AirPiano – iPhone App Review

AirPiano ($0.99)

Version 1.0

REVIEW – “Play music in a completely new way – No Piano lessons required!”

When I first saw this app as a new release I was very intrigued and just had to try it. AirPiano creates notes out of thin air so that just by shaking your iphone you can play invisible notes.

There is not much to this app but that does not mean that you can instantly get the hang of it. On the main screen there are only three main buttons. To start playing you just have to hit the start button. After that things get a little crazy.

To play you hold down either the yellow or the green button. Then depending on the angle in which you hold your phone and make a small tapping motion toward you, you place a certain note. If it does not work right away don’t worry, it takes a little getting used to and you might want to go into settings and play with the sensitivity. (I’ve included a picture from the website to give you a better idea of how to hold it)

When you are in settings mode I recommend reading the info (click the arrow to the right) on all the different settings because I, in my usual way, just assumed that the higher the sensitivity the easier it was to play, when actually the lower the sensitivity the easier it is to play. It took a few rounds of nearly spraining my wrist to go back and read the settings and realize my mistake.

Now like I said it does take a bit of getting used to and while you are playing the rainbow colored key that you are playing does light up so you can start to gauge which position plays which note.

There are two octaves that you can play and you switch between the two by tapping the red button.

If you are getting frustrated with trying to learn the app, don’t worry because it does include two songs for you to play as well. All you do is go into settings mode and click the song you want to play. Then you make the same motion but this time the right note will play every time, so it seems like you are expertly playing the song. The two songs included are Ode to Joy and Jingle Bells.

Now I still like the idea behind this app but it might be just me or maybe I need to tweak the settings a bit more but I found at times that the notes for each angle were not always the same and I found it hard to really be able to play a specific note. This does not mean that it is a bad app but maybe one that needs quite a bit of time to really understand and get the hang of.

But for kids that just want to make noise and dedicated adults who really want to spend time learning how to accurately play it, this can be a really fun and entertaining app. Go ahead and give it a try.

-Stephanie S.

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Developer -Sammy Joseph

URL: www.lavabits.com

DEVELOPER NOTES

Tired of playing the piano in the same boring way? Struggled to learn to play the piano? Looking for new ways to produce music? Air piano is a new and fun way to play the piano. It places virtual keys in front of you, which you hit with your device. Amaze your friends as you produce music literally out of thin air.
Features:
-Two full octaves including sharps and flats
-Two demo songs to get you started
-Visual cues to indicate the key you hit
-Customizable to fit your playing style
-Saves preferences on exit

How to play:
The keys exist in a virtual arc in front of you. Hold the device in landscape mode in the palm of you hand with your fingers over the three keys. For best results try and maintain the device as vertical as possible. Press the start key to activate the virtual piano. Touch the yellow middle button and make a small tapping motion towards you. The note will ONLY play if the yellow middle button or the green top button is touched. This allows you to control the length of the note. Based on the position of your device you will hear different notes. Move your hand in an up and down arc to discover where the keys are. Visual cues are provided on the screen to guide you in this initial phase.
Press and release the red button to change octaves.
Press and hold the green top button to play the sharp keys.

With a few sessions of practice you should be an AirPiano Maestro.

See our website for more instructions and demo videos.

If you have any questions or suggestions contact us at
Website: www.lavabits.com
Email: [email protected]

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