Tag: Music apps »

There are plenty of reasons for someone to show another person some photos. The trick is to find a way to do it that isn’t incredibly boring. The folks at ImageAMMO, LLC are aware of this issue and have come up with their own app to combat the problem: the aptly named ImageAmmo.

ImageAMMO allows users to display and peruse their image library using a number of 3D interfaces. These shapes range from spirals to cubes, and they can manually sift through everything or start a slideshow as they see fit. The app automatically incorporates the iOS device’s library so there’s practically no setup involved. It also supports external displays, so users with a VGA adapter (or AppleTV and AirPlay) and monitor can create presentations that are much more interesting than the norm.

The developer has also adapted the software for music libraries. IA Jukebox gives users the option to shuffle through their music libraries in much the same fashion as the photo app. Album covers reconfigure themselves on the screen to create interesting shapes, and calling up a particular song is as simple as tapping the screen a couple of times. I’d think hooking it up to a TV would make selecting background music for a party much more entertaining.

Both ImageAMMO and IA Jukebox are available in the App Store right now for $3.99 and $2.99 respectively. Just think of the presentation possibilities.

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.

If you think about it, iOS devices are capable computers, able to fit into our pockets or assorted bags. With a variety of musical apps and sound outputs available, why not be able to use them to produce music? While apps that use the touchscreen to simulate musical instruments have been made available, there's been little in the way of support for actual musical instruments in iOS yet. Well, with the addition of support of the CoreMIDI protocol to iOS 4.2, iOS devices now support a variety of MIDI-capable musical instruments. Hooking them up to your device is the next step - enter iConnect MIDI.

This device from iConnectivity allows you to plug in MIDI devices - 2 through 5-pin DIN MIDI ports, and up to 8 through USB hubs plugged in to the USB ports, with support for output through 2 USB ports that support computers and 3rd generation and up (iPhone 3GS and iPod touch 3rd generation) iOS devices, and 2 5-pin DIN MIDI ports. This video shot at the National Association of Music Merchants show shows several keyboards and drum pads hooked up through iConnect MIDI to an iPad and iPod touch, as an attendee and a couple of iConnectivity employees play a song together, all generated by iOS devices hooked up to iConnect MIDI.

iConnect MIDI appears to work with a variety of hardware, given the flexibility of the MIDI interface - it's just a question of the apps that support the CoreMIDI libraries, and the developers that are willing to make them. iConnect MIDI doesn't just work with music, either - as this video shows, it can work with remote control of lighting systems too:

Even as a geek whose most musical experience comes from Rock Band, I can appreciate how impressive this looks - this could mean wonders for music creation as more music apps begin to support CoreMIDI and allow for musicians to use their instruments with their iOS devices to help facilitate music creation wherever. iConnectivity have yet to announce a release date or price for iConnect MIDI, but will be showing off the device at Macworld 2011, January 27-29.