MAGIX Music Maker

MAGIX Music Maker is an excellent place for new and moderately skilled artists to record, mix, and create custom tracks and songs, and the software includes a number of features and tools that make it nearly equal to the over-priced professional music suites.

This comprehensive music application includes a drum machine to cover the beats behind any song, and it has a full digital synthesizer that operates off of a number of included sounds and effects. There are tons of samples to use as a basis for certain aspects of the song, and you can easily add files that hold music you have actually recorded yourself. It is also possible to import live vocals and instruments to blend with any digital tracks that have been built in the software. The powerful app also includes support for MIDI.

Users will notice off the bat that the interface for MAGIX Music Maker is a bit intense, especially for those who have little or no experience in music production. Novices will take some time to become accustomed to the controls, but the software does help with some small hints, and there are many online videos that help explain some of the utility of the app. Unfortunately, those videos aren't quite up to snuff when it comes to fully fleshing out the details of the software. Of course, the software can easily be learned simply by playing around with it and seeing what sorts of results you can achieve.

One of the first things new users will want to do when creating a song from scratch is add a drum beat, and that is one of the easier things to do. Since the software allows for repeated patterns that only have to be generated once, it is quite easy to make a single measure of a catchy drum beat and extend it out for the duration of the song. Users can also add strange effects and noises to any sample or raw creation.

As users play around with the software, they will discover more and more utility locked away in the tools. It is relatively simple to alter any sound in the song using a variety of effects, and that opens up all sorts of possibilities.

The main issue with MAGIX Music Maker is that the software has almost no explanation or tutorials. There is a demo of the software, but the demo doesn't include any explanations or examples. This leaves the discovery of the app's potential to the individual user, and there are a number of online tutorials that should be of some assistance.

Novice users may very well find this software too frustrating to use, but semi-professional or serious amateurs should certainly be able to gain some utility from the powerful software. It is perfect for home producers, and it provides just about every standard music editing and producing tool that one might want.

• Intuitive Sequencer
• Many Samples & Effects
• Tons of Features

• Lacks Comprehensive Tutorials