Make Your Own Music

No musical talent? No problem. Musicians and nonmusicians alike can riff with the Axe, the latest in interactive music software.

Choose from electric guitar, jazz guitar, piano, Rhodes piano, saxophone, synthesizer, trumpet and scat voice to create your own music in real time on your PC using only a joystick or a mouse. Click on commands like “faster,” “slower,” “louder,” “softer,” “sustain” and “riff”’ to turn the beat around.

Or play along to a famous song, and trip hop from grunge to big band to classic rock. After you’ve perfected a performance, record it to save or e-mail it to a friend. The Axe also features interactive music videos starring animated clay characters that add a trippy dimension to your music-making. Rock on, dude!

Order the Axe (Harmonix Music Systems Inc., $19.95) from the company’s Web site (https://www.theaxe.com) or by calling (888) LET-IT-OUT.