you can edit any sounds and whatever so the actual music quality is decent right out of the program without needed a real orchestra or anything.
You just have to learn a bit about mixing rather than notating, but the ideas are the same. I wrote my
Assimilation piece for C3G totally using Mixcraft. It takes getting used to not having a staff in front of you, but like I said, the piano roll works the same way.
