Before we get too in-depth I would like to state that I am an avid Reason user. For those who don't know what Reason is, it is a music creation studio made by Propellerheads software in Sweden. I have been writing my own music for many years as a hobby so I was interested to see what this game on Xbox Live was all about. I doubt many of you have heard of this little audio mixing "game" in the Xbox Live Marketplace. It has managed to become one of the top rated Indie games out of the entire library. It has a demo like all XBL Indie games do and despite not being able to save, it gives you a robust amount of samples to test it out.
EZMUZE+ has over 500 different samples that play out in 4 measures. You can mix and match each measure with different sounds to make your own unique beats and songs. I do not know if the sequencer has a maximum time allotment for a song but I have made a song that goes over 5 minutes so the majority of writing will be accepted.
You get 2 tracks for drums, bass, lead and atmosphere. 1 track for vocals and SFX. There is everything from pianos to electric basses, synths, far eastern instruments and even glitch sounds from computers. Some of the vocal samples are drop dead hilarious. There is the Killer Robots or the Raw Enthusiasm voices and others with some standard effects applied. SFX include stabs, crashes, cymbals and sweeps. Now you cannot record or input any sounds or voice into this system. What they offer is ways to unlock more samples through using various systems like music sharing and saving a number of files. I find it foolish to limit the users choice from the beginning but I guess that did this to make people want to experiment and get into the editor to be rewarded.
There is also automation controls for the volume of each track and some advanced gate style controls (which actually just automate the volume in a complex manner).
One way to unlock more sounds is by sharing a song with a friend who also has the game. You send an invite with the current open song, they accept and they then download it. These songs are never locked so be sure not to give songs to people if you don't want any tampering. Of course collaborating is perhaps the coolest part of this setup. I have a link to an AAC file of a collab between my friend and myself as well as a single I made alone. Check for the files and a trailer of the game after the break.
EZMUZE+ Hamst3r Edition costs 800 msp ($10) and although that may be too steep for some, I can tell you that I already got my moneys worth after 2 songs. You cannot legally sell anything you make but you can share it and use it for non-commercial uses. Fine by me!
