Click MusicalKeys

Aimed at computer musicians, this software turns a PC’s keyboard into a piano-like MIDI keyboard, mapping letter keys onto notes. This allows a laptop composer to play keyboard-style music, which can be useful if no genuine keyboard is accessible. However, the program’s features are sharply limited. Click MusicalKeys includes 128 MIDI instruments, mostly of fairly low quality. It does not allow users to choose another synthesizer for output, limiting its use with other, more advanced music programs. The recording function can play back single notes, but is buggy when chords are played. Nor does it recognize note duration, recording instead only the sequence of the notes. As a simple MIDI instrument for novice computer musicians, this program can be fun to experiment with. However, better programs for mapping a computer keyboard onto MIDI output are out there, and for an aspiring musician, this is certainly no substitute for an actual piano-style keyboard.