Music how Tim Wright (Wipeout, Lemmings.) created one of the finest music creation tools for the Playstation.

[Krvavi Abadas]

The initial idea for Music came about because Wright, already a prolific soundtrack writer, remembered having to beg or borrow musical equipment as a teenager. "There was one guy in my local town who had a 4-track tape recorder, and I would, on very rare occasions, be allowed to use it. I couldn't afford one of my own, and I wondered how many teenagers felt like me, but who did own a PS1."

Thus, the idea for Music was born – but it wasn’t all smooth sailing. Despite hindsight making it appear screamingly obvious, the path to Music took a few turns. "We went through various iterations of product ideas, a kid's playground with a drum machine made from a merry-go-round and bass on the slide," recalls Wright. "Then there was talk of a kitchen setting with a stove cooking 'bass beans' and so on. Eventually, Morgan said, 'This is all a bit shit isn't it?'"

(full article, it notably goes into the severe amount of crunch it took to get the project out there.)

for North American/Canadian audiences, if you don't recognize the name. note that a few installments of the tool were released here under the name "MTV Music Generator".
it even did reasonably well there. with notable indie game composer Jim Guthrie (Sword & Sworcery, Planet Coaster) getting his start by composing some tunes using the application.

Recorded on a Sony Playstation using MTV Music Generator