Mp3 software
MP3 Software review
If you want to play music on your computer, MP3 is where it's at. The files are very manageable and can be downloaded from the internet in minutes. To then play them on your computer you need a piece of software called an MP3 player - just like you need a CD player to listen to CDs.
Most of these packages don't just play MP3 files. Some can also play audio CDs and can convert tracks from CD into MP3 files on your hard disk. So in theory, you could transfer your entire CD music collection across to your PC.
ShrinkMyTunes £19.99 inc VAT Oct 2007
Software that claims to increase the capacity of your iPod by shrinking the size of your music files. more..
iTunes 7 Free Dec 2006
Taking into consideration the popularity of Apple's iPod, it's little wonder iTunes is regularly lauded as the media player of choice. more..
Windows Media Player 11 Free Dec 2006
Windows Media Player has come a long way in a relatively short time. Although often derided for being bloated, it comprehensively manages even the largest music collections. more..
Winamp 5.3 Free Dec 2006
Winamp has long been heralded as the primary alternative media player, but its popularity has waned a little in the past couple of years. more..
MediaMonkey Free Dec 2006
MediaMonkey's library options are vast. You can automatically import any tracks stored on your hard disk, with the option of importing information from other programs if track details are incomplete. more..
Yahoo Music Jukebox 2.0 Free Dec 2006
Music Jukebox gets off to a good start by making it incredibly easy to import tracks into the program... more..
RealPlayer v10 Free Dec 2006
RealPlayer has really become something of a niche software title, and despite support for a variety of media formats.. more..
MusicMatch Jukebox 9 Free - Jukebox Plus $19.99 Dec 2004
Last time we reviewed digital music players, MusicMatch Jukebox emerged on top. Since then, however, Apple has upped the stakes... more..
Napster £9.95 monthly subs, or PAYG Jun 2004
Plenty of online music fans will be excited by the re-appearance of Napster, and the hype surrounding it is well bolstered by the large music catalogue that tramples over its competitors (Wanadoo Music Club and My Coke Music are hovering at 250,000 tracks). What a shame then that the price, both for subscribers and for casual users are noticeably steep. more..
Nero 6 $60/£32 Mar 2004
This isn't just about transferring files onto CD – any Windows XP machine can do that. But as a result, the companies that make CD burning software have had to pull their fingers out. more..
Dotmusic on Demand Oct 2003
Now part of Yahoo, this digital music download service is intended to offer a legal alternative to bootleg file-sharing services.
How to choose and use music software for making your own music
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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.