Playing at Popstars

MTV Music Generator 2: Get ready to rock

David Gibbon interviews Tim Wright, creative director at Jester Interactive, about a new package promising to help people record professional music tracks.

After the meteoric rise to fame of Popstars band Hear'Say, every man and his dog is keen to get in on the act and become the next big thing.

The problem is, most of us have very little in the way of musical - or singing - talent.

But a new package for the PlayStation 2 could well change all that when it hits UK stores on 25 May.

Set for release by games giant Codemasters and developed by Jester Interactive, MTV Music Generator 2 is a follow-up to the best-selling Music and Music 2000 packages for the PC and PlayStation.

Tim Wright: Now anyone can write, compose and produce

It aims to enable anyone to create, edit and produce professional music tracks and videos.

Offering almost everything you would find in a recording studio, it allows the user eight styles to work with including pop, house, hip hop, garage, indie, R&B, Rock and Trance.

With over 9,000 samples available and a full range of effects such as echoes and chorus, it has all the right ingredients needed to produce a chart-topping hit.

BBC News Online asked Tim Wright if this meant we could have our own top 10 hit.

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Q. Do you think TV shows like Popstars will encourage take up of the software?

A. Of course - now anyone can write, compose and produce. It's quite a relief to know you don't have to go around shouting, "Pick me Nigel!" - you can just plug in your PlayStation 2.

Q. Is it really possible to create a commercial track using MTV Music Generator 2 and have it signed up by a record company - and if so how would they get the track onto a demo tape?

A. It's possible to create a production quality track because of the audio power of the PS2 console and the way the software utilises it.

The samples and riffs we've included - almost 10,000 of them - are 44MHz in quality. To get it on to tape is simple - you plug the audio AV lead jacks into your stereo and hit record on the tape deck.

MTV Music Generator 2 is a fully equipped studio for the price of a night on the town

Tim Wright

Alternatively, you can swap tracks with others who have MTV Music Generator on Memory Cards - each card can hold up to 100 tracks.

Q. Obviously the Music development team are keen musicians, do any of you come from a professional musical background and what programs do you use when making music?

A. I have a few musical qualifications tucked away, our marketing manager has a degree in music and we have at least 10 talented musicians in the company who have contributed in one way or another.

Although Jester Interactive does write games, we're proud of being the Music people too.

Q. Have there been any commercial releases created with Music in the past?

Almost 10,000 samples and riffs

A. Not that we know of in the UK, but we've heard of a couple of trance tracks that went out in Germany, think there's something in Australia too.

We get lots of calls asking for copyright information but don't always get to hear exactly what happens with people's tracks.

Q. What are the main differences between the PS2 version and the PSone versions of Music in terms of the quality of sounds available?

A. MTV Music Generator 2 has 48 channels compared to Music's 16.

We also have nearly 10,000 built in samples with MTV Music Generator 2 - over 3 times more. Four times the sample memory means the user can have loads of samples loaded at any one time, making a richer sound canvas.

Q. How much sample memory will the new version have?

A. There's enough space to fit in the drums, bass, vocals and synthesizers to do a carbon copy of tracks such as Fatboy Slim's "Praise You" as a random example (but no, he's not one of the licensed tracks).

Q. Why is MTV Music Generator 2 more special than previous release Music 2000?

A. Basically, MTV Music Generator 2 is a fully equipped studio for the price of a night on the town.