Music MasterWorks

Music making is greatly enhanced by a modern computer, especially since it can be equipped with an abundance of applications like Music MasterWorks. It gives you the possibility to either use different MIDI devices to capture sound, or simply place notes on a staff or piano roll.

On the visual side of things, the application might seem a little difficult to use at first, given there’s plenty of empty space and a few tools in plain sight. However, with a little patience, you quickly get the hang of it, even with all the variety of options found in menus.

In case no audio input device is connected, the application relies on the Windows built-in MIDI sound library, which means you are able to us an abundance of different MIDI instruments and effects. You can use external WAV files, or even start recording with a microphone through the built-in recorder.

The upper toolbar is where you get to select the notes you want to play, as well as the environment in which to place them. A drop down menu lets you quickly switch to either a piano roll or staff view, with the creation process being similar.

Different notes are at your disposal, as well as corresponding features, such as tempo, options to transpose, quantize, and more. Several additional tools might make work a bit easier, such as the option to play changed notes on hesitation, which can create a sort of delay in the creation process when left on.

Music MasterWorks also lets you configure general options that relate to staff and piano rolls. This means you are able to set piano type, quarter length do display, types of text, as well as color changing options.

Taking everything into consideration, we can say that Music MasterWorks is a practical MIDI music creation utility. Although the visual design is not its strongest feature, and can get a bit tricky at times, it manages to put a decent amount of tools at your disposal, being pretty easy to use once you get the hang of it.