If any of you own or have at any point owned a Nintendo DS, you might have come across a game called Electroplankton. In my idiotic and useless opinion, it was the first ‘music game’ that really worked on both levels as a game that you could really spend hour playing and as a genuine musical compositional tool.
The reason for its success was the simple interface and its ‘open’ music format. Too many music games tried to replicate a sequencer, which inevitably led to lots of people making very shi*t house music out of an extremely limited bank of samples.
Soundrop iPhone is an even more simplistic version of the Electroplankton model, that you can download for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.
The interface really is as straight forward as; draw a line, let a ball bounce on it, when the ball hits the line a marimba sample will sound, draw another line, create rhythms and patterns. Before you know it you’ll think you’re a regular Philip Glass.
The free version of the app is fun enough, but if you can stretch to £1.19 you’ll get the pro version which allows you a broader range of sounds.
Very fun and addictive app that I urge you to try. You can find out everything you need to know by clicking here.
Spotify have just announced that their iPhone application will soon be able to multitask on the new iOS4 software for the iPhone. Users will now be able to listen to their music and use the other applications at the same time (no need for the iPod feature anymore!).
However, the company has just provided an answer in a blog post:
“We know that many of you have been waiting for an update to our iPhone app that supports the latest iOS 4 and background listening. We’re happy to say that an updated app has been submitted to Apple for review. Hopefully we’ll get a speedy approval and to make up for the extra little wait time we’ve added a nice little surprise to make Spotify mobile even more exciting for you, stay tuned!”
Even though Limewire is being sued by pretty much every major music corporation, they are planning a subscription based music service. Thats right, Limewire is going legit.
Limewire in essences is planning a direct Spotify competitor.
“Users will have complete and instant access to their entire library and catalog across their desktop, devices, and in the cloud,” a company executive relayed. “By syncing iTunes playlists and content to the cloud, users’ existing libraries are available to access and stream to a wide range of connected devices.”
Of course, major labels (and publishers) are suing this company with a passion. But according to LimeWire, label executives are also supporting the post-gavel initiative. ”We can confirm that in our ongoing dialogues with numerous industry executives, this service has been very well received,” another LimeWire source relayed.
The Limewire service is scheduled to launch late in 2010, but we will see if it works out.
It has been reported by the Wall Street Journal that Kim Yeo-hee has just landed a record deal. Kim plays music with iPhones while singing over the top. In the past few months Kim has received million of views, but personally I just think its terrible!
Here’s an example of her artistry, a unique version of Lady Gaga’s Poker Face:
Thumbplay has just launched its Thumbplay Music streaming service iPhone application. Thumbplay previously launched their Blackberry application back in March and Android earlier this month. The Thumbplay mobile application rollout is now complete.
The Thumbplay iPhone application allows users to listen to on-demand albums and singles and create playlists which are available cross platforms. Users will have free access to the application if they already have a Thumbplay paid accout.
Disclosure: Thumbplay is a partner with RouteNote and you can get your music onto their application via the RouteNote service.
EA Mobile have launched a watered down version of Rock Band for the iPhone.
All the instruments are simulated with the touch screen of course, including the Vocals! (yes, you just tap like a guitar) RockBand comes with a Bluetooth fueled multi-player option for simultaneous slamming. The game has been released with a $9.99 price tag which seems pretty steep for, although its a full RockBband game, is still basically an app. The 20 song play list does include some familiar songs with Lynyrd Skynyrd, Smashing Pumpkins and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts among others, with more available as downloads.
RockBand may have beaten its rival Guitar Hero to the iPhone only to bump into the mini-game brick wall that it Tapulous’ tap-tap revenge. But with more “buttons” it does prove more challenging than the established TTR 3 which should increase its shelf life a bit. But fans of Tap-Tap revenge fans will be quick to point out it is available for just $1 and does have a similar in-app track buying feature. The Playlist in full is.
30 Seconds to Mars – “Attack”
AFI – “Girl’s Not Grey”
All-American Rejects – “Move Along”
Beastie Boys – “Sabotage”
Blink-182 – “All the Small Things”
Blondie – “Hanging on the Telephone”
Foo Fighters – “Learn to Fly”
Foo Fighters – “Everlong”
George Thorogood & the Destroyers – “Bad to the Bone”
Jethro Tull – “Hymn 43″
Joan Jett – “Bad Reputation”
Lynyrd Skynyrd – “Simple Man”
Motörhead – “Ace of Spades ‘08″
Pixies – “Debaser”
Presidents of the United States of America – “Ladybug”
Pandora is a music startup that he been getting a lot of great reviews of late. Pandora will reach profitability in 2010 according to founder Tim Westergren. Revenue is expected to double this year to $40 million thanks to targeted ads delivered to 27 million registered users which are growing at the rate of 50,000 to 60,000.
With the iPhone app release for Pandora they have been seeing a third of their growth come in this area. “It’s changed the perception people have of what Internet radio is, from computer-radio to radio, because you can take the iPhone and just plug it into your car, or take it to the gym.”
The yesterday Pandora also announced their new Pandora One service, which is just Pandora a few added features and of course no ads. Pandora One is a subscription based service in which is only $36 a year. Additionally with Pandora One they have released a desktop application which includes high quality streaming, a personalized look, a mini player and extended player timeouts
Previously here on RouteNote we have talked a little about musical iphone or ipod touch applications such as the Ocarina, and here is a new one, the iDrum.
The iDrum lets users remix a bunch of classic club tracks with more than 300 samples to play with, tapping the screen to build up layers of bleeps and beats.
There are 3 different apps available in the iTunes store.
Ministry of Sound version –
Club edition –
Hip-hop edition –
The prices vary depending upon your country, but check it out!!
If any of you own or have at any point owned a Nintendo DS, you might have come across a game called Electroplankton. In my idiotic and useless opinion, it was the first ‘music game’ that really worked on both levels as a game that you could really spend hour playing and as a genuine musical compositional tool.
Thumbplay
