While the iPad lacks the pure portability of the iPhone and iPod touch, there are several applications that are instantly in tune with Apple's tablet computer.
Musicians and others who enjoy playing around with harmonized sounds will enjoy iPad apps that mimic or even expand upon their favorite instruments. Audiophiles also have new tools to optimize their home entertainment centers and capture beautiful sounds while on the go.
Here are a few music-oriented iPad apps to help you get started.
Make music with these iPad apps
My dad is a gifted jazz pianist who is notexactly sure how to enter a web address into a browser. Yet upon first glimpse of Pianist Pro, he knew immediately what to do and also recognized how the app might influence his playing moving forward. While no electronic device will ever replace the sound and feeling of tickling the ivories of a real piano, at $9.99 Pianist Pro is a great complement app to have for players of all skill-levels.
The app beautifully showcases and makes accessible all 88 keys of a professional piano, and allows you to play 10 notes at any one time. Settings can be programmed to create simultaneous scales and chord progressions that enable players groove alongside sounds from the machine. There is also a built-in drum machine. Similar to any synthesizer, Piano Pro lets you replicate the sounds of organs, guitars and other instruments.
While the $3.99 Pianist iPhone app (made by the same developer MooCowMusic) is also a worthy download, being able to spread your fingers across a 9.7-inch screen provides a qualitatively superior experience on Pianist Pro. In short, Pianist Pro is a great app to demonstrate the power and possibilities of the iPad.
Guitar players looking to squeeze in a few lessons and perhaps a jam session or two on their spare time would do well to download TabToolkit. At just under ten bucks, the app is superior to similar but more expensive software programs you can download to your Mac or P.C. Further, music notes and strumming instructions are easier to read on TabToolkit than the hundreds guitar-focused iPhone apps.
Groovemasters should add an iPad to their two turntables and a microphone now that DJDeckX is available. The $9.99 iPad app provides state-of-the-art digital mixing with old-school vinyl scratching.
Songwriters who get more of their inspiration on the road may consider shelling out $39.99 for StudioTrack. Novices who wish to sound like rock stars should check out the free Beatwave iPad application.
iPad apps for your listening enjoyment
Audiophiles rejoice! There's an app for Bang & Olufsen on the iPad. The free BeoLink application, which was just released and is also available for the iPhone and iPod touch, controls all the setting for state-of-the-art Bang & Olufsen audio components. Note, wireless Internet access is required.
Although the experience of listening to free apps like Pandora, Wunder Radio and (hidden nugget) AccuRadio aren't dramatically enhanced on the iPad, there is no reason not to download them immediately.
Just for the fun of it
A great app to show off your iPad is Magic Piano. The $2.99 application harmoniously uses the iPad's enhanced screen size and faster processing power to create an instrument that combines novelty with serious musical chops. Check out a video review of Magic Piano to learn more.
With its ability to capture the name and information of a song in your vicinity, Shazam emerged as one of the first gee-whiz applications for the iPhone. While Shazam for iPad is not as revolutionary, its wide-screen interface does also you to sort and tag songs you are most interested in. Both versions are free.
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