AppCraver » Georges Papas

Melodica Light and Sound Combine for Simple Music Creation

Georges Papas — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:00:20 +0000

Melodica presents a 16 by 10 surface where the length represents the 4 bars of a 4/4 beat and the height is a set of 10 notes that all harmonize well together. Anyone familiar with arppegiators or sequencers will find themselves at home using the software’s interface.

But, can Melodica be one of those apps you could use as much for fun as you can in your home studio? And is it easy enough for non-pros to use and enjoy?

As far as sample quality goes, Melodica can certainly hold it’s own in a home studio setup. That being said, there really is only one sound preset, which limits Melodica, and kills it’s expandability. On a similar note, Melodica only offers three tempo settings, slow normal and fast. Without any option to specify exactly what BPM to play at, there’s no way Melodica could be used for recording.

Melodica will be most appealing to people that want to create interesting melodies quickly and simply. The lightbox interface is really beautiful and while it may take non-pros a few beats to figure out the set up, the demo video below does a great job of showing the app in action.

There’s a melody saving and loading system which will save one instance of your melody. This is nice, but a more interesting option would be to be the ability to record several iterations of the melody as the user makes changes during the process.

I think if the creators of Melodica took time to incorporate some richer features they could really have a superb app. The ability to export or or at least share your melodies with other users is the killer feature that would take this app to the next level. We’d also like to create longer tunes.

Although it won’t hold it’s own in a studio environment (and for a buck we weren’t really expecting it too), Melodica is great for creating little melodic tunes on the go. The light show is a nice feature that’s an extra layer to the simplified melody maker.

Watch the Melodica video:

rating: 7/10
app_name: Melodica

Tongue Drum Brings Archaic Music to the Modern Era

Georges Papas — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:00:02 +0000

The Tongue Drum, the world’s oldest form of instrument, has been used for millenia by tribes throughout the world as both a story-telling instrument and war drum. Originally crafted from hollowed out tree bark, it has evolved into a modern instrument with multiple tunings, sizes and variations. Earsmack Music has created the next evolutionary step by adapting the tongue drum to the iPhone age. So how does the digital version compare to the real thing?

The Tongue Drum app has an expectedly simple interface utilizing all but a few pixels of the screen. Whatever isn’t being used a control surface contains the necessary menu functions. Through tuning menu, the user can choose from 11 different drum tunings including Natural Minor, major, blues, chromatic, and pentatonic scales.

Adding to the application’s depth is the mallet menu, where as the name suggests, Tongue drum lets you choose which type of mallet you would like to strike the drum with. Beside the standard rubber ball, waxed cork and waxed dowel mallet, there’s an interesting analog option, which generates a sound more reminiscent of a synth harp than a drum. Utilizing the legendary Moog Voyager as a source, the synth notes are complete and offer a full range often lacking when an option differs from all the others to such a degree.

The drum samples themselves are wonderful, mostly owing to the fact that they were recorded using a real hand-crafted tongue drum. It’s interesting to note that finding such a drum is very difficult and the creators of the app mention TongueDrum.com as their source for the instrument. You should definitely take a look at their work if your looking for a serious hand-crafted tongue drum to add to your percussion collection. However if your looking for a cheaper, more practical alternative, the Tongue Drum app from Earsmack Music is more than adequate.

rating: 9/10
app_name: Tongue Drum

Looptastic Producer Makes Mobile Mashups Mainstream

Georges Papas — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 22:00:07 +0000

Looptastic Producer – As far as iPhone looping software goes, it’s either a hit or miss. Some developers seem to over-complicate or oversimplify, while others can find the just the right balance.

One of the latest contenders in the loop station race is Looptastic Producer by Sound Trends, which used loops from piploops.com to develop their application. Which category would this latest effort fall into?

Looptastic Producer presents the user with a series of preset loops in various categories including Breakbeat, Drum n’ Bass, Minimal and Trance. After selecting the loop set, the user is shown ten loops that when combined create a full, rich-sounding song.

One of the many issues with most iPhone loop apps is the overabundance of small buttons. Looptastic removes the clutter of volume sliders by controlling the volume of loops by their height on the mixer channels.

The single crossfade is quite limiting since the center channel is always playing, but the software is responsive enough to make this a minor issue. This could be addressed in the future by adding a crossfade channel selection option found on most hardware mixers with more than 2 channels. Looptastic Producer has a menu option Sound Trends calls an “Effect Menu”, which is in fact an EQ pad with great presets for bass cut, high cut, notch and band pass.

Anyone who has used Ableton Live will feel right at home with the Looptastic’s drag and drop interface. It would be interesting to see one of the key Ableton Live features, loop playback quantizing, make it’s way into Looptastic Producer. Apart from the easy-to-use interface, my most appreciated feature was the deep recording mode. Not only does the app record audio, it records and plays the performance’s video, showing you exactly how you constructed your masterpiece. Another feature I would like to see integrated into a future release would be something similar to the Beatgrid option in VirtualDJ.

The loops used in Looptastic Producer aren’t quite up to par with today studio standards, but are more than enough for the average person to create great music on the go. Apart from those packaged with the application, you can import loops in a variety of formats from your computer, allowing amateurs to mix their own songs on the go. If that’s what your in the market for, then Looptastic Producer is right for you, check out its many flavors at the App Store.

app_name: Looptastic Producer
rating: 8/10

Tuner Metronome Minimalist Interface Gets it Done

Georges Papas — Fri, 08 May 2009 20:00:05 +0000

From the land of sushi and Godzilla comes Tuner Metronome, an app which as the name suggests offers various tuning and tempo tools for everyday musicians. It’s developer MIZO claims it to be “the most high quality digital tuner metronome.” I wouldn’t go so far, but this is certainly a solid application.

Tuner Metronome has three main functions that are easily identifiable to even novice musicians, the first of which is the “tone generator.” You choose a note and it will emit a precise synth note, to be used as a reference pitch. Couldn’t be any simpler. The second mode is the chromatic tuner, which any level of guitarist has surely used in their time. Tuner Metronome’s virtual rendition of the hardware feels just like the real thing and provides good but not perfect tuning accuracy. By placing the iPhone’s microphone near the instrument, you can accurately tune the pitch as it is being displayed on the screen. I found Tuner Metronome somewhat lacking in this department, as the note was not being detected properly at times.

In order to battle inaccuracies that could be caused by ambient noise, Tuner Metronome has a calibration option, which changes the neutral point of both the tone generator and the chromatic tuner.

The third function, as you may have guessed, is the metronome. It’s a very simple system of ticks, with a wide range of options, including an all-important BPM tap button. With support for multiple time signatures and rhythm variations, the metronome portion does its job well.

Tuner Metronome’s weakest point is definitely the GUI: It isn’t aesthetically pleasing and overall makes you feel like it was rushed into release. Hopefully, that’ll be addressed in the next update. Looks aside, if you need a 3-in-1 tool for music on the go, then you can download Tuner Metronome from the App Store today for $2.99.

app_name: Tuner Metronome
rating: 7/10

FMScreen is Frequency Modulation on the Cheap

Georges Papas — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 17:30:00 +0000

A couple of months ago, I was given the opportunity to review a number of synth apps for the iPhone. In that round-up, I took a look at noise.io pro, one of the deepest and richest apps I’ve come across.

On the other end of the spectrum is FMScreen, from developer Piticule. FMScreen offers Frequency Modulation, just like noise.io pro, but that’s where the similarities end. When you run FMScreen, you’re presented with nothing more than a black screen. The basic synthesizer controls follow a scheme set by the earlier iPhone synths, similar to a Kaoss Pad.

Where FMScreen really begins to differentiate itself from the pack is, surprisingly, in the settings menu, or more precisely, the absence of one.

The developers have streamlined all the options into the main screen. Using a series of multi-touch gestures with two or three fingers, you can control the octave range, turn on guidelines and modify parameters. In keeping with the simplicity of the app, the volume is controlled by tilt. All of this is great, but if you skip on reading the entire App Store description, you’re left alone to figure out exactly how everything works.

One of the real let-downs for me was the lack of quality. The synthesizer delivers a rather flat and boring sound, and even with the guidelines on, precision is a huge problem. In the end, it all comes down to how you want to use the app. If you’re looking to mess around with a simple FM synth, then go ahead and download FMScreen now. However, if you’re looking for a synth for studio recording, I would recommend noise.io pro instead; it’s well worth the sizable premium.

app_name: FMScreen
rating: 5/10

Dynolicious Measures Auto Performance Astoundingly Well

Georges Papas — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 20:00:01 +0000

Many of the apps available on the App Store today are aimed at replacing expensive hardware or software on the cheap. With Dynolicious, Bunsen Tech achieves that goal. Simply stated, Dynolicious is just as good as it sounds.

The app is an automotive performance meter. According to the company, “Dynolicious uses the hardware built into your iPhone to measure the performance characteristics of your vehicle.” At just under $13, Dynolicious replaces hardware that can cost up to ten times as much. In some tests, the app even outperformed dedicated in-car dyno units, in both usability and precision.

Using the iPhone’s built-in accelerometer, the app can accurately calculate acceleration statistics as well as timed runs. But the little app that could doesn’t stop there. There’s a skidpad mode in which you can view how many lateral G-forces your car is pushing. It’s a great tool for any performance nut who knows numbers speak wonders.

Further adding to the depth of the app is a car library system where you can store individual times and stats for each car you test. Also, Dynolicious can keep track of your car’s performance mods, allowing you to see just how effective your new parts are.

Apps with this much power normally suffer from other problems. Some have stability and performance issues, while others are just down-right ugly. Thankfully, Dynolicious manages to avoid all these troubles by being extremely well built and wrapped in a beautiful shell.

I had heard good things about Dynolicious before trying it out, but once I did I was truly amazed. Dynolicious is a true gem and really showcases the immense power and flexibility of the iPhone platform.

app_name: Dynolicious
rating: 10/10

FourTrack is a Big Step in iPhone Music Production.

Georges Papas — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 20:30:27 +0000

When developer Sonoma Wire Works set out to create a multi-track recorder for the iPhone, they enlisted the help of Retronyms, creators of the best selling Recorder iPhone app. Together they built FourTrack, the closest anyone has gotten to creating a rich-featured, studio-quality multi-track recording app for the iPhone. It allows you to create songs on the go, without the need to carry around any other hardware.

FourTrack offers a lengthy list of features for musicians of all calibers, all in a wonderful, easy-to-use package. As the name suggests, you can record a maximum of four tracks, limited in length only by the space on your device. The main screen is a mixer with, you guessed it, four tracks, each with their own metering, panning and fader controls. One of my main complaints with most serious music production apps, including Logic and Pro Tools, is the ridiculously steep learning curve. Thankfully, FourTrack has avoided all the hassle by presenting its features in an intuitive and simple way.

One of my favorite features is what Sonoma calls WiFi Sync, which allows you to copy your recording onto any computer with a browser. The addition of this feature means that you can start working on a song on the go on your iPhone and complete it at home, using more powerful software. In essence, it’s somewhat of a musical sketch pad, which lets you lay out the framework for a song anywhere, anytime.

That being said, there’s no way you could replace an application like Logic Pro with FourTrack, because there simply isn’t a way to cram all of those features into an app that can run on a mobile device efficiently. Missing features I’d like to see include a metronome, a sequencer, the option to monitor while recording and individual track deletion. On the other hand Logic Studio costs $500 and FourTrack is under $10.

Overall, FourTrack offers phenomenal bang for you buck, in a tiny package. If you’re a musician looking for a way to create songs on the go, grab FourTrack for $9.99.

app_name: FourTrack
rating: 8/10

Bebot Chirps Its Way Into Your Heart

Georges Papas — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 17:00:40 +0000

The App Store is flooded with a number of inexpensive apps that serve a very specific purpose. A prime example is Bebot, a “Robot Voice Synthesizer.” I have to say, I did not have very high expectations for Bebot, mostly because I didn’t see the utility of the app. However, I quickly realized that somewhere, at some point in time, everyone needs a robot voice synthesizer. At that specific time, Bebot will be there.

I’ll admit I don’t have much experience with voice synthesizers, but from a software point of view, it’s great. Stable, responsive and wrapped in a great little shell, Bebot is a little robot that lives on your screen. When you move your fingers across the screen, you change the parameters of the sound, much like a Kaoss Pad. The sound is of high quality and can be customized through settings which control timbre, echo timing, echo volume and repeat rate.

Most synth app developpers would have considered their app complete once it was stable enough to release. But Russell Black, creator of Bebot, chose to enlist a graphic designer by the name of Lily McDonnell to take this little app one step further. They animated the little guy and his environment, making Bebot one of the nicest looking synth apps I’ve seen in a while. It’s available on iTunes now for only $1.99.

Editor’s Note: We recently heard from Bebot’s developer who said that he plans to release an update to this cute little robot synth within the week. The Bebot update will add more synth modes for additional sound options.

Related Articles: Noise.io, synthPond, Zoozbeat

app_name: Bebot
rating: 8/10

iTurn is a Dead End

Georges Papas — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 02:00:35 +0000

There isn’t much to say about iTurn. It does what it claims, sort of, but iTurn is just too simple an app without enough options or controls to keep it interesting.

After loading iTurn, you’re presented with a turntable interface, with the only feature being a volume knob. While playing music on your iPod as you normally would, you can open up the iTurn app and begin scratching the vinyl — much like a traditional DJ and producing the same effect.

Unfortunately, all the sounds come from a preset sample bank which you have no control over — you aren’t actually scratching with your own music. That, coupled with the lack of options or depth make for a boring app which lacks in every department.

All of this wouldn’t be that bad if iTurn was free, but even at 99 cents I feel I’ve been taken for a ride.

ITurn is one of those apps, that sounds great in theory but just doesn’t live up to expectations.

app_name: iTurn
rating: 1/10

7 Chords is a Chord Book in Your Pocket

Georges Papas — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 00:00:17 +0000

7 Chords is an iPhone app designed for both beginner and intermediate guitarists. Through a remarkable easy-to-use interface, the user can select what chord’s information to display on the screen.

The chords are presented in a simple tabulator manner, each with the fingering, fret number and notes indicated underneath. It’s just like those guitar chord posters available almost everywhere music product are sold, only smaller.

Although it’s possible to get all of this chord information online for free, nowhere can you find them laid out in a simpler, more straight-forward way than with 7 Chords. Plus, it’s only a buck ninety-nine. Grab it from iTunes now.

app_name: 7 Chords
rating: 9/10