This week we’re going to make music. We’re going to record our stirring rendition of arias from Puccini’s La Boheme, in our finest Pavarotti tenor. Then we’re going to add accompaniment from our house orchestra, after which we’ll burn the masterpiece onto a CD and even publish it on our Web site so the whole world can enjoy it.
How – since we know not a word of Italian, have no operatic training and haven’t played an instrument since we were bounced out of band in 12th grade? Software, of course.
Music Maker Deluxe, version 7, is a four-CD set for Windows computers that will transform our muddy baritone into a tenor, add enough synthesized sounds to cover up our horrible pronunciation and pacing, and to further distract listeners, we will superimpose a video of an opera we’re fond of, insert subtitles in English that fairly approximate what’s happening, and then we’ll mix it all and post it on our Web site, the name of which we can’t divulge just yet.
Trying for your big break?
But seriously, with a microphone (not supplied, but available for as little as $5) you can record your garage band, along with its instruments, and perform miracles with the help of Music Maker. The CDs come with more than 3,000 sounds and video clips, and you can import your own. There’s no limit to what you can do musically and visually with this program.
Serious musicians can produce fairly incredible production CDs with the help of synthesizers, a 96-track video and editing board and nearly a dozen instruments, which sound remarkably like the real thing. You can filter out the vocals on Karaoke and substitute your own voice. With the help of a wizard, you can arrange your tracks professionally and even add surround sound.
Just for the fun of it
Pranksters can have a field day in the same way they can with Photoshop, by tagging a hip hop beat to a Chopin etude or transform your house Pavarotti into a robot-like voice.
The video and Web site tools are equally impressive, with all kinds of special effects that can be made to work with just about any beat. If all this sounds intimidating to beginners, relax – the features can be set for either beginner or advance music producer.
Music Maker Deluxe 7 will run on Windows XP, Me, NT, 2000, 98 and 95. For a copy, send $20, plus $5 for shipping, to WashingtonCD, P.O. Box 351531, Los Angeles, CA 90035.
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