Ion Audio is getting a ton of press over the new iCades and my personal favorite their Guitar Apprentice, but Guitarlink Air looks pretty cool too. Announced at CES 2012, the system connects a guitar to Mac, PC, iPad or iPhone wirelessly. Guitarlink Air’s uses what it calls “high performance, low-latency technology.” The transmitter, a lightweight clip-on to a guitar strap funnels a 2.4 GHz signal that is amplified by an amp or digital output source without the annoyance or constraints of a cables.
Rockers can also use Guitarlink Air and an iOS device to practice with headphones or in conjunction with apps like AmpliTube and Garageband. and a free amp is included. The package, scheduled for a Q2 release, comes with Guitar Rig LE software that, according to Ion’s press release “shapes guitar sound with emulations of classic amplifiers and effects pedals.” No word yet on price, but its yet another one from Ion Audio for the wish list.
Just as the death of arcades hasn’t stopped Ion Audio from putting out cool, new iCade accessories, they aren’t letting the decline of games like Guitar Hero keep them from getting into the plastic instrument race. However, like their previous Piano Apprentice iPhone accessory, the upcoming Guitar Apprentice isn’t a game. Instead, it’s a musical teaching tool.
The device is a full-sized guitar shell that the iPad docks into. The onscreen frets light up to show players where they need to place their fingers and whether or not they are strumming the right chords. From there, players can learn and record songs with compatible apps like GarageBand and Ion Audio’s own upcoming Guitar Apprentice app.
The Guitar Apprentice accessory will soon hit retail for $99 in America before arriving in the rest of the world. If this works, imagine what other instruments Ion Audio could plug an iPad into. The second image shows that a drum accessory is in the works. What else could be coming? Saxophone Apprentice anyone?
WildChords, an iPad-only educational app aimed at kids ages 6 to 11, is the brainchild of Finnish devloper, Ovelin. We had the chance to speak with Christoph Thür, CEO of Ovelin, about this new promising guitar teaching game.
WildChords uses special algorithms to listen to and analyze the sound coming from a guitar. The game, then, urges young guitar learners to learn and play guitar chords at first and then single notes later to advance their cool strutting avatar through the levels, collecting animals to return them to the zoo. Each animal represents a chord – a monkey is an A minor chord, a Crocodile is a C chord, and so on. The game includes a easy to use visual tuner, and tracks learner’s progress across the lessons and different skills to be learned. It can also brag on Facebook.
According to Thür, studies show that somewhere around 85% of new instrument learners quit before reaching a level of mastery that would satisfy them enough to keep learning. In other words, most kids don’t get good enough fast enough or with enough support to keep them playing an instrument. Not everyone can afford private lessons, either, and – in the US, at least – music education programs have to make do with less and less.
Thür and his company, Ovelin Ltd., want to change that, by providing solid music learning app that targets the beginning guitar player. The technology behind the app is fairly amazing, able to distinguish between single and multiple (chord) notes with ease on both the iPad 1 and iPad 2. The lessons are created with solid pedagogy in place, starting learners where they are, and supporting them as they learn new skills in a fun way.
Thür said that the company would like to bring the app to iPhone & Android in the near future, in addition to expanding to teaching other instruments, like the piano and bass. I made a special pitch for Ukulele, but he was non-committal.
Wildchords is available for free on the App Store, requireing an iPad and a real guitar, acoustic or electric.
I won’t pretend to be a legitimate guitarist, because I’m most certainly not, but Perfect Guitar Song Book seems like a very useful app for those that are. It’s got all of the usefulness of an entire library of tablature, but none of the mess or back-breaking physical requirements that come with lugging it around. Of course, that’s what roadies are for, right?
It’s not all about portability, though. Perfect Guitar Song Book can also be used to grab and format notes and lyrics from any number of websites directly through the app. The text and fonts can also be tweaked to allow for easier reading, then saved for later use. Favorites can be exported into various formats (.PDF, Chord Pro, etc…), which I can see being a big deal for potential song writers.
The app also offers the useful hands-free option of scrolling via shaking. So if someone’s presumably in the middle of playing they don’t have to stop in order to “turn the page” as it were. The app also supports TV-Out, so with the proper cables a user could easily put the song up on a big screen for the rest of their band-mates/friends to use as a guide.
If Perfect Guitar Song Book sounds like a great idea, then feel free to go and grab it off of the App Store. It’s available right now for $3.99 for all major iOS devices.
It has been said that music is the universal language. The strum of a chord is truly understandable in any language, which makes it such a helpful tool in communicating emotion, without ever having to utter a single syllable. This is why music is so critical to the culture of the world, and why it is even more critical that people have opportunities to learn how to be musical.
A brand new app named On the Music Path looks to agree with this sentiment and help to try to bring a whole new horizon of education within the iOS consumer’s grasp.
With lessons ranging in price from $1.99 to $19.99, you will get the best one-on-one instructional videos available on the market, all shot in glorious high definition. Each individual lesson will clock in at a length of anywhere from 45 to 85 minutes long and will allow users the chance to get some of the best education that money can buy.
While yes, the pricetag may seem a little steep, know that there are several lessons that are included in the application’s base price, just so you can get an idea of what can be expected from each lesson. If you have ever been curious about where to start learning an instrument, this would be the perfect place to start. Plus, lets face it, if you are learning from a video, you don’t need to worry about embarrassing yourself in front of a classroom full of students!
Posted March 3rd, 2011 by Jason Fanguy Our Rating: :: ROOM TO IMPROVE
JamPlay Guitar Pack is an instructional guitar-playing app brought to us from jamplay.com that, in addition to its instructional content, contains several other utilities/features which make it unique from similar apps of its kind. Despite its flaws, these features, along with it's large, diverse pool of instructors, have much to offer those looking to improve their guitar-playing skills. And all for a relatively low price.
iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Posted March 1st, 2011 by Jason Fanguy Our Rating: :: MUST HAVE
Planet Waves Guitar Tools is a multi-app suite of every guitar-related tool you'll need, whether an active player or enthusiast, regardless of skill level. It contains 7 tools total, including features that enable you to find music teachers/instructors and stores in the location of your choice. Priced at a very-fair $1.99, this app should have a dedicated entry on the iDevice of everyone who plays or owns a guitar.
Posted February 28th, 2011 by Jason Fanguy Our Rating: :: GUITAR GOLD
Guitar World Lick of the Day is an instructional application which teaches its users new guitar licks to expand their skills and repertoire. Based on its comprehensive feature-set, it's obvious Agile Partners and Guitar World Magazine put their heart and soul into creating a quality, affordable resource for musicians of all skill levels, which can be used over and and again to build and refine those coveted skills displayed by the pros featured within it.
Posted February 23rd, 2011 by Kyle Flanigan Our Rating:
The official creator of Guitar Pro for PC and Mac launches an iOS counterpart, allowing you to play with tablature on-the-go, as well as learn new pieces in a shorter time with some useful features such as continuous playback and on-the-fly speed adjustment.
Posted January 7th, 2011 by Kyle Flanigan Our Rating: :: BEAUTIFUL
TabToolkit is "an incredibly powerful music notation viewer with multi-track audio playback" allowing you to follow and play in real time and add your own music, in text / PDF / Guitar Pro / PowerTab files.
Remember how just over a month ago I wrote about AmpliTube, the guitar amplification application for your iPhone and iPad? Well, Peavey Electronics have now joined the scene with their AmpKit software to create a bit more competition and rivalry in the music amplification section of the App Store.
AmpKit turns your iPhone into a highly customizable guitar amp, boasting a myriad of effects and the ability to record your latest music creations. Such effects include the pedals Noise Gate and Elevenizer, and the mics Workhorse 57 dynamic and Germann 87 condenser. As is to be expected, AmpKit contains a number of in-app purchases, including: 12 more amps, 16 effects padls, 13 cabinets and 8 unique mics. Most of these extra purchases are in the range of $2.99-$5.99.
“We’re delighted to be working with Peavey to provide AmpKit and AmpKit LiNK to musicians around the world. Peavey’s world-class hardware design and manufacturing capabilities complement Agile Partners’ unmatched expertise in creating guitar-focused apps for the iOS platform,” said Jack Ivers, a principal at Agile Partners. “Peavey’s music industry experience and global dealer network will provide musicians around the world with easy access to the AmpKit LiNK guitar adapter.”
The aforementioned AmpKit LiNK adapter, required to hook up your guitar, costs $39.99 and is available worldwide. Interestingly, this is exactly the same price as Amplitube’s IK Multimedia iRig, AmpKit LiNK’s main rival.
The iPhone application comes in two flavours: free and plus. The plus version costs $20, and with that you’ll get access to: a Peavey 3120 amp and a matching 4×12 cabinet, a Colonel Vintage amp, a Vintage Brit amp and a number of additional pedals including distortion, fuzz, compressor, chorus, phaser, flanger, reverb and 10-band EQ.
The application is not natively iPad supported, meaning you’re stuck to the iPhone if you choose the Peavey solution. Agile Partners, developers of the application, are also the authors of the much-renowned GuitarToolkit and TapToolkit applications.
Images courtesy of Peavey. For more details on the application and where to buy the LiNK hardware, here’s where you need to go.
iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Posted July 25th, 2010 by Ryan Wood Our Rating: :: MINI GUITAR
Twang is fun to use, but isn't much more than a novelty product. The small screen of the iDevice limits its use for anything except the occasional YouTube video.
If you don’t know what a guitar amp or pedal is then the chances are you won’t be particularly interested in the new partnership between music kit giant Peavey and app developer Agile Partners.
If you do, however, this collaboration will truly rock you…
Forget about the novelty iPhone apps that let you strum virtual strings while looking like a banjo-playing buffoon, AmpKit is true innovation brought about by two major players in their respective fields. Peavey, a brand you’ll no doubt have seen on the stage at every concert you’ve ever been to, and Agile Partners that has under its belt popular apps that include GuitarToolkit and TabToolkit.
Combining an iPhone app with a small interface to connect to a guitar (or any other line-based instrument), musicians can now access all the power of a full guitar rig including a variety of amplifiers, effects pedals, mics and speaker cabinets to create unique guitar tones right from their iPhone. The output can then be sent to headphones or pumped out via powered speakers or a PA system.
What once could have filled a guitarist’s trunk now fits in the palm of their hand and, according to Peavey as well as the tech editor of Guitar World, sounds just as good. While live performance is an option, AmpKit also allows for recording as you play, storing both the unprocessed guitar sounds as well as those from the amplifier making it an ideal training aid or music creation tool.
“We are excited to collaborate with Agile Partners to launch the amazing combination of AmpKit and AmpKit LiNK,” said Hartley Peavey, founder and CEO of Peavey Electronics Corporation. “Peavey is deeply committed to virtual instrumentation innovation”.
The AmpKit LiNK interface will cost $39.99 and is available for pre-order from Peavey right now. AmpKit is soon to be available on the App Store and will be compatible with all devices bar the first generation iPod touch. The app will be available for free with In-App Purchases available from the “Gear Store” allowing users to add amps, pedals, cabinets and mics to their setup.
Check out the video below to see just how impressive this app and hardware pairing is and then start guessing which artist will rock AmpKit on stage first.
iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Posted June 17th, 2010 by Jason Fanguy Our Rating: :: EXCEPTIONAL DETECTIONAL
TomChord is a music app that detects guitar chord/guitar chord progression and displays the chords, in real-time, along the top of the screen. It also displays and color codes the root notes of each chord, providing users with a graphical representation of the chord's amplitude/root note(s). While it's not perfect, it doesn't claim to be and does exactly what it says. It's a great tool for budding/inexperienced musicians and weekend warriors alike.
iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Posted March 24th, 2010 by Bonnie Eisenman Our Rating: :: SOLID
Six-String provides a realistic guitar-playing experience bundled into a music game. If Tap Tap Revenge's simplicity is starting to bore you, this one's worth looking into.
iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Posted October 19th, 2009 by Chris Hall Our Rating: :: GARY CHERONE-ESQUE
Rock Band on the iPhone is exactly what you'd expect it to be... pretty and polished but somewhat lacking in fun. There's only so much delight you can get out of a rhythm game on the iPhone.
iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Posted April 9th, 2009 by Billy Miller Our Rating: :: INSPIRED
Muses don't schedule appointments. They aren't fine with being told to "please hold." If you don't have time for her at the moment, there are plenty of buskers down the street who will. Left your guitar at home? Not her problem. Of course, she might think that your iPhone merits some extra inspiration, that is, if you have Star Guitar.
Ion Audio is getting a ton of press over the new iCades and my personal favorite their Guitar Apprentice, but Guitarlink Air looks pretty cool too. Announced at CES 2012, the system connects a guitar to Mac, PC, iPad or iPhone wirelessly. Guitarlink Air’s uses what it calls “high performance, low-latency technology.” The transmitter, a lightweight clip-on to a guitar strap funnels a 2.4 GHz signal that is amplified by an amp or digital output source without the annoyance or constraints of a cables.
WildChords, an iPad-only educational app aimed at kids ages 6 to 11, is the brainchild of Finnish devloper, 
I won’t pretend to be a legitimate guitarist, because I’m most certainly not, but 
:: FACE-MELTING MADNESS
It has been said that music is the universal language. The strum of a chord is truly understandable in any language, which makes it such a helpful tool in communicating emotion, without ever having to utter a single syllable. This is why music is so critical to the culture of the world, and why it is even more critical that people have opportunities to learn how to be musical.
A brand new app named 
With lessons ranging in price from $1.99 to $19.99, you will get the best one-on-one instructional videos available on the market, all shot in glorious high definition. Each individual lesson will clock in at a length of anywhere from 45 to 85 minutes long and will allow users the chance to get some of the best education that money can buy.
If you don’t know what a guitar amp or pedal is then the chances are you won’t be particularly interested in the new partnership between music kit giant Peavey and app developer Agile Partners. 
What once could have filled a guitarist’s trunk now fits in the palm of their hand and, according to Peavey as well as the tech editor of Guitar World, sounds just as good. While live performance is an option, AmpKit also allows for recording as you play, storing both the unprocessed guitar sounds as well as those from the amplifier making it an ideal training aid or music creation tool. 
