The Importance of Using a Tuner: Finding Your Perfect Pitch
Music is a beautiful language, but like any language, it relies on clear communication. Just like people speaking the same language can do so with different accents to their voice so too can musicians play the same note but with slight changes in the way it sounds. The pitch may be a bit high or a bit low, and over the centuries musicians have come up with ways to analyze these differences so that multiple musicians can better "play in tune." Just as proper grammar and pronunciation are essential for understanding spoken words, playing in tune is paramount for creating harmonious music. This is where the tuner comes in. For the beginner (or even the more advanced musician) it can be a vital tool for developing accuracy of pitch.
Scroll down to view the comparison chart of over a dozen different portable digital audio recorders.
The Overture music notation system is another in a long line of lesser known but well designed music writing programs for the PC. Selling for around $250 the Overture system provides most of the same functionality and capabilities as Finale or Sibelius but does so in a lighter, somewhat easier to use package. Is it worth the $250 price tag? Read on to find out.
Finale 2011 brings with it a smattering of new and improved features, mostly focused on the areas of fonts, lyrics, and staff management. After seeing the changes first hand we will try to answer the question, is it really worth it to upgrade to Finale 2011?
MakeMusic has a long and venerable history of making great music notation software for professionals. One thing that is often forgotten is that they also do a very good job of packaging their music writing software into very effective consumer level products as well. Finale Songwriter is no exception to this rule, and the latest version of the program adds features that help it maintain its value in the midst of many other competing products.
When I received a copy of O-Generator in the mail I didn’t really know what to expect. After a few days of playing with it and delving into the tutorials I found that although I was impressed with the ideas behind it, the O-Generator is far from perfect. This review will touch on what I found to be the more positive aspects of the software as well as some drawbacks that teachers should be aware of when considering it as a classroom tool.
SmartMusic has come a long way since its humble (and occasionally buggy) beginnings so many years ago. The newest version of SmartMusic Studio (SmartMusic 2010) is an exponential leap forward in convenience, not just from the early versions, but even from the more recent 
Auralia is a very full featured aural training software program used to help musicians develop their listening skills. The software contains hundreds of exercises in a variety of different topics from scale recognition to intervals and many more.
There are literally dozens of audio editing products available on the market these days ranging from very expensive down to very free. In that lineup of software one product seems to stand out not because of what it can or cannot do, but because of the fact that what it does it does better than any other piece of software that this reviewer has ever used. The Song Surgeon audio editor is not a swiss army knife application. The company has focused its attention on doing some very audio editing tasks, and doing them very, very well.
