Sony ACID Music Studio 8 2011 Release (PC)

If you visit the Acid Software pages on the Sony Creative web site you will see that this is the middle of three offerings. There is a free version of Acid called Xpress 7 which will suit many home users who just want to add music to their videos (or create standalone tracks) with some simple edits. Like Movie Studio 10, Xpress 7 is limited to 10 audio tracks - for some people this will simply not be enough. There is also a professional edition called Acid Pro 7, which costs considerably more and has a raft of additional pro-level features. Both Music Studio 8 and Acid Pro 7 allow unlimited audio tracks.

There is no obvious significant difference between Music Studio 8 '2011 Release' and the 2010 version, other than the way in which they are marketed.

Packaged on the CD are the following extras:
- "British Valve Custom" from Studio Devil, this is a freeware add-on to emulate an amp so you can totally rock out;
- "Amber Lite" from TruePianos, a free Soft Synth module for grand pianos;
- A folder called "Content" which contains over 3,100 loops, sounds, music, project files and DLS instruments.
Sony now also provide a voucher code in the box which allows you to download a "Sony Sound Series" loop library.

Bearing in mind I purchased this software to edit together several files into one, I was impressed with the simple philosophy behind the working area. The asset browser (the panel is called "Explorer") in the lower left of the Studio window allows you to locate sound files which can then be previewed, and when files are added to the current project a new channel is automatically created in the work area. The one criticism I would have is that the space allotted to the asset browser is not very generous and you might need to un-dock it to a second monitor to improve your work flow. All the panels in the working area can be dragged to move them elsewhere and can be "ripped" off the dockable area and dragged outside the application window to be placed elsewhere on a desktop, which is very handy. Music Studio shares a considerable portion of its interface design with Vegas which meant that I was able to pick up a lot of how it works very quickly indeed without having to use the help system or tutorials.

Music Studio allows the use of VST plugins and ships with the Sony Preset Manager. In terms of actually making music you really have - very broadly speaking - two options: loop editing and DLS composition. Any audio file can be "drawn" onto a channel in the main editing panel as a loop and can then be repeated endlessly, chopped and changed, or exposed to a variety of effects from graphical equalisation to autotuning (google "GSnap" for a free autotune plugin).
DLS (downloadable sounds) instruments allow you to essentially compose music with industry standard virtual instruments. I personally found this tiresome and laborious using a keyboard and mouse but I can see how it would benefit people who want to digitally compose with a MIDI keyboard controller or drum pad set, and I can envision situations where I won't be able to find a sound sample that meets my needs and might elect to construct one from DLS sounds instead, so it's great to have that option of software synthesis available at such a low cost. There is a separate manual provided on the Music Studio CD which gives a brief introduction and quick starter tutorial for DLS Instruments.

One of the best things about this package is similar to the major strength of Vegas Movie Studio - namely, that it really doesn't care what your source is or how you want to use and abuse it. Too many software packages demand source files be provided in a particular format and get treated in a particular way, Music Studio however has a very laid back attitude and as long as it's physically possible you can pretty much do what you want, which obviously has implications for your ability to express yourself creatively. You're not encumbered by arbitrary restrictions in the software, which is exactly how all creative software should be built. Supported formats are as follows:
Import: AAC, AIFF, AVI, BMP, FLAC, GIF, JPG, MIDI, MP3, OGG, PCA, QuickTime®, SFA, TGA, TIF, W64, WAV, WMA, WMV.
Export: AAC, AIFF, AVI, FLAC, MP3, OGG, PCA, QuickTime®, RealAudio(tm), RealVideo(tm), W64, WAV, WMA, WMV.

In summary, Music Studio is very similar to Vegas Movie Studio in that it has a massive range of usefulness. Although it is not the most intuitive thing for a novice to get to grips with I would recommend it to everyone from newbies to enthusiasts simply because as your knowledge and capability grows, you'll find that you don't outgrow Music Studio. It is very much a software package with hidden depths.

For the price this software is excellent if you want to do loop based sequencing. You get hundreds of cool loops to choose from and you can very quickly make a song that sounds professional as the loops are excellent not dull and lifeless like other sequencing programs I have tried...they actually have a lot of imagination behind them and sound unique and exciting and on top of that you get a free download of a loops pack of your choice from a range of genre's too add to your library. One cool feature I like is you can import an MP3 and it will figure out the BPM and add it to your mix perfectly sequenced and in time with the rest of the track...great for making mixes. Cutting up loops to just extract a certain part of them and using this to create your own beats etc is incredibly easy if you want to go a bit further with the initial sample. Once I start using this software I just lose track of time and can spend hours just creating music so easily. I love it.

For the price this is a great little learning tool. I would advise an Audio Interface so that you can monitor the music you are trying to record though. The first track is easy, but without the audio interface you cannot hear the next track you try to record. It is teaching me a lot for the money.