Tons of great small companies are springing up to take advantage of the iPhone applications store within iTunes. Case in point is Smule, the Silicon Valley-based maker of this week’s top iPhone application, Ocarina, which bills itself as “the first true musical instrument created for the iPhone.” You blow gently into the iPhone’s microphone, finger the on-screen holes, and soothing flute-like noises come out the speaker. Sound a bit New Agey? Indeed it is, and Smule — co-founded by a couple of music PhDs from Stanford and Princeton — isn’t above poking fun at itself. As in this video, where five Ocarina players foist the opening to Stairway to Heaven on us:
Smule has founded an online community where you can learn new music for Ocarina. Even if you don’t play a note, you can see and hear other iPhone users play the application anywhere in the world, and rate their performance, by spinning, clicking and zooming in on a virtual globe. Smule has created a whole new musical software platform, so expect other instruments, and international orchestras, to follow.
But the best thing of all is the price: 99 cents, just like most successful iPhone applications. This truly is a business model built for an economic downturn — a time when, as we know, the world tends to turn to cheap entertainment. If you’re genuinely interested in using your iPhone as an instrument, the sonic quality repays practice. Even if you’re just buying it to “annoy the guy in the next cubicle,” as Smule’s site says, it’s hard to imagine a bigger bang for a buck. Not bad for a company that launched its first product six weeks ago.
For original Article, go here: http://futureboy.blogs.fsb.cnn.com/2008/11/13/music-to-soothe-a-savage-economy/