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 In
the grand scheme of things, MTV Music Generator isn't really
much of a game, despite Codemasters' efforts to toss in gameplay
elements. But despite this, the program isn't anywhere near
being a lost cause – in fact, for the casual music lover who wants
to make his or her own songs, this may be just what the doctor
ordered.
MTV
Music Generator is more than a simple
music program, but not that much more. The program offers a
"Music Jam" mode, which allows you to "jam" live
on your own or with friends (this can be done over a LAN or the
Internet). This is more a novelty than anything else, and I suspect
very few people will use this capability. It's mildly entertaining,
but not worth buying a copy of the program. Codemasters has established a chat
room where budding musicians can find people to jam with. It's not
quite the matchmaking software that most software comes with these
days, but MTV Music Generator is not best enjoyed as a multiplayer
program.
The
core of the program is the music creation aspect, which is very easy
to use and can generate good results with a minimal effort. Numerous
pre-designed riffs have been included in the software - users can
cobble these together to develop an interesting soundscape, or they
can take things into their own hands and develop riffs of their own,
using hundreds of available samples. If the program doesn't have the
right sample, users can also create their own, either from CD audio or
.wav files. It's this kind of flexibility that makes MTV Music
Generator a great value. Users with a MIDI keyboard can create new
riffs through their keyboards, which is a lot more comfortable than
using a computer keyboard or mouse to do it. Even without creating
your own riffs, the number of unique songs you could create with the
stock riffs boggles the mind.
Check out the sample song we've created
as an example of what can be done with the basic riffs. The song only
took about a half hour to put together and while it's rather raw,
using only a handful of riffs, it barely scratches the surface of
what's possible with MTV Music Generator. For a $30 package, there's a
lot of value to be had here.
Unfortunately,
as a $30 package, there are also some drawbacks. Many of the riffs and
samples aren't very clean, resulting in a slightly annoying listening
experience. Thanks to one such riff, I had to replace the bass line in
one of the early songs I created with the program, totally changing
its overall sound and feel. Another problem is that many of the
samples are recorded at different pitches, so you have to do some
mental math to transpose your musical designs to the appropriate key.
Otherwise, the software is pretty solid, although a few interface
changes and extra options could be added to make it even easier to use
(a notable omission is the lack of an option to save files as MP3s –
to do this, users must first save as a .WAV file and then use a
separate MP3 encoder not included with the program).
 Now
that you've created a song, MTV Music Generator will let you create a
video to go along with it. The video editor is not so extravagant as
to give you hordes of dancers to play around with - you'll basically
be creating a light show to accompany your song. Still, it's a pretty
neat tool... and if you don't want to create your own video, the
program can auto-generate one. You can get some pretty impressive
results, but the video editor is obviously not the focus of the
software, and many users won't spend a lot of time with it.
MTV
Music Generator is an excellent music creation program for the price.
It probably won't displace higher-end professional music software, but
it's powerful enough that most recreational users will be able to do
whatever their hearts desire. A great, solid piece of software that
lacks polish in places.
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