MTV Music Generator

MTV Music Generator 2
by MTV
Platform:   PlayStation2
(20)

Buy new: $73.98
24 used & new from $5.03

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If you have a PS2 and a lot of patience, you can now produce beats with MTV Music Generator 2 that are phatter than Fatboy Slim's, more melodious than Quincy Jones's, and that can get dancers moving like you're the long-lost sibling of the Chemical Brothers. OK, maybe not, but even the most musically inept individual can produce a (somewhat) listenable tune with this powerful music tool.

Boasting more than 48 channels and 10,000 samples that vary in genre--including rock--MTVMG 2 is a small recording studio on a disc. You can either paste the samples together or alter them somewhat for creating more original sounds. Sadly, mouse support, which could have made navigating the many screens and menus less painful, is sorely lacking. Many of the instrumental samples we heard sounded quite sharp; however, the vocals were universally awful. The video-creation tool is a cute feature for making forgettable psychedelic light shows. If you're serious about creating music, you must purchase the optional USB sampler accessory, which allows input from most audio sources into your songs.

While the sequel does feature some much-needed improvements over the original program, MTVMG 2 hasn't evolved enough from its predecessor to get a solid recommendation. Still, it's the only one of its kind for a video game console, and we like that even musical laymen can use it to make surprisingly decent tunes. --Mark Brooks

Pros:

• Thousands of samples taken from many musical genres for you to manipulate
• Powerful tool that fulfills its promises for the patient

Cons:

• Not intuitive
• Cumbersome interface
• Vocal samples are horrible--all of them

In the same way that Mr. Microphone democratized the scene for would-be singers without regard to talent, MTV Music Generator 2 unlocks the world of music to unskilled musicians--thankfully to much greater results. By sorting snippets of sound by genre (rock, pop, garage, trance, house, indie, and R&B), as well as by basic song elements (beats, bass lines, guitar riffs, etc.), players can simply build the song they want by stacking sounds as if they were LEGO bricks and layering them over one another. Sound easy? It is, once you get the hang of things, and it's fun, too.

Even if you're creatively stifled, you can still have fun remixing some of the pre-made tracks from such artists as Gorillaz, Apollo Four Forty, Bentley Rhythm Ace, Zombie Nation, and game spokesDJs David Morales and Funkmaster Flex. Once you're done, you can save songs on a memory card and share with friends, or you can use a separately sold input box called a USB Sampler, which plugs into your PS2 and allows you to use microphones or other sound sources, to add to your music. --Porter B. Hall

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