Unleash your creative juices with this feature packed yet accessible music creation studio
Music creation software has always been notoriously expensive and complicated to use, but MAGIX Music Maker 17, like all of the software from the MAGIX stables, has been designed to enable anybody to produce incredibly impressive results, regardless of previous experience in the field.
There is a huge selection of sounds and loops that can be used as the basis for tracks of your own or just incorporated as sound effects, but you also have the option of importing music and samples from CD and MP3s of your own. The simple program interface makes it easy to lay out the various components that will be used in your tracks, and you can then set about the task of applying special effects, instruments and working with the mixer.
The program is incredibly simple and intuitive to get started in, but if you would like things simplified even further, you can switch to easy mode. Using this mode, key areas of the program interface are highlighted helping you to focus on the tools you need to use to produce your first tracks.
With a huge selection of drum and melody loops to choose from, coupled with the wide range of samples, you should find that it doesn’t take you long to come up with an interesting arrangement which you can then tweak and tinker with to perfection.
Beat Box 2 Plus is on hand to help you to quickly and easily create percussive drum loops using a software drum machine. The beats you create can be as simple as you like, or can be layered up into a complicated backbeat to help bring your tracks to life.
If you are looking to create music with a rockier edge to it, Vandal SE may be what you have been looking for. This component is a guitar and bass amplifier complete with guitar effects that enhance your songs. Also available is LiViD the virtual drummer that will provide the perfect accompaniment to any song.
You are not limited to working with sounds that are included with the program or have been created by other people and made available online. MAGIX Music Maker also gives you the option of working with real instruments, or plugging in a microphone to record vocal tracks. Used a recording studio in this way, you can turn to MAGIX Music Maker to record and use samples played on your own instruments, or you can record entire instrumental tracks and them add special effects and other samples.
Even if you don’t have instruments of your own, you can use the MIDI Editor to compose melodies that can be incorporated into track
Despite being incredibly simple to use, MAGIX Music Maker allows for a great deal of control over the sound of your creations. The volume of the individual tracks that make up a song can have their own volume settings adjusted and the mixer desk allows for fine tuning of equaliser settings. Special effects can be applied and controlled through the FX Rack and there is a range of old-school effects to be found in the Vintage Effects Suite
MAGIX Music Maker also includes a number of additional components such as the Vita Space Pad. This is a combination drum machine and synthesiser that can be used to create soundscapes, rhythms, and surface sounds that will help to bring your musical creations to life. Also included in the Premium version of the program is Soundtrack Percussion 2 which can be used to add exciting percussion to your songs.
The music you produce can be shared with others in a variety of ways. As well as sharing your creations via social networks such as MySpace, Twitter and Facebook, and there are also a number of templates available should you decide to showcase your work on YouTube. Of course, you also have the option of burning your music to CDs or converting it into MP3 format.
MAGIX Music Maker can be used to add a new soundtrack to videos or even photos slideshows, and this is when the option to upload to YouTube is particularly useful. If you are struggling for inspiration, whether you are creating a standalone track or a soundtrack, turn to Song Maker 2. This automated tool will help you to quickly create music - all you need to do is choose a musical genre, a tempo and configure a few other basic settings and a track will be generated for you. This can be left it its original form, or used as the basis for your own creativity.
The Premium edition of MAGIX Music Maker 17 includes an even wider selection of sounds, instruments and effects that can be used in your creations. There are also a number of ultra-realistic Vita Instruments - grand piano, saxophone, ambient synthesizer and JazzDrums - that are ideal for using for solos.
Review by Mark Wilson.
