The Magix of Sound and Music
We review a lot of products at Computer Times and put them through some very grueling tests. Unlike many publications, you cannot buy an Editor's Choice award at Computer Times, your product must earn it. Sometimes a company rises so far above the rest that it deserves more than just an Editor's Choice award. This month we would like to feature a couple of products from one such company, MAGIX.
Over the past few months, we have reviewed several products from MAGIX and have been very impressed. The products have performed admirably and earned our Editor's Choice award. This month we would like to go beyond the reviews and show you a few things you might consider doing using a couple of products from MAGIX: Music Maker 2005 deLuxe (see full review at http://www.computertimes.com/feb05edchoiceMAGIXMusicMaker2005deLuxe.htm) and MAGIX Audio Cleaning Lab 2005
(see http://www.computertimes.com/feb05edchoiceMAGIXAudioCleaningLab2005.htm ).A short description of each product is given below.
MAGIX Music Maker 2005 deLuxe (Retail $59.99) lets you make your own music in any style and for every occasion. You can quickly create professional-sounding songs by combining sound & video components. The Song Maker automatically produces complete arrangements to enhance your own creative ideas. The integrated software synthesizer helps you create your own songs. Effects such as reverb and delay put the finishing touch on your sounds, in real-time. You can directly record vocals, live instruments and MIDI files. The MIDI editor makes MIDI file editing a breeze.
MAGIX Audio Cleaning Lab 2005 (Retail $39.99) is the ideal choice for sound restoration on the PC as it records, restores and burns. This great software package automatically removes crackles, clicks and rumbling to clean music from your LPs, cassettes and MP3s. Just one click gives you perfect sound so you can reexperience your old recordings. Magix Audio Cleaning Lab 2005 is truly a complete solution offering fast and accurate recording, automatic or manual noise removal, and quick burning of error-free CDs and DVDs.
Many times, when you read short product descriptions, or even complete reviews, the full potential of the software never becomes apparent. Thus, there is never an interest in purchasing the software. The two products listed above have enormous potential for many computer users, even if you have little or no interest or talent in music. Let's look at a few ideas for putting these software packages to work for you: genealogy, entertainment, and commercial recordings.
Genealogy
During our review of Music Maker 2005 deLuxe, we tested the obvious music capabilities of the software, but we also tested the audio capabilities since we felt that would be of interest to many of our readers. The first thing we did was to use a digital voice recorder to record stories from friends and relatives at my father's funeral. As you can imagine, the background noise was very loud and the people were speaking in a low voice. We then used Music Maker 2005 Deluxe to transfer the recordings from our digital voice recorder. In Music Maker 2005 Deluxe, we were able to crop the rather lengthy recordings, eliminating the silent pauses, the interruptions, and the irrelevant information. Then, when we opened the cropped files in Audio Cleaning Lab 2005, we were able to quickly clean up the hiss, background noises, and other extraneous sounds using the Audio Cleaning Wizards. What we ended up with were improved recordings that will make a fine addition to genealogical records, whether they are stored in programs like Family Tree Maker (see review at http://www.computertimes.com/nov02edchoicefamilytreemaker.htm ) or on a CD placed in a box.
Entertainment
During our review of MAGIX Music Maker 2005 deLuxe and MAGIX Audio Cleaning Lab 2005, we were asked to emcee a local church function for a Couples Night Out. To add a little fun to the evening, we used these two programs to record a few TV show themes from a CD we had lying about. We then created a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation that we projected on a large screen for the audience. Within the presentation were sound files from 25 older TV show themes (Cheers, Dallas, Magnum P.I., etc.). The illustration shows the question and answer slides we used for the first TV theme. With the capabilities of the MAGIX programs, we were able to precisely muffle or cut out parts of the themes that would give away the title. We were also able to change the volume within the themes to enhance the presentation. Great fun and a great use of this software.
Professional Audio Recordings
One other use of this software that may be overlooked is professional audio recordings that can be used as training aids in churches or business organizations. We tested the software by rerecording a motivational audio sound track that we have sold in the past titled Get The MOST From Yourself. You will find it at http://www.getthemostfromyourself.com/Pricing.htm. With the MAGIX software, we were able to eliminate all of the "ahs and ums" plus all of the uncomfortable pauses that occurred as the audio recording was created. We were also able to listen for improper grammar and clean up the English by cutting, pasting and eliminating redundant or insignificant audio. The result was a very professional recording that would match anything created by the best audio labs. One great feature of the MAGIX software was normalizing the volume between the various tracks on the CD.
These are just a few applications of the MAGIX software that continues to improve with each version and consistenly performs as advertised. Great products from a great company at a suitable price. And now you know a little more about these two Computer Times Editor's Choices.