Tag Archives: ipad

Young Musician Tanner Patrick Covers Katy Perry’s “Part Of Me” Using His iPad As A Drum Kit

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Texan musician Tanner Patrick has just recorded a viral version of Katy Perry's "Part Of Me" using his iPad as a drum kit, and apps like Easy Beats 2 and Pro Tools

I just love these videos that show us what can be done with an iPad and a little imagination. I’ve written about creating music with an iPad and GarageBand before, and I recall a post I wrote about a year to this date about the first music video that was actually shot using an iPad 2. And now, I’d like to share this new viral video with you. It shows Texan musician Tanner Patrick playing the drums on his iPad for a cover of Katy Perry’s latest hit, “Part Of Me”.

On the video (which had 100,000 views in six days) you can see Patrick using an app named EasyBeats on his iPad to set down a basic groove, while he mixes his vocals and other instruments using a digital audio platform known as Pro Tools.

What do you think? Do you ever see yourself doing something similar when it comes to recording your own covers, or even your own demos? Sound off in the comments below, please.

GarageBand Comes To The iPhone And iPod Touch

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iPhone and iPod Touch Users Can Now Run GarageBand On Their iDevices

After having been introduced on the iPad earlier this year, Apple’s GarageBand has become available on the screens of iPhone and iPod Touch users everywhere. It costs $4.99 (iTunes link), and much like its iPad counterpart it lets you plug in your electric guitar and mic to record yourself playing. Plus, the app comes with touch instruments like keyboards, drums and basses. And tons of sound effects are also included, along with a sampler and more than 250 professional loops you can use as backing for any song of yours.

These are the full features of GarageBand, as listed by Apple itself.

• Create custom chords for Smart Instruments
• Support for 3/4 and 6/8 time signatures
• Reset song key without transposing original recordings
• Transpose songs in semitones or full octaves
• Additional quantization options for recordings including, straight, triplet and swing
• New audio export quality settings for AAC and AIFF (Uncompressed)
• Arpeggiator available in Smart Keyboard
• Adjustable velocity settings for Touch Instruments
• Numerous enhancements, including automatic fade out and improved audio import options

The First Foot Controller For iPad Is Here

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If iPads are not many a musician’s best friend, then they might just become it right now. Available for guitar, bass, electric violin and keyboard players, this new StompBox by Griffin can effectively turn anybody’s trusty tablet into a shredding machine.

StompBox is defined by its creators as “a programmable multi-functional foot controller that enables virtual guitar effects”. This foot controller is used in conjunction with Frontier Design’s iShred LIVE app, and it lets musicians switch effects with their feet without having to take their hands off their instruments. Using iShred LIVE, the individual foot switches can be assigned to implement (and control) all the effects one wishes to apply.

The kit comes complete with a special cable for simultaneous guitar, PA, or amp connectivity, and a cable that goes straight into the iPad.

On a side note, this StompBox also works with teleprompters. Users are enabled to control text scrolling and related presentation functions with their feet. So, that’s two birds down with the same stone. Or with $ 99 – that’s how much the whole kit retails for.

Unlimited Downloads For iTunes Music Purchases

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Ask any user of iTunes what he would change about the service, and his response will most likely focus on one thing: the inability to download music that he has purchased to more than one device.

And if he gets angry as he points that out, he is entitled to feel like that. The way everything stands right now, a person who has an iPhone, an iPad and an iPod is not allowed to download music that he has purchased to more than one of these devices.

Apple is well aware of that, and has begun negotiating a deal that (if successful) will enable users to have their music on all their devices. The key here would be either letting users stream their audio (a la Pandora or Grooveshark), or letting people download songs that they have purchased once unlimitedly. Continue reading →

Turn Your iPad Into A Fully-featured DJ System

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dj turntable djay

If you are the kind who entertains DJ notions and you have been a good boy this year, then this is what you should ask Santa for.

Presented by Algoriddim, Djay is an application that will turn your iPad into a hefty DJ setup. Once installed and launched, the iPad will take after two turn tables and a mixer which has tons of options. For example, you can instruct the app to detect beats and tempos automatically, and also get down to some visual mixing using audio waveforms. And when you have had enough of mixing but the party is still going on strong, then you can just activate the Automix mode and let Djay do the honors while you hit the floor.

As it was only to be expected, any song that you have in your music library can be mixed using Djay.

Oh, and just in case Santa fails to deliver the goods, Djay retails at $ 20.

The First Street Musician Who Uses An iPad (Video)

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If You Thought iPads Were Prohibitive Pieces Of Hardware For Street Musicians To Use, The Video Attached Below Will Come As Surprising.

If You Thought iPads Were Prohibitive Pieces Of Hardware For Street Musicians To Use, The Video Attached Below Will Come As Surprising.

The girl featured on this video has the distinction of having become the first busker ever who uses an iPad caught on tape.

The video (which is shot in Moscow) may be short, but  it just highlights how times change. Gone are the days in which busking was a matter of sheer grit. Provided it is not a publicity stunt, of course.

Create Music… By Drawing!

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In the same way that every avid player of video games longs to create his own game, every lover of music can’t think of anything better than creating his very own song. In both cases, the technicalities at play make these objectives something that can be realized by studying a lot only, and learning a writing language that is not within everybody’s reach.

Well, we are living at a time in which these things that were previously unattainable are losing all their mysticism. Just look at the many iPhone apps that let you play an instrument, for example. And now, the ones who already have an iPad will be able to use it to create music, regardless of how technically-minded they are. Actually, they can be utter neophytes – an app that is about to be released will suit them just perfectly.

It will go by the name of Artikulator, and it will let anybody compose a song by moving his fingers around the screen of the iPad. The demo that is pasted below puts it all into clearer perspective:

As you can see, many adjustments are yet to take place. That is, you are not coming up with a song to rival “Wonderwall” in terms of melody… yet. But just give this app some time. I frankly believe it will be more than a toy or a passing curiosity.

Roger Linn Is Working On A New Instrument – And It Is A Tablet

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I am uncertain how many of you are acquainted with the name of Roger Linn. But I know for sure everybody knows the musical instrument that he created and introduced in 1979: the first drum machine that could use samples of a real drum kit.

That instrument was named the LM-1 Drum Computer. Two more would follow: the LinnDrum and the Linn 9000, and whenever you listen to a prototypical 80s’ song you are listening to any of these in nine out of ten cases.

Born In 1925, Roger Linn Was To Create The Drum Machine That We All Associate With 80s' Songs

Born In 1925, Roger Linn Was To Create The Drum Machine That We All Associate With The Sound Of The 80s

Now, Roger Linn is bound to make headlines again as he is working hard on a new piece of hardware. Named The LinnStrument, it couldn’t come at a better time – Apple’s iPad has turned tablets and slates into the trendiest things around.

Here you can see for yourself what the hoopla is all about: