Abaltat, makers of Abaltat Muse, have announced the release of Abaltat Express 2.0, a new version of their soundtrack composition software for Mac OS X. It costs $230; existing users can upgrade fore free. A 14-day trial version is available for download.
Abaltat Express 2.0 helps editors compose multi-part soundtracks for their videos that they can use royalty-free. It features support for Logic and GarageBand or Digidesign Pro Tools. You simply drop a QuickTime file of your edited video sequence onto Abaltat Express, click “Compose” and select parameters, and it’ll make a soundtrack for you.
The software uses musical rules and custom algorithms to compose soundtracks based on the video itself; it incorporates video recognition software. Users select a “Band” to theme the music, and can then perform more editing and arranging using keyframing and keyboard commands.
The resulting work can be exported as a QuickTime file, AIFF or WAV file, or as a MIDI file. Abaltat Express soundtracks work with Apple’s built-in sound hardware or using editing cards like those made by Blackmagic.
Abaltat Express 2.0 comes bundled with seven “Bands” — Atmospheric, Ensemble, Hip Hop (Classic), Minimalist (Electronic), Minimalist (Orchestral), Percussion and Retro Tech.
System requirements call for Mac OS X 10.4.7 or later (for PowerPC) or 10.4.8 or later (for Intel), 512MB RAM.