Review: UCreate Music

Written on Nov 6, 2009 by RuthJS and filed under Mattel, Reviews

Out of the Box

Mattel has created an electronic mixing soundboard for the 8+ crowd. The UCreate Music allows young DJs to layer backbeats, riffs, licks and runs along with mp3 samples to create a unique composition all their own (and, yes, these music terms are defined in the user manual for those of us who don’t automatically know what they are).

Aspiring DJs can build their compositions starting with three different options of Backbeats, riffs, licks, and runs, linking them together in whatever way creates the sound they want.  They can then further refine their compositions by adding effects and filters. An internal microphone allows children to add a voice or sound recording which they can then mix into their musical masterpiece.  As if that’s not enough, the whole system can be linked to a computer and kids can add samples from their own mp3s or other files from the UCreate Music web site.

Testing . . . 1 . . . 2 . . . 3

I let several “kids” age 7 to 40 play with the UCreate Music. The unanimous verdict was definitely positive.  In fact, one young tester walked around the house all day for two days playing his compositions everywhere he went. The constant dance beat nearly drove his mom nuts, but rest assured, the UCreate Music does accept headphones (not included).

Just by turning the UCreate Music on and pressing buttons, my testers were able to create fun and exciting dance tunes. It was easy to experiment with the different sounds and distortions, but the favorite feature was the internal microphone. The kids would record a phrase, incorporate it into their songs, and then speed it up or slow it down, all the while laughing hysterically. One thing to note is that the storage capacity of the UCreate Music isn’t huge, but it is enough to record a 2 minute and 30 second song.  Here’s an example of what you can do – UCreate Music Sample.

Along with the hardware, Mattel includes software with the machine to link to their web site where young DJs can download software that contains additional sounds and upload their music files. And, if that sounds confusing, it is. It took some figuring for me to finally get the Music Mixer software installed, and when I did, I didn’t find it to be at all user friendly. In fact, you can’t create a song using the software, though this is not readily apparent when you look at the interface. Not to mention, there are even some buttons that don’t have any content. Frankly, no 8-year-old I know would do anything more than press the buttons that do have content, listen to the sound options, and upload their masterpieces so that they can clear the memory on the UCreate Music, freeing space for a new composition.

In my opinion, kids would be better off skipping the software content altogether for anything other than uploading their creations.

In a Nutshell

After watching testers and using the UCreate Music myself, I can safely say that, while anyone can have fun with this toy, a true music-lover could use the UCreate Music to its full potential. There are levels of complexity that your average 8 year-old would not be able to use, but that does give kids room to grow with UCreate Music, which is nice. Our main complaint is the desktop software is confusing and not kid-friendly. That said, it was a lot of fun to just mess around with the music and create our own Dance Party USA. And while it’s targeted to the 8+ crowd, even little kids can have fun mashing the buttons to “create” music. With an MSRP around $30, it’s priced well for the entertainment and creative outlet it provides.

Rating – 4 out of 5 stars

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