Music Prototyping

What it's all about

Conventional software like DAWs and notation programs are primarily tools for recording and production. The music you are arranging is static from the start. Only through painstaking detail work can you change harmony, style, expression and narrative structure, for example, to break new ground and experiment with alternative ideas, approaches and genres. Often, the frustration that comes with this confinement leads to a dead end and a piece is never completed.

Music Prototyping allows you to try out all kinds of things on a higher musical level without having to commit to a static result at an early stage. Music is dynamically compiled from reusable components that you can freely edit and replace at any time. Even with extensive compositions, you can still make far-reaching changes after the fact to obtain fresh new ideas.

  • Build music from elements that can be generated, sketched, collected and combined in ever new ways.
  • Listen to results immediately and assess them more objectively.
  • Get inspiration from many happy accidents and surprises.
  • Master all the instrumental parts that breathe life into your music.
  • Discover musical styles beyond your routine and habits.
  • Escape writer's block.

Music Prototyping can also break up your routine in an exciting new way and give rise to fresh ideas and new motivation.

Rendering Music From Models

The rendering of Music Prototyping works somewhat like Computer Generated Imagery (CGI), where individual pictures (frames) are generated from 3D models, textures and light sources. Likewise, Synfire renders MIDI output from models by mapping Figure against Harmony and many other dynamic parameters. Altering any of these parameters leads to different music output.

Any Style

Some popular music apps are custom-tailored to a specific style of music and put an emphasis on entertainment value and instant gratification. They are fun to use, but the music pretty much sounds all the same.

Synfire is not hard-wired to a specific style and workflow. It is an extremely deep and powerful tool. We could have flattened the learning curve by baking in a lot of assumptions about workflow and style, but we didn't want to do that at the expense of artistic freedom. Take your time to make yourself familiar with this powerful tool. It will get second nature sooner than you might think.

Your Decisions

Synfire can inspire you with a permanent stream of new ideas. The ultimate creative decisions however are yours to make: Which style to choose, which of the many emerging elements to keep or discard, which path to take from first draft to finished score. And most importantly, to learn and understand the intricacies of your particular genre.