Music ™ Hall of Fame

"NOW ANYONE CAN MAKE GREAT MUSIC"

"EXPRESS your inner beats"

"NOW ANYONE CAN MAKE GREAT MUSIC"

"EXPRESS your inner beats"

"NOW ANYONE CAN MAKE GREAT MUSIC"

"EXPRESS your inner beats"

Music ™ HALL of fame

Videos talking in detail about both PS1 Music™ apps!  

-Music 2000 catchphrase on CD case

-MTV Music Generator catchphrase on CD case

Jester Interactive blessed Playstation 1 with wonderful sample-based music sequencers, easy to use with joypad, enabling generations of music producers to make quality beats without having expensive studio equipment, even nowadays!

On PS1 there's 2 editions of Music™:
"Music - Music Creation for the Playstation"

"MTV Music Generator" (US) / "Music 2000" (EU)

(Guide will be referring to it as Music1, or M1)

(We'll call US version MG1; UK PAL version: M2K)

I created this page to archive and collect all the information I've got about both PS1 releases into one place, for future interested musicians!

Provided links will look like this!

----TABLE OF CONTENTs----

1. Differences between Music1 and Music2000; 2. Features, Controls, Workflow, Tips, Bugs; 3. Emulation - Performance, Setup, Recording; 4. VJ in-depth guide 5. Other Music™ software (PC version, PS2 sequels)

1. Emulation - Initial Setup;

1. Differences between Music1 and Music2000; 2. Features, Controls, Workflow, Tips, Bugs; 3. Emulation - Performance, Setup, Recording; 4. VJ in-depth guide 5. Other Music™ software (PC version, PS2 sequels)

-BIOS;

1. Differences between Music1 and Music2000; 2. Features, Controls, Workflow, Tips, Bugs; 3. Emulation - Performance, Setup, Recording; 4. VJ in-depth guide 5. Other Music™ software (PC version, PS2 sequels)

-Emulator downloads;

1. Differences between Music1 and Music2000; 2. Features, Controls, Workflow, Tips, Bugs; 3. Emulation - Performance, Setup, Recording; 4. VJ in-depth guide 5. Other Music™ software (PC version, PS2 sequels)

-Disk image;

1. Differences between Music1 and Music2000; 2. Features, Controls, Workflow, Tips, Bugs; 3. Emulation - Performance, Setup, Recording; 4. VJ in-depth guide 5. Other Music™ software (PC version, PS2 sequels)

-Music 1 vs Music 2000;

1. Differences between Music1 and Music2000; 2. Features, Controls, Workflow, Tips, Bugs; 3. Emulation - Performance, Setup, Recording; 4. VJ in-depth guide 5. Other Music™ software (PC version, PS2 sequels)

-Additional Settings;

1. Differences between Music1 and Music2000; 2. Features, Controls, Workflow, Tips, Bugs; 3. Emulation - Performance, Setup, Recording; 4. VJ in-depth guide 5. Other Music™ software (PC version, PS2 sequels)

-Discord Community;

1. Differences between Music1 and Music2000; 2. Features, Controls, Workflow, Tips, Bugs; 3. Emulation - Performance, Setup, Recording; 4. VJ in-depth guide 5. Other Music™ software (PC version, PS2 sequels)

-Special Thanks;

- - - SEPARATED ON ANOTHER PAGE - - -

1. Differences between Music1 and Music2000; 2. Features, Controls, Workflow, Tips, Bugs; 3. Emulation - Performance, Setup, Recording; 4. VJ in-depth guide 5. Other Music™ software (PC version, PS2 sequels)

-Recording;

1. Differences between Music1 and Music2000; 2. Features, Controls, Workflow, Tips, Bugs; 3. Emulation - Performance, Setup, Recording; 4. VJ in-depth guide 5. Other Music™ software (PC version, PS2 sequels)

-Sampling;

1. Differences between Music1 and Music2000; 2. Features, Controls, Workflow, Tips, Bugs; 3. Emulation - Performance, Setup, Recording; 4. VJ in-depth guide 5. Other Music™ software (PC version, PS2 sequels)

-Post-Processing;

- - - SEPARATED ON ANOTHER PAGE - - -

1. Differences between Music1 and Music2000; 2. Features, Controls, Workflow, Tips, Bugs; 3. Emulation - Performance, Setup, Recording; 4. VJ in-depth guide 5. Other Music™ software (PC version, PS2 sequels)

-Multi-Channel-Export;

1. Differences between Music1 and Music2000; 2. Features, Controls, Workflow, Tips, Bugs; 3. Emulation - Performance, Setup, Recording; 4. VJ in-depth guide 5. Other Music™ software (PC version, PS2 sequels)

-Modding;

1. Differences between Music1 and Music2000; 2. Features, Controls, Workflow, Tips, Bugs; 3. Emulation - Performance, Setup, Recording; 4. VJ in-depth guide 5. Other Music™ software (PC version, PS2 sequels)

-PC ver;

- - - SEPARATED ON ANOTHER PAGE - - -

1. Differences between Music1 and Music2000; 2. Features, Controls, Workflow, Tips, Bugs; 3. Emulation - Performance, Setup, Recording; 4. VJ in-depth guide 5. Other Music™ software (PC version, PS2 sequels)

-Beginner's resources;

1. Differences between Music1 and Music2000; 2. Features, Controls, Workflow, Tips, Bugs; 3. Emulation - Performance, Setup, Recording; 4. VJ in-depth guide 5. Other Music™ software (PC version, PS2 sequels)

-Glitches;

1. Differences between Music1 and Music2000; 2. Features, Controls, Workflow, Tips, Bugs; 3. Emulation - Performance, Setup, Recording; 4. VJ in-depth guide 5. Other Music™ software (PC version, PS2 sequels)

-Safe workflow;

1. Differences between Music1 and Music2000; 2. Features, Controls, Workflow, Tips, Bugs; 3. Emulation - Performance, Setup, Recording; 4. VJ in-depth guide 5. Other Music™ software (PC version, PS2 sequels)

-Quirks and features;

1. Differences between Music1 and Music2000; 2. Features, Controls, Workflow, Tips, Bugs; 3. Emulation - Performance, Setup, Recording; 4. VJ in-depth guide 5. Other Music™ software (PC version, PS2 sequels)

-Layer distortion;

1. Differences between Music1 and Music2000; 2. Features, Controls, Workflow, Tips, Bugs; 3. Emulation - Performance, Setup, Recording; 4. VJ in-depth guide 5. Other Music™ software (PC version, PS2 sequels)

-7th octave exploit;

1. Differences between Music1 and Music2000; 2. Features, Controls, Workflow, Tips, Bugs; 3. Emulation - Performance, Setup, Recording; 4. VJ in-depth guide 5. Other Music™ software (PC version, PS2 sequels)

-Memcards;

1. Differences between Music1 and Music2000; 2. Features, Controls, Workflow, Tips, Bugs; 3. Emulation - Performance, Setup, Recording; 4. VJ in-depth guide 5. Other Music™ software (PC version, PS2 sequels)

-AM/PM Modulation;

- - - SEPARATED ON ANOTHER PAGE - - -

1. Differences between Music1 and Music2000; 2. Features, Controls, Workflow, Tips, Bugs; 3. Emulation - Performance, Setup, Recording; 4. VJ in-depth guide 5. Other Music™ software (PC version, PS2 sequels)

-VJ mode;

Ones below are not finished yet, please be patient <3

1. Differences between Music1 and Music2000; 2. Features, Controls, Workflow, Tips, Bugs; 3. Emulation - Performance, Setup, Recording; 4. VJ in-depth guide 5. Other Music™ software (PC version, PS2 sequels)

-Legacy of Music™;

1. Differences between Music1 and Music2000; 2. Features, Controls, Workflow, Tips, Bugs; 3. Emulation - Performance, Setup, Recording; 4. VJ in-depth guide 5. Other Music™ software (PC version, PS2 sequels)

-PS2 entries;

I also placed around videos and tracks made using M2000!

1. Emulation - Initial Setup;

Thanks to emulation standards nowadays, There's no issue getting both Music™ to fully function and play audio in high quality! Emulation improves over console counterpart with easy transfer & management of memory cards, custom controls adjusted to your liking, fast-forwarding (to shorten loading times) and rewinding (to quickly recover from mistakes), and 0 power-line noise during recording!

Most recommended emulator is Duckstation!
It should be available regardless of platform you're using - Windows, MacOS*, Android, Linux etc.

Duckstation libretro cores

Duckstation Main page

--->

--->

<---

<---

Duckstation libretro cores

MacOS

Duckstation libretro cores

Android

Duckstation libretro cores

Linux

Duckstation libretro cores

Windows

^Google Play link^
for APK, check github

There's also Retroarch + Duckstation / Beetle core
that prove to be very accurate & multiplatform,

but RETROARCH IS NOT RECOMMENDED!

Duckstation outperforms Retroarch by alot!
Try only if Standalone Duckstation fails for you!

RETROARCH IS NOT RECOMMENDED!

Duckstation libretro cores

Retroarch

Duckstation libretro cores

video guide

DON'T USE EPSXE - It's severely outdated
by any nowadays standards!

PS1 emulation wiki

for more emulation info check:

You also will need

BIOS

It's a heart of the console, required by the emulators - Installation Instructions should mention right place to place BIOS!

2. Sampling the CD: Inside Music2000 select "CD player" option (it's right next to "Load and Save") and press "No video". You will see a message asking you to change CDs - open up Retroarch, and inside "Quick Menu" near the bottom there should be "Disk Control" - Inside it, press "Eject", and "Load New Disk" which will be audio CD image you made, then press "Insert Disc" If done correct, you should see little audio player displayed in the bottom right corner - Play back track with part you want to sample, and press RECORD: Sample will start from the moment you press this button! Stop when you're done - New sample will be available in the lowest free Sample Palette number!

GO BACK TO TABLE OF CONTENTS

DISK IMAGE

To get started, first we need one of the Music™ apps! 
Legally wise I need to advise to rip your own disk,
 or download backup from archive.org by searching:

To get started, obviously first we have to obtain one of the disk images! Legally wise I cannot advise you more than ripping your own disk or downloading backup from archive.org by searching "Music Series software PS1". Retroarch prefers images in ".bin + .cue" format, where .bin is the raw CD image, and .cue tells emulator where to start reading the .bin file. Launch your game using .cue file!

"Music Series software PS1 collection"

Duckstation prefers images in ".bin"+".cue" format, where ".bin" is the raw CD image, and ".cue" tells emulator where to start reading the ".bin" file. Launch your game using ".cue" file!

)

(

Images above link to their respective pages on ReDump.org - there you can verify your disks, see if the hashes/checksums match!

Images below link to their respective pages on ReDump.org:
there you can check your CDs, see if the hashes/checksums match! 

[Which one to start off with?]

[Release dates:]

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[Which one to start off with?]

20 November 1998

Preferably Music 2000, as it's
the overall improvement in
almost every way, and in this
guide you'll see the explanation
on many M2K-exclusive features!

Music 2000

Another big + is M2K's self-documented
interface = every menu has help-tips
whenever you wonder a what function does!

26 November 1999

That's not to say Music1 is just
bad, as it has it's own charm.
It is definitely made obsolete,
as sequels can do same and more!

I do recommend one day to at
least try out Music1 for
historic reasons, explore little
differences like simplified menus,
no menu at all, or quick riff
expanding/cloning.

30 November 1999

Not to say M2K is perfection, as it
has its glitches and quirks, but
even in such cases, Music 2000 is
the right choice if you want a
fully-featured audio-visual studio!

For M2K/MG1 some
articles/reviews
provide other dates:
M2K: 30 Nov;
MG1: 15 Dec, 17 Dec;
M1 stays consistent!

Images above link to their respective pages on ReDump.org - there you can verify your disks, see if the hashes/checksums match!

Music 2000 and MTV Music Generator are almost exactly the same, apart from minor regional differences shown here!

FEATURE-COMPARISON

|-----------------FEATURE-COMPARISON----------------|
| Features       | Music 1           | Music2000    |
|----------------+-------------------+--------------|
| Channels       | 16 (8 effect only) | all 24       |
| Group edit     | Only transpose    | + parameters |
| Riff volume     | Start,End,Both    | + precise    |
| Riff options    | Vol, Name, Icon   | + Key        |
| Tempo changes  | 1 per block       | Like Riffs    |
| Reverb setup   | Once per song     | Like Riffs    |
| Riff memory     | Those on SongMode | All          |
| Inst. cleanup  | Not available     | Yes          |
| Built-in Help  | Key/Button hint   | Full Manual  |
| Themes         | 16 available      | No :(        |
|----------------+-------------------+--------------|

To get started, obviously first we have to obtain one of the disk images! Legally wise I cannot advise you more than ripping your own disk or downloading backup from archive.org by searching "Music Series software PS1". Retroarch prefers images in ".bin + .cue" format, where .bin is the raw CD image, and .cue tells emulator where to start reading the .bin file. Launch your game using .cue file!

!!!

Done! You should be able to start Music™ by this point!

to celebrate, here's something you can be part of:

Discord Music™ Series Creative Community

--->

--->

This website was written mostly dedicated to other Musicians, to get them up and running! If you like this page, consider joining our Discord server:
Quiet, but with plenty passionate and helpful folks!

2. Sampling the CD: Inside Music2000 select "CD player" option (it's right next to "Load and Save") and press "No video". You will see a message asking you to change CDs - open up Retroarch, and inside "Quick Menu" near the bottom there should be "Disk Control" - Inside it, press "Eject", and "Load New Disk" which will be audio CD image you made, then press "Insert Disc" If done correct, you should see little audio player displayed in the bottom right corner - Play back track with part you want to sample, and press RECORD: Sample will start from the moment you press this button! Stop when you're done - New sample will be available in the lowest free Sample Palette number!

GO BACK TO THE TABLE OF CONTENT

Additional settings:

---[Controller setup:]---

Important preparation of your controller / keyboard!
Go to "Settings"-> "Controller Settings"->"Port 1"

Here's official Music2000 page from manual!

Want bigger pic? "Right-click" image and press
"Open image in new tab"

Here's my own keyboard setup - personally I find it comfortable, thought you might like to adjust it to your liking!

---[Using mouse as controller:]---

Go to "Settings"-> "Controller Settings"->"Port 2", and there set "Controller Type" to "Playstation Mouse"
This way mouse should be enabled to use right away!

By turning on "Relative mouse mode" you will make sure that mouse pointer won't escape the emulator window, though you won't be able to use the mouse to browse the emulator interface - Set up "Pause" hotkey to pause emulator and free your mouse as you need!

--[Auto-Fire / Turbo buttons:]--

For ease of use you should enable turbo "X" button!
Many options in Music2000 can't be scrolled with
much precision, so you will need sometimes
to press "X" to reach your preffered settings.
Go to "Settings"-> "Controller Settings", and
below you should see "Auto Fire Buttons" section!

THERE'S MORE!

(still writing actually!)

I wrote this guide planning to cover all important aspects of M2K, especially advanced features! There was no collective effort before documenting as such, which may the give the impression that M2K is "too simple":
I wanna teach you to take it to another level!

2. Sampling the CD: Inside Music2000 select "CD player" option (it's right next to "Load and Save") and press "No video". You will see a message asking you to change CDs - open up Retroarch, and inside "Quick Menu" near the bottom there should be "Disk Control" - Inside it, press "Eject", and "Load New Disk" which will be audio CD image you made, then press "Insert Disc" If done correct, you should see little audio player displayed in the bottom right corner - Play back track with part you want to sample, and press RECORD: Sample will start from the moment you press this button! Stop when you're done - New sample will be available in the lowest free Sample Palette number!

GO BACK TO TABLE OF CONTENTS

and follow the next chapters I've made!

Special Thanks to:

(in alphabetical order)

croissant;
Decon Theed;
DJ Omnimaga;
Kulor;
Mattis;
p1agnut;
plastov;
Revol Golana;
Roman;
theK9dog;

Both of these nice cover-arts
link to the
really cool songs
made using M2000!

MAIN INFU PAGE

To check my various Chiptune projects and music!