Disqus
I previously reported on one of a new breed of iPhone music performance Apps, called Star6. Along with it’s peers, it’s breathing new life in to an App genre that I would call ‘casual productivity’ – that is, you are not gaming, but doing something (for fun) that could end up with a useful or productive ending!
Well Star6 has had a version upgrade, to 1.1, with a stack of new features:
- Quantization, which keeps you on-beat when jumping between samples. You control when the jump occurs, anything from 1/16th of a beat to 4 full beats. Given that Star6 is all about jumping around among a set of samples, this makes a huge difference.
- The BPM control is right out front now, and includes a scrubbing interface a bit like the iTunes app for rapid BPM up/down changes.
- You now have the option for BPM changes to either vary or maintain pitch. So if you want James Brown to sound like a fast chipmunk, it’s very easy now
- Reset / un-reset toggling, which allows you to jump back and forth between the original sample and your all-munged-up version
- Major UI & usability improvements everywhere
- Many smaller tweaks like tap-to-BPM, the ability to download and automatically install sample packs, and better sounding distortion effects.
The best news (for the moment) though is that it’s only $6.99 for the moment – on Jan 18th, it goes up to $9.99 – so best get your skates on if you want to get your hands on a very kewl App for reduced moolah!
Search the iTunes App store for ‘star6′ to find the App.
About The Author
Ben Robinson
Ben is a 10+ year veteran of the Mobile industry – starting his career when SMS was a still a relatively new concept for most people (!), he has now consulted on everything from bleeding-edge Mobile content, to the next-gen accessories you might view it on. As a result he has a broad and deep knowledge in numerous areas of Mobile – from network operators to device vendors, to infrastructure and middleware vendors (not to mention content delivery) – and has worked for companies in all of these areas! He is based in the UK, a hotbed of activity for mobile, and recently became a father for the second time – as oppose to in his younger years when he was happy spend time tweaking all manner of mobile devices to 'nth' degree, he now looks for services and hardware that provide the most efficient, compact, and reliable improvements to his already manic life! It’s his opinion that Mobile solutions should be there to help to make your life better – if a particular solution (be it service or device) isn’t doing this, he believes you need to ask the very important question of why you continue to use it... His focus at IntoMobile is mainly on Mobile content, services, and infrastructure, particularly as regards the UK market – and with the occasional look at devices. Additionally, using his extensive experience in the industry, he will provide commentary on the industry at large, with regular (and hopefully thought-provoking) articles.
