MAGIX Music Maker 2016 Live

My 16 year old son makes music. He is a songwriter, sings and plays guitar, uke, and piano/keyboard. He is always looking for better microphones and music software. This software is fun and fairly easy to use for someone new to music making. The pre-recorded sounds make it quick and easy to put a song together. Once thing I was excited by was that the program can easily record your own vocals and instrumental arrangements. However, the editing is a bit clunky. My son is still struggling with how to do vocal overlays and how to edit just parts of the song or even cut them out completely. He has a laptop that is a couple years old now, but is built to handle music and video and we had no problem running this software. One thing I will say is that this is NOT professional recording quality. Some of my sons other software programs do a better job of creating polished and clear recordings.

Im a long time DJ, podcaster and amateur but budding electronic music producer. Ive slowly began learning various Digital Audio Workstations (D.A.W.) over the past 2 years but have never used Magix software before. Primarily I used FL Studio but in the beginning I found it very overwhelming and complex so I was looking for something simpler. Although reviews seem to be mixed I thought I would give MAGIX Music Maker 2016 Live a try. Here are my thoughts;

I’ve used other similar software in the past quite successfully but this Magic is confusing, poorly structured, too many pop up ads and not worth the money.

Its the real deal with the newer features relative to the 2022 version, but we are left without Beatbox 2 and imposed the piano reel style sequencer which I have always disliked.

When I was offered this software to tryout and write a review for, I at first wasnt going to take them up on the offer. Ive had some experience with a couple previous versions of Magixs music software (Music Studio 5 & 7) and for reasons I dont remember never made much use of them. But Im glad I did accept the offer. I dont know if my attitude has changed or that the software is just that much better than before (probably a combination of the two). I will say this after having tried this software, if I hadnt gotten a free copy of it I would have gladly paid for it.

Ive been using this app for a couple of days now. Ill say at the outset that Im working on a machine with an I7 Processor and 16GB Ram, so my machine can easily handle the demands of this application. What Ive found is a very easy to use and remarkably powerful recording application. Its terrific for making background tracks for tutorials and home videos. There is an enormous library of pre-made sounds to choose from which can be added to tracks with a simple drag and drop. Once added, you can split audio objects, change pitch and tempo, and custom fit them to your needs. In addition you can set up your keypad to work as a keyboard, or if you have an electronic keyboard use that to play music. If you are a singer or a player yourself, you can connect your guitar, vocal mic, or other instrument to your computer and record live sounds as well.

A lot of people are harsh about this product, but for a basic mixing app, I felt it was pretty darn good for beginners. Out of the box, not reading any directions, I was able to put together a mashup of the included beat loops along with clips from my own audio .wav and .mp3 files. Had the whole thing mixed and saved in half an hour. I recommend watching the tutorials on the Magix website, as that made me aware of features I hadnt discovered on my own.

My daughter has a youtube channel and she can never use music without it being flagged as copywritten by youtube. This software helps her create light music (or dark) for her videos without having to worry about copyrights. Its easy to use and suits her purposes just fine!

This was a 2-star experience, but due to what may be user idiocy, I gave an extra star. Ive used music software before, so I thought I can pick this up quickly, but no... Maybe thats because Ive been a long-time Mac user; therefore, using a PC installed with a Windows operating system adds to the pain. At least this installed on a Windows 10 machine.

The Good - The 15 Virtual Instruments are beyond reproach. The best ones are not listed on the box. They call them Object Synthesizers. One is a Groove box called BeatBox 2 that would stand against Rolands vintage GrooveBoxes. Another great VST is the Loop Designer. A Drum and Bass Beat Powerhouse. The presets for the VSTs shown on the box are Phenomenal. Namely DN-e1 and Revolta2. If the package only contained these items it would be worth every penny.