After getting an update from Robert Scoble at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) about Microsoft Research’s new music software called Songsmith, I decided to check it out so I downloaded the free trial which gives you six hours of unrestricted play time so if you decide to minimize the program to do something else or whatever the time pauses. The program only costs 30USD if you decide you want the program.

So after playing with the program and trying to get a feel for all its features I do have to say that I’m very impressed by the product.I find that Microsoft’s Songsmith is a very simple program to use but very robust in features. Essentially the program allows you to pick a musical genre like pop, hip hop, jazz, etc. Then it allows you to pick a tempo and then off you go to sing. Voila! You have

a song as the program generates music to go along with your voice even if your mic is subpar like mine. And the features don’t stop there. Don’t like the musical genre you chose initially? Well then go ahead and change it. Like the genre but want to change

some of the instruments in the music? easy– just go to the mixer choose your instruments and even the volume of individual instruments. The program even has "happy" and "jazz" sliders to change the tone of the chords being produced by the program. Oh and about chords, you can have Songsmith use just 1/2 chord to up to 2 chords. You can even change chords with chords Songsmith suggests or those of your own choosing. Once you’re happy with your music you can export it as a .wma as just vocal, just music, or both. you also have the option to export it to windows movie maker, for music video madness. Songsmith has so much depth for both the beginner or the most experience music maker and is so easy to use. you can pump out a song in as little as 5 minutes. Maybe even faster.

The program does have some limitations. For instance if you sing off beat you can’t match up to the beat so if you start on lets say beat 3 and wanted to start on beat 1, you have to sing all over again. You can’t change the tempo after you’ve sung so sometimes trial and error is needed to find the right tempo, but the program does suggest a tempo. Also the program isn’t necessarily the end all for the song. While the program ships with 30 different styles and many more for purchase, the sounds in the demo were basic so using Songsmith for a really high quality song would be difficult but its great just to be able to start a song and then take it somewhere else, say, Protools and flesh it out. Then again with limited file extensions for export, it may be difficult to do that as well.

If you’re into music, whether expert of beginner, Songsmith is a great program to get a song going. at 30USD the program is a steal with its many robust features and minimal limitations. I have a little sample of me using the program at a basic level as I didn’t mess with many of the settings. It could use some harmonizing but whatever. Enjoy? 0.o Heh. Download the demo Songsmith.