Music Ally

We’ve written a fair bit about promotional music apps on iPhone for artists like Pink, Snow Patrol, Lady GaGa and Soulja Boy. But what about iPhone apps that let you create music of your own? There are hundreds available, and as yesterday’s viral video from UK band The Mentalists showed, they can be put to innovative use.

We’ve put together ten of our favourites, based on our last few months of messing about on iPhone. They’re not all serious (Bebot – Robot Synth is marvellously silly), but they do hint at the potential for Apple’s handset as a music-making device. Each one comes with a YouTube video demo so you can see what we’re on about. Well, nearly each one.

1. technoBox (£5.99). It’s a 303 bass machine plus 808 and 909 drum machines in one app, with a tactile touch interface. As a technical achievement it’s hugely impressive, although if we’re honest, the appeal for us is simply blasting out squiggly acid bloops. Get it

2. Bloom (£2.39). Developed by Brian Eno and Peter Chilvers, this claims to be “part instrument, part composition and part artwork”. What that means is that you tap the iPhone’s screen in different places to trigger ambient noises, which build together into a sonic cathedral of relaxation. Sort of. Get it

3. Bebot – Robot Synth (£1.19). We’ve raved about this before: it’s an app that lets you drag and tap the screen to make various synth noises, while a little cartoon robot pretends to be making them with his mouth. Super fun, but also more flexible than you’d think once you start tweaking it. Get it

4. PocketGuitar (£0.59). Turns your iPhone into a guitar, effectively, by displaying strings on-screen that you can press or strum. Don’t snort – guitarists we know are very impressed by the quality of the sound. Meanwhile, we love the fact that there’s a ukulele mode to indulge our inner Formby. Get it

5. Ocarina (£0.59). You must have heard of this one by now – 700,000 people have downloaded it so far, and are laying waste to YouTube with their cover versions of contemporary songs. It simulates an ancient instrument, with virtual holes on-screen to cover with your fingers, and sound produced by blowing into the iPhone mic. Its social and connected features make it even more innovative. Get it

6. Beatmaker (£11.99). It might be pricey, but BeatMaker is one of the more powerful music sequencer apps available for iPhone – and has been there since the early days of the App Store. You can use the supplied samples or import your own, making it an excellent music creation package. Get it

7. iDrum: Ministry of Sound Anthems (£2.99). Actually, there are several iDrum apps for iPhone, catering for dance, rock and hip-hop flavours (or flavas). But we chose to highlight this one due to the brand tie-in with Ministry of Sound, ensuring there are plenty of big samples to string together into your own classic. Choon! Get it

8. Rjdj shake (£1.79). Its predecessor Rjdj Album generated music from the real-world sounds around you, but Rjdj shake is much more active – it creates music according to how you, yes, shake your iPhone. The less afraid of looking a berk you are, the better the music. Get it

9. FourTrack (£5.99). It’s a shame there are no videos of FourTrack on YouTube, because it’s an app many of our muso friends have been raving about. The idea is to capture your song ideas anywhere, recording either via the iPhone’s own mic, or by plugging in your own. Once your four-track song is done, you can download it to your desktop to do whatever you like with. Get it

10. FingerPiano (£1.79). Not only is this a pretty nifty virtual piano (a counterpart to PocketGuitar, effectively), but it aims to teach you to play dozens of famous songs, via scrolling indicators at the top telling you which keys to press when. Get it

That’s our top ten, but what about yours? Let us know any of your favourites that we’ve missed by posting a comment.

Tags: app store, apps, beatmaker, bebot, Bloom, fingerpiano, fourtrack, idrum, iphone, music, ocarina, pocketguitar, rjdj, technobox

This entry was posted on Friday, March 6th, 2009 at 4:40 pm and is filed under Startups & Widgets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.