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TUAW's Daily App: mScribble
Bebot is still one of my favorite apps on the App Store, and mScribble, a recently revamped app from Appular and a developer named Panpipes Ho!, reminds me a lot of Bebot in its simplicity and versatility. That's pretty high praise indeed if you're as big a fan of Bebot as I am, but if you've never heard of Bebot, let me explain. mScribble is an app that generates a melody for you on the fly. The app plays a simple drum beat in the background with whatever rhythm you want -- there are nine to choose from in the app's menu). Drawing a scribble on the screen plays notes in a melody that's already lined up to the tune. It sounds complicated, but the app does all of the hard work -- just swiping across the screen gives you music, and with a little bit of practice, you can make some really interesting tunes by just playing around. Unfortunately, it's not quite as friendly to professional musicians as Bebot. This is more of a music generator than an actual instrument, and there aren't as many options. Each tune can play four tones, but you're pretty hard-coded to the drums in the background. But that's a plus for less experienced players -- it means that anyone can sit there, swipe across the screen, and create an interesting melody. It's a lot of fun, and just the ten minutes of random joy I spent playing around with the app was more than worth the buck they're charging for it. I'd like to see the idea developed even further (and Bebot is an excellent model), but for just swiping up a tune, mScribble is a great experience.
TUAW's Daily App: Bebot
I'm really happy that I've found an excuse to mention Bebot here in this space -- it might be my favorite app in the entire App Store. We've covered it before here on TUAW -- it's a musical instrument, basically, with the added bonus of having a super cute singing robot as a mascot. And I've never seen an app that makes such beautiful and simple use of the multitouch screen, allowing up to four voices to be played at a time by touching four different fingers to the screen in different places. The reason I get to mention it here today is because the creator just added iPad support to the mix -- while it's pretty barebones, unfortunately (the graphic isn't quite as high resolution as you'd expect), the bigger screen will give you more room to spread out and find the synth notes you're looking for. And as always, even if you're not musical, it's just plain fun to play around on the tones by swiping your finger across the screen. Bebot is now a universal app for just US$1.99. If you haven't had the pleasure of playing with this robot on your iDevice yet, definitely check it out.
Three apps for iPhone that look great on iPad
Universal binaries? These apps don't need no stinking universal binaries! That is, the following three apps are not tuned for iPads. A universal binary will switch to the "iPad version" of the app for that device. So you might have MobileStudio on your iPhone, but it also looks great on the iPad because they wrote code and added graphics to accommodate the larger screen size. But the apps I'll list look great with just the 2x upscaling you can do with any iPhone app (like, say, Apple's own Remote app, which is kinda lame on the iPad). 1. Bebot. Now, I've loved Bebot since the day I kissed his cute metal lips. But as a true instrument? The tiny screen on my iPhone did OK, but the iPad allows Bebot to really become a workable synthesizer. Not only that, but those chunky 50's-inspired graphics scale exceptionally well. No need for enhancements, although the tools for customizing Bebot's noises could use an overhaul. How about flip the screen ala iBooks and create a Moog-like patch panel for making new sounds? Analog heaven! 2. Scanner911. OK, so the aliased text on lists and most text IS there. That part doesn't scale. But when the scanner is actually running it looks like a big ol' scanner from something like BJ and the Bear. I want to mount the iPad on some dark wallboard and put an ashtray in front of it for guests. Scanner911 is one of my favorite apps, and I dig that somehow their graphics hold up when doubled. 3. World of Tunes. Most of the tap-based music games on iPhone are too cramped for my arthritic hands. But expanded twice their size they become enjoyable pastimes. World of Tunes is not only more fun on a bigger screen, it allows others to watch (and get those damn songs stuck in their heads). Plus the graphics look kinda cool and retro. The chunky graphics and gradients remind me of hours of playing Sonic. My kids certainly seem to enjoy the game as it is (for now) their favorite on the iPad. It's a really fun, cute game and quite a deal at US$.99. I have close to 2,000 apps on my machine but have only tested a fraction -- so let me know in the comments what apps you have found that look great when simply doubled. It's also possible that at any time the developers of these apps could push an update that adds scaled-up iPad versions, but for now they rock without update.
Found Footage: Singing with a quartet of iPhones
Happy weekend! Here's a girl from Korea, named applegirl002 over on YouTube, playing Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" with a quartet of iPhones as accompaniment. Sure, the song's not that great, but look at those iPhones go! She's using I am T-Pain for autotuning the singing, Beatmaker for laying out the beats, and ... she says "Analog" in the video. However, I think it's miniSynth that she's actually got running on the last iPhone. You might not be gaga over Gaga (I'm definitely not), but running a whole choir of iPhones like that is quite impressive. It's also worth noting that she accomplished this feat without pulling in some of the more popular music apps like Bebot and Ocarina. It turns out that the iPhone is an excellent way to turn out some pretty complicated music.
10 cool videos of the iPhone as a music instrument
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gadgets/10_cool_videos_of_the_iPhone_as_a_music_instrument'; The hyperbole around the iPhone platform has become hyperbolic itself, so I'll spare you the deconstruction of what is now an obvious conclusion: the iPhone has musical chops. The dizzying array of apps on the store has led to quite a few musical apps as well. It makes sense, as the multi-touch screen is a divine interface for manipulating sound. Along with the dump truck of musical apps has come an even larger group of iPhone performers. I have yet to see impromptu drum circles made of iPhones, but you never know what the future will bring. We begin our afternoon concert with Jordan Rudess demoing one of my favorite musical apps, Bebot. Take it away, Jordan!
Bebot turns your iPhone into the cutest instrument ever
I don't think I've ever fallen in love with an app as quickly as Bebot. Not only is it a pretty darn powerful synthesizer with an interesting touchscreen interface, but that robot. That robot! He makes you want to play something, anything, with those cute little closed robot eyes and that dashing tux and that knowing smile. If you just want to make funny robot noises, that's easy enough, but for the musically inclined, there's a really surprising amount of features under the hood, including analog filters, a delay/looping effect, chorus and overdrive effects, and even an autotune system. Oh, and because of the multitouch screen, you can play up to four waveforms at a time. In the hands of someone who knows what they're doing, this thing can be really impressive.It's available from a company called Normalware (any app with that robot in it has basically sold me from now on -- there's even a t-shirt of the guy) on the App Store right now for $1.99.
