Composing Tools for iPod / iPhone & PC’s
 

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Apple’s little wonder has some pretty cool tools for musicians. I use chord and general apps like: '7 chords,' and 'Star Guitar Pro,' but on a recent travel day (9hrs in the air and airports - yuck!), I got to wondering about composing tools or apps that I could use when away from a guitar or piano.

The chord dictionaries or calculators feature the ability to simulate what the chord (or note) will sound like on a guitar, but in working out a composition it would really help to have the ability to experiment with different melodies and chord shapes, saving them as you went, and then have the iPod or PC laptop play them back for you.

Any wonderful iPod or PC composition tools out there that you’ve used?

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I can't directly address the composition side of the question since I don't do any song writing to speak of. However, since you don't have any replies yet I thought I'd chime in with some interesting iPod touch/iPhone apps you may find useful anyway:

• GuitarToolkit - this one I use all the time, it's a tuner, metronome, and scales/chord finder (you can even strum the chords or individual notes on the chord simulator!) Really helps me both as a reference and as a playing aid with the metronome/tuner.
  
• iTalk - recording app, I use this along with an iVoicePro which works great for recording lessons, snippets of music, etc. In a pinch the iPod headphone mics or a "capsule" mic will work, if you don't mind the more mediocre quality.
  
• FourTrack - I haven't used this one as much yet simply because I haven't had as much of a need for multi-track stuff, but for a composition on the road you might value the ability to do multiple tracks.
  
• Fret Surfer - trainer app for helping you increase fretboard knowledge. Might be handy for you if you're spending a lot of time in an airport and want to do something constructive to help your playing.
  
• Peterson iStroboSoft - Can't not mention this one, this has to be one of the best values out there for the iPod. The Peterson strobe tuner in software form and as far as I can tell it's very accurate and works incredibly similarly to the hardware Peterson tuners. If you have an electric or acoustic/electric, a great accessory is the adapter cable Peterson makes for 1/4" guitar cable -> iPod input. Only place I could find that sells any such adapter cable, too, at least last time I looked around :-)

I'm sure there's other stuff I'm forgetting but that's the guitar related stuff I use the most. Maybe some of it will be interesting/useful to some other folks out there so I figured I'd share even if it's not composition specific.

-Jay

I just downloaded the iPhone app Music Trainer, which slows down music without changing the pitch. Seems to work great, although it is a bit of a pain to import songs.

Thanks both. Great apps and ideas. For ex, I use a Peterson strobe but don't always have it with me.


I'm still curious if someone has found a tool, for PC or iPod, that essentially combines music making functionality with recording functionality? ie: the chord / note playing ability of Guitar Toolkit with the FourTrack recorder app?

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Artsong
 

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When you dig into it, there are some serious composition tools out there...


http://createdigitalmusic.com/

http://www.artsong.org/

http://www.finalemusic.com/

http://www.ableton.com/live




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Guitar Toolkit is the best app ever! I use it every day! :D

Four tracks is okay, I've used it a couple of times. Haven't spent enough time with it to due a real evaluation ;)