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December 28, 2005 Mix and Match Music and Videos
In a nutshell, the systems works by having you assign a music, sound or effect sample to one or more of the eight buttons located on the device. When you push one of the buttons, the music, sound or effect assigned to that button plays. Push two buttons at the same time and two pieces of music, sounds or effects play. Push a third button to add the third, and so on. When you release a button, the music, sound or effect assigned to it stops – you get the general idea. Additional buttons control special effects options. The program includes more than 50 sound and video clips, and a bonus CD adds 350 more, so there are plenty of music and video clips/loops to work with. Within minutes we were putting together what we thought were some great mixes - but then the kids took over and showed us what it’s all about - and they had very little practice or help. These music mixes are great for adding interest to your home or small business videos or slide shows or presentations or just to enjoy by themselves. Here’s are some of the details we found while using the StikAx system:
In the configuration window you can also add special effects to each clip, such as echo, distortion, flanger and others. Double clicking on the file name in either the Media Library or in configuration window opens the file in a Preview window. Here you can play, cut and edit samples, control tempo, volumes and pans with ease. Precision start, stop and length times can be assigned, or just drag-select the part you want. The edited samples can then be assigned to a button on the StikAx. You are not limited to just the included music samples, since the program allows you to record your own (or others’) voice or to input your favorite tracks from audio CDs, either of which can be edited for just the parts you want. Each time you create your mix by pushing the appropriate buttons, the program automatically records the mix and puts it into the Media Log. The Media Log recording has a limit of 15 minutes for your mix, representing the most recent 15 minutes, but you can erase the Log and reset the time. The recording runs continuously, so even trial runs or experimental mixes will be recorded - up to the last 15 minutes. From this Log you can reopen your mix in the Mixing Pallette for further editing, such as changing volume or pan, sample times, adding effects, adding addition clips and more to correct mistakes or just tune up your final creation. A wealth of editing features are available. When you’re finished editing, save the mix in either WAV or WMA format. Exporting to MP3 format is also supported by adding a free upgrade. The program is strongly geared towards audio and does this very well. In addition to being a lot of fun to work with, the program will handle video clips (with or without sound) out of the box in much the same fashion. For more sophisticated work, however, you’ll need to download additional upgrades from www.stikax.com Web site.
Want an even bigger selection of sound samples and loops to work with? The newly-released Sound Pool DVD Collection 11 (Magix, $29.99) includes more than 7,000 royalty-free and copyright-free stereo sound samples and loops. We found music categories such as Ambient, Disco, Rock or Hip-Hop each using samples from bass, drums, keys, guitar and more. New to this collection is the Brazil 66, Big Beat and Soundtrack, the latter containing music and sounds (including comedy, suspense, romance, drama or action for your movies). The sounds are in high quality WAV format and can be easily used in any of your audio projects, direct from the disc or copied to your hard drive. This is one of the best collections of this type we’ve come across at such a reasonable price.
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new just-released tool makes it easy and fun to create music and/or videos mixes
on the fly. The StikAx (StikAx, Windows XP with Pentium 4 1.3GHz,
$89.99) includes the StikAx handheld unit, a joystick-like device, and TrakAx
control and editing software.
Initially
the TrakAx software will perform an autoscan, searching your hard drive
for audio or video media files. The program can be set to do this each time you
open it or only when you ask it to, and the media files are then listed in a
Media Library. When you click on a file listed in the Media Library, it will
auto-play, giving you a preview and making it easier to find what you need. From
the Media Library just drag and drop the desired file onto the button icon (A,
B, C, D, 1, 2, 3, 4) located in the StikAx configuration window. Push
that button on your StikAx and the clip plays. You also have a choice of
how each clip will play - each time you push the button the clip plays from the
beginning, or each time you push the button it plays from where it stopped last
time.
