Is music software a blessing gift or the nightmare of modern musicians?

How to choose and use music software for making your own music


Probably the weakest point of today's music software is no longer the technical performance but the human interface (...or should I say the lack of it?).

What programmers or software companies consider a useful program surface can instantly make any grown up musician and music producer weep and fall into despair.

Combine that with a vast variety of more or less working hardware and the usual computer bugs and you got enough problems to keep the average musician busy for years, producing nothing.

I think music software can be both. It can be a nightmare but also a very powerful tool for any aspect in making music. As you are probably not a programmer or a software developer, it mainly depends upon your ability to choose and use available music software the right way.

This site should help you to improve that skill by giving you useful tips, experiences and music software reviews.

How do I test music software?

Well, I actually don't test the usual way. Most reviews you can find in magazines or online, give you nothing but a brief overview of the software. They hardly tell you something about bugs or laborious handling. While you can find such reviews also on my site (shame on me) I'm generally trying to give you all the info you need.

I make music and I watch others making music. I grab any help I can get to make the music sound the way I want it to sound.

If a software is helpful in that process, fine. If not, well...it doesn't get much attention anymore and may eventually drop off my hard disk. (You have to be ruthless to survive the software jungle ;-) )

I will shortly give you not just idle talk, but also show you some material for discussion to get that point across. Like many others I used the computer in the past mainly for computer oriented music (Dance, rap, hip-hop, etc...).

Up to now, even the big Pro-Tools systems had problems to perform flawless, bug-free, conventional multitrack recording. Despite recording also Jazz and classical music, I was never happy with the convenience and handling of computer recording in comparison to the old 24-track/mixing desk approach.

Now I wanted to know if this has changed lately.

I grabbed one of the new Dual Core CPU laptops and produced a Life-CD of my children Mona and Lisa (twins, girls, both musicians). I recorded, edited and mixed 24 pop and rock standards using nothing but my digital mixer (working as 16-track interface, not as mixer), my laptop and software.

It's production of real music completely within the box. I'm about to write an article with a detailed description of this production.

Well, that comes shortly, but for now...

The following links are roughly in sequence what's needed to build up a useful music production environment on your computer. Go through them from top down, or just click on something that interests you most.

Notation Software
Educated musicians still need to put down music on paper for various reasons. A short review about the crucial functions of Notation Software.

Software for writing music
There are as many different types of software for writing music as there are ways to compose. Get a good overview and choose your personal style of writing songs.

Music Recording Software - The Top Programs
Can music recording software really replace the old fashioned way of recording, or is this just the usual advertising hype that says so?

Free Music Recording Software for professional results?
A guide on how to use free music recording software for professional recording purposes.

Music Editing Software for sound tweaking, mastering and CD/DVD burning
What could you expect from dedicated Music Editing Software?

Free Music Editing Software
How to get professional free music editing software. What is the best free software for editing audio and music?

DJ Software - Scratch It Soft
Is DJ software really useful? Take a close look at the new possibilities a computer offers to DJs.

CDR Software Guide for Power-User
Is CDR software, that performs specialized tasks better than those claiming to burn it all?

Mp3 Software - Shrink it to the Max!
Which mp3 software do you need in a professional recording environment?

Music Downloading Software
A review of music downloading software to find out which one is best for downloading, organizing, burning and transferring your tunes.

Free Music Download Software
A brief introduction on the past and present of free music download software.

Online Guitar Tuner
What are the most useful Online Guitar Tuner on the Net?

Recording Software Tests
How to test Recording Software like Sequencers and Multitrack Audio Recording Programs fast and efficiently.

Sound Cards And Other Hardware For Digital Recordings
Microphones, Sound Cards, Amplifier and Speaker of excellent quality for digital PC and Mac recording systems.

Laptop Recording
Laptop Recording is the future of Home Recording - What do you need to build your own mobile Audio Workstation?

Shopping Guide
A brief description of how you can get professional music software for far less money.

Survey Page
This music software survey is the place where you can help to make this site better. Your input is very much appreciated.

Contact
The Music-Software-Reviews contact page. I always like to receive profound and inspiring input from the computer recording community. That means from you!

The Music Software Glossary
This Music software Glossary contains usually hard to find definitions for terms related to computers, digital recording, music software and multimedia.

How to build a site like this?
You can do that too! Build a site that's a great experience for your visitors and for yourself!

Music Software Blog
The Music Software Blog keeps you up-to-date with all additions and changes to the music-software-reviews.com Web site. Subscribe here.