Screenblast Music Studio

The Music Studio package consists of several components, the most prominent of which is Screenblast ACID Deluxe, a simplified version of Sonic Foundry's ACID Pro. Loops are short, prerecorded musical passages that may be pieced together to create original, royalty-free tunes, and ACID Deluxe's highly intuitive timeline interface allows you to quickly and easily "paint" these loops into complex block-rocking beats of unlimited size and scope. Hundreds of topnotch loops have been included for your enjoyment.

You can later enhance your compositions by recording vocals or traditional instruments (up to two simultaneous tracks at a time), adding reverb and distortion effects, or tweaking the pitch or panning of individual tracks. You may even want to remix songs from your favorite artists or add prerecorded movie clips or graphics to fashion a homegrown music video. After you've assembled all the parts, you can save your masterwork in a variety of formats compatible with both computerized and standalone audio players, or post it online at the Screenblast Web site.

Also featured in the Music Studio suite is Screenblast's sophisticated media player and CD burning application, Siren Jukebox Deluxe. With Siren Jukebox Deluxe, you can record audio and data CDs, rip music tracks to your computer in WAV, WMA, or MP3 formats, and, of course, play audio CDs. The application includes integrated EQ, reverb, and time-stretching parameters, the latter of which allows you to play a song at various speeds while maintaining its correct pitch--an invaluable aid for musicians.

Screenblast Music Studio combines an assortment of semi-professional tools, a slick interface, and a cool mix of loops at a reasonable price, and is therefore recommended to home-based audiophiles and musicians. --Gordon Goble