Since Sony bought the Acid family of music software from its creator Sonic Foundry, the product range has increased and the various programs have become more powerful and easier to use.

The latest version, Acid Music Studio 7, builds on the fine foundation of the previous version by adding a chorus of new features.

It’s still easy to use, sticking with the technique of painting loops of music. In practice, that means you select an audio file from the supplied DVD and drag it on to an audio channel.

You can then make that sample repeat by clicking and dragging the edge of the file. That’s a very easy way to loop drum or bass patterns, or any of the 3,000 or so loops included on the DVD.

That’s an impressive amount and they cover a wide range of instruments and genres. So, for example, there are drum loops and within those are different loops for acoustic, dance, urban and electronic drum kits. That means it's possible to assemble an original song based entirely on arranging and editing the loops provided by Sony.

Users can also import their own audio, whether that’s from a CD, MP3 or video file (though you have to buy an add-on to extract audio from some types of video). When songs are imported as MP3s, the Beatmapper Wizard can find the correct speed of the song and adjust the other loops accordingly. In practice, this is very difficult to get just right, but it’s very easy to use. Music can easily be exported to CD or MP3.

As well as arranging and editing audio samples, there are the more traditional Midi options, including over 1,000 samples on the disc. There’s even the ability to record your own playing, given suitable hardware.
It’s a very slick and easy-to-use program, with few flaws. We did experience some stability problems, but even after crashing our work wasn’t lost, as the program was able to restore it. If there’s a major criticism, it’s that the supplied loops aren’t terribly inspiring, but then half the challenge is in creating your own music.

Vista compatible: Yes