NAMM: IK Multimedia iRig BlueBoard and iLoud
IK Multimedia was one of the very early adopters of guitar products for mobile devices, and they’ve now completed the portable rig with iRig BlueBoard and iLoud. BlueBoard is a Bluetooth MIDI pedalboard for iPhone, iPad and Mac which lets you control your sounds with your feet instead of having to do the ‘tap tap tap’ thing with your fingertips when you’d rather be going ‘tap tap tap’ on your fretboard. And iLoud is a deceptively powerful stereo speaker with built-in iRig interface for plugging guitar guitar in and rocking. Here are the press releases.
IK Multimedia Announces iRig BlueBoard
The first Bluetooth MIDI pedalboard for iPhone, iPad and Mac, gives musicians hands-free control over music apps
January 23, 2013 – IK Multimedia – the leader in mobile music-creation apps and accessories for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad – is proud to announce iRig® BlueBoard, a groundbreaking new Bluetooth MIDI pedalboard for iPhone, iPad and Mac, which gives guitarists, bassists and keyboard players hands-free control of mobile and Mac music apps. Continue reading
COOL GEAR ALERT: Squier USB Strat
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (November 12, 2012) – Squier is proud to introduce an innovative new Strat guitar model that can directly connect with and record to Apple iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac or Windows-based computers.
The Squier by Fender Strat Guitar with USB and iOS Connectivity features an onboard mini-USB connector that allows players to interface directly and easily with all these devices, with no additional hardware needed – including GarageBand and other music apps on iOS. Continue reading
IK Multimedia iRig STOMP out now
IK Multimedia’s iRig was one of the first guitar interfaces for iOS devices, and while it’s a very handy little device, a few later products trumped it in features. IK have never rested on their laurels though, and they’ve hit back with what’s got to be the most impressively-specced and most player-friendly iOS guitar interface yet. It’s housed in a stompbox case, lets you plug your iDevice into your amp, gives you manual control of the input signal strength, and hell, it even lets you use the iPad in line with other pedals, which is great for incorporating guitar synth apps or other gadgetry into your guitar rig.
Here’s the press release:
IK Multimedia announces iRig STOMP: First stompbox-style guitar and bass interface for iPhone/iPad is now shipping
Take the stage with your mobile guitar rig – incorporate your mobile guitar amps and effects into your live performance
September 6th, 2012 – IK Multimedia, the leader in mobile music creation accessories and apps announced today that iRig STOMP, the first guitar and bass stompbox-style interface for iPhone/iPod touch/iPad, is nowavailable from retailers worldwide and the IK Multimedia online store.
REVIEW: Sonoma Wire Works GuitarJack Model 2
The iPad is the perfect practice tool for guitarists. Because it instantly becomes whichever app you load, it can be a warehouse full of amps, a fully-featured demo studio, a TAB reader and writer, a guitar synth, a scale library, and probably a whole bunch of other thing we haven’t even envisioned yet. But most of these functions are useless with a guitar signal entering the iPad. There are plenty of interfaces for guitar out there, and they all seem to operate in different ways. Some are simple and inexpensive, while others are a bit more pro-spec. That’s where the GuitarJack Model 2 comes in.
IK Multimedia upgrades SampleTank for iOS
SampleTank Makes Performing on iPhone/iPod touch/iPad Even Easier
The first pro-quality sound and groove workstation for iOS adds MIDI Control and Program Change + free instruments in every category
July 2012, Modena, Italy – IK Multimedia is proud to announce the 1.2 update to SampleTank® for iOS, the universal app for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, through the iTunes App store. The update, for both regular and free versions, is available as a free download to existing users that adds support for MIDI Program Change and Controller editing of all edit strip knobs for enhanced expression and performance in any environment from the studio to the stage. The 1.2 update also now provides free instruments in every category so users can create instantly anytime and everywhere.
COOL GEAR ALERT: Yonac steel guitar app for iPhone
Yonac Software Releases Steel Guitar, Innovative Guitar App for iPhone and iPod Touch
Steel Guitar is the first steel guitar application for iPhone and iPod Touch to use unique interface that allows anyone to create music.
(New York, NY – July 29, 2009) Yonac Software is pleased to announce the release of Steel Guitar. Steel Guitar started as an idea of bringing a beloved instrument to the iPhone. The result is an incredible user interface that allows users to play with ease and unique settings to customize the sound. Steel Guitar utilizes several features to empower the guitarist including:
• Slide guitar emulator with “pedal” bending and multiple instruments
• 4 instruments:
Lap Steel (6-String)
Eight-String
Nashville (10-String with E9 tuning)
Texas (10-String with C6 tuning)
• 4 different tones per instrument:
Clean
Tweed
Tolex
Brit
• Easy fretboard scrolling
• Built-in common tunings and/or pedal-hookups for each instrument
• Volume/pitch bend pedals hooked up with 4 axes of the iPhone/iPod Touch Accelerometer
• Adjustable fret width, pickup height and string spacing
• Chorus/Vibrato effect
• Compatible for iPod play along
CEO and Steel head designer James Yonac remarks:
“The Guitar has always been my first love…after working on a good deal of musical apps, [one] gets to know the iPhone interface inside and out. For some time, we have been working on emulating an instrument that would fit the iPhone interface like the proverbial glove. One of my personal favorites is the pedal steel. The most interesting thing about [the iPhone] is how well it is suited to emulate something like a lap or a pedal steel. You control the actual instrument with a so-called ‘bar’, with which you slide from fret to fret, and use your dominant hand to pluck, and pretty much take it from there. It’s much easier than attempting to play a conventional guitar on such a small screen, and in my opinion, much more musical. This carried over very well to the iPhone platform, and I think we hit the spot with how we implemented the emulation. This also sets Steel Guitar apart from most of the guitar apps out there: it’s something unique in this arena of instrumentation, and
not something you’re going to see many likes of.”
Steel Guitar is now available at the Apple iTunes app store for $.99.
Yonac Software was founded in New York City in 2008. The company mainly focuses on the development of music and sound related software. In September 2008, they released the hugely successful miniSynth, the app store’s first synthesizer. Yonac’s other iPhone applications include MegaSynth, one of the most powerful polyphonic synthesizers available, TuneORama, an easy-to-use guitar tuner, and Thereminator, a touch screen theremin.
NEWS: Sonoma Wireworks updates FourTrack iPhone
A couple of weeks ago I bought Sonoma Wireworks’ FourTrack iPhone app. At the time I thought “Hmm, that’s handy, but not quite handy enough. Where’s the metronome? Where’s the ability to bounce tracks?” Well it seems like Sonoma must have downloaded the Read Peter’s Thoughts app, because they’ve just released v2.0, which includes these features and more. Read all about it here, but here’s an excerpt.
The FourTrack iPhone multitrack audio recorder has been updated to v2.0 with highly anticipated song tools including bounce, duplicate and a metronome with real drum recordings.
FourTrack is the only iPhone multitrack recorder available with calibrated faders and meters, panning, latency compensation, metronome with live drum recordings, bounce, and wifi-sync directly into a companion desktop application (RiffWorks). Everything from the multi-touch fader, to the spinnable pan wheel was designed with the iPhone in mind.
FourTrack 2.0 New Song Tools:
Bounce – Mix your song to track 1 and 2 of a new song. This makes room for two more tracks while preserving the originals for syncing to desktop recording software.
Duplicate – Make a backup of your song and continue working on it in a different file.
Metronome – Maintain a consistent tempo by recording along with real drums (not MIDI) using FourTrack’s built-in metronome. Select a tempo by entering a number or by tapping. Choose from seven sounds including three beats by celebrity drummer Jason McGerr on his signature Ludwig kit recorded in his Seattle based studio, Two Sticks Audio. Other sounds (Block A, Block B, High Hat, and Pop) are samples of live drums and percussion courtesy of Discrete Drums, the original multitrack drum library. Time signatures include 3/4, 4/4, 6/8 and X/4 (which are unaccented beats that can be used to play 5, 7, 9 and other odd meters).
NEWS: Nine Inch Nails iPhone app goes live
NIN Access, the highly-anticipated Apple iPhone application, has gone live, although it seems to be crashing my phone so far… not sure what’s going on there. Some other users on Twitter are reporting the same thing but it’s working fine for others.
Hi! I'm Peter Hodgson. I write for Gibson.com, Australian Guitar, Australian Musician, Mixdown Magazine (including my instructional column, 'Unleash Your Inner Rock God,' which has been running since 2007), Blunt, Beat (including their weekly hard rock/metal column Crunch) and The Brag. And I'm Assistant Social Coordinator with Seymour Duncan.
I've been playing guitar since I was 8 years old, and I've been writing for magazines since I was 18. I've also worked as a guitar teacher (up to 50 students a week), a setup tech, a newspaper editor, and I've also dabbled in radio a little bit. I live in Melbourne, Australia, and my hobbies include drinking way too much coffee, and eating way too much Mexican food.
You can check out my guitar playing at Bandcamp or on YouTube, and feel free to email me at iheartguitarblog@gmail.com