Making music on computers has come a long way from the weak bleeps of FM synthesis Midi, just how far is amply shown by Magix Music Maker 12. Priced well within the reach of the curious, it is capable of good results for both beginners and experienced musicians.

Music Maker is now supplied on DVD, so there is no disc swapping required to access the large collection of samples as in past versions. Having said that, the DVD is not the most responsive of media and a way to copy DVDs onto the hard disk would be preferable.

There are plenty of new features in version 12 in terms of both samples and instruments. The Magix Vital Instruments set are very realistic and a long way from the poor Midi squeaks of yesteryear. There are also more export options including uploading your own podcasts.

Where Music Maker 12 Deluxe really excels is in helping beginners get going. The Song Maker is a good way of learning how to use the software and getting inspiration. This one-step wizard is used to select a style, set of instruments and duration – Music Maker then creates a song accordingly. The results obviously can't match human inspiration, but it’s a good place to start.

Starting out from scratch is a simple process. There are several different ways of creating a drum track, from building an arrangement to specifying a style in the Livid drum machine. Music can be entered with a Midi keyboard and there are special low-latency drivers supplied to improve recording of the music.

There are some aspects of the program that may frustrate those with a solid background in musical theory. Samples are arranged by pitch, so it is easy to choose samples that work with each other, but they are numbered rather than described by key or pitch, making it harder to follow a particular chord progression. Recording instruments is also a little limited, but this is more the area of Magix Music Studio.

It’s worth noting that, during testing, we had a couple of stability problems when Music Maker crashed when asked to produce a track longer than four minutes.

This aside, Music Maker 12 Deluxe from Magix is a great way to get started in the world of computer music.

Also consider:
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Ableton Live 6
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Sony Acid XMC 6
Although Acid XMC is a no-frills product, it is still capable of producing good-quality recordings

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