Follow the Leader / Electronic Music

The Good
Suppose as a child growing up, you had a music class where you composed one of your songs using a musical instrument. There was a chance that you couldn’t take it with you, even if you needed to practice at home. You could buy a console and buy a music program designed for it, such as Musical Memory for the Database (part of the 1292 APVS family). It would be a lot cheaper than purchasing an instrument from a music shop.

You can compose your own masterpieces of up to 32 notes, and play them back, editing as you go along. As you do, the note appears on screen until you depress the key. I composed some interesting tunes myself, and I was able to memorize the note’s appearance and sound. I enjoyed the Database’s rendition of “When the Saints Go Marching In”, and the way you can manipulate it, changing the pitch of the song and making it play out of tune.

Musical Memory also contains a built-in game where you must repeat the note the game throws at you, and it can be presented in four- or six-color variations. I went well in the game, but realized my memory wasn’t good enough the further I got. Leaving the screen idle in both modes for about thirty seconds will cause the program to flash yellow until you touch a key, and this helps reduce screen tear.

The Bad
There are no flaws in this music program; it works like you expected it to.

The Bottom Line
Musical Memory is a program where you can construct your own music and play it back. If you don’t like what it sounds like, you can edit it at your own leisure. You can even manipulate the built-in melodies and see what interesting takes you can come up with. The “Memory” part refers to the game, a clone of “Simon Says” where you need to repeat the pattern that the game dishes out. An excellent music program overall.