Tag: Orphion »

When Angela LaFollette reviewed Orphion back in February she seemed to enjoy it quite a bit, and now a similar abstract music-creation tool is available for the iPhone by way of orphinio.

I say "similar" because it's not actually Orphion with a different screen resolution but rather a separate app. The sound is a little different as well; the developer states it's sort of like a combination of a jaw harp and a glockenspiel. You can nab this surreal little digital instrument for $0.99.

Features
◦ Different articulations from soft to plucked to hardly slapped
◦ Natural interaction
◦ Shaker mode
◦ Individual voices for each finger
◦ Extend your ways of expression as a percussionist, guitarist, pianist or other musician
◦ 9 transposable pad layouts with different tonalities from easy to complex
◦ Record and share what you play via EMail, SoundCloud or AudioCopy
◦ Audiobus support: Now you can stream live audio directly to other Audiobus-compatible apps!

Things are ramping up on the App Store with Christmas well and truly behind everyone. While most of these apps and games will be covered in reviews, we take a look here at five of the best from the last week.

Orphion

Turning an iPad into an unique musical instrument by the same name, Orphion creates a fantastic sound that's reminiscient of a string instrument and percussion. Like all musical instruments, it takes some practice to master but it's immensely tactile and doesn't take much effort to see some great results. Surely the ideal app to spend some time with over the weekend.

Super Snake HD

Games featuring snakes have been around for as long as cell phones. Super Snake HD offers a fun twist on the usual format with 100 levels of puzzles and power-ups keeping things fresh and fun. There's even head to head multiplayer functionality so that friends can join in. It's a fine reintrepretation of a classic game.

Shakespeare In Bits: Hamlet

An ideal way to learn a classic play in a simple, study guide style manner, Shakespeare In Bits: Hamlet offers over 2 and a half hours of unabridged text, animated re-enactments and the classic play broken down into easily digested sections. Biographies of each character and key theme discussions go a step further to helping analysis of the play. Ideal for those studying at the moment and those who just want to learn more.

My Little Monster

On a lighter note, My Little Monster lets players return to their youth with a dinstinctly retro appearance as the player takes care of a monster while training it to take on 31 enemies. Simple yet nostalgic, it's smile inducing.

NewsFlash

News moves fast in the world and it can be tough to keep up. NewsFlash lets the user quickly catch up with all the breaking news from many leading publications, all merged into one single news feed. Easy to use and understand, it's a great time saver and highly informative.