soundboard
Latest
Start your own mosh pit with the Metalcore Breakdown Composer
Out in the sea of odd samplers and drum machines on the iOS platform there's one understandable blind spot for music apps; metalcore. Birthed out the hardcore punk and death metal scenes the sub-genre started promisingly before becoming incredibly repetitive. Depending on your tastes Metalcore Breakdown Composer is either a obnoxious parody of modern extreme music or a fun toy to pass time on your iOS device. Utilizing a soundboard of various drums, guitar tones, and vocals players can tap together breakdowns -- essentially the bridge of a metalcore song -- for your listening pleasure. Whether you're making fun of a friend whose a fan or you just want to create your own simple breakdowns this app is for you. Currently MBC lacks the ability to record or export the sounds you make which is the kind of oversight that keeps it from being easily recommended as a keeper. Still it's a funny idea that could provide the right open minded parent an afternoon full of bonding time with their metalhead child. You can watch Metalcore Breakdown Composer's delightfully surreal video below to get a taste of just how tongue in cheek the product in question actually is. You can pick up the Metalcore Breakdown Composer for free right now in the app store. Perhaps you can bring the whole family together by starting mosh pits of love in the living room.
Voxx Accessories shows off hassle-free Soundboard for wireless audio (hands-on)
Voxx Accessories (formerly Audiovox) launched its newest Soundflow wireless audio product at CTIA this week: the Soundboard. The idea is quite simple; place just about any handset on the 3-AA battery powered Soundboard while it plays your favorite music and the device instantly amplifies and rebroadcasts it through its own built in speakers. No pairing, no wires and no hassle is the name of the game. The concept and its ease of use is really slick, though sadly, the execution is sub-par because even if the tech works perfectly the sound is pretty terrible. The housing is so small that there is simply no bass at all so the resultant audio quality is high pitched and tinny. Voxx's rep did mention that the speaker still needs tuning, so we'll definitely wait 'til we run into it again for final judgment on the Soundboard's sonic abilities. So until that time we'll save its $29.99 list price for a decent NFC-enabled speaker that delivers almost exactly the same no muss no fuss wireless experience. Pics of the Soundboard are in the gallery below.%Gallery-189294%
TUAW's Daily iPhone App: Duke Nukem Forever Soundboard
Bad news if you got your hopes up about that Duke Nukem on iOS rumor a little while back. The game is indeed spreading to our platform of choice, but not in the form you wanted. Instead of a port or a separate game title, we've got a free soundboard app designed to kick up a little excitement for the release of (finally!) Duke Nukem Forever. There are over 25 included audio catchphrases from Duke himself, featuring tamely offensive gems like "Anybody mind if I take off my pants?" and "I've got balls of steel." If you're a Duke Nukem fan, this kind of humor probably appeals to you more than others, and the low price of free should make it easy to pick up. Still, it's too bad we didn't get a real port of Duke Nukem Forever for iOS. The game's gone gold master, but maybe there's still a chance we'll see an actual game (or related tie-in) for this big title coming later this year.
iPhone Secret of Monkey Island half off, soundboard app free
We're delighted to report that the iPhone version of The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition has been discounted 50% for the holidays. It's available for just $3.99 from now through January 4. If you didn't get it at half-price on Xbox (or even if you did), now you can enjoy savings on this version! Our delight comes only partially from being able to tell you about a great price for a wonderful portable adventure game, but mostly from what we learned when we went to verify the price on the App Store: There's been a free, official Monkey Island soundboard app (iTunes link) available since September! We would never have known had the game not gone on sale. The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition ($3.99):
Gimme some sugar, baby: Army of Darkness sounds on the iPhone
Long before I was an Apple nerd, I was a horror nerd. More specifically, I was an Evil Dead/Sam Raimi/Bruce Campbell freak, and even maintained a website devoted to their 1993 masterpiece. I'm both surprised and excited to see my two obsessions collide in the form of an iPhone app devoted to Army of Darkness [iTunes link], the third of the Evil Dead series. Sure, some people use their iPhones to be more productive and create spreadsheets, but sometimes you just need a simple app that screams "shop smart, shop S-Mart!" or "see this? This is my BOOMSTICK!" The app is a simple soundboard app, consisting of 16 audio clips from the film that can be played at the touch of a button. There's also a "slideshow" mode where you can hear all the clips in a row accompanied by an image slideshow. It is definitely not the most full-featured iPhone app, but for the horror fans out there it will make a great addition to your iPhone dock. The app is free and, as far as I'm concerned, essential to every iPhone. If you like it, be sure to check out the other MGM soundboard apps [iTunes link] with audio clips from Robocop, Silence of the Lambs, Fargo and Rocky (all free except for Rocky, which is $0.99). [via iPhone Savior] Thanks to Seth for the tip!
Count The Beats: A Welcome Note...
Welcome to a brand new series focusing on music creation on the Mac and iPhone platform.As you know, here at TUAW, we are crazy about anything Apple. We just love it! But, dear reader, this is not the be all and end all of our hearts. For many, if not all of us, music is a great passion of ours too. So, when these two worlds collide, naturally, it's a beautiful thing. Recently, you may have seen a few posts on TUAW covering iPhone apps such as FourTrack and Noise.io or Soundboard for the Mac. Well, in this series, we are going to be singing a similar tune but taking a bit more of an in-depth look, or, if you will, taking things a semi-tone down (OK, enough with the music word play).What exactly can you expect from this (fortnightly) series? If you're a home studio enthusiast (or a singer-songwriter trying to make ends meet) there will be tips, tricks and how-tos from Garageband all the way to Logic Studio and everything in between. Reviews on some of the latest and greatest music creation software and hardware for the Mac and iPhone/iPod Touch as well as, every now and then, a bit of inspiration for those rainy days.But don't fret (oops!) if you can't hold a tune. For those less musically inclined we know you still need a soundtrack for the holiday you had with Granny last year and she wants to share the photo's on a DVD with some 'hip and happening' music in the background - we've got your back.Stay tuned and leave a comment if you have any bright ideas for what you'd like to see covered in this new series.
Soundboard is a simple but useful sound board
In the video below I quickly run through the basics of Soundboard, from Ambrosia Software (makers of WireTap Studio and Snapz Pro, but they've made Mac apps and games for years). It's just what you'd think: a series of buttons tied to sounds, just like you'd see at a radio station for live broadcasting. But Soundboard brings the drag-and-drop ease of desktop computing to the table, and adds several small features that add up. Namely: quick editing and loop controls. Plus, you can route your audio using Soundflower, or just play what you want through speakers. Given the number of crank calls I made as a kid, I'm glad this wasn't around. Soundboard normally sells for $29, but there's a free trial and you get 25% off if you're a WireTap owner. Also, Ambrosia is encouraging Sound Byte users to switch over with a $19 deal for registered owners of that application. If you've ever wanted a live radio show like Dingo and the Baby, then Soundboard may be just what you need. Incidentally, the screencast above was made using the excellent site, Screenr.com. If the video won't play on an iPhone, just click here for the Screenr page.
By golly it's a Gears of War soundboard
For those of us who are involved in the art of prank phone calls or simply enjoy hearing video game character quotes we've unearthed a Gears of War soundboard for you to enjoy. The Gears soundboard features multiplayer and campaign quotes from the Locusts and the COG killing crew including Marcus, Dom, Baird, Cole and Carmine. Experience a locust growl, hear the ear pleasing sounds of Baird exclaim "shit yeah!" and the multiple variations of Marcus' "nice". Give the soundboard a listen and be sure to show your friends, because this little online doodad will give you instant Gears cred. Honest.[Via Gearheads of War]
Halo & Halo 2 soundboard is unfreakin believable
You know those annoying soundboards that litter the internet? Yeah, those ones. We actually found a soundboard that is less than annoying, it's more along the lines of being cool and amazing. Check out the Halo and Halo 2 multiplayer soundboard over at Pufile. They are even conveniently color coded, blue is Halo 2 and red is Halo. Not only can you use the multiplayer sounds for crank calls, but as a bonus you'll feel violent doing it! And can someone back us up on this one, it's called "unfreakin believable" not "unfrickin believable" ... right guys? [Via Digg]
