One category of iOS app that’s really pushing the boundaries of the platform is music, which is making a splash at Macworld 2011. In addition to a number of iOS software and accessory developers on hand to show off their wares, the expo also features a section of the show floor dedicated to iOS and Mac music, the Macworld Music Studio.
Macworld 2011 was again host to the Macworld Music Studio this year, a popular show floor attraction hosted in collaboration with the Berklee College of Music, offering sessions and performances by professionals from the school and featuring instruction, demonstrations and training. Previous years have strictly focused on the Mac, but this year’s expo added a number of iOS-based sessions to the mix, including “iOS Mobile Apps for the Guitar” on Thursday and Friday and “Mobile Applications for the Musician” on Saturday morning.
Much of the Macworld Music Studio iOS presentations are focused around IK Multimedia’s AmpliTube, a guitar tone and recording studio available for the iPhone and iPod touch, as well as the iPad. When coupled with the company’s $39.99 iRig guitar interface adapter, musicians have a powerful, full-featured, on-the-go guitar rig and recording studio for those moments when inspiration strikes.
AmpliTube costs $19.99 for either the iPhone/iPod touch version or the iPad version, with free versions for both also available, as well as a $2.99 LE edition for the iPhone/iPod touch.
Sonoma Wireworks is also on hand for Macworld 2011 with their GuitarJack, a $199 dongle (currently on sale for $149 from select dealers) that plugs into the dock connector and allows a single quarter-inch instrument input as well as an eighth-inch stereo mic/line input, plus one eighth-inch stereo output with increased drive for headphones.
GuitarJack Model 1 is currently only compatible with iOS 3 or later on the iPod touch second and third generation models, but the company is targeting a Model 2 compatible with the iPhone 4, iPad and fourth-generation iPod touch for this spring.
Sonoma also publishes a trio of GuitarJack-compatible iOS apps for the iPhone and iPod touch, including the free TaylorEQ, the 99-cent Recorder and the $9.99 FourTrack. The company took their first plunge into the iPad market late last year with StudioTrack, a $39.99 tablet-only app which offers a full complement of eight-track recording studio capabilities.
Another iPad favorite on hand for Macworld 2011 is algoriddim, showing off their popular $19.99 djay app which transforms your tablet into a full-fledged DJ system. The impressive app has been featured in Apple’s own iPad television commercials and is sure to entice plenty of new customers with their booth at this year’s expo.
One of the most promising newcomers to Macworld 2011 is Jammit (also a Mac|Life Macworld Expo 2011 Award Winner for Best iOS app), billed as “the ultimate play-along software” coming soon to the iPad, iPhone, iPod touch and even Mac OS X, with Windows and “other mobile platforms” soon to follow.
Jammit allows a musician to isolate a selected instrument or vocal from the original recorded master so they can focus on learning the part of their specific instrument. The company’s heavily trafficked booth at Macworld 2011 features live demos from musicians, including Richie Kotzen of Poison fame on Thursday, John JR Robinson on Friday (whose credits include stints with both Michael Jackson and Eric Clapton) and AFI’s Adam Carson on Saturday.
What gives Jammit such potential is the fact that the company has licensed original multitrack recordings in order to isolate individual tracks, as well as display the composition in sheet music. Demo videos on the company’s website include samples from classic bands such as Foreigner, Pantera, Deep Purple, Chicago and The Ramones as well as more recent fare like No Doubt, Rob Zombie and Godsmack. The company is also taking requests for future additions to the app.
As one of the instructors from the Berklee College of Music put it during one of the Macworld Music Studio sessions on Friday, a year ago there was no iPad -- and it’s amazing to see how far the tablet device has come in less than a year, and its vast potential for the years to come.
Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter
Charles Zimmerman also contributed to this article.
