Tag: ipad apps
Magic Fiddle Turns Your iPad Into a Violin,and It Rocks
by Ranju Chaudhary on Nov.11, 2010, under Latest Web Technologies
What is Magic Fiddle, you might ask? It’s pure, unadulterated musical awesome. It turns your iPad into a string instrument — with a twist. The $2.99 app was just released in the App Store (
), but we got to spend some time speaking with Smule co-founder, CTO and Chief Creative Officer Ge Wang earlier this week about the app and how it works.
Describing Magic Fiddle doesn’t make a lot of sense until you see it in action. Smule created some demonstration videos showing off the app, and the fiddle, in action. Check out this example, which comes just in time for a certain plumber’s birthday:
You play Magic Fiddle the same way you would play a stringed instrument like a violin or a fiddle. You place the device on your shoulder and then use your fingers to pluck the strings and your other hand acts as the bow. If you have ever played a string instrument before, catching on to the process is very easy. My fiancé was able to pick up Magic Fiddle in just a few minutes.
I don’t have any previous experience with string instruments (I took piano lessons and never got that violin I always wanted), but thanks to the “Storybook” guiding mode, I too was able to pick up on the instrument’s nuances and learned proper finger position.
The app really goes out of its way to anthropomorphize itself. When you first pick it up, this is how the app greets you:
You tell the app your name and you can even name your fiddle. I named mine HAL.
When we spoke to Wang about the app, he pointed these features out, emphasizing the importance of making the app easy to pick up and making it feel whimsical and fun. The idea is also for the app to be easy to get a feel for — whether you are already an expert at games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero, you have previous experience with a stringed instrument, or you just love music and want to play.
In addition to his work at Smule, Wang is also an assistant professor at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) at Stanford. This is important, because just like the backends of apps like Ocarina, Glee Karaoke and I Am T-Pain were developed using some of the technology research pioneered at CCRMA, Magic Fiddle also gets some of its technological footing from the university.
In particular, Wang pointed out to us that Magic Fiddle isn’t just playing pre-recorded notes. The device itself is actually creating music. Using physical modelings developed at Stanford, the iPad itself has been programmed, by way of the app, to be able to generate and create unique sounds. These sounds aren’t 100% accurate to a real fiddle or violin, but they follow the same models. The results are that you are able to do freestyles and solos that have a lot more personality and zing, rather than merely just trying to match certain notes.
Making Music Fun
Ultimately, what comes through with Magic Fiddle, as with all of Smule’s other apps, is just how much fun it can be to create music. Beyond that, however, Magic Fiddle is a testament to just how much can be accomplished on electronic devices like the iPhone or iPad.
Two years ago — almost to the day — Ocarina was released for the iPhone. It was one of the first true “breakthrough” iPhone apps in that it showed that you could do something with an iPhone that most people probably never even expected to see: Play music based on blowing into the microphone. It helped kickstart a flurry of innovation in music-based apps and games that continues today.
With Magic Fiddle, we think Smule is doing the same thing for the iPad. Magic Piano remains one of the iPad’s most fun games, but Magic Fiddle, like Ocarina, really breaks the mold of what is possible and what is expected from the tablet device. Using multitouch for the strings and the bow — plus using Smule’s Global feature of connecting players with one another around the world, the game and app have tons of replay value and really makes the idea of making music on an electronic device feel natural. It’s also a ton of fun.
Magic Fiddle comes with a Songbook bundled with 20 songs that you can play along with and learn. Smule will also sell song add-on packs, with more songs added as time goes on, to even further enhance the app.
iRig Turns Your iPhone Into an Awesome Guitar Stompbox
by Ranju Chaudhary on Jun.21, 2010, under Gadgets, Latest Web Technologies, Trends, What's Happening?
We had a chance to go hands-on with a pre-release version of IK Multimedia’s AmpliTube iRig, a small interface for your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch that allows you to plug a guitar or other instrument directly in to your mobile device. Combined with the AmpliTube app, the iRig turns your iPhone or iPad into a portable stompbox and jam studio with the ability to select from a number of different amp types and audio effects.
The iRig dongle itself also works with other recording or tuning apps, and can simply function as a line-in for your guitar or other line level instrument. However, the device really comes alive when used with the AmpliTube app, making it possible to dial in an insane number of customized amp and effects sounds using intuitive controls.
iRig Hardware and Setup
The iRig device itself is simple to understand at a glance and quite straightforward to set up. Its male 1/8-inch mini-jack connector plugs into your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch, and a 1/4-inch input on the opposite side lets you plug a guitar or other line-level instrument in to the device. A 1/8-inch headphone jack then handles the overall audio output, allowing you to listen through headphones for a solo jam session or connect up to an external mixer or PA system for practice, performance or recording.
The iRig itself is sturdy and well-made, and you shouldn’t have to worry about it being too fragile to carry around with other cables, adapters or equipment. You just have to remember to turn down the volume on your iPad or iPhone/iPod touch before putting your headphones on or turning on your PA system to make sure you don’t generate feedback or blow out either your eardrums or your equipment with a too-hot audio signal — but performers and audiophiles will pretty much be trained to do this already when setting up their gear.
AmpliTube Software
You’ll actually have your choice of three options in terms of the software: the full version of AmpliTube includes 11 stompboxes, 5 amps and cabinets plus two microphones for a cost of $19.99. The AmpliTube LE version includes 5 stompboxes, 1 amp and cabinet and two microphones for $2.99. There’s also a totally free versionthat comes with 3 stompboxes, 1 amp and cabinet and two microphones.
We were able to test out the full range of sounds, amps, cabinets and effects for our review. Amps included clean, crunch, lead, metal and bass and each featured the complementary range of controls you’d find on the actual hardware: volume, bass, treble, tone and reverb depending on the amp model. The stompboxes included flanger, phazer, octave, noise filter, chorus, distortion, envelope filter, wah, overdrive, fuzz and delay — with the ability to apply up to three independent effects at the same time.
All of the effects have easy bypass modes accessible via an interface button, and some offer unique control mechanisms. The wah pedal for example can be operated simply by touching to depress the pedal further, or you can switch to tilt mode to use the accelerometer of the iPad, iPhone or iPod touch to adjust the level as you tilt the device itself. Also handy is the ability to store up to 12 presets, so once you’ve worked up a combination of amps, settings and stompboxes you like it’s easy to store and retrieve again later.
How Does it Sound?
IK Multimedia is a known leader in the software sound modeling arena and the AmpliTube plus iRig combination does not disappoint. You will easily forget that the sounds you hear are actually coming from a phone.
The amps are based on well-known classic tones from the likes of Marshall and Fender and sound accordingly full. They’re also easy to tweak thanks to the cabinet and microphone options plus on-board controls, and the entire interface is very intuitive and easy to use.
Add to that the range of effects with their own sets of controls, and the ability to layer up to three stompboxes at a time, and you’ve got yourself a very impressive and highly portable collection of sound modifiers all set up and waiting to go on your iPhone or iPad. I didn’t encounter any latency issues during any of my testing, but here too AmpliTube is looking out for those who demand high performance with low and ultra low latency options available in the Setup menu.
Song Mode and Other Goodies
Yet another cool feature of the AmpliTube app is the ability to import songs or backing tracks over a wireless network so as to play along or practice alongside an accompaniment. It doesn’t hook directly into your iTunes library, which would be a nice touch, but nevertheless it’s still a great feature.
Other goodies include a built-in metronome and chromatic tuner. You can also sync up your AmpliTube app with your IK Multimedia account, netting you the ability to eventually purchase additional stompboxes from the online store to further expand your sound modulating arsenal.
Overall Impressions
Ultimately we came away quite impressed with the iRig plus AmpliTube combo. The sounds are solid, the interface is intuitive, the featureset is robust and the price is reasonable — especially considering the range of software options and pricing available. Musicians of all stripes from hobbyist to professional could glean a lot of utility from having an on-the-go practice or composition toolbox available right in their iPhone or iPad.
All three flavors of AmpliTube are already available in the App Store
now, with a set of pre-recorded guitar loops built in so you can audition the sounds before deciding whether or not to pick up the iRig hardware. The device itself will ship July 1, and is available for pre-order now for a cost of $39.99.
