Filed under: Odds and ends, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, App Review, Music
Mujik for the iPhone. I'm scratching my head but enjoying it
Every so often something hits the App Store that is interesting but difficult to explain. At the same time, it is enjoyable to use, and you tip your hat to the people who thought it up, even if it has no real practical use.Mujik [App Store] is a free (for now) app that allows you to create musical sounds by opening books on a shelf and chasing dust mites across the page.
It's a charming app, with interesting graphics, and I was able to create a passable tune. If your taste runs to Mike Oldfield or Brian Eno (who has his own app for creating music on the iPhone) you know the kinds of sounds I am talking about.
You do have some control over the instruments, the pitch, and you can balance the ensemble, if that is the word, by turning off any of the 3 channels.
The lads who made this app are from an Edinburgh, Scotland software company called Lucky Frame, and are obviously pretty creative in their offbeat way. The founder of the company says he wanted to create software that is "not intimidating and easy to use".
This app isn't to be confused with a composition tool, or a sequencer where you get a lot of control. It's something to play with and enjoy.
It would be nice if you could save your tunes, but instead they become fleeting memories. A 'save mode' is promised by the developers. Mujik runs on the iPhone and the iPod touch.
Thanks to Donnacha for the tip.
Here are some screenshots but they are just likely to confuse rather than illuminate. You just have to try it.
Gallery: Mujik for iPhone
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
donnacha | WordSkill said 6:32PM on 8-07-2009
@Mel
Very glad to see you covering this, I always rely upon TUAW to shine a light upon the few truly innovative apps swimming in the App Store's sea of more humdrum offerings. I was delighted to be able, for once, to discover a truly interesting app before TUAW did and to, therefore, have the opportunity to draw your attention to it :)
UK Readers might be interested to note that one of the developers appeared in Dragons' Den (a very popular BBC TV show in which entrepreneurs pitch business ideas to a panel of successful investors) last year, pitching software that allowed you to create music using Wii controllers. It was pretty funny, they have the YouTube clip on their site. Clearly, these guys are deeply innovative and deeply musical, a good combination, and I'm glad they've turned their attention to the iPhone.
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Yann Seznec said 6:15AM on 8-08-2009
Thanks so much for the lovely review...we were trying to make music software that didn't feel like music software. Part of that was about making it slightly confusing and whimsical, to encourage people to explore and make their own way around.
And yes, to expand on what Donnacha said, this is just our most recent project. A lot of the design and interaction concepts that made it into Mujik stem from our work with the Wii Loop Machine, which was featured on these hallowed pages two years ago:
http://www.tuaw.com/2007/03/22/wii-loop-machine/
Thanks again, don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions! just email info@luckyframe.co.uk
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