Songsmith helps you create songs using just your voice, by choosing musical accompaniments to match whatever you sing. Whether you're a musical novice looking to send a jingle to a friend or an aspiring songwriter looking to give it a first try, Songsmith lets you start making music.

Ever sing in the car? Maybe in the shower? You know who you are. Admit it, you like to sing, and you like music. Ever thought of writing your own music? Most people never get a chance to try... but we want to give everyone a piece of the songwriting experience, so we've developed Songsmith, an application that lets you create a complete song just by singing! Are we going to turn you into an award-winning songwriter overnight? Of course not. But Songsmith will give you a way to create something authentically musical and authentically yours, even if you don't know the first thing about chords or music theory.

Just open up Songsmith, choose from one of thirty different musical styles, and press record. Sing whatever you like - a birthday song for Mom, a love song for that special someone (they'll be impressed that you wrote a song for them!), or maybe just try playing with your favorite pop songs. As soon as you press "stop", Songsmith will generate musical accompaniment to match your voice, and play back your song for you. It's that simple.

For songwriters, is Songsmith going to replace the craft of songwriting? Never. Could it be a super-useful "intelligent scratchpad" for exploring new melodies and ideas? Definitely. If you're a songwriter, you've probably had the experience of coming up with a melody and finding the nearest object with a "record" button on it just to get your idea down. Imagine that first quick experience also letting you explore chord progressions, styles, even basic arrangement ideas. Then of course you'd work with other tools, other people, your instruments, and your own musical intuition to really develop a song. But Songsmith can be a great tool that lets you quickly explore new ideas in places where you couldn't before (on the go, on the bus, in the airport, etc.). And Songsmith works great with instrumental input too!

Reasons to buy
•Helps you create high-quality musical accompaniments in 30 different musical styles, from pop to rock to country to jazz.

•Uses exciting new signal processing techniques to help choose chords that will sound good with your voice.

•Lets you share your songs as audio files with family and friends, or send to Movie Maker to create music videos.

•Allows you to expand your collection of musical styles and instruments through our partners, PG Music and Garritan.

•Gives you a first taste of songwriting, even if you have never created original music before.

•Serves as a great new "scratchpad" to help you quickly experiment with chord progressions if you are already a songwriter.

Microsoft Songsmith lets users create songs from scratch just by humming or singing a tune. Everyone from novice songwriters to professional music producers can benefit from this musical accompaniment software. The software automatically presents instruments and notes that fit the tone and harmony of the singers voice as they sing.

Songsmith gives novice users the ability to compose and record full length songs without playing a single musical instrument. The user simply sings a song and the software will add instruments that accompany the song without any additional input. The software analyzes the notes sung by the user and then matches this information with an internal database of rhythms, melodies, harmonies, and tunes.

The user can change the sound of the music based on a plethora of configuration preferences. There are over 30 different musical styles to choose from, encompassing every possible genre known to man, from bluegrass to hard rock. Regardless of the singer's style, the software will use it's patented signal processing techniques to play chords that match the tone of voice perfectly.

Professional songwriters also find this software particularly useful as it let's them record their ideas while they are still fresh, while also providing musical insight that can influence the beginning of a full song. For this reason Songsmith is a great creative scratchpad that can be used for storing and conceptualizing new musical ideas.

Artists can explore chord progression, note arrangement and the basic components of a song anywhere, and then use this information to create a full song at their studio. Not only is the issue of forgetting melodies solved, but the melodies are taken to the next level by adding core instruments without effort. Singers and songwriters with Songsmith are much more likely to turn ideas into reality.

Once the songwriter has reached a satisfactory result, the song can be exported as an audio file and shared with friends and family. Users can also send the file to Windows Movie Maker, and use it to make a music video. Microsoft's songsmith is the perfect tool to capture and utilize spontaneous creativity.

The following are the minimum system requirements:

• Operating System: Windows XP (SP2 or greater), Windows Vista or Windows 7
• Memory: 1GB RAM
• Processor Speed: 1 Ghz or faster

Microsoft Songsmith: What We Liked

• The software is extremely easy to use and once the configurations are set there is very little effort required, other than singing of course.
• There are plenty of musical styles to choose from, ensuring that every user will enjoy the software equally.
• Sharing the finished product is a turn-key process that can be completed easily within the software.
• There are a wide variety of instruments and instrument classes to choose from, so it easy to find a sound that matches the users mental concept.

Microsoft Songsmith: What We Didn't Like

• Although the software does an excellent job processing notes, it cannot readily identify the desired genre, so the user must specify this information before singing.

Microsoft Support

Technical support for this software can be found at the Microsoft Songsmith Research Center.
There is also a support forum that lets users ask questions and share information regarding the software.

About Microsoft

Microsoft is the largest computer software company in existence, originally founded in 1975. Microsoft has since become the most dominating name in computer technology, pioneering the operating system with MS-DOS and then Windows. Microsoft is headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA.

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