Get a FREE fully-working copy of Steganos Security Suite 7 (worth £49.99) when you sign up to the Practical PC Newsletter. Review: Lexicon CDs
Ian Waugh checks out some collections of royalty free music tailored for your web site
| Product | Lexicon CDs |
|---|---|
| Company | 3qsound |
| Web | www.3qsound.com |
| Price | £35 |
| We like | Excellent quality, good music, inexpensive, royalty-free |
| We don't like | Not all CDs are in Wave format, some CDs very short |
| Rating | 8/10 |
| Requirements |
Need some music for your web site or home video production? Ian Waugh looks at a range of CDs written with non-musicians in mind.
If you've been following our Web Guides and tips you should have a pretty cool web site up and running. One of the things you can do to enhance your site is to add music to it and we have looked at a book which aimed to help you do just that .
But putting music on your site and creating the music for it in the first place are two different things. What you want is a supply of low-cost, high quality music. And 3qsound just happen to have released seven CDs that fit the bill.
As well as dotting music around your Web - don't overdo it - these pieces could also be used in video and audio productions. They are royalty-free so you can use them free of charge.
Here's a quick impression...
Shorts
Interesting snippets a minute or two long which could be extracts from a range of styles from Dance music to corporate presentations. Modern, up-front and funky.
Indents (Audio)
30 shorts, most just a few seconds long, which would be used to herald a break on TV or radio, to announce something, punctuate it and so on. Not without its Dance influences. Some pieces could easily be used on a Web site, when opening a new window, for example. VFM seekers may feel a little short-changed however as the total music time is only six and a half minutes.
Stratospheric Atmospheres (Audio)
As the title says, 30 atmospheric tracks ideal for chilling out to, for running along in the background while someone looks at your web pages or for atmospheric video scenes. Definitely one of our favourites.
Super Flash Looper (Audio)
60 music loops covering percussion, drums and music, some laid back, some frantic, all interesting. They are in four-bar sections and designed to be, er, looped of course. Use as a backing riff and put other stuff on top or repeat quietly in the background. Good, but another shorty at around eight minutes.
Full On (Audio)
18 full pieces, a full 73 minutes of music covering more styles than Gucci. Many are very laid-back, love scene stuff; play on your web in the background - far better than Prozac and we mean that in the nicest possible way. Others are in modern Dance vein, there's film soundtrack music, and even a kiddie song - Nice One Puss!
Sounds Abound (Wave)
Over 300 sound effects divided into five categories - animals, shops and other stuff; appliances and home; button clicks; people fx; and vehicles. The button clicks could enliven a web page - or drive visitors potty, and for that there area collection of bathroom and bodily function noises. 'You can't beat a good bodily function if you want a laugh,' said Billy Connolly.
Arkitecture (Wave) £9.99
A budget sample CD containing over 250 samples divided into categories such as drum loops, drum sounds, raw sounds, fx, riffs, and vocal extracts. Many could be spotted around a web or used in the construction of bigger pieces of music. Excellent value.
Summary
The Lexicon CDs are designed for a wide range of applications - from use on the web to TV and radio, DJ mixes, presentations and even as stand-alone listening.
Given that most users will be using them with a computer applications it's strange that they are not all in a Wave format so you may have to rip them first.
That apart, both the audio and music quality of these CDs is nothing less than excellent and we can highly recommend them for whatever use you wish to put them.
