Grantophone (for iPhone and iPad)

Grantophone (for iPhone and iPad) is a virtual musical instrument for which there is no real-world equivalent; the piano is the closest analogue. It stacks multiple keyboards?each an octave wide?to make use of your device's entire screen area, and lets you control volume and vibrato by finger placement and tilt. Though Grantophone lacks many features of more powerful music-creation apps?most notably the ability to record?it provides a simple interface and a distinctive, sometimes eerie, often futuristic sound. It's a joy to play and experiment with.

Anatomy of a Cyber-Instrument
Although sized for the iPhone, Grantophone?which takes its name from its creator, Grant Kot, a cellist, Juilliard graduate, and programmer?is compatible with the iPad, where it works well when expanded to 2x size. The Grantophone?s keyboard layout is logical yet non-standard: a grid composed of four octaves (13 notes across, C to C, labeled) stacked on top of each other, filling the screen. Unlike the staggered layout of a piano, all the keys are in a straight line and the same size, though the sharps and flats are shaded black while the naturals are gray.

There are no physical controls to Grantophone other than the ability to switch between 10 labeled modes?Normal, Trill, Pulse, Resonant, Ambient, Laser, Drop, Rise, Arp[eggio], and Arp Solo?by touching a bar at the top of the screen. You can add (and control the degree of) vibrato by adding tilt to device, and alter the volume by touching different parts of a key. (A key is loudest when touched in the middle, and you can create crescendos and diminuendos by dragging a finger up or down the key.) The app displays waveforms of the notes you play.

?As for the 10 modes, Normal mode generates a piano-like sound. When vibrato is added to Trill, it sounds very much like a (landline) phone ringing. Pulse emits a rapid series of tones if you hold a key down. Resonant sounds very similar to Normal. Ambient increases in volume as you hold a key down. Laser adds a sound reminiscent of a phaser firing to a note. Drop rapidly lowers the pitch when you release a note, while Rise just as quickly raises it. The two Arpeggio modes cycle quickly between notes when you play a chord.

Grantophone's biggest shortcoming is its inability to record what you're playing. If you want to do that, you'll have to record on another device. (I tried launching an audio memo app and starting to record, closing it and opening Grantophone, but the audio app closed as soon as I opened Grantophone.

Testing Grantophone
My testing of Grantophone, using an iPhone 5 and iPad 2, consisted of coaxing out tunes (and trying them in different modes) as well as improvising. Having some experience (albeit limited) with a piano was helpful in learning and playing Grantophone, but it's not essential. The keyboard design, as well as the fine control of volume and vibrato, can make for some interesting cross-octave special effects. For the most part, Grantophone is easier to play on an iPad, but it's still quite playable on the iPhone (with the exception of two-handed playing), despite the tiny keys.

As for my own interest in music, I could best be described today as a noodler. We had a piano in my childhood home on which I learned some songs, but I never took lessons. I did take guitar lessons in college, though today my guitar sits idle in my closet, sometimes for months at a time. But I'd like to be able to create and record music, to accompany YouTube videos and the like.

The Music App Universe
I've been intrigued by music apps, and have acquired a number of them, which roughly (with a lot of overlap) fit into three categories: synthesizers, recording studios, and instruments. There are some great synthesizer apps, such as the Editors' Choice BeepStreet Sunrizer (for iPad) ($4.99, 4.5 stars), but they're really geared to professional musicians and composers. They're sort of the audio equivalent of Photoshop in that, although playable by a novice, they're overloaded with advanced features, often packing a bewildering variety of buttons, sliders, dials, and knobs.

The Editors' Choice Apple GarageBand 1.2 (for iPad) ($4.99, 4 stars) is more like a full-featured recording studio. It can mix the sounds of multiple instruments and let you record your tracks. In GarageBand you can even stack a pair of partial standard piano keyboards on top of each other to facilitate two-handed playing. GarageBand has many wonderful features, but it isn't all that easy to navigate, or for a newcomer to master.

Be a Virtual Virtuoso
Grantophone, on the other hand, is pure instrument. It lacks the bells and whistles?not to mention the drums, cymbals, guitar, etc.?of many music apps, as well as the ability to mix tracks. It doesn?t even let you record. But Grantophone is a pleasure to experiment with. It?s easy to learn and play. Its simple yet clever and logical keyboard design utilizes the entire screen area. Its unusual sound is soulful yet often otherworldly; I could picture it accompanying a sci-fi or horror movie.

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