Timberland and Rockstar want to give you the power to mix beats like a pro: sure you know the difference between a hook and an ostinato?
Format: PSP Dev: Rockstar Leeds Pub: Rockstar Games Out: 02/10/09 Players: 1
If drum and bass is your thing and you’ve got a particularly level head for music, Beaterator could be the music creation tool your heart has desired since you first discovered hypnotising effects of acoustic rhythms.
Produced by Rockstar Leeds in collaboration with big-ticket record producer and MC, Timberland, Beaterator gives users the power craft loops and sounds that can be used to effectively build the backing track for a hip hop or R&B record. Music creation is split into three parts: live play, studio session and song crafter.
You can play around with the pre-made sounds to create your own songs in live play – this is likely were you will head first and where music lovers will feel most comfortable. Beaterator isn’t just a cut and paste music board however. Those who wish to get the maximum use out of this music making tool will need to spend some time familiarising themselves with the studio editor.
In the studio sessions you are given full control over your audio repertoire, with many adjustable options that come in the form of knobs and switches. In Beaterator, songs are constructed from loops – patterns of music, such as melodies or bass lines, that are repeated over and over. There eight ‘tracks’ with which to build your song and each of these has four different loops mapped to them with the symbol buttons.
It’s possible to mix some smooth beats using the advance settings in studio sessions, but song crafter adds yet more accuracy to when new loops start. Of course, this does come at a cost. The ability to layer tracks and produce your own sequences means that the song crafter is incredibly complex and time-consuming. Fortunately, help is at hand. Click the R button to toggle the menu and you’ll have access to a handy glossary of music lingo, reference guide and some short video tutorials. You can also import MIDI files and record your own voice for use in fragments. Finished songs can easily be saved onto your memory stick as WAV or MIDI files, and there’s also the option to share your music on Rockstar’s Social Club.
Rockstar have achieved a level of depth and sophistication that’s rarely seen with portable music software. In all honest though, you have to know more than a little about music or have a very good ear to get the best out of what this pocket music producer has to offer. If instant gratification is what you what then Rock Band Unplugged or Gitroo Man are almost certainly better choices. But if you’re a patient soul who can repurpose a melody or a drum pattern, like Grandmaster Flash, then Beaterator just might be for you.
Aaron Lee
Tags: beaterator, creator, Music, rockstar
