Microsoft releases Songsmith: Karaoke in reverse

Microsoft Research on Thursday is releasing software that gives musicians, both casual and professional, a new way to speed up song development. Called Songsmith, the $29.99 application creates musical accompaniment based on whatever is sung into the computer's microphone.

In order to do this, the software processes the pitch and tone of what's recorded and lets users hear how it might sound if they had a little backup in the form of a virtual piano, drums, and keyboard. Microsoft is expecting them to use the new track either as inspiration for further song development or as a simple way to create karaoke-quality recordings for friends and family members.

The software lets users change the feel of a song completely using various sliders that adjust mood, volume levels, tempo and what instruments are being used. Users are also able to purchase additional instruments from Garritan for a small fee that can drastically change the way a track sounds. Each purchased instrument comes wrapped in a special installer that automatically adds it to Songsmith. Dan Morris of Microsoft Research tells me there may eventually be a marketplace for other sample providers, although for now the software is using it exclusively because of its the only compatible format.

Songsmith lets you simply sing into your computer's microphone to hear what it would sound like if you had a back-up band.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

Songsmith is starting out as a digital download only, and will be available from Microsoft's recently launched digital downloads store front. Morris says there are no current plans to make the software part of a larger suite of music oriented products from Microsoft. Competitor Apple has offered a slightly similar feature in its Garageband software that gives you virtual band mates that can accompany you as you record music with an in-line microphone, however each of the instruments must be programmed by the user.

One interesting thing to note is that the technology is fully capable of providing automated accompaniment in near real-time. Morris says the only hurdle there is that the programming does all its magic by seeing where users are going with a melody and compensating accordingly. Morris also says a Web based version of the software could be possible later on down the line, although development in that area has been slowed down due to latency and recording quality bottlenecks.

Embedded below are before and after clips of what Songsmith is capable of. As mentioned before, to change the sound of this song users simply need to adjust a slider or two.

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[ramzabelouvant]

29.99$?
Any Reference of Other Freeware Like This?

[Josh.Lowensohn]

Dunno, but the free trial nets you 6 hours of recording time before it cuts you off. Assuming you just want to give it a spin that should be more than enough.

[t8]

Wow another piece of innovation from Bloatsoft.

[GraphiteCube]

I see an alternative.

[rapier1]

Ummm... how is this not pretty innovative?

[zcollvee]

FANTASTIC!

[dascha1]

Fiddle me this... does MS get what appreciable investment means, yet? If this is their answer, for all, then I expect them to use it for their films, commercials, games, and global health solutions. Their stock should always go against the trend of others as well, sort of the new 'Findway'...

Good luck

[karpenterskids]

Wow, it actually sounds decent!
And if one can change the chord that the program plays behind a certain segment of voice, (which, from looking at the screenshot, looks possible) then I'm a potential customer.

[monkeyfun14]

Why is it if Apple came up with something like this people would think its great but since MS did it people think its garbage.

[pcfish]

Because it (usually) is.

[quikboy2]

It's because people use double standards when they have a love for a particular brand, and ignorance about another.

@pcfish: If you think almost all Microsoft stuff is garbage, then you'd have to wonder why so many people use it if there's alternatives.

the thing which i don't understand is, that why microsoft keep charging againt lite software, for example microsoft made necessary to have a licence to download windows media player 11.x b, AND one can find that there are lot free ware available which are even better if we compare windows media player 11.x with others. Naveed Abdullah Karachi Pakistan.

[quikboy2]

Songsmith seems cool, hate the name though. Wish Microsoft would create an actual professional audio recording software.

[bugsbonzai]

This software is going to cause a glut of bland, midi-sounding, craptastic amateur musicals. When will software companies like Microsoft learn it's not about lowering the bar for all consumers, but raising the bar for the demographic that's passionate?

By making lame, emotionless background songs accessible to anyone, they are obscuring real talent, creating a huge glut of mediocrity to sift through to find the quality, and diluting and confusing the musical tastes of a generation.

Did YouTube increase the quality of available video? No. It just gave millions of talentless amateurs a forum to glut the industry and make it more difficult to find the good stuff. This kind of software does the same thing for music: creates a huge collection of mediocrity, talent optional.

[Sam Papelbon]

no. it WOULD do that, if the recording industry hadn't already. it's certainly another nail in the coffin, not that it isn't air-tight by now... but whatever

[kolding]

Stupidest MS product since Bob.

[galenaway]

In the reviews I've read, folks seem to either love the idea of Songsmith or they loathe it. There doesn?t seem to many comments in between.

I actually downloaded and tried it. Both my kids (8 and 11) loved it. Yes, their songs are terrible, but luckily, no one outside the family needs to hear them. They were able to write their own songs without adult intervention or even music classes in just a couple of minutes of fiddling.

Are the songs bland? Yes - but to be fair, anything kids write will very likely be bland. However, this does help the kids be creative. Since music isn't taught much in schools anymore (neither my son's grade school nor my daughters middle school offer music); this is a nice gentle introduction to making music. It's already spawned a couple of music theory discussion. In addition, my kids have noticed that writing good songs is hard. That makes it worth the download.

Given the target audience for this product (kids and teens), I think this product is very fun and stealthily educational. That?s a good combination. I think Microsoft research should be proud of Songsmith.

Will I pay $29 for it? That depends on if the kids are still using it after the trial is up.