Songsmith is Stupid

Sorry about the lack of updates, but life gets busy sometimes.

So, Microsoft has this new piece of software out called "Songsmith". Basically, it will adjust the music to match the pitch of your voice. Sounds like a kids toy? Yeah probably, but I decided I wanted a couple of hours to fuck around with it.

The problem is getting to that "couple of hours". First, I primarily run Linux. Second, my Windows 2000 partition bluescreens about every hour or so. Third, it apparently requires Windows XP and higher to run. Fourth, the download comes as a .msi file instead of a simple .exe file. Fifth, it requires the .NET 3.0 framework. Sixth, it requires you to have Service Pack 2 installed. Therefore, achieving a simple couple of hours to play with a measley (100MB) piece of software is a challenge in itself. And people say that using Linux is too bloody difficult! The only reason Linux is so hard to use is that the geeks at the computer store install Windows for you! Microsoft products are also quite unfriendly to install, requiring one to babysit it because it will ask you questions throughout the install. At least I can browse the net while Ubuntu Linux installs. But enough bitching...

Anyway, I can't install Songsmith with WINE, I can't install it in Win2k, so I need to install XP on my spare computer, install the .NET 3.0 framework, SP2, and then install the 100MB file. Oh yeah, and it's only a demo copy which is crippled, causing me to wonder if all this pain is worth installing a piece of broken software simply to play with it. Oh well, I've done stupider things....

Songsmith's interface leaves something to be desired. What, I'm not sure, but it feels like an incredibly confusing kid's toy that took me about half an hour to figure out, yet the commercial boasts that it's easy to use.

When I click on the mixer button and try to change the nice Midi instruments into something else, the sound seems to fuck off whenever I select "electric guitar". The only way to get the sound back is to restart the program. In other words, it's your typical buggy Microsoft-ware.

So, was the result worth the time and pain of the installation? Check it out for yourself:



Songsmith sounds about as good as my Mom's Kawaii organ, manufactured in 1974 when Moog was the 'in thing'. As far as it being a musician's tool, it's fucking retarded. If you can't come up with your own ideas without a piece of kid's software, then you have no talent and shouldn't be writing songs.

Oh yeah, and thanks to Warner Fucking Music Group, This is my second attempt at doing one of these mashups. The original (Sherry by The Four Seasons) got nuked because the shit-heads at WMG decided they owned the copyright for this piece of shit I put together. WMG can suck a dick festering with genital herpes.