MusicRadar

Frozen Ape Euphonics
£0.59

Euphonics is an ambient music creation app that sits halfway between the freeform floatiness of Brian Eno's Bloom and the more traditional angle of something like Mini Piano.

The main screen is divided into three sections: an arpeggiator, a chord selector, and a keyboard. These are used to control the software's four musical elements: a pad, a bass, an arpeggiated synth sound and a sampled piano.

The chord selector sets the tonality of the pad and arpeggiator, and def­ines the bass note. The polyphonic piano-playing keyboard only displays a single octave, but the instrument has a three octave range that can be scrolled by tilting the device left or right.

Euphonics is pretty simple and has a couple of interface problems (it's hard to bring up the options screen or stop the music without inadvertently changing chord or adjusting the arpeggiator), but it's a pleasing diversion and cheap as chips - cheaper, in fact.

Buy now from the App Store

Normalware Bebot
£1.19

Sometimes the simplest applications are the best, and Bebot is a case in point. Opening this app you are presented with a retro-graphic robot in a tux. Touch the screen and he emits a 'talking robot' tone, with pitch changes as you move from left to right, and a variable formant filter as you move upwards.

Double-clicking on the bottom right of the screen accesses three other synth modes (including Theremin, Pulse and PWM), each with a small set of editing parameters. For more accurate pitching Bebot can show a graphical note grid (with zoom). Autotune mode snaps pitches to the nearest note and can restrict playback to a certain scale. Basic effects include a variable feedback delay and overdrive section and what's more, the synth is polyphonic.

Bebot really scores in its immediacy, and we know that it's been used on a number of commercial projects already.

Buy now from the App Store

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