Smule

We got to sit down for a quick chat with Smule's own Dr. Ge Wang at CES in Las Vegas last week, and the result is the video below. Not only is the co-founder overseeing Smule's musical experiences for mobile devices (and its recent merger with Khush, another musical developer), but he's also an assistant professor at Stanford's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics. And, as you can see, he's a mean Magic Guitar player as well. Those gloves he's wearing are Altec Lansing speakers sewn onto some gloves (with the fingertips cut off) for the Stanford Mobile Phone Orchestra. Wang was actually in Vegas to accept the Kids at Play Interactive's Emerging Pioneer award, which is an impressive achievement as well. Always good to see Smule's co-founder out and about. He says Magic Guitar is selling well, the merger is moving along smoothly, and Smule continues to aim towards expanding its social connection features across apps in the new year. He couldn't share specific plans, but we'll wait and see. When he's kind enough to strum a few virtual bars for us like this, who are we to argue? Read More

Smule, as we've said before, is an interesting company. Its goal is to bring new musical experiences to people through technology like the iPhone. The company's latest release, Magic Guitar, definitely follows that philosophy. Like the very popular Magic Piano for the iPad, the app enables you to "play" guitar music, even if you don't have any experience with the real thing. The most interesting thing about Magic Guitar is you hold it. The idea is that you're fingering chords on a guitar neck, so you're supposed to hold the iPhone in the palm of your hand, with your fingers wrapped around the far side. As "notes" fall down towards a line on the screen, you're supposed to put your fingers down where they drop, and as you do, various notes in the song will be played. It's tough to explain, but once you see it in action, it makes sense. Unfortunately, while Magic Piano offers a variety of songs to play, Magic Guitar takes a freemium route. There are only a few songs that come with the free download, and some of those are very short, with only one verse and a chorus. Additional songs need to be purchased through the app, and Smule has chosen a weird, currency-based system for purchases. You buy points instead of the songs. There are some good pop tunes available, and it would be fun to hear and see some of them being played, but I felt awfully limited by the initial choices and didn't buy any. The app itself doesn't do a great job, either, of giving you specific feedback on the notes you play. Hitting the screen a little ways off from the target note does make the sound come out differently, and a match is scored with one to three lightning bolts. I found it fairly easy, even when I thought I'd made a few mistakes, to score well. Of course there are other difficulty levels, but I think the app itself pales in quality to something like Magic Piano, where there were a lot more choices of both songs and game modes. At any rate, all of those arguments are somewhat moot, given that the app in question is free to download anyway. If the idea of playing a guitar on your phone sounds interesting at all, you should definitely give it a shot, though I think Smule will find Read More

iPhone App FREE! Our Review By Michael Halloran on December 28th, 2011 Rating: :: PRICEY MAGIC Magic Guitar turns any iPhone into a simulated guitar that gives users a chance to play along with some of their favorite songs. However, playing those songs can come at a hefty price through in-app purchases. Developer: Price: FREE Version Reviewed: 1.0.2 Device Reviewed On: iPhone 4S iPhone Integration Rating: User Interface Rating: Playtime: Rating: Re-use Value Rating: Rating: There is a lot of good that can be said about music apps from Smule. The developers have created several “magic” apps that turn an iPhone into a musical instrument. Magic Guitar is a great addition to the family and incorporates a lot of the same unique aspects from other Smule apps. Much like Magic Piano, the objective in Magic Guitar is to tap the screen at the correct time with the beat of the song to produce the guitar sound. Neon blue dots of different sizes float across the screen and must be touched at the right moment and held down for different lengths of time, depending on the size of the dot. Points are awarded depending on how well users time their strikes on the dots. Sound familiar? (Hint: think Guitar Hero). One cool feature of the app is users can add some vibrato to each note by shaking the device. Also, sliding a finger on the screen as a dot approaches can bend notes, which adds some variety to each song. Magic Guitar comes loaded with a few sample songs and more songs can be bought for additional Shred credits. The catch is there doesn’t seem to be any way to gain Shred credits by playing the game. Shred is only awarded through in-app purchases or by signing up for promotional offers from sponsors. This aspect of the app is very disappointing to me and it turns me off to an otherwise great experience. I really don’t like this business model for apps and I wish there was some other way to earn more songs to play. I would be more than happy to pay an up-front price for the app in order to have the ability to earn Shred by getting high scores. As with all Smule music apps, the interface in Magic Guitar presents a minimalistic, black background with neon dots. I really like the interface and I think it creates Read More

The nominations are in, and the poll is ready to go! The TUAW Best of 2011 awards are all about you -- the readers -- and what you think is the cream of the crop of Apple or third-party products and software. To vote, select one entry from the top nominations made by readers. We'll be announcing the winner in just a few days. Vote early and often! TUAW is asking for your votes for the best iPhone music app of 2011. There are six nominees in this category. The first, while technically a game, has you dress up pugs in hats to make music (I am not making this up). Pugs Luv Beats (US$2.99) was a surprisingly popular nominee, followed closely by the much more musically-oriented Hexaphone ($2.99). Hexaphone uses simplified musical scales, drum loops, a motion filter, and recording tools for real-time performance and improvisation. For those who want to wirelessly control music and video between iPhones, iPads and iPod touches, Tango Remote Control Media Player ($4.99) is a powerful tool that captured the imagination of many TUAW readers. Smule's free Magic Piano was a big hit with readers as well, especially for gamers and those who just dabble in music. Musicians appreciated Nano Studio ($14.99) enough to launch it into the final voting for the TUAW Best of 2011 award for an iPhone music app, while Spotify (free) captured the final spot in our voting. And now, let the voting begin! The results will be announced on December 28, 2011. What is the best iPhone music app of 2011? Read More

During December and January, The Unofficial Apple Weblog is soliciting your nominations and votes for the best products for Mac, iPhone/iPod touch, and iPad. We'll start with nominations in a category, and then tally your votes for the top-nominated products a few days later. The winner in each category receives the highly-coveted title of TUAW Best of 2011. Today's category for nominations in the TUAW Best of 2011 awards is iPhone music apps. This is a huge area in the App Store, with apps that not only play music, but let you create music as well. This is also the last category for iPhone nominations. Apple's GarageBand (US$4.99) made it to the iPhone this year, turning your favorite phone (or iPod touch) into a music-making maniac. Smule's Magic Guitar (free) and Magic Piano (free) can make you a pocket musician in no time. Listening to music on Pandora (free) or Spotify (free) is easier than ever now, and Clear Channel's iHeartRadio (free) lets you listen to over 800 real radio stations from your iPhone. TUAW wants to hear from you -- what's your favorite iPhone music app? Leave your nomination in the comments below. Voting will start soon! Nominations close at 11:59 PM ET on December 23, 2011. Read More

Looking for a new app this weekend?  Here are ten great new apps for the iPhone and iPad that you may want to check out! Available as a free version, or as a full version through an in-app purchase, this Microsoft product allows users to take extensive notes, edit them and sync them with SkyDrive.  The free version has a 500 note limit.  Free. The mobile version of the Xbox virtual pet game.  By playing on your iPhone, there’s the chance to unlock five additional pets on the console version.  It’s also universal for the iPhone and iPad.  $2.99/£1.99. Sega’s classic Sonic game has had a loving conversion over to iOS, complete with both US and Japanese soundtracks and the chance to unlock Tails as a playable character.  It’s also universal for the iPhone and iPad.  $1.99/£1.49. Create amazing stop motion films using your iPad, plus the free iStopMotion Remote Camera app for the iPhone.  $4.99/£2.99. Access Microsoft’s cloud storage system known as SkyDrive from your iPhone and backup documents, videos and pictures.  Links can be shared and files accessed from a variety of devices.  Free. The classic Grand Theft Auto game that reinvigorated the franchise comes to iOS, with refreshed graphics, controls adapted for the touchscreen and universal iPhone/iPad support.  $4.99/£2.99. The latest digital instrument from Smule is an electric guitar, where you can learn a wealth of classic rock songs.  The app is free, but songs come as in-app purchases.  Free. A complete music studio on your iPad, that can be used by up to four people at one time.  It includes guitar and keyboard effects, a metronome, a looper, samples and a chord creator.  On offer until the 21st December.  $0.99/£0.69. A visual search engine for new and interesting apps.  Free. A universal, enhanced version of the classic Breakout, with five free levels before you need to use in-app purchases to upgrade to the full version.  Free. Read More

Smule, the makers of the popular I Am T-Pain and Ocarina apps, has just released Magic Guitar. This free universal app will be sure to bring out the inner rock star in you. To use Magic Guitar, you just hold your phone like a guitar neck and tap the screen as beams of light pass a certain point. You can control the notes, speed, guitar type, pitch, and vibrato. Each time you play a song, it’s a whole new experience. Some of Magic Guitar’s features include: PLAY LEGENDARY GUITAR SONGS YOUR WAY Jam on your favorite rock, classical, folk and pop songs with your new guitar – no practice necessary. • Simply touch the lights to play all styles of music, from soulful jams to scorching shred. • Express your creativity and shake your phone to create vibrato, or drag your fingers to bend the pitch. • Choose from different guitar sounds and speeds to make each song your own. SHARE YOUR SHREDS WITH THE WORLD Share your best jams on the interactive Smule globe, or through Twitter, Facebook or email. • Hang out on the Smule globe and listen to other Magic Guitarists rocking out. • Share the love – gift your friends any song from within the app to double the fun. SCORE YOUR WAY TO THE TOP Once you’ve mastered your new guitar, get rewarded for playing. • Level up to unlock achievements and badges, earn new songs and make your way to the top of the song leader boards. Magic Guitar’s songbook includes tracks from many artists, such as KISS, Nirvana, Sublime, The Rolling Stones, and many more. Read More

Just when I was beginning to think that MadPad would be the only brand new product we saw come out of mobile musical masterminds Smule in 2011, they’ve just squeaked one out in the final round. Not that only launching one product in a year would be a bad thing, mind you — especially since they’ve been busying themselves raising 12 million dollar rounds and snatching up others in their space. Following up on the success of Magic Piano and Magic Fiddle , Smule’s bumping their Magic duet up to a trio with Magic Guitar. If you’ve played either of the aforementioned predecessors, you’ll be in familiar territory here. You hold the iPhone like the neck of a guitar (at least, as much like the neck of a guitar as you could ever possibly hold an iPhone), and the notes (in the form of little balls of light) stream down toward your fingers. Tap the balls of light as they near the timing line, and the note will play. The closer you tap to the note’s on screen position, the better it sounds. It’s similar to Rock Band in some ways, albeit with a heavier focus on flexibility and creativity over predetermined precision. Mixing things up a bit, Magic Guitar also allows players to “bend” notes by dragging your fingers up the notes as you play, and to tweak the vibrato a bit by shaking the device. Once you’re done, your performance can be shared (for better or worse) on Twitter, Facebook, or with the world at large on Smule’s signature Sonic Network. As with the more recent releases of Magic Piano (which Smule transitioned to a freemium model earlier this year), Magic Guitar is a free product with unlockable tunes. New songs are unlocked by way of “Shred” points, which can be earned through in-game achievements, partner offers (Who wants a credit card? You get a credit card! And you get a credit card!) — or if you’ve got a bit of change, purchased outright. While it’s not my favorite app in Smule’s armory, it’s cute, it’s fun, and it’s free. Find it in the app store here and give it a spin. Read More

Top-Ranking Social Music Making App Developer Smule Acquires Khush Leading mobile developers join forces to redefine the $65B market for musical entertainment Palo Alto, California, December 1, 2011 - Smule, creators of top-ranking social music making apps including Magic Piano™, Ocarina, I Am™ T-Pain, Glee Karaoke, and MadPad™, announced today that it has acquired Khush, an intelligent music app developer and creator of popular apps, Songify and LaDiDa™. The acquisition, a combined cash and stock deal which closed this week, brings together complimentary visions, technologies and teams. "The Khush team brings world-class innovation, unique technological talent, and a passionately shared vision for the future," said Jeffrey C. Smith, co-founder and CEO of Smule. "Joining forces with Khush represents the next step in our plan to bring accessible, fun, and sometimes bizarre music making experiences to everyone." Smule and Khush are leading innovators in the rapidly growing market for mobile entertainment. Together, the companies' customers have downloaded nearly 30 million apps and created more than 350 million songs. Combined, Smule and Khush experienced more than 500% user growth over the past 12 months. "Our goal is to make musical self-expression as ubiquitous as social expression is today," said Prerna Gupta, co-founder and CEO of Khush. "The success of apps like Songify and Magic Piano has brought to bear our belief that all humans are inherently creative, and we are thrilled to be uniting with Smule in our common quest for a musical utopia." • Songify (Khush), a top ranked app with more than 5 million downloads, magically creates songs from a user's spoken words, allowing you to Songify everyday aspects of your life, including perhaps your love of pets such as cats or even a skirmish with police. • Ocarina (Smule) downloaded more than 6 million times, converts your phone into a flute-like instrument, sensitive to your breath, touch, and tilt. • Magic Piano™ (Smule), downloaded more than 6 million times, allows everyone ranging from a toddler to a Juilliard grad to earn scores by playing their favorite songs, spanning from Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" to Beethoven's Pathetique sonata. Magic Piano users collectively play more than 1 million songs a day, striking 25 million notes per hour on average. "The market for musical entertainment has changed dramatically since the arrival of Apple's iPhone just over three years ago," Smith continued. "People are looking for more than MP3 downloads and streams; instead, they Read More

Smule's latest app is called MadPad. It's somewhat similar to Harmonix's VidRhythm in that you can take regular everyday sounds and turn them into music. But instead of combining sounds into a premade video, the app will turn sounds into different parts of an instrument, which you can then play with impunity. You can mix your own sets or use a series of premade sets from various musicians. You can use the created instrument to make songs or share sets on Twitter, Facebook, or over email. Smule has created a quality app here, and while it's not quite as easy as VidRhythm, in the hands of capable musicians, MadPad can make something special. It's available on the iPhone for 99 cents or in HD on the iPad for $2.99. Read More