Cakewalk Groovemaker Max

by CAKEWALK MUSIC SOFTWARE

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00002S6HT
• Item model number: 10-CWGX1.10-10C
• Date first available at Amazon.com: May 10, 2002
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,564 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Now you don't have to wonder where the next rave will be. It's wherever you want, whenever you want. And you're the DJ. GrooveMaker is the revolutionary music software for creating hypnotic, nonstop electronic dance tracks. It puts you at the controls of the music. It's your mix, and it all happens in real time.

Just pick a drum groove. Layer on some loops. Change the tempo while the music never stops. Then save it all as a new remix. GrooveMaker comes with drum grooves, synth pads, sound effects, and ambient loops that keep the music going all night. Experiment with over 80 million possible groove combinations in every style. Even randomize your grooves on the fly to keep the crowd guessing. Whatever style turns you on--techno, jungle, progressive, dub, ambient, acid, Eurohouse, drum'n'bass--it's all possible with GrooveMaker.

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Enter GrooveMaker, IK Multimedia's groove-generating program that's bound to make the computing world a little hipper. Unleash the funky DJ within by composing high-quality dance grooves using the CD of sample loops, Dancity. The CD features over 500 samples of acoustic and analog instruments; GrooveMaker provides an eight-track stereo player, sequencer, virtual synthesizer, and import-export capability.

Getting started is one major setback. Although the interfaces are slick and cyber-looking, the operation isn't intuitive to anyone familiar with standard audio apps. The online manual explains it, but you can't access the manual within the program.

Once we got a grasp of how the program worked, its ease of use impressed us. The creation process consists of three sections: Virtual Synth Arpeggiator, GrooveMaker, and GrooveSequencer. A fourth section, V-Mix, serves as a groove randomizer (a virtual DJ).

First you load a song from Dancity. A song is a collection of eight-bar sample loops that share similar qualities such as sample rates (22kHz or 44kHz) and instrumental character. From techno to house, songs provide millions of sample editing and layering possibilities. You can also import sounds to layer.

The GrooveMaker section (the eight-track player) is where you construct and color a groove. Layer up to eight different samples; you control individual volumes, pans, and beats per minute and hear your creation in real time. The high-quality sample loops are classified as bass, bass drums, sound effects, melody lines, drum loops, synthesizer pads, or percussion elements. Saved grooves are the building blocks of your final mix.

You can also add instrumentation with Virtual Synth Arpeggiator. This three-octave keyboard lets you create phrases by selecting notes, which play in looped, sequenced succession from a choice of 99 voicings. Unfortunately, you can't create your own freeform melody line.

When you've saved enough grooves, glue them together in GrooveSequencer; you can insert them in any order and repeat them as many times as you want. You're limited to a 25-groove (200-bar) sequence, so you can't compile an extended dance mix (unless you export sequences into another audio recording program). If you're not a groove master, use V-Mix to produce a complete set of groove mixes automatically.

GrooveMaker wins points for giving the musically uninitiated a tool they can use. Though you can't fully edit loops, stray beyond the regulated eight bars, or access standard effects such as reverb or delay, the import and export capabilities let you further your work in progress. Kris Fong

Good News: You don't need to know anything about music or recording to explore this program. Bad News: Interface's learning curve doesn't promote immediate musical gratification.

Rating:3/4

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