Shelby Music Maker Studio

Shelby Music Maker Studio is a fun interactive channel that allows you to create your own music from many different instruments. You can select from over two dozen instruments that include the piano, guitar, bass, trumpet, violin, and sax. You'll even find less-common instruments such as the ocarina and marimba - and you can even play a cowbell. There are several types of drums, including steel for that Caribbean vibe, and you can throw in hand claps as well.

To create music, you will first use the fast-forward and rewind buttons on your remote to select an instrument, then use the directional arrows to place a note on a staff (see screenshots below). The up/down buttons let you select which letter to play, while the left/right buttons let you move the note across the staff. The OK button inserts the selected note at the location you choose; highlight a note and press OK to remove a note that's already been placed.

You can use multiple instruments within a song, but each location can have only four notes, and only one letter can be used per location. That means that you can have a cymbal, trumpet, saxophone, and steel drum all sound a note at the same time, but no two of those can play a "G" note at the same time.

Use the "play" button on your remote to listen to your music at any time. The music will automatically repeat until you hit the back button, but you can go back and edit or add to your creation at any time. You can save your songs by subscribing, which will also allow you to share them and will remove the ads.

This Roku app is obviously not for serious musicians - you can only use quarter notes, there are no rest values, you can't change the tempo or add sharps, and so on. But it is a fun app for adults and may be a useful aid for teaching music to children. However, we feel that the $20/month subscription fee is quite high just for removing ads and letting you save your music to the cloud. You can find smartphone apps with many more features that are free or cost little more than a one-month subscription to Shelby Music Maker Studio.

-- Information is current as of June 23, 2022

Developer's Channel Description: Unleash your creative side! Have a blast creating your own music - while learning something too! Choose from many different instruments... pianos, guitars, brass, drums... and TONS more! Play back your creations at different tempos, save them to the cloud - even share your music with friends!

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CHANNEL STORE CATEGORY: Music

DEVELOPER: Shelby LLC

FEES: Basic version is free; $19.99/month to save songs to the cloud, share your music, and remove ads

Screenshots: 
Shelby Music Maker Studio on Roku
Shelby Music Maker Studio on Roku