Merlin John Online

Hugh John tunes in to Magix Music Maker 15

What is it with the European software and music technology programs? Reason, Ableton, Cubase. .. and, of course, Berlin-based Magix. All of them companies that have made significant contributions to sound editing, sequencing and recording and all of them, to a greater or lesser degree, overshadowed by software programs from the big US software houses such as Microsoft, Adobe and Apple.

Music Maker 15 is the latest music software package from Magix and at just under £50 offers tremendous value for money. New features in this incarnation include Infobox (program functions explained in detail), Sound Vision (instant visual representation of sound samples being used) and Easy Mode (the most important elements of the program at a glance). Magix has also made it a snip for any aspiring musician or band to publish to the world wide audience also known as the Web. One click will upload music files to the web, specifically, if desired, to that paradise for unpublished bands, YouTube. Additionally you’ll find more than 200 pre-defined instrumental presets and more than 100 sound effect templates that can be introduced into tracks. There’s more! The MM15 sound archive now has more than 1,500 pre-recorded, royalty-free samples collated under genres such as Rock, Pop, Dance, Hip Hop Disco, House and Ambient. Intelligent software marries up the various tempi so that the differing building blocks that comprise a project will all be in sync.

Magix has also overhauled the internal BeatBox drum machine adding further sound effects and giving the user more control over individual tracks in the Mixer Unit.

Magix Music Maker 15 is sophisticated enough to cater for the more advanced user and, using Easy Mode and the accompanying video tutorials, accessible to beginners. It would be a welcome and inexpensive addition to a music department’s resources. What would make it even more attractive for teachers would be an ‘education version’ specifically designed and structured for use in the classroom, something similar, in fact to what musician and teacher Phil Heeley did for Music Maker 15’s erstwhile stablemate Dance eJay. (Dance eJay for Schools)

Incidentally, schools with ‘legacy’ libraries comprising records and/or tape collections may wish to check out Magix’s inexpensive and useful Rescue your Vinyl and Tapes software. Time, maybe, to digitise that vinyl and tape collection.

Ratings - out of 5
Fitness for purpose  4
Ease of use  4
Features  5        
Quality  3        
Value for money  5

Visitors to BETT will be able to see demonstrations of Music Maker 15 on the TAG stand (B56) on Thursday and Friday.

Music Maker 15
£49.99p
www.magix.com/uk
www.taglearning.com