GETTING STARTED
Set up your PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system according to the instructions in its Instruction Manual. Make sure the MAIN POWER switch (located on the back of the console) is turned on.
Press the RESET button. When the power indicator lights up, press the open button and the disc tray will open. Place the Magix Music Maker disc on the disc tray with the label side facing up. Press the open button again and the disc tray will close.
Attach game controllers and other peripherals, as appropriate. Follow on-screen instructions and refer to this manual for information on using the software.
II. BASIC OVERVIEW
The Studio
MAGIX music maker always opens with the Arranger. To launch the Studio, press the A button.
The Studio is the "control center" of MAGIX music maker, and all of the studio equipment launches from here. The analog sticks allow you to view the studio from different points of view.
The direction buttons select the appropriate equipment screen. An active screen is identified by the flashing, light blue frame. The X button launches the screen that is currently active.
Studio Equipment Selections
1.
The Work Screen
The Work Screen allows you to select style, sounds and video components and arrange them into songs. The Explorer screen, in the lower lefthand corner, contains the media clips, and the lower right corner is the video preview pane.
2.
Control Monitor
The Control Monitor loads and stores songs, changes program settings and launches the interactive tutorial for each equipment component.
3.
The Mixer
The Mixer customizes your sounds by enabling you to adjust the mix of individual sounds within your arrangement, mute or specify particular sounds, and add audio effects individually or to the entire track.
4.
The Video FX Screen
The Video FX Component adds effects to your video clips and create visuals that distort images, change colors, or move in time with the music.
5.
The Beatbox
Create your own grooves by selecting from twelve drum sets. The Beatbox includes a variety of drum types and automated effects for programming your own loops.
6.
The Sampler
The Sampler combines instruments together to create original melodies.
III. STUDIO EQUIPMENT ORIENTATION
1. The Work Screen
The Explorer
The Explorer is in the lower left part of the Work Screen. To select sounds and video components, activate the Explorer by pressing the R2 button.
Scroll through the different instrument choices with the right analog stick on your controller. Move through the different sound and video media (objects) by pressing the directional buttons.
A selected object plays instantly and appears as a dark red blinking preview object placed within one of the tracks in the Arranger. Pressing down on the right analog stick (R3 button), changes the musical style.
Familiarize yourself with a particular style by pressing the button to receive a short demo.
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Select object: Directional button
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Select instrument: Right analog stick ←→
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Select style: Hold down right analog stick (R3) and select with ←→
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Insert object into the Arranger: X button
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Cancel preview / Delete object: button
The Arranger
The upper part of the screen is the Arranger, which is activated by the R1 button. The Arranger combines sound and video objects from The Explorer to create new musical arrangements and videos.
The Arranger consists of two video tracks and sixteen audio tracks. Six audio tracks are visible at any one time. To view others, simply scroll down the tracks with the left analog stick.
The first two tracks are reserved for videos. The uppermost track is for background videos. The second track is for foreground videos. Background and foreground videos mix together automatically upon playback.
The background video is visible in all black areas of the foreground video. All other tracks are reserved for audio arranged by instrument.
Insert selected audio objects by pressing the X button from within in the Explorer. Bass objects will load into the bass track, Drum objects into the drum track, etc.
At the top of the Arranger is the arrangement timeline which divides the arrangement into musical measures and quarters. The small yellow arrow at the upper left is the start marker. The arrangement always plays back from the start marker to the end of the last object in a continuous loop.
The length of a loop can be defined from one to four measures long. To select the length of a loop, press down on the L3 button (the left analog stick), from one to four times, until you reach the desired loop length. Pressing the L3 button a fifth time removes the loop.
Once the loop is created, simply shift the starting marker and move the loop over the arrangement with the left analog stick. This action can also be performed during playback.
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Scroll tracks: Left analog stick↑↓
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Entire volume: Right analog stick↑↓
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Scratch playback: Right analog stick ←→
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Move start marker / loop: Left analog stick ←→
Operation of both the Explorer and Arranger are covered by the Work Screen tutorial located in the Control Monitor.
Objects
All objects can be shifted, shortened or extended in the Arranger. If extended, the object is played again. Instead of constantly dragging new objects into the Arr