PocketGuitar has been re-released for all and updated on the App Store as of August 26th. In the thick mass of iPhone and iPod Touch music applications, it’s tough to find anything worth while for the money that suits my fun pants as a musician. Previously, it was circulated as a hack app, where a jailbroken iPhone/iPod Touch could download it for free.
99¢ isn’t bad. Here’s why.
I’ve tried aDrummer (Drum Hero - free), Thereminator (overpriced at $3, but potentially useful if you can’t afford a theremin to record), Drum Kit ($2 and lags a bit in response time), Pocket Piano (new and pretty cool), which have fun 15sec “huhuhuhuh” and “heheheheh”moments but still leave you $1-$3 short going “awwwww”. For $1, PocketGuitar challenges the best of guitar players to wrap your fingers around your device of choice like a fretboard and strum/pluck your favorite chords with your finger near the home button, or set your iPhone/iPod Touch on a table to touch the strings and play it like a lap steel. I managed to hit 4 strings with my fingers, and with a fret/string width adjustment option, Comic Book Guy’s fingers could probably hit all 4 strings.
The amazing part of this fun music app is the string branded versatility nestled within $1. There are a few instruments to choose from including Acoustic-Electric Guitar, Electric Guitar, Classical Guitar, Muted Guitar, Electric Bass, and my personal favorite the Ukulele. All have semi-realistic voices and string sounds.
Another great feature is the sound effects. You can stack up to 2 effects, including a combination of Distortion (Gain and Level controls), Delay (Time, Feedback, and Level controls), and/or Chorus (Level, Delay, Depth, and Speed).
I found the Acceleromter effect pretty cool and a nice touch as it introduces a whammy bar into your plucking. Controls include Raise Pitch, Lower Pitch, and a Sensitivity option which can get really crazy. Alternative Tuning setting provides a generous control to any Come As You Are lover who wants to upstage an air guitar enthusiast at a party.
The one draw-back to this app is, which may hopefully be enhanced in the future, there isn’t a setting option to softly strum the strings outputting various velocity voices. I hope the developer, Shinya Kasatani, implements this in the future along with different effect choices (like a flanger, different distortions, etc) to keep it interesting and updated. As a guitar player, I enjoyed it for what it’s worth. It’s cute, has a decent sound and operation, and can come in fairly handy when I’m bored at work and have a song idea in my head.
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