Samplodica Review

The App Store is filled with instrumental music apps, but there aren’t many that are quite like Samplodica. This little app is not only a lot of fun to play, but it’s simple enough for anyone to learn. Whether you’re an aspiring musician looking for inspiration or someone who enjoys making noise, this musical app is a great way to pass the time.

Samplodica is like a sampler, piano and drum set combined into one. To get started, simply hold one of the four purple bars and whip the phone—similar to playing air drums. Each of the four bars has a unique sound, and these sounds can be altered or bent by sliding the finger up or down a bar.

When users are ready for new sounds, just double-tap the triangular button in the upper corner to scroll through all the sound packs. Users are able to tap to play sounds just like a keyboard or return to the previous playing mode by tapping on the arrow with four bars. For those who can’t find that perfect sound pack, Samplodica provides them with the option to create their own mix by dragging and dropping sounds from other packs or recording their own three second clips with the iPhone microphone.

Users who wish to expand their Samplodica experience can upgrade to the pro version with the $1.99 IAP. This version of the app lets users load their own sound files, set the volume, pitch and stereo pan for individual sounds and it also provides room for more recorded sound clips.

Samplodica’s main downfall is that it doesn’t allow users to record anything that they play. The developers focused on designing the app to play now. Once they realized that recording may be a feature musicians would be interested in utilizing, it would have required some major work. However, it looks like a recording feature may be added in the future as the app becomes more popular.

The only other issue I had is the lack of tutorials. Embedding the instructional YouTube videos into the app or providing a more thorough tutorial would help prevent any confusion or frustration. It took me a little longer than I would have liked to figure out all the features.

After getting the chance to explore the pro upgrade, I was thoroughly impressed with Samplodica. It’s fun, addicting and original. Download it to jam out to your own creations today. Just as the iTunes description states, “Samplodica is a box of crayons for your ears.”