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Aspiring guitar players can now get a new free Gibson app on their iPhone. No, it won't turn your handset into a Les Paul as other apps are inclined to do. Instead, it just bundles a number of free tools that six-string instrumentalists of all levels may find of value.
It comes with five different sections - tuner, metronome, chords, lessons and Gibson.com. The tuner is a chromatic software that can track whatever note you're currently playing (which it receives via your iPhone's mic) and indicates whether you're flat, sharp or in tune. It starts in "All Notes" mode, but gives options to allow for alternate tunings. Very useful, especially if you've got a bad ear for sound.
The metronome is just a regular metronome app, which allows you to choose a specific BPM rate. Tapping the screen three times will adjust the tempo according to your speed. The chord area, on the other hand, gives you access to 30 chord charts, a great resource if you need help figuring out which finger goes where on the fretboard.
Need guitar lessons? The app comes with very useful ones, drawn off the award-winning Learn and Master series from Legacy Learning Systems. It comes with a variety of instructions for new licks, riffs and sequences - a definite value for new and struggling players. Gibson also promises plenty of updates for this section, with more video lessons slated to come. Finally, Gibson.com is the app's news area, where they list Gibson-related products and special events.
Overall, the free Gibson app is a definite download if you're at all planning to learn the guitar. Even intermediate and slightly more advanced players might find it of value, too.
[Gibson App]
Gibson iPhone App Bundles Useful Tools For Novices And More4.3333333333333noel2010-03-03 12:27:10
App Reviews,iPhone AppsGibson iPhone App Bundles Useful Tools For Novices And More
Never been a big fan of automated playlists. Even the Genius function in iTunes 8 sucks. Moodagent, however, is beginning to make me change my mind. There might be hope for this "smart" playlist thing, after all.
Instead of building a playlist based on seed songs, as is the norm, the app does things a little differently, producing one based on your mood. That should prove a tad more fitting to the way most people actually listen to music, rather than the pointless criteria (e.g. era, genres, albums) employed by typical playlist creation methods.
Moodagent gives you five sliders (Sensuality, Tenderness, Joy, Aggression and Speed) that let you set your exact mood. That's a whole range of possible states right there, which allow for a great amount of variety.
What's impressive, though, are the playlists it manages to turn out. When I'm feeling a little aggro, it piles on the angry punk, hardcore and psychobilly songs in my music inventory. Surprisingly, it managed to pick out one of the two very angsty country songs in my collection too. When I was in a festive mood a while ago, it picked out a bunch of really upbeat, poppy numbers. I'm very stoked.
The playlists it produces are restricted to 25 songs, which is fine (unless you're on an extended listening session). If you want to adjust it, simply move the sliders and it will replace songs on the fly. Should you chance upon a killer playlist, you can save it directly in the app.
You'll need an active internet connection to analyze your songs, which Moodagent compares to its 8-million song database (the process could take a while). Note that it won't work on DRM-protected tracks, so if you've got a lot of those, you might as well pass on this app.
It's available free from the App Store.
[Official Site]
Moodagent Builds A Smart Playlist Based On Your Moodunratednoel2010-01-09 10:53:26
App Reviews,iPhone AppsMoodagent Builds A Smart Playlist Based On Your Mood
I've always wondered if there was a simpler, no-look way to use the iPhone's music player. Turns out there is and it's been out for a while now. FlickTunes is a free App Store download from SoGeeky Software that purports to let you control the music on your handset blindly.
Why would you want to do that? Personally, I wanted the functionality so I didn't have to take out my iPhone from my belt mount. FlickTunes' pitch, however, is for easier control of your music while you're driving - which actually makes it sound a heck of a lot more significant.
As a way to control your music while behind the whee;, I can attest to its usefulness. You swipe left to skip to the next song, swipe right to go back one, swipe up to play and swipe down to pause - all easy-to-memorize movements that does afford you some latitude. Swiping can be done anywhere on the touch surface. Other available functions (using two-finger swipes) include advancing and reversing tracks by 30 seconds, and changing the volume.
It also displays track and artist information in large, bold fonts (along with the album cover), so you can immediately see it with a quick glance. During a stop, you can also tap on the lower right corner to see detailed iTunes information about the song playing.
FlickTunes does the "swipe" control beautifully (after a brief phase of getting used to). If there's anything I'd like to see added, it's the ability to save playlists - the last thing I want to do is to pick out my on-the-road songs every time I drive to work (which is how they expect you to use the app). Since it's free, though, I'm not sure if I'm really that justified in complaining. You know what, screw it, please have that in the next update because it's going to make this good app even better.
[Official Site: Flicktunes]
FlickTunes For iPhone Let You Control Your Music Without Lookingunratednoel2010-01-03 11:50:03
App Reviews,iPhone AppsFlickTunes For iPhone Let You Control Your Music Without Looking
Can't get enough music-making apps on your iPhone? Amidio just released their latest creation last week, the TouchDJ, and it's mighty impressive.
Know how the iPhone can only play one track at a time? TouchDJ manages to transcend that limitation, allowing you to mess with two MP3 files at the same time. That's simultaneous playback and real-time manipulation - a first for the platform.
Each of the two tracks get a variety of controls, including volume, pitch, equalization and effects (there's a tempobend and a flanger, along with a facility to upload your own samples), together with a crossfader for managing the balance between them. The waveform display is easy to pick up on and is especially useful for laying down beats.
Looping is done entirely in real-time. You can mark any point with a cue and loop in either track, fashioning it to repeat to your heart's content. There's also a capability to create a different cue track for your headphones, just like professional, performance-quality DJ rigs.
The bad news is, you can't use songs directly from your iTunes library (this is a limitation on the iPhone itself). As such, you'll have to use a separate desktop app (Amidio Sync) when loading files for TouchDJ. Getting over the single-song limitation comes at a price as well - the app is seriously processor-intensive. Your iPhone 2G will bleed (though it will run), guaranteed. In fact, the developer recommends this largely for iPhone 3GS devices.
Amidio claims that the TouchDJ can capably replace $1,000 DJ equipment. Not sure if that's true, but they're citing it as the reason they're selling the software for $19.99. Personally, I think it's better than any music-making app I've seen on the platform (yep, including my all-time favorites, BeBot and Star6). Since I'm no pro, however, and couldn't care less if I have a functional DJ setup on my handheld (I fiddle for fun, not for fame), the price is just a tad too high for me.
[Official Page]
TouchDJ For iPhone Puts Two Tracks Simultaneously At Your Fingertips, Claims To Replace $1K DJ Setupunratednoel2009-11-23 10:13:17
App Reviews,iPhone AppsTouchDJ For iPhone Puts Two Tracks Simultaneously At Your Fingertips, Claims To Replace $1K DJ Setup
Android users have been feeling a little neglected lately, what with all the developers flocking to the iPhone before even giving Google's mobile OS a little attention. The same has been true of Pandora's streaming music service, which has put out releases for a number of platforms already. Finally, they get around to supplying a version of their mobile software for the Android Market and, while late, the app is very polished and well-executed, making it worth the wait.
The app works much like any Pandora client on any device, allowing you to create free streaming radio stations over an internet connection. You can give a thumps-up or a thumbs-down to songs that play over your app, which the service will remember as it grows to recognize your musical tastes. It also integrates the facility to purchase songs and albums that you like directly from Amazon within the service.
You'll be greeted with a log-in screen the first time you use it (new users will need to sign up). If you've used Pandora before, your account will automatically be synced to your Android phone, allowing you to access all your previously created stations. From there, you can do what you normally do, searching for artists, songs and composers, letting Pandora build the streams based on that.
The interface is particularly good-looking, with the ability to display cover art, along with various artist, song and album information. You can rate songs, skip them, pause or simply ask for further information. Menu options allow you to share songs with friends, change audio settings and switch accounts. It also comes with a widget, which lets you access the current station from your homescreen, and a live folders feature that lets you scroll through your saved listings.
Overall, Pandora for Android is a great first effort. While there are many features on the desktop version that are absent, it fits in all the necessary niceties with a couple of extras specifically for the platform. You won't see me complaining about it anytime soon.
Via: Pandora Blog
Pandora Comes To Android With A Polished, Well-Done Appunratednoel2009-09-10 15:50:12
Android Apps,App ReviewsPandora Comes To Android With A Polished, Well-Done App
