Mattel Electronics
MELODY BLASTER
Cartridge Instructions
(For 1 Player)

USE WITH ANY INTELLIVISION@ MASTER COMPONENT, COMPUTER ADAPTOR, AND
INTELLIVISION@ MUSIC SYNTHESIZER.

Is it a game? Is it educational? Is it a musical instrument? Yes, it's a musical
extravaganza including all three. It's MELODY BLASTER -- a game of falling notes
that you shoot down with lasers activated by a musical keyboard. At the same
time it's educational because as your skills improve you're learning to play
songs like THE ENTERTAINER or even BEETHOVEN'S FIFTH. Or use MELODY BLASTER as a
regular musical keyboard and play up to six notes at a time. A special feature
even allows you to record your own melodies. Create your own series of notes to
blast down!

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Insert the game cartridge in the Computer Adaptor. Turn the TV and Master
Component ON. Press [RESET] on the Master Component to get the ECS screen. Press
the [disc] on either hand controller. Press button [2] and an asterisk will
appear to the right of "Cartridge." Next push the [ENTER] button and see the
MELODY BLASTER title screen.

INSERT OVERLAYS

Slide MELODY BLASTER overlays into the Hand Controller frames so they cover the
keypads.

THE GAME

The object of this game is to score as many points as possible while learning to
play music on a Music Synthesizer. You will hear a song and see a series of
falling nores. Play the keys on the Music Synthesizer keyboard in time with the
song and hit as many notes as you can. The closer the falling notes are to the
red line when you hit them, the more points you score.

The notes to hit are the ones with stems on them. [Stemmed note] The computer
will hit the others. [Whole note] Each note appears directly over a Music
Synthesizer key on the screen.

This lets you know which key to hit on the actual Music Synthesizer keyboard.
The moment you strike a key, a laser beam shoots up and strikes the note. If you
miss, the beam gives you a visual guide to how close you are.

Watch the color of the falling notes to determine which key to strike on the
keyboard. A green note is hit by striking a black key. A note of any other color
is hit by striking a white key.

The name of the song you are playing is at the top of the screen. There are
eleven songs already in the computer's memory, but you can add more with tapes
(sold separately) or you can record your own melody line using the RECORD mode.

CHOOSE THE GAME

There are seven basic ways to play MELODY BLASTER. Use the left hand controller
to select one of these by pressing the labeled button on the overlay. More
advanced features are covered later.

Computer Plays

The computer plays both hands. In this mode you see where the notes fall for any
song and you hear what the song should sound like when all the notes to that
song are played. The computer shoots down all the notes using laser beams. None
of the notes have stems.

Play Right

The computer plays the left hand notes while you play the right hand notes. Each
stemmed note that you strike at the moment it crosses the red line gives you
another 100 points. Try to shoot down as many notes as possible by playing the
melody with the proper timing between notes.

Play Left

The computer plays the right hand notes this time while you play the left. Only
the left hand notes have stems. The more notes you hit, the higher your score.

Play All

This time you are on your own. You must play using both hands. All the notes
will have stems, so try to hit them all.

Duet

Play a DUET with your computer by pressing this button. The computer will sound
the melody and will drop stemmed notes. You must play the same melody AT THE
SAME TIME. Use your keyboard to fire the lasers as the computer drops the notes.
If the computer and you play together, you will hit all the notes perfectly and
make beautiful music together.

Play Anything

This mode allows you to play up to six notes at a time. You can play anything
you like and hear it as you play. Let your imagination and musical ear take you
anywhere!

Tap Melody

An easy way to learn a song is to learn the timing first. This button allows you
to find the right rhythm to a song without the skill required to play the exact
notes. Simply press any key on the music keyboard in time with the music and a
laser automatically shoots down and plays the correct melody (right hand) note.
Your timing is all you need to worry about. TAP MELODY works best in the SLOW!,
SLOW, and MED modes.

CHOOSE THE SONG

Song Buttons

Push any button on the right hand controller and hear a song. Before you begin
select one of these songs:

CHOOSE THE SPEED

Two buttons on the left hand controller allow you to select the speed (tempo) of
the song at any time.

Slower 

Each time you press this button, the speed (tempo) of the song slows down. There
are four speeds: SLOW!, SLOW, MED, AND FAST.

Faster 

Each time you press this button, the speed (tempo) of the song will increase.
The same four speeds are possible.

GAME BEGINS

Now you're ready to start the game. Each selection (CHOOSE GAME, CHOOSE SONG,
CHOOSE SPEED) immediately changes the game which continues until you are
prepared to play it. So whenever you're ready, position your fingers on the
keyboard and press the key directly in line with the falling note just as that
note hits the red line. You score 100 points and hear the note played. If you
hit the note a little above or below the line, you score fewer points. The score
will erase at the end of the song and the song will automatically start over
unless you select another. Press the disc to pause the action or to note your
score at the end of a song.

The TILT feature keeps you from hitting too many keys at once in an attempt to
score more points. If you do, the word TILT will block out your score. You won't
lose any points, but no points may be score while the TILT is blocking your
score.

SPECIAL FEATURES

There are other special features that you may select using the buttons on the
left hand controller.

Record 

This button allows you to record a single melody line (no chords) into memory
and play it back later.

When the memory is filled completely with notes, a "FULL" message will appear.
Press the disc to end the recording and immediately hear the song played back.
Later, in order to hear what you've recorded, press the [MEMORY] button on your
right-hand controller.

You can only play one note at a time into the computer's memory.

Play games with your song just like any other song in the computer's memory, but
PLAY RIGHT and PLAY LEFT modes work the same as the PLAY ALL mode (only stemmed
notes fall). If there isn't a recorded song in memory, a "NONE" message prints
out. The song is erased from the computer's memory when you turn the unit off.

Help 

Push [HELP] and you will see a quick summary of each button's function on the
hand controllers. Simply press that button once and the summary will appear.
Press [Disc] to return to game.

Change Tone 

This button allows you to alternate between short tones and long tones on any
given melody. Each push of the button changes the sound.

Cut Begin 

The "CUT" buttons allow you to cut off part of a song. The music remaining after
you cut repeats until you cut it again or you reselect the complete song. Press
the [CUT BEGIN] button at the point where you want the song to begin again. When
the song reaches its end, it will start over at the point that you marked by
pressing the CUT BEGIN button. To hear the complete song again, simply press
that song button.

Cut End 

This button is similar to the "CUT BEGIN" button only it marks a NEW ENDING to
the song. The song now ends the moment you press the [CUT END] button. To hear
the complete song again, simply press that song button. If you cut a song down
to one note or less, an "EMPTY" message will appear.

CUT BEGIN and CUT END allow you to choose a particular part of a song that you
might be having some difficulty with and have just that part repeat over and
over again so that you can practice it.

Pause 

The DISC will pause the game at any time. Press the [DISC] again to resume the
game.

Note: You can push any button, anytime and get a response.

READ TAPE *

Follow these steps to read new songs into memory from a data cassette tape:*

Connect your cassette tape recorder to the ECS module using connector cord. Each
of three plugs is inserted into the proper tape recorder outlets: earphone,
microphone, and remote. (For further instructions, see your OWNER'S MANUAL.)

Adjust the tone control (if present) to TREBLE. 

Adjust the volume control to the middle of its range. 

Insert the tape and rewind to the beginning. 

Push [PLAY] on your recorder. (Nothing happens since the recorder is now
controlled by the Intellivision Computer.)

Press [READ TAPE] button on your hand controller. "READING" appears on your
screen which indicates that the songs are being fed into the memory of your
Intellivision computer.

If an "ERROR" or "NO DATA" message replaces the word "READING" the problem may
be improper tape recorder hookup, tone control not fully Treble, volume control
too high or too low, damaged tape or even no tape in your recorder. Fix the
problem and try again by pressing the [READ TAPE] button.

The Intellivision computer will automatically shut the tape recorder off when
the memory is full. Usually 3 to 5 songs fill the computer's memory. Not all the
songs on the tape may fit in the computer's memory at once. (To stop a tape in
the middle of a "READING" press [RESET] or stop the tape.)

If you press the [READ TAPE] button again, the memory is erased and new songs
(if there are any left on the tape) are read.

Note: You may start the tape at any point you like. For instance, you may only
want to play the last song. Just fast forward your recorder to the song you
want. (Make sure you unplug the remote plug and earphone plug from your recorder
first.) To get to the song you want, count the gaps between the songs because
you will not be able to identify them by hearing them. You will hear a strange
series of sounds instead of music because the songs are pre-recorded digitally.
The gap between the songs may be identified by relative silence. It is best to
start the tape during one of those gaps so you can read the whole song.

* Pre-recorded tapes sold separately. (See enclosed card for details.)

HOW TO PLAY TAPED SONGS

Press [MEMORY] button (button 12). If there is only one song in the memory, the
song automatically plays. If there is more than one song, keep reading.

The following message appears onscreen: TO PLAY SONG, PRESS 1 THRU ___. The
blank may be filled by the number of songs there are in memory.

If the message reads: TO PLAY TAPE SONGS, PRESS [1 THRU 4]. Your selection
should be one of four songs.

Press the numbered button on the right hand controller which corresponds with
the number of the song you want.

Example: If you select song #3 by pressing button [3], the song title appears at
the top of the screen and the computer plays that song for you until you select
another song.

The moment the recorder has read the first song from the tape, you may play it
by pressing the [MEMORY] button. In this case, no message appears because there
is only one song in the memory. The computer will select it for you and start
playing it immediately. The rest of the songs continue to be read while you play
the first song. You can play any game while the taped songs are being read.

Note: A message will remain onscreen until replaced by another message.

ADDITIONAL HINTS

Try recording a melody and then challenging a friend to play it on the YOU PLAY
ALL game. The winner is the one who comes closest to matching the tune. OR he
could challenge you to play his song and compare the score to the one he got on
your song.

Get some eerie experimental sounds by cutting a melody down to one note using
the CUT END button and then playing over it with your music synthesizer. Alsotry
changing the speed and see what happens.

Never stop experimenting with your MELODY BLASTER. You'll be surprised at the
number of things you can do with it.

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THE ABC's OF EASY-PLAY SPEED MUSIC

PLAYING THE MELODY

Melodies are made up of NOTES and are played by your right hand on the upper
keyboard, or solo section. Seven letters -- A through G -- repeated over and
over, name every note you'll ever play. They name every key on your keyboard
too. Speed Music makes it easy by using these letters in each note.

SHARPS AND FLATS

In Easy-Play Speed Music, a SHARP (#) tells you to play the very next key to the
right and a FLAT (b) tells you to play the very next key to the left. These are
usually black keys.

TIME VALUES

In music, time is measured in BEATS. The illustration shows the types of notes
you'll play and how many beats each type gets.

RESTS are shown in the lower part of the illustration, along with the number of
beats each type gets. A rest indicates a period of silence, when you don't play.
However, rests still must be counted.

THE STAFF, MEASURES AND BAR LINES

The STAFF consists of five lines and four spaces and each is named with one of
the letters A through G. Any note that appears on one of the lines or in one of
the spaces is called by that letter-name.

The S-shaped symbol at the beginning of the staff is called the TREBLE CLEF and
tells you all the notes that follow are to be played by your right hand.

The staff is divided into equal sections by using vertical lines called BAR
LINES. The sections between the bar lines are called MEASURES.

TIME SIGNATURE

The two numbers at the beginning of a song are known as the TIMS SIGNATURE. The
top number indicates the number of beats in each measure. The bottom number 4
tells you each quarter note ([Quarter note]) receives one beat.

TIES

A TIE is a curved line connecting notes on the same line or in the same space.
It indicates the first note is struck and then held for the total time value of
the tied notes.

|: REPEAT SIGNS :| AND DOUBLE ENDINGS

These tell you to play certain parts of a song more than once. If a song has
more than one set of lyrics, you'll generally see repeat signs.

Sometimes a repeated song, or part of a song, has two different endings. In
these cases, DOUBLE ENDINGS are used.

PLAYING THE ACCOMPANIMENT

Accompaniment consists of CHORDS, indicated by CHORD SYMBOLS in your music: [C]
[G] 7.

Generally, there are three ways to play chords: One finger, traditional or
three-note Easy-Play chords. Your owner's guide can help you decide which
methods your keyboard is capable of. Be sure to try them all.

N.C. tells you "No Chord" is played -- just the right-hand melody.

SUBSTITUTE CHORDS appear in brackets [ ] to the right of a chord symbol -- use
whichever sounds best to you.

Like substitutes, OPTIONAL CHORDS are up to your taste and preference. They're
not necessary to the song but they do make the accompaniment more interesting.
These are the SMALL chord symbols that appear above the melody. The small 7 that
appears to the right of certain chords indicates another form of optional chord.
A seventh is a fuller-sounding chord. However, they are not necessary -- it's a
matter of personal taste.

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ERRATA SLIP

IMPORTANT NOTICE!

The "pre-recorded data cassette tapes" referred to in the instructions are no
longer going to be made and distributed. Please disregard any game buttons,
instructions, and warranty information relating to the use of such tapes. This
includes the "READ TAPE" buttons designated by the overlay and the reference
material on those buttons which is stored in the "HELP" function of your
cartridge. In your instructions, pages 13 through 16 Are No Longer Applicable.
Specific references to cassette tapes on pages 4 and 36 should also be
disregarded.

Correction on page 7:

Song in Memory (Button #12) -- The Song You Recorded (page 10)

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İMattel Electronics
No. 4540
All Rights Reserved.

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Original text version of this document can be found at The Intellivision
Library.
