Sony's new automagic music maker!

[filkertom]

I'd be a lot more impressed if Blue Ribbon Soundworks hadn't come out with SuperJam and Microsoft Music Producer over ten years ago. (Both of which you can conveniently download at my site, http://www.musicmachines.net.)

[Hink]

I sometimes wonder whether, before long, people won't actually care about music at all, because it will have become so dumbed-down as a commodity that there will be no personality or passion left in it...

... I think this product is very SAD.

I'm sorry but I disagree, I think it will be one step closer to those who perform their parts and practice once again gaining the recognition they work hard to get. I think it will make some things seem so generic that otherwise unnoticed inconsistencies in ones playing will define the performers "character" and style. Which I think will give the artists their own identity. On the other side of the coin, it will give non-performing musicians greater appreciation of music and insight to learning. I think eventually most people who only use such software as hobbyists will get bored and incorporate live instruments (via session players), learn to play an instrument or give up. It will hurt those who now make a living doing session work though for movies and such, but even that will likely come full circle sooner or later.

[Hovmod]

Not enough presets.

[nuffink]

- press release from my inbox:

Sony Media Software Unveils Cinescore Soundtracking
Rewrites Economics of Custom Audio Composition for Independent Productions
Monday, April 24, 2006

LAS VEGAS, NV (NAB South Hall, Sony Booth #SU107) — Sony Media Software, a leading provider of professional video and audio editing software applications, has announced the launch of Cinescore™ software, a new concept in music creation technology that automatically generates complete custom soundtracks for movie makers, audio producers and other content creators who require royalty-free music to enhance and enrich their work.

Cinescore software provides content creators with a broad palette of musical themes that can be customized to match the specific moods and genres of the surrounding work. Producers select a basic Theme, then the Cinescore music generation engine creates music that can be shaped to fit. The music's time and tempo, intensity, variation and repetition can be easily connected with associated video or voiceover down to frame level accuracy to create the perfect soundtrack without requiring any specialized musical knowledge or technical skill.

"Cinescore makes the thrill of music creation more accessible than ever before providing virtually anyone working in any creative medium the ability to add the crucial dimension of custom audio composition to their projects," said Dave Chaimson, vice president of Marketing for Sony Media Software. "The power and versatility of this unique software enables the expanding market of professional, semi-professional and aspiring digital content creators to produce fully finished pieces instead of having to settle for rough cuts with inadequate soundtracks because of the expense or expertise previously required to craft them."

Chaimson also noted that Cinescore software comes complete with a core repertoire but can be augmented with a series of professionally produced and recorded Theme Packs to ensure a unique sound regardless of the scale of the project or projects. Listeners experience sound that is as fresh as the creative content it augments.

Behind this program's streamlined and familiar-looking Sony Media Software interface, the full range of powerful Cinescore features include real-time enhanced editing during playback and ripple editing functions that allow changes across multiple tracks simultaneously. Additional key features include:

* Automatically generates music to fit project length
* Includes 20 fully customizable Themes in multiple genres
* 16-bit, 44.1 kHz song quality for high-fidelity performance
* User-defined settings yield unlimited musical results
* Custom variations can be created and saved
* Hint markers control changes in tempo, mood, and intensity
* Multiple ending types for generated media
* Includes over 300 sound effects and audio transitions
* Themes sorted based on instruments, keywords, and more
* Video scoring track and real-time preview window
* Audio sweetening track
* Real-time editing during playback
* Interactive Show Me How tutorials and online help
* Volume and pan envelopes
* Audio time stretching
* Track markers and regions
* CD audio extraction
* External monitor preview
* Unlimited undo/redo
* Project media bins

Pricing and Availability

Cinescore software will be available worldwide through software stores and online retailers for US $249.95 (List Price). More information on the Cinescore product and the entire line of Sony Media Software applications can be found at www.sony.com/mediasoftware.

are they fuckin serious??

Sounds like Acid with a new sampleset.

[headquest]

Hey Hink! As you can see I'm back!

I'm sorry but I disagree. I think it will be one step closer to those who perform their parts and practice once again gaining the recognition they work hard to get. I think it will make some things seem so generic that otherwise unnoticed inconsistencies in ones playing will define the performers "character" and style. Which I think will give the artists their own identity. On the other side of the coin, it will give non-performing musicians greater appreciation of music and insight to learning. I think eventually most people who only use such software as hobbyists will get bored and incorporate live instruments (via session players), learn to play an instrument or give up. It will hurt those who now make a living doing session work though for movies and such, but even that will likely come full circle sooner or later.

I hear what you're saying and mostly agree that there is also this positive side to it (as well as the negative one I already noted!).

I have run short courses in Primary schools using the Dance eJay loop software to teach kids about xombining/mixing sounds and instruments, developing musical structures, etc. SOme of those kids have then gone on to take keybaord lessons with me, so it's true that using simple software can whet people's appetite to learn music *properly*.

Also I agree that many listeners do want personal character in the music they hear, hence the popularity of artists like Eva Cassidy and Norah Jones in recent years - a backlash against manufactured music, surely.

[spaceman]

The Porno movie industry may find use for this?

soundtrack.ini:

Instrument: 1 sax
Instrument: 2 GM drums
Genre: lazy jazz
Tempo: easy does it
Run

[Art Evans]

Pinnacle video editing software has had something of the sort for years.

[Rock Hardbuns]

Wha wha guitar and clavinet are the cornerstones of pr0n.

[headquest]

The Porno movie industry may find use for this?

soundtrack.ini:

Instrument: 1 sax
Instrument: 2 GM drums
Genre: lazy jazz
Tempo: easy does it
Run

[cptgone]

all we need now is Filmproducer in a Box and enough wood to burn all Hollywood directors, agents, producers, and Richard Gere.

[nuffink]

all we need now is Filmproducer in a Box and enough wood to burn all Hollywood directors, agents, producers, and Richard Gere.

Richard Gere not wooden enough?

[abi]

The use of production house loops has probably done more damage to music than...

excellent stuff!

[Sepheritoh]

The use of production house loops has probably done more damage to music than...

excellent stuff!

I did not regard that damage as cripling. I agree with Hink above that skills in playing an instrument well is values more since the computer generated music became a thing. Music styles have changed since the 80's, but while programmed drum machines was to be heard on every selfrespecting musician's music in the 80's, it is now almost regarded as a shame in many genres (e.g. rock).

[TotcProductions]

Yes, it's true, now YOU TOO Can sing and compose the corporate anthem!!! Next up from Sony will be "Automagic Barber"...it will cut your hair in accordance with the socialist lifestyle, royalty free!!! Say hello to bobbed hair for women and shaved heads for men as we usher in a new error of mass compliance and, together, wage war on the cancer that is creativity.




Sony makes me sad.
I like how they say "Sony Media Software, a leading provider of professional video and audio editing software applications..." They are absolutely right....Sony's never made a goddamned thing on their own...but they are very good at s"providing" smaller companies' technologies with their name on them.

[HHaynes]

This does read like ACID with a graphical UI.

There was a Mac product out last year that proports to do roughly the same thing. I don't think it will replace anything in the serious drama/feature category, but might be useful for industrial videos and such. I'm sure that there will be some directors that think they're "musically inclined" enough to use the "paint sound by numbers" approach. Still, it might be useful for directors to "temp" their picture with this tool so that the composer could have a very clear picture of where the hit points should be - so it might serve in that context too. If I could get a film without a Doors song or Carmina Burana temp'd in, I'd be a happy camper.

Bottom line, I think Sony has given up on the music-makers market and going full-on at video producers.