Apps for Musicians - Part One

Being a musician became a little easier with the rise of mobile devices. It is no longer necessary to carry separate devices (metronome, tuner, tuning fork/pitch pipe, notation, etc) in addition to your instrument. I have both an Apple device (iPhone) and an Android device (Galaxy Tab) so I have experienced a little from both sides of the fence. And a lot of them are free!

Metronome
Metronome (marketwall.com - AppStore) - FREE
This is really basic metronome. It can only go in 2/4, 3/4 or 4/4 time. But I love it because for young students, it is really simple to use, and they rarely need anything but the above time signatures. The interface looks like a mechanical metronome, so there is a visual as well as an audible cue. The tempo is changed by sliding the weight up and down the needle, as you would on a manual metronome. The sound is a decent volume on my iPhone at top volume. If you need it louder (and this applies to any metronome app) try using headphones. It is not uncommon for this to be the case with a dedicated digital metronome anyway!

A similar app is available on Google Play (FREE), which is the Classic Metronome Free (Saicheems).

Mobile Metronome (Gabriel Simoes - Google Play Store) - FREE+
I haven't used this one a lot, but it looks like it has promise. The interface is more complicated than the iPhone one above, and is more of a digital input. You can change most elements, such as the sound, tempo and number of beats per bar, plus there is the handy ability to tap a tempo in. It is my understanding that the paid version of this app, Mobile Metronome Pro ($1.50), has the ability to subdivide complex meters. You can also save presets within it, and the number of beats per bar is available from 2-20. This is best reserved for those who need it and have well outgrown apps such as the iPhone app above.

Similar apps on Google Play which might be worth investigating are Metronome
                                     Beats and Slick Metronome, both free.

Tuner
Cleartune (Bitcount ltd - AppStore and Google Play Store) - $3.99
I see this app getting used on music stands everywhere. It is easy to use with students. $3.99 is nothing when you think of what you would pay for a tuner in store! One of the handy-dandy things about this app is that it is available on both Apple and Android. The interface looks much like a digital needle-style tuner. There is an option to lock to a specific pitch or to allow the tuner to find your pitch (great for practicing passages of changing notes). You can change between equal temperament and any number of mean/string/random temperaments. The needle remains yellow until you hit the pitch, and it then turns green. It also displays the exact hertz you are playing at.


Tuner - DaTuner (Lite!) (Applaud Apps - Google Play Store) - FREE
I have used this app a few times (I was too cheap to spend $3.99 from both the AppStore AND Google Play). I am not sure I like it, personally, but if you want a free app on your Android, it comes highly rated. It is extremely sensitive, which means there is distracting motion within the app constantly. (Right now, it is picking up both the bird calls outside the window and the taps on the keyboard). It displays the note and octave in the centre of the screen, the hertz down the left hand side and the tendency across the bottom. It all turns green when it is in tune, and is orange the rest of the time.


Apps that play pitches
I will just say now that I am not a vocal/choral director and have no real need for a pitch pipe or tuning fork, but these apps will more than suffice for the same job, even if they are strictly piano interfaces.

Virtuoso Piano (Peter Nagy Music - AppStore) - FREE+
Since I first downloaded this app (about 4 years ago) it has come a long way. The interface is a simple
keyboard, and it has a range from C0 to C6. Once upon a time, you could only see one octave from C to C at a time, but now you can see octaves between any note, depending on where you scroll to. It only has a piano sound, which may be limiting to some. There is a Pro version ($0.99) but I have not looked into it, seeing as I have no real need for it! It appears that the keyboard size is adjustable and there are some features for iPad. There also appears to be a recording and metronome app built in.


Piano Perfect (Revontulet Studio - Google Play Store) - FREE
I have only experienced this one on a tablet, so it may work differently on an Android phone. The biggest differences between this one and the AppStore one are the ability to change sounds, the option to display two keyboards at the same time and a record function. It has ad banners across the top which you can remove for $0.99.


Stay tuned for Part Two, which will feature fingering charts and music databases!