iPhoning It In

Jun 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Mike Levine

MUSIC APPS ARE PLENTIFUL FOR THE IPHONE AND IPOD TOUCH—BUT WHICH ONES ARE WORTH BUYING?

The ProTrack and the Mikey both use the iPhone/iPod touch's dock connector (unlike the iPhone's headset mic, which plugs in through the headphone jack), but have a different physical approach. The ProTrack, which is more full-featured, surrounds your iPod touch or iPhone like an extended case, and has a pair of built-in condenser mics in an X/Y configuration, as well as XLR/¼-inch combo jacks for connecting your own mics.

The less-expensive Mikey, which is aimed primarily at the consumer space, has stereo mics that are located inside of its case. It swivels for optimal positioning, and has a sensitivity control for adjusting incoming volume, and a speaker for playback (which is designed for conventional iPods, which don't have speakers).

Owners of the iPhone should note that neither mic is officially approved by Apple for the iPhone. However, that's more of a formality than an issue of compatibility. Although I didn't get a chance to test them out for this story, industry sources have confirmed to me that both will work just fine, as long as you put your iPhone into Airplane mode. Doing so shuts off the phone operation, which otherwise could interfere with the audio stream.

Tuning Up and Keeping Time

How would you like to carry around a tuner and metronome in your pocket at all times? Apps for the iPhone and iPod touch make that a reality, and there are plenty of options from which to choose. Because the tuners need a mic, iPod touch owners will need an external microphone to use the tuning applications.

Of all the tuner apps, my two favorites are Cleartune (V. 1.3.2, Bitcount; $3.99; see Fig. B) and OmniTuner (V. 1.55, Mauvilla Software; $5.99). Cleartune offers excellent pitch detection, support for tempered tunings, and a pitch pipe mode. OmniTuner also has outstanding pitch detection, and offers several types of tuning displays, including Fretboard mode, which lets you choose presets for a variety of guitar open tunings, as well as for other stringed instruments (including mandolin, banjo, violin, viola, and cello).

My top metronome pick, which combines both features and accuracy, is Metronome TS (V. 1.31, Thezi Studios; $3.99). It provides visual (a virtual baton) and aural reference (with a choice of tones), multiple selectable rhythms, tap-tempo, and more. A free alternative is Metronome-iTick (V. 1.3, Music Motion), which has a digital-style visual display, adjustable time signatures, and user-changeable sounds.

Although not a metronome per se, BPM Tap Tempo (V. 1, Audiodog; $0.99) is very handy. It allows you to tap in the tempo of a song you're listening to and get the associated delay times for that tempo, along with the corresponding LFO frequencies for synching up with a synth patch.

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Manufacturer Contacts

Amidio, Inc. (Noise.io);

Audiodog (BPM Tap Tempo),

AudioRealism (Technobox);

Benjamin McDowell (Harmonica);

BIAS (iPRoRecorder);

Bitcount (Cleartune)

Far Out Labs (ProTransport and ProRemote)

Frontier Design Group (iShred, Guitar, Cowbell Plus);

Griffin Technology (iTalk Recorder);

Holger Meyer (Karajan);

Intua (BeatMaker);

ioMetics (GigBaby!);

iZotope (iDrum);

Massimo Biolcati (iReal Book);

Mauvilla Software (OmniTuner);

Music Motion (Metronome-iTick);

Normalware (Bebot);

Pure Profit (BtBx);

Reality Jockey (RJDJ); site will be changing

Retrolink HB (Randgrid Synthesizer and Drum Machine)

Retronyms (Recorder)

Roventskij (IR-909);

Silicon Studios (ITM MCU, ITM Keys);

Sonoma Wire Works (Four Track);

Sound Trends (Looptastic Electro Edition, Looptastic Progressive Edition);

Studio Six Digital, (SPL, SPL Meter, RTA, FFT, Generator)

Thezi Studios (Metronome TS); URL Not available