By Dale Farris, Secretary
Golden Triangle PC Club
February 2004

Game Overview

Tivola, the supreme children's software distributor, announces their newest game, the re-release of a classic in computer music programs. Morton Subotnick's Making Music, that will be followed by Viva-Media's re-release of Making More Music, as well as the new release of the brand new Hearing Music.

Updated for new operating systems (i.e., Windows XP), Making Music is a sure bet for all families with computers and children interested in making music on their computer.

Making Music is the first true composing space for children. Imagine an infinitely manipulable art program for the ears. Making Music visually and aurally presents the components of music, so kids can bring all their senses to bear. The program is suitable for children of any age, and is intended to let children experience what composing music is like, before embarking on formal music education.

As a pioneer in electronic music and interactive computer music systems, composer Morton Subotnick built the program from the ground up, so that it would be completely interactive and TOTALLY FUN! Making Music is a great introduction to different kinds of instruments, tempo, melody, rhythm and sound.

With Viva Media's integration of Tivola Publishing, all families and educators can continue to look forward to continued, high quality software geared for the special interests and learning levels of children. With Making Music, Viva Media now provides a wonderful software addition that will exactly meet their needs for a music program that is directly made for children.

As many readers likely know, in the children's software business, programs that are supposedly created to simulate reality, or offer experiential, interactive learning, many times fail to make the grade. However, as any computer owner familiar with the award winning lineup of children's software from Tivola know, you can always depend on Tivola for top quality programs, regardless the targeted age group. Now a part of Viva Media, all Tivola programs continue under this new agreement.

In the special case of music tutor programs, most readers are probably familiar with various of these programs that target adults, but finding such a program created at the level of children has, till now, been a problem. With Making Music you now have exactly what you want if you are interested in helping children learn to create music.

What always stymies any computer software creator with a desire to create a program on learning music is of course the inherent variety of music and musical instruments, something that just naturally makes for an added challenge if you want to help children learn music by working with a computer program.  Making Music scores a bulls-eye in its marvelously playful approach that will appeal to all children, as well as adults new to the world of music.

Despite the fun you will have, the game is of course built on serious matters, namely creating music, and the subtle, powerful aspects that accompany this important skill. In addition to basic music theory, kids can also listen to samples of famous music from around the world and hear what different instruments sound like. Aural skills are stressed in the games section, as the children are challenged to identify same or different melodies.

Building Blocks

Playing with the building blocks component of the game allows children to design a melody with several motives. There are 3 motives to choose from, including A, the front, B, the side, or C, the back.

To create a melody, drag a block that represents musical sounds to an empty space to insert it into that space. To edit a melody, double-click a motive box. When this is edited, the box becomes purple. Selecting a music stand saves the work you made. Clicking on a new music stand creates a new workspace. You can go back to the previous work by selecting the music stand with your composition on it

You use the building blocks to change the pitches and rhythms of the motive. A bird is a note, and a hatched egg is the rhythm. You move the birds up or down a telephone line to raise or lower the pitch. You hatch the eggs to add a rhythm, and in order to extend a note, you just click and drag the hatched egg over. The semicircle lines extending from the chicks are the extensions of rhythm.

Playing with these building blocks reveals a clever strategy behind the concept of this superb music making program. With the intent for FIRST make sure children have fun, then as they enjoy the experience, they will gradually begin to soak in the solid music learning that the game is designed to teach. Speaking from experience, I can guarantee that if you have an opportunity to start out young learners with music via this Making Music program, as well as the other forthcoming music composition programs to be soon released by Viva-Media, I bet you too will agree that this is a very enjoyable, successful experience that will provide a solid introduction to music.

Music Games

In addition to the awesome building blocks music learning tool, Making Music also contains various fun music games that teach solid music. The Same or Different game goal is to hear 2 melodies and judge whether these are the same or different. Each ball in the game represents a melody. When you choose the correct melody, the little major characters in the game say "Yeah." Once you do this several times, a piece is added to a jigsaw puzzle in the background. The challenge melodies can differ in tone, tempo, or scale.

The Find the Same game plays 3 melodies. You have to judge which melody matches the melody of the black ball on the screen. If you listen well, you get another piece of the background puzzle.

The Name That Difference game will play 2 melodies for you. Then, you have to judge whether the melody is higher, lower, or the same as the other melody. If you choose correctly, another piece is added to the puzzle.

In the Make A Game, you are creating different melodies using the melody and rhythm maker. Once you have made a melody, you can use it in any of the games.

Using Making Music

This amazing program combines the art of the paintbrush with music. You literally use the paintbrush to paint notes on a virtual canvas. The paintbrush paints the notes on the screen, and the closer together the notes, the faster is the sound, while notes farther apart sound slower.

The wand is similar to the paintbrush, but it moves continuously from left to right while the student moves the mouse up and down.

There are 5 different scales to choose from, including major, minor, pentatonic, whole tone, and your own. To save a composition, scroll to an empty music stand and click on it to put all the information in that stand. Click a picture to represent the piece and name it.

To load a composition, click on an empty music stand, and to play a composition, click on the green arrow. To change the tempo, move the red button on the yellow bar from left (slower) to right (faster).

The magnifying glass in the game is used to zoom in and out and the select button selects notes. Drag a rectangle around the notes you want selected.

The copy button makes a copy of the music and switches to insert. The other notes are pushed aside, and the copied notes are inserted. If you click outside the area, the notes previously on the screen will be pasted over by the copied music.

The upside down head turns music upside down, and the backwards head turns music backwards. The shhhing head makes music soft, while the screaming head makes music loud.

The squish button compacts the music, and the stretch button elongates the notes. The "oops" button undoes your last action, and the eraser erases unwanted notes. Finally, after all the many years I've been working with literally hundreds of different software, I have found my "oops" button.

Sound Palette

In Making Music, you work with a sound palette, just as you do in creating art. The sound palette, or instrument palette, has 16 sounds from which to choose to create your music masterpiece. These include a piano, trumpet, French horn, clarinet, flute, guitar, violin, organ, marimba, banjo, voice, dunbak, tom tom, steel drum, bird, and a crystal glass. Can't you just imagine the cacophony of sounds, and fun, kids will have with these included instruments?

The Melody and Rhythm Maker

The game's melody and rhythm maker lets you combine melody and rhythm. First, you move the birds up or down on the telephone line to change the notes. Next, you change the rhythm by clicking on the eggs. Click a chick and drag the mouse to the right to lengthen the note.

To merge the melody and rhythm, hit the blue arrow with a bird on top of it. To change the scale, click on the picture of the steps, and to change the instrumentation, click on the instrument palette. To play the piece, click the green arrow, and to save the composition, click on a music stand.

Mix and Match

The Mix and Match feature allows you to mix a melody with a rhythm. Both these variables can be changed. By selecting the top half of the student shown on the screen, you can change the melody. Click on the top half, then click the pointing finger on the right or left. Click on the bottom half of the student to change the rhythm, and click the pointing finger on the right or left. Click on the instrument to change it.

Go between the altered melody and the original melody by switching from the purple box to the tan box. When it is switched to purple, that means it is an altered melody. Tan means it is the original melody.

The temp may be shifted by moving the red button on the yellow bar from left (slow) to right (fast). Click the green arrow to play the new composition.

Game Play

You move the characters and interact with the screen by using the mouse.

Age Group

Making Music is a wonderful game for children of all ages, as well as adults interested in having fun learning music. Kids around 8 years of age should be old enough to quickly master the game's unique, fun interface and in no time begin to create their own music compositions.

Educational Value

Obviously, the most significant educational value of the game is its tutoring in learning how to create music. In this game, children will have a ton of fun as they learn the basics of creating music. Once they have worked through the basics of using the game's music making tools, which are wonderfully designed around the painting theme, they should soon be going to town with their own creative music making. Any parent who desires their children learn music now has the right computer software to help them in this endeavor.

Targeted Customers

Viva-Media's marvelous game Making Music is targeted to the age group 8 to 102. While the youngest 8-year olds may indeed have fun with this game, because they are learning music, it will be a more likely success the more serious is the player. Older children should also find this game one the best tools to use in their initial learning steps.

Again, Viva-Media presents a title that provides super value to public libraries as a wonderful title to be added to their collection. The game could be made available on workstations for children and their parents to play, or it could represent a super tool for use in Little Bookwork programs designed around the topic of learning music.

Price

$29.99 (super bargain!)
$39.99 (Canada)

Minimum System Configuration Requirements

Windows
P-100MHz processor
Win 95, 98, Me, NT, 2000, XP
8MB RAM
12MB free hard disk space
SVGA graphics card (16 bit)
Sound card
Speakers
2x CD-ROM drive

Mac Machines
PowerPC
Mac OS 7.5.3
32MB RAM
12MB free hard disk space
Sound card
Speakers
2x CD-ROM drive

Installation and Setup

The game should install and set up with no problems. You do need the game disc in the CD ROM drive to play the game.

About Viva Media, LLC

Viva Media, LLC, is a privately held New York company dedicated to publishing a wide array of interactive content of the highest standards. The company's collection of more than 40 multimedia titles tout more than 30 awards for excellence in publishing. Viva Media features the award winning line of Tivola Publishing. CD ROM games and the Viva range of titles include Viva Chess, Viva Adventure, and Viva Reference.

About TIVOLA Publishing

TIVOLA Publishing, now a part of Viva Media, LLC, creates and publishes a wide range of award-winning multimedia products designed to open up a world of interactive fun and learning to children and young people. The German based company has offices in New York, London, and Berlin, and produces a wide range of innovative interactive CD ROMs that stimulate a child's curiosity, while encouraging smart play. In 1995, TIVOLA published its first title, and has developed six distinct categories of software.

These include Play and Learn, The World Around Us, Quest for Knowledge, Stories and Adventures, Crimes and Clues, and Games for Fun. The company has a commitment to producing high-quality, multilingual CD ROMs that tell exciting, entertaining stories through beautiful graphics, witty animation and original games. TIVOLA titles are currently in more than 49 countries worldwide.

TIVOLA began in 1995, when founding partners, Karsten Voelker, Mil Thierig, and Barbara Landbeck founded the Berlin office to fill the need for original CD ROM games that are clever but also promote learning. In 2000, TIVOLA was named "Company of the Year" by the Berlin Association of Self-Employed Entrepreneurs, who recognized the company's fast development into an internationally successful multimedia company with an innovative brand building strategy.

The TIVOLA UK offices opened in 1998, and with the launch of 10 new titles in 2001, the company continues to grow in the UK children's software publishing market. The TIVOLA US offices opened in 1999, and the company signed a contract with the Navarre Corporation to distribute their products in the US and Canada. 

The company develops books and story games on CD ROM, and all titles are simultaneously produced in English so that they can be understood by potential international licensees. The software is also produced for the PC and the Apple platform.

TIVOLA also buys and sells license for different products. For these purposes, the company has developed optimal localization standards. With this new system, TIVOLA titles are obtainable in countries all over the world.

The TIVOLA line of CD ROM programs are products parents can depend on to provide a fun and educational computer experience for their children. Teachers can also feel secure in integrating the educational lineup of TIVOLA products into their curriculum, especially those teaching entry level classes. TIVOLA's series of learning CD ROMs for children that include the many Oscar the Balloonist titles, the many Max adventures, the super Chemicus science-based program, and of course The Little Prince, all assure a solid worthwhile computer experience for all ages, especially young learners.

With the worldwide notoriety of TIVOLA products, the company has also ventured into a new online interactive arena. Companies can now rent online games from TIVOLA to make available at their Web site for their own customers. This new portfolio of online games for rent expands still further the success of the company.

Recent news has also revealed that TIVOLA has been granted worldwide licensing rights to develop and publish educational discovery games based on the legendary comic strip icon, PEANUTS, through United Media. The most widely syndicated comic strip in history, PEANUTS reaches over 350 million readers in 75 countries, appealing to adults as well as children. The first TIVOLA PEANUTS CD ROM will be introduced at the 2002 Toy Fair, and will combine PEANUTS humor with the suspense of a discovery game. As would be expected from any TIVOLA title, the game will integrate educational elements into the distinctive humor of the PEANUTS world. 

Contact Information

Linda Weal, Media Coordinator
Tivola Publishing
580 Broadway, Suite 604
New York, NY 10012
212-431-4420, ext. 201
212-431-4420
FAX 212-431-4537
mail@tivola.com
www.viva-media.com

You can also order from other retailers or online vendors.