Create Amazing Music with your iPhone on iOS
Apple has cooked up an amazing opportunity with iOS, and music developers aren't letting the side down. There's an ocean of apps out there, and it doesn't matter if you're a virtuoso violinist or Bez from Happy Mondays - you'll find something that makes your jaw drop.
It's not just possible to perform on stage - you can also play melodies through emulations of world-famous hardware synths; jam on your guitar to the sound of classic stacks; record and manipulate vocals; sample and edit the world around you; tap out banging beats; put together tracks just as you would in a professional audio-editing package; export your efforts for all the world to see; and more.
The best place to start is with Apple's GarageBand for iOS (£2.99): its Smart Instruments will turn your butterfingers into the confident digits of an experienced musician. You can command swelling strings, pick out cool riffs on acoustic and electric guitars, get grooving on bass or jam on the keyboard.
The standard drum instrument is fun, too - you can bash out beats with your fingers on a virtual kit, or experiment with a large range of custom percussion.(For more information on how to get started with GarageBand, download our free guide on Newsstand.Budding drummers should also check out Drum Meister Grand (£1.49), where you can expand each of the four kits with funky extras such as cowbells. Pianist Pro (£2.49 for iPhone; £2.99 for iPad) reckons it sounds so realistic, even those who can tickle the ivories in real life will want to play it - so this is the place to whack out that tired (sorry, of course we mean jaunty) rendition of Chopsticks.
Slot an iPad into your existing setup and take advantage of this flexible paradigm with performance-focused controller apps such as Liine's Griid Pro (£17.49), which focuses on launching Ableton Live clips, and the intuitive, uniquely powerful Lemur (£34.99), which brings a piece of £1,700 hardware to your iOS device.
Digital DJing suites NI Traktor and Serato Scratch Live can be controlled by TrakPro DJ (£6.99) and MIDI-to for iPad (£5.49) respectively. If you'd like to take a step further and use your iPhone or iPad as the main mixing interface, algoriddim's djay (69p for iPhone/ iPod touch; £13.99 for iPad) is the one all the rest are trying to beat.
Connect two iOS devices running djay together with IK Multimedia's iRig Mix (which incorporates EQ knobs), and cue output and channel faders; or alternatively, buy a full hardware system including CDJ-style platters with the brand-new Numark iDJ Pro for iPad (£309) or iDJ3 for iPhone/iPod touch (£180). The cheaper iDJ Live (£79) provides an affordable gateway to the concept for beginners.
But DJing isn't the only method of performing with your iOS device - you can also play it as an instrument or effect on stage. Morph sounds from one timbre to another, note by note with MorphWiz (£6.99), create sonic mayhem with filter app Moog Filtatron (£5.49) or rub the screen to spit out diverse effects and lead lines with KORG iKaossilator (£6.99).