Feature Requests (Migrated from community.research.microsoft.com)

All replies

• 

  

  0

  Sign in to vote

  thinkstorm replied on 01-09-2009 12:41 PM

  Uh, I forgot one:

  • A tuning tone before starting to sing - I hate to have my songs in F#m, G# :), or something like that LOL

  Thursday, June 2, 2011 8:33 PM
• 

  

  0

  Sign in to vote

  dmorris replied on 01-09-2009 6:39 PM

  Every one of these suggestions is fantastic, and I can see _exactly_ where a more experienced user would want all of these.

  As with all feature requests, I can't promise we're going to make any changes in this or subsequent versions, but getting this kind of feedback is exactly what we need to inform us about what features will be most important if we do decide to release future versions of Songsmith.

  Most of these don't have easy workarounds, but here are a couple things you can try if you're looking for advanced solutions to some of these things:

  * Regarding selectively changing bars into two chords... one thing you can do is set the song to two chords per bar, then click on the second chord in whatever bars _shouldn't_ have two chords, delete the chord (just press 'delete', the chord will turn blank), and "lock" the blank chord, so Songsmith will never change it.  A blank chord means "keep the same chord as the previous one", so this is the same as selectively setting _just that bar_ to one chord per measure.

  * Regarding getting a "tuning tone"... a great way to do this if you're looking for a particular note (assuming you don't have an instrument handy) is to add a chord toan empty song, and type whatever chord you want to hear into that box.  Playing this little song will now play that chord for you, and you can sing along, then press "clean slate" right before you record your voice.
  

  Thanks, and happy Songsmith'ing!

   -Dan

  Thursday, June 2, 2011 8:33 PM
• 

  

  0

  Sign in to vote

  Marah replied on 01-09-2009 8:46 PM

   All of thinkstorm's suggestions are good ones. In addition, I'd like to see...

  - export vocal only
  - export individual instruments as separate wav files, with appropriate names
  - export MIDI tracks as separate .mid files, with appropriate names (though most DAWs will split them easily enough...)
  - much wider range of 'Suggest' alternate chords; ideally, the ability to type in a chord name; I'd think the engine is capable of playing any chord in any key?
  - a better range of guitar and kb sounds
  - ability to vary number of chords per measure within a song, rather than just having it fixed (I see there are workarounds for this in some cases)
  - loop-start and -end points.
  - repeat play (or am I just not seeing this option?)
  - ability to have multiple instances open, with different saved versions of the same SS song, and drag measures from one to the other
  - ability to print out a chord sheet, even if it was only a list (though a screen shot can always been taken)
  - ability to swap parts between instruments (drums to piano; bass to strings; etc.)
  - ability to hear vocal while auditioning changes
  - get rid of the "Not used in this Style" on the Preview Instrument Changes dialog. Who says what's used and what's not?
  - would be nice if the app window coud be resized horizontally.
  - deeper undo
  - redo (really!)
  - put the 'Suggest' option at the top of the measure dropdown, and have the options appear faster
  - allow playback to continue while making changes (e.g., happy, jazzy, chords)
  
  

  Overall Songsmith is very interesting. Looking forward to playing with it some more. And it has lots of nice touches, like the the hover-preview of style and chord changes. (But... where's the Ribbon Bar??? )
  

  I can see using it as a quick scratch pad before moving to my other production DAWs. The simplicty is very appealing.
  
  Question: Does the trial clock continue ticking if I have SS playing but am in another application, like this browser window?
  
  Nice work. good luck with it! 
  

  Thursday, June 2, 2011 8:33 PM
• 

  

  0

  Sign in to vote

  COCPORN replied on 01-10-2009 8:40 AM

   Maybe I'm slow, but is there a way to punch in recording? Can one start from a defined place when recording? It's kind of a hassle to record the whole frickin' thing when working on a song. It's sort of like the way the Beatles had to do it. In the sixties!

   Especially for an application mainly suited for creating a skeleton for a song, this should be simple to do.
  

  Thursday, June 2, 2011 8:33 PM
• 

  

  0

  Sign in to vote

  nancyg43 replied on 01-11-2009 11:34 PM

  I downloaded the 'trial version' and am having fun with it. I will probably buy it later this week.

  RE: export vocal only

  I found that Songsmith will do this, click on 'export' (under 'save song') the choices already checked are vocals and music..if you want vocals only, uncheck 'music', make sure you select to save it as a 'wav' file for voice. (the one already selected is 'wma')

  Then if you want music only, make sure that exporting as 'midi' file is selected for music only and remove the check mark from 'vocals'.
  You can then play either in your other audio programs. 

  RE: - export individual instruments as separate wav files, with appropriate names

  You can probably 'fiddle' with the mixer and remove whichever instruments you do not want, then export with the instrument you do want.
  

  I think it's going to be a great program. What I want is a way to print out the chords and to have the lyrics in there, too.
  

  Thursday, June 2, 2011 8:33 PM
• 

  

  0

  Sign in to vote

  Ed_ replied on 01-14-2009 3:46 PM

   * Regarding selectively changing bars into two chords... one thing you can do is set the song to two chords per bar, then click on the second chord in whatever bars _shouldn't_ have two chords, delete the chord (just press 'delete', the chord will turn blank), and "lock" the blank chord, so Songsmith will never change it.  A blank chord means "keep the same chord as the previous one", so this is the same as selectively setting _just that bar_ to one chord per measure.

  What would help is that if user changes from 1 to 2 chords per bar, the app would not create a new chord progression, but would start with those empty second parts you are suggesting. User can then change whatever they need, without having to redo their work entirely.

  Thursday, June 2, 2011 8:33 PM
• 

  

  0

  Sign in to vote

  Alistair S replied on 01-17-2009 8:41 AM

  * ASIO support

  * Allow the mic selection to take any input available to the driver (maybe it does, but it doesn't check ASIO). I'd like to be able to take single (mono) inputs.

  * Automatic latency compensation based on what the soundcard/driver reports (does it do this now?)

  * Allow pan adjustment on the mixer. It's hard to know how far to go with allowing adjustment to the sound - I tend to think this should be a musical notepad and not become too sophisticated (those of use who may want to adjust/edit/remix individual instrumental tracks or add VSTs or VSTis, etc. can do that in other software  - but panning should be simple to include.

  * Better naming of the midi - let us export them as properly named, separate midi files if we choose to. I can split the file into it's part, but naming would be helpful.

  Thursday, June 2, 2011 8:33 PM
• 

  

  0

  Sign in to vote

  Like replied on 01-19-2009 10:15 AM

  I agree that more audio input options are needed.

  With regard to the request for latency compensation, it is already present in the options but is not retrospective. That would be very useful.

  One of the clunkiest parts, for me, has been the undo feature which would greatly benefit from a history in list form from which to select and undo in multiple steps.

  Thursday, June 2, 2011 8:33 PM
• 

  

  0

  Sign in to vote

  Alistair S replied on 01-19-2009 10:47 AM

  automatically

  Thursday, June 2, 2011 8:33 PM
• 

  

  0

  Sign in to vote

  dmorris replied on 01-19-2009 9:20 PM

  Great suggestions...

  FYI we do adjust for latency automatically according to what the sound card reports and according to some internal timing tests that happen when you run Songsmith, but we've found that on a small minority of sound devices, the information reported by the sound card is misleading, so we offer the manual slider as a way to compensate for these situations.

  Thanks!

  -Dan
  

   
  

  Thursday, June 2, 2011 8:33 PM
• 

  

  0

  Sign in to vote

  Like replied on 01-19-2009 9:39 PM

  My soundcard must be one of those with unreliable reporting. I found the latency slider worked very well. To set it up I made a test-song by counting strictly on the beat, and then adjusted it using the helpful preview. After doing that, I haven't needed to touch it again; it's been perfect every time.

  Here's another suggestion for you. How about adding an option to record a second vocal track? Users would be able to improve their skill in singing harmonies. Backing vocals, call and response, that kind of thing, are a very important part of pop music.
  

   

  Thursday, June 2, 2011 8:34 PM
• 

  

  0

  Sign in to vote

  Notes_Norton replied on 01-21-2009 2:53 PM

   I agree with many of the suggestions above and add this one (unless it is already here and I just haven't discovered it yet).

  Since (1)most songs have "A" and "B" sections and (2) very often an A section with pedominantly one chord per measure has a B section with two chords per bar (and visa versa) -- how about a way to add another section to the song, and change the number of bars per measure in the added part?

  Insights and incites by Notes
  

  Thursday, June 2, 2011 8:34 PM
• 

  

  0

  Sign in to vote

  jpettit replied on 02-03-2009 10:32 PM

  Thursday, June 2, 2011 8:34 PM
• 

  

  0

  Sign in to vote

  applebottom replied on 02-04-2009 2:54 AM

  Rewire support.  Exporting is a pain, and most electronic musicians who might want to use Songsmith are using purely software instruments. In fact, instead of improving upon the instruments used in Songsmith, I'd like to be able to slave a higher-end program with instruments (samples, synths, etc) such as Ableton Live, Sonar or Reason to Songsmith.  The potential for absurd avant-garde, aleatoric and emergent music is mind boggling.

  Thursday, June 2, 2011 8:34 PM
• 

  

  0

  Sign in to vote

  Notes_Norton replied on 02-04-2009 9:25 AM

   How about the ability to use an external sound source for the instruments (MIDI out) instead of the built-in samples. Many of us have external synth moduls (I have 6 and 2 samplers) and many of those sound modules have just the right sound for what we have in mind.

  Insights and incites by Notes
  

  Thursday, June 2, 2011 8:34 PM
• 

  

  0

  Sign in to vote

  dmorris replied on 02-04-2009 7:32 PM

  For this scenario, I definitely recommend exporting MIDI and vocals-only audio from Songsmith, then bringing both into a MIDI-friendly host environment.  The audio will be precisely aligned to a nice clean measure boundary (there will be silence at the beginning of the audio to make sure this is the case, JUST for this application.

  This is what I do when I want to replace some or all of the instruments from a Songsmith creation before sharing my song ideas.

  Sounds like you have a fun equipment rack.  Would love to hear what some of your styles sound like through Songsmith and external synths...
  

  -Dan
  

  Thursday, June 2, 2011 8:34 PM
• 

  

  0

  Sign in to vote

  Marah replied on 02-04-2009 7:52 PM

  That's just what I've been doing, exporting voice as audio, instruments as MIDI, and then bringing them into a host (Reaper and Sonar) and continuing from there.

  Very interesting process!
  

  Thursday, June 2, 2011 8:34 PM
• 

  

  0

  Sign in to vote

  dmorris replied on 02-05-2009 12:30 PM

  Marah:

  We'd love to hear some of the stuff you're coming up with; send links (either to the forum or to me directly) if you get a chance!

  Those are, coincidentally, the same two hosts that I use (Sonar @ home and Reaper on my laptop).  Sumit uses Ableton Live for the same process.

  Always curious what "advanced" users are doing with Songsmith!
  

  -Dan
  

  • Marked as answer by Microsoft Research Thursday, June 2, 2011 8:34 PM

  Thursday, June 2, 2011 8:34 PM
• 

  

  0

  Sign in to vote

  handofkeats replied on 09-13-2009 5:28 PM

  Hey Dan-

  
  Great program. I just read your paper, amazing!

  1. Allow importing of acapella vocals.  I've been throwing my acapella vocals in through the line in in my audio interface, but it doesn't line up with the beat and it makes the chord changes a little off. This would make me a very happy man!

  2. Ditto on Rewire.Rewire support would be amazing, that would answer much of what people are asking for above. (They want you to turn it into a DAW pretty much. Beware of feature creep!)

   

  Thursday, June 2, 2011 8:34 PM