Let me start by saying I am NOT a musician. Some of my friends from church might also
tell you that I can't sing a note or stay on key. That said, I do love music and have
aspired to set my poetry to music for years. I write great lyrics, but I don't read or
write sheet music, so even if I got an idea for a melody, I'd be hard-pressed to document
it.
The folks from Aspire Software sent me a copy of Music Masterworks,
and being non-musical, I did not feel like I was an appropriate person to evaluate their
software. But when I installed their product and started looking it over, I was intrigued
by a feature called Voice to MIDI Notes.
Let me back-up a minute. Music
Masterworks allows you to graphically write a musical score on screen by
dragging and dropping notes onto a blank music sheet (yes, you can print this, too). You
can select and try different types of instruments ranging from faithful MIDI reproductions
of a Grand Piano to Birds Tweeting. It's a rather impressive range of classical orchestra
instruments to neat sound effects. You can create multiple tracks with different
instruments to create a very rich band or orchestra sound. It's simply amazing. All with a
drag and drop, clickable interface. I know nothing about music, but soon I was writing
complex musical scores destined for greatness (OK, maybe it's not destined for greatness).
But back to this Voice to MIDI Notes feature. If you have a sound card with headphones
and microphone hooked up to your system, you can actually hum a tune, record it, have the
system write the sheet music for it, and play it back. I remember watching Sting in his
band documentary movie, "Bring On The Night," doing this while playing on the
piano. As he was playing and singing, the score was being written automatically on screen.
In those days, such a system would probably cost you a mint, but Music Masterworks
only costs $25.00. Amazing. Simply amazing.
So while I may not be a musician, I can now hum (off-key or not) into my microphone and
begin to try to write music for my lyrics. I'm not going to sell the farm and hope for a
Top 40 hit, but at least I can dream. Music Masterworks may be what you are looking for,
too. Try a free demo here.
