2nd May 2012: There are apps for productivity, apps for learning and well, apps for most things. But there are few virtual musical instruments for mobile devices that involve more physical interaction than just tapping a screen.
Now Sound Wand comes along to change all that. UK indie creative studio, Club 15CC, has just released the first in a series of new apps for the iPhone 4+ and iPad 2+ (yes, it also works on the latest iPod touch). Sound Wand makes use of the built-in motion sensors in these devices to create a very unique and sophisticated virtual musical instrument.
Learn to play a virtual musical instrument by waving your Sound Wand around
The name of the app points to the action you need to play your mobile device as an instrument. Tap the screen and wave the device around like a wand and the music will start to play. Sound Wand uses the actual sampled sounds of the Celtic harp. The glowing, coloured bars act like harp strings, as you move your device, they pass under your fingers where you touch the screen and they are ‘plucked’ to create the music.
I can't describe in words how much fun this is to play. I started by simply waving my iPhone through the air and letting the "strings" ripple past my fingertip. But, after a while, I got the hang of picking out the notes, skipping certain notes and playing a melody.
There are various styles of music and scales built-in and you can change the pitch and tone with a few simple alterations in the settings. Gurbani Raag scales are built into the Sound Wand app as "Morning" (Asa) "Afternoon" (Gauri) "Evening" (Sri Raag) and "Bedtime" (Kaanra.)
You can tilt the phone sideways to play stacatto and flip it back to play legato. The little information in the settings screen is just enough for some light learning, so this app would be suitable for kids as well. Just play with it for a while and you'll get the hang of it!
This is a new and intriguing way to interact with your mobile phone or iPod. Download it and have some fun. It has an amazingly ethereal and divine sound.
Check out the video to see more about how it works.
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Sources: Image: SteFou!