Music Making Software: Get Results Fast!

Time and time again we are being asked about all the Music Making Software available. Musicians want to harness the power of their PC, laptop or Mac and play. The problem is where to start, and picking tools that won\'t stand in the way of your creativity. One of our favourite products is Band-in-a-Box . This is probably the longest established and certainly one of the most popular music making software packages that we sell. Already packed with features, the latest version has added functions that in our opinion make this an essential buy for musicians in any genre, for keyboard players, guitarists, singers, in fact any musician looking for an outstanding tool to make the most of their creative ideas.

The original idea of this software was to be able to quickly create backing tracks - and so you can. Simply type in the chord sequences, choose your style, and the backing track is generated. You can pick which instruments get included, the tempo, the style. You can record your vocal or instrument line on top. You can view the track in notation view. You can export the whole thing as a MIDI file and import it into any other music making software package which accepts that file format, or you can create an audio file which you can then burn to CD. Fantastic, easy and intuitive.

But check out some of the other things you can do with Band-in-a-Box :

Generate a chord progression in the genre that you choose, based only on the melody. Wow. You think of a tune. Band-in-a-Box creates the backing for you.

Audio Chord Wizard - you import an MP3/WAV.WMA file, Band-in-a-Box works out the chord sequence for you.

Vocal Harmoniser - you sing a track, Band-in-a-Box will generate harmonies for it.

Soundtrack Generator - if you need to generate some original, royalty-free music for backgrounds, home videos, slide shows, voiceovers, jingles, themes, underscoring scenes or entr\'acte, dance routines, ceremonies or any occasion that calls for musical accompaniment, the soundtrack feature allows you to generate music in the style you choose for any length of time you specify.

It would be possible to go on and on - the latest version of Band-in-a-Box alone had over 50 new features, so no wonder this software just keeps selling and selling.

What if you are looking for a more traditional sequencing package where you can record and mix audio and midi tracks, apply effects and then create your own CDs or MP3 files to share with your friends. Our favourite entry level music recording software is probably Cakewalk Music Creator 5 with it's wealth of built-in instruments, recording mixing and editing facilities. Powerful, but designed to be easy to get to grips with. Check them out!