Synfire Pro

Put new ideas to life in virtually no time, supported by groundbreaking new technology with incredible editing capabilities: Synfire can understand and re-interpret music on the symbolic level. Synfire works out the details while you focus on creative decisions.

The Prototyping Concept The idea behind Music Prototyping is to create new compositions quickly by building upon small musical expressions called "Phrases" and "Figures", and arrange them in a hierarchical container structure. Most of the work can be accomplished with simple drag & drop and copy & paste operations. Phrases are your building blocks. They can be gained from various sources: Sketched manually, recorded with an external keyboard, or imported from Standard MIDI files. As Synfire takes care of fitting them together appropriately, you don't need to worry about pitch and dissonance. It just always fits. Figures can be freely shaped, stretched, distorted, grouped, transposed and relocated without corrupting harmony. They know how to adapt to their environment themselves. This supports an entirely new workflow which is extremely intuitive, because it roughly resembles the process of how musical ideas evolve in the head of a composer. Instead of tinkering at the note level, you can design the big picture from a comfortable distance. Being able to import, decompose and re-use arbitrary musical material from existing MIDI files, your productivity will explode. Users who tested Synfire for a while can't imagine how they could have ever worked without it. They claim the most obvious benefit was that new refreshing ideas popped up all the time. This workstation is an inifinte source of inspiration. If you ever found yourself stuck in writer's block or felt unable to come up with new ideas, Cognitone can help.

Key Benefits Accelerates and simplifies the creation of original compositions and arrangements significantly Groundbreaking new technology and workflow based on re-usable and transformable musical expressions Maximizes inspiration, productivity and fun Optimal for film music (movie scores), game soundtracks, orchestral works, electronic and experimetal music, Jazz, Pop, HipHop and all styles based on melody, harmony and structure Send MIDI "live" to external sound generators. Export Standard MIDI Files (SMF), MusicXML, and LilyPond notation format Sends MTC (Time Code) for synchronization with external movie players

Check out this illustrated example explaining the fundamental achievement of this new technology.

Record Once, Use Everywhere

Once you collected a critical mass of musical expressions in your personal phrase libraries, the possibilities of using them in different compositional situations are almost limitless. Synfire can import everything MIDI you can get hold of and create phrases and libraries for you automatically. Learn from the masters and be inspired by their work.

The character of a phrase largely depends on the harmonic context. The same phrase renders differently, depending on where it is being used. Various intuitive operations and transformations can be applied to figures and allow for easy motif development and musically meaningful variation. Every composer who is worth his salt knows that building a piece from a limited number of recurring and varying motifs is key to a coherent listener experience. It makes a composition believeable and sound.

Synfire is not a Toy

No, this isn't one of those create-a-hit-out-of-the-box programs. As a composer or professional producer, you have a legitimate desire for creative control over details. Although you are welcome to use Synfire Pro just for fun, it is basically not designed as a crutch for beginners. You have extensive control over the details and expression of your work. Synfire Pro is equally suited for all musical styles. There's no specific stereotype or built-in style restriction involved that could limit your individual expression. It is unlikely that someone will guess you have used Synfire for a particular work.

Keep Your Ears Fresh

With Synfire you can constantly judge your work from a comfortable objective distance while it is evolving. The risk of losing objectivity by tinkering with details for hours is minimal, because everything works so fast and convenient. Concentrate on creative decisions instead of getting lost in painstaking details. We call it Composing by Listening.

What You Get

Synfire is not a digital audio workstation (DAW) or sequencer. It's output is based on MIDI rather than audio (although it is possible to drive a separate host software that is loaded with virtual instruments). The focus is on helping you create compostions in the sense of melody, harmony and structure -- the actual intellectual property behind it all. After you have outlined and finished a composition, you might want to move it over to your sequencer or DAW in Standard MIDI File Format (SMF) for final production. Alternatively, Synfire exports MusicXML and LilyPond formats, both suitable for further processing in popular notation programs.

Learn more

Find videos and screencasts here.

View screenshots of Synfire on the Mac and PC.

Listen to some examples demonstrating the features of intelligent Figures.

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