Sony's new automagic music maker!

[.jon]

- 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??

[snooky]

yaay...I can't wait for the flood of sony music in teh tarnce forums!

[farlukar]

ROyAlTy-FREE THEmES
no loops to stack up or complicated licensing
fees to drain your budget. Multigenre, royaltyfree
production music is just minutes away.
Cinescore software includes one DVD featuring
two complete Theme Packs perfect for action
sequences, weddings, corporate presentations,
family vacations, and much more. Each Theme
automatically generates an unlimited number of
different arrangements and variations.

Band-in-a-box SUPER-PRO

[RJ Fielder]

Guess this is Sony's version of SonicFire.

[Kingston]

looks like a band-in-a-box rehash to me.

[DaveSmom]

Now I can be the next Mylo

[Rangtangtang]

The Porno movie industry may find use for this?

[dougsyo]

The Porno movie industry may find use for this?

I've read of guys that have made some decent money scoring for porn. I don't know that they have to watch the movie to write the music (it would be distracting to me).

Doug

[headquest]

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.

[Hovmod]

Bad news for ChordSpace Playa, I suppose...

[Sepheritoh]

I don't think there is much new in this concept. Band-in-a-box has been mentioned many times here above. It has been around as long as midi itself. JMT has also a pretty usefull product. In a way Musiclab product does it as well with one instrument per plug-in.

The use of production house loops has probably done more damage to music than BIAB and what this product will do. In my estimation the damage was less than 0.001%.

I base this estimation on the fact that before BIAB I have not sold a single piece of my music to anybody. After BIAB was incented I also have not sold anything yet, but I almost sold something one and I did give away many songs for free.

[RWA]

I base this estimation on the fact that before BIAB I have not sold a single piece of my music to anybody. After BIAB was incented I also have not sold anything yet, but I almost sold something one and I did give away many songs for free.

You should've used BIAB then!

".........but I almost sold something....... "

Me too.
I also almost put fire to something. But I didn't.
I almost bought 200 nuclear bombs and blew the hell out of our entire galaxy! But I didn't.

[headquest]

Back when I worked in a bookshop I almost slept with Julia Roberts. But in the end I decided to go and see Notting Hill at the movies instead.

[.jon]

I'm not familiar with any bands in boxes, but I think this is not a cool product. If you make a movie and need to skimp on the music budget, just ask for a hobbyist to do it.

[headquest]

I'm not familiar with any bands in boxes, but I think this is not a cool product. If you make a movie and need to skimp on the music budget, just ask for a hobbyist to do it.

The problem there is "turnaround" though I guess. A hobbyist might take an age to get the job done, especially if they have a time consuming day job and/or family life.

For an extreem example, after Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackman naturally hired Howard Shore to do the music for King Kong... but wasn't happy with the results. Just days before the international release he fired him and got in somebody else to compose and record a new score from scratch.

Okay, so that's an extreem end, professional big bux situation, but in TV, broadcast media, and film world composers often have a very short amount of time to produce all the music to meet the often quite specific requiments of the producer.

The idea of automatically generating music according to a few criteria will unfortunately appeal to a lot of people. This is sadly the way a lot of non-musicians view music as a commodity.

<end of rant>