Apple Soundtrack

Whether you’re a professional or an amateur DJ, Apple Soundtrack makes creating music a breeze. Let’s plunge into this and find what it has to offer.

You do not need to hunt for music to use this as the Soundtrack comes with a DVD that contains over 4000 royalty free loops for use. There is a search engine that searches through these loops by instrument, genre and mood. 

Easy drag and drop functionality makes the learning curve of the software really small. The interface is divided into two parts, the media manager and the project workspace that can be either clubbed together or can be viewed as two different windows. The media manager provides three different tabs for managing the media: the file browser, favorites and search. 

The sound loops from the library can be previewed using the loop preview window in the media manager. It can be previewed in the same tempo as the track being played even before the loop is added to the timeline. Once the loop is selected it can be dragged onto the timeline, and it blends seamlessly into the soundtrack. The timeline also offers various options for the track, eg panning, volume, etc.

The software has a function that allows the user to compose for video also. You can import the video in QuickTime format and view it in real-time and compose the score for the same as well. 

Soundtrack offers more than 30 sound effects, in the form of plug-ins that can be extended by third party developers. 

S N   A   P   S   H O   T
Price	:	Rs 19,200
Key Specs	:	Easy to use, free loops and effects facilitate development
Contact	:	Apple Computer, Bangalore.
Tel	:	5550575.
E-mail	:	deepanshu@asia.apple.com

The project at the end can be exported at up to 24-bit, 96kHz resolution. It also allows you to export the video track with the music in a QuickTime file. The other export options include MP3, Stereo Aiff and wav. 

The Last Word



Though this software has great features, my wish list would have been complete if there was a ripping facility from the CD, that lets you use sounds recorded as CD audio directly into the timeline. As right now the user will have to use iTunes to rip the CDs.

Another feature that could be missed is the direct support for 5.1 channel sound which is currently in huge demand with the coming of DVD video/audio. All said and done, it is a great asset for web designers and amateurs DJs alike.

Geetaj Channana