Morton Subotnick\'s Making More Music

Details: Category: Computer; By ccgr; 01.Jun; Hits: 8136

System Requirements: Windows 95/98/ME/2000/NT/XP 100mhz CPU 32MB RAM 2X or faster CD-ROM Sound card and speakers Rated E for everyone

Do your kids (8 and up) like music? With this software, they can learn the basics of music and rhythm, as well as compose their own songs! There are many fun games and an easy to use music-making interface. Kids can learn music both visually and aurally in this title.

What is in this program?

There are games for identifying similar melodies and rhythms. Your kids will learn how song variations are done and how they would sound in different styles. They can even make their own variations and save their compositions. There are melody makers and rhythm makers where they can draw out their own music in a graphical or traditional style. There are two dozen instruments to play around with.

Rhythm Band

In this mode your key focus is rhythm. In the Rhythm maker you can make your own rhythm by clicking the mouse on the drum to make a beat. From there you can draw out the rest of your music with the pencil and distort and shape it however you like. You can adjust the tempo, instruments, scale etc. If your composition sounds good, you can save it to play or edit later.

Chamber Music

Melody is your primary focus here. There is a Melody Maker where you can generate a melody by adjusting the length and rhythm until you get a catchy melody. Then draw in some more instrument notes, distort and play it! If you like the way it sounds you can save it, if not, there is an eraser.

Theme and Variations

This segment is really cool. It starts off with the standard Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. You can hear a couple more jazzed up versions. What?s really cool is that you can hear it in the styles of William Byrde, W.A. Mozart, and F. Chopin too! From there you can drag and drop different segments to get the variation you like. Perhaps a combination of all three?

Games

This is my favorite part of the program. There are many listening games here that can help you identify the proper melody, rhythm and musical form.

Melody

- In this game you hear one sample and you must find the same musical phrase.

Rhythm

- In this game you hear one sample and you must find the same rhythm.

Musical Form

-In this game you hear one sample and you?re objective is to find the sample that?s different but has the same musical form. This is the most challenging of the games in my opinion.

Sound

This program is totally sound driven, as music should be. The music samples sound great. The voice acting is for the narrator is good too, this time around there?s a female doing the dialogue.

Graphics

Nothing special here, then again that explains the low system requirements. The interface is pretty easy to get around and maneuver. Everything is very colorful which should attract kids. It would be nice if there was a hover explanation over the buttons, but other than that, no complaints.

Appropriate?

I see nothing wrong with this program; it?s great for helping kids appreciate music.

Final Thoughts

This is a great program for kids from the ages of 8 and up to learn and play with music. The Rhythm Band and Chamber music programs are easy to use and design your own compositions. The Theme and Variation helps you appreciate different musical styles. The games are fun and help identify musical styles and rhythm. If you are a music lover, and your kids are too, check this program out!