As anyone who has browsed the App Store will know, musical instrument apps donât have their own category, but are in fact spread out across ‘Music’ and ‘Entertainment’, alongside what seems like an unholy number of fart- and burp-themed efforts. To separate the proper musical apps from some less desirable offerings, weâve highlighted 7 great iPhone apps that provide a darn good musical experience on your handset. Whether youâre looking to strum, blow, shake, tap or hum, here are the apps thatâll do it for you, and all of them offer more than just a novelty experience. With this many musical instruments available for $2 or less, why not get a few friends together and start a band? Have a look!
1. iBone â The Pocket Trombone
iBone quite simply offers a masterclass in musical instrument design for the iPhone. It works on so many different levels. You can pick it up and have fun playing, but if you know your way around a real trombone, youâll actually get a virtual instrument. As well as blowing into the iPhoneâs mic (or an iPod touchâs mic via an add-on, such as headphones), you can move the slide with your finger, or just hit the notes on the appâs background screen. In addition to playing along to a tune from the iBone songbook, you can also select a tune from your iPhoneâs music collection to add some âbone too. Death metal works particularly well in our experience. It is priced at just $1.99.
2. Virtuoso Piano Free 2
There are a plethora of piano apps available for the iPhone, but we like this super simple version, and not just because of its zero price tag. With a really nice sound emulating a concert grand piano, download this and youâll be tickling the virtual ivories in no time at all. You can chose to have the keys labeled with the notes or not, and thereâs the ability to ‘roll’ the keys for a quick thrill. The app displays eight keys on the iPhoneâs screen, and you can use the slider bar above to scroll higher and lower through the six available octaves. Youâre not going to be able to play Stravinsky, but we managed to bash out a fairly tuneful rendition of Chopsticks.
3. Bebot â Robot Synth
Donât let the retro robot fool you into thinking Bebot is a just a gimmicky app â it actually offers a fully-fledged real-time synthesizer. While our electro-music skills only managed to glean a bit of robot fun, the longer and more in-depth video demo above from synth superstar Jordan Rudess will show you just what the app is capable of â and itâs pretty impressive stuff. The app boasts four independent ‘voices’, including a wicked theremin effect that provides some great spooky music. An option to record your warbling would be very welcome in a future update. It is priced at just $1.99.
4. Harmonica
Weâre going to come right out and say that the idea of holding this to your mouth is a bit dumb, as your breath just fogs up the screen, and dangerously so depending on how long you play. But as a music app, it works great with just touch. The looks are clean and simple and the interface is fab. There are 12 keys to choose from, and in ‘free play’ mode, the touch of a large button turns a blown note into a drawn one. Thereâs another button to play a chord, and you can change the strength of a note by how closely to the edge of the screen you press. Thatâs not all, however; thereâs also the option to learn one of the many pre-loaded songs with a wicked Guitar Hero-style game. Playing notes as they come down the screen makes for a mega-fun mini-game in its own right. It is priced at just $0.99.
5. Pocket Guitar
If you can get your fingers around the average fret board, youâll likely find this app easy to pick up, once you get the hang of touching rather than picking. With six guitar sounds to chose from (including the Ukelele for the George Formby fans out there) you can customize the sound to go acoustic or electric, as well as adjust the distortion and the accelerometer effects, shown off nicely in the video above. Thereâs also a setting for southpaws (lefties), and best of all, calloused fingertips are a thing of the past. It is priced at just $0.99.
6. Pocket Shaker
Despite a rash of bad reviews in the App Store, we love the Pocket Shaker app for fulfilling the percussion-in-your-pocket needs we didnât even know we had, and all for free. As well as the requisite cowbell, there are maracas (which you shake the phone to activate), bongos (or conga and tabla drums if youâre being pedantic), and many more presented in a photo-realistic interface with a scrolly bit beneath thatâs really easy to navigate. If you ever wanted to play the agogo on the go-go, then look no further. It is available for free.
7. Jug Band
Jug Band has you well covered on the folky or alternative music side of things with an app that offers a washboard, kazoo, the spoons and of course, a jug effect. As you will see from the video above, the washboard works via the touchscreen, the spoons just as in real life, and the kazoo and the jug by humming into the mic (or external mic in the case of the iPod touch). If you can get past the irony of playing a 99 cent app on an expensive gadget in order to emulate the sound of home-made instruments, then itâs great fun. It is priced at just $0.99.
