TUAW's Daily App: Plectrum

Miso Music's Plectrum isn't a game -- it's a full-fledged guitar playing and learning tool, now available on the App Store. Plectrum has already picked up some accolades from our brethren at TechCrunch. It just recently became available to the public, and for US$2.99, you can check it out for yourself.

The big selling point for Plectrum is that it uses some pretty incredible polyphonic note detection software that will provide real feedback on real instruments. In other words, by listening in through the iPad's microphone, it'll tell you if you're playing the right notes on a real guitar. That's tough for software to do anywhere, but on the iPad, it's downright miraculous. You can also play right on the iPad's touchscreen if you want.

There are some classical pieces to check out, or you can purchase real pop songs from the likes of The Beatles and others via in-app purchase. If you're good at writing tabs, you can even put some of your own versions in, and if they're chosen to be sold in the in-app store, you can earn a little money from them.

There are some concerns in the iTunes reviews about the interface, and as you can see above, it isn't exactly user friendly. Those who know a little more about guitar music and tuning will probably get more out of it than a pure beginner. But the software is very powerful, and with a few updates, hopefully Miso will get together an interface that matches Plectrum's potential. For those intrigued by the idea of getting some feedback from a tuner while playing, it's definitely worth a look.

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Source: http://www.misomedia.com/

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Miso Music's Plectrum isn't a game -- it's a full-fledged guitar playing and learning tool, now available on the App Store. Plectrum...

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Mandy Fox

Bass guitarist here...or aspiring bass guitarist, lol! Nice to see some love being sent our way. Thought this was a great idea when Rock Prodigy came out, but hated the backing track and the lack of bass suport. I wish there was an ipod version, since I usually keep my iPad at home, and I really like the mobility aspect of this. But the detection worked for me and that's all I really care about. Needs moare bass songs though!

April 06 2011 at 9:42 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Max P.

I got it after reading this article too. Reactions on iTunes are mixed, but I'm in the positive camp! This article pretty much nails the issues on the head, not super intuitive and a bit of a pain at first, but I really wanted to try it out! I don't have a actual guitar, so I couldn't try that part of the app, but the rest was pretty fun. Some of the chords were hard for me, but I do feel like I could actually play a song that I've never played before. So yay!

Don't be afraid to give it a shot, but stick with it!

April 06 2011 at 8:09 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

John Maher

After reading this review, I went to the app store, and bought the app. I also bought a song and two of the guitars. I feel like I wasted $7.

There is nothing fun, intuitive or instructive about this app.

I'd really like the song play area to stay in landscape mode - I shouldn't have to try and reselect it every time in the half-second between when the song loads and I get hit with a torrent of notes.

What did I get for buying those two guitars? Nothing as far as I can tell. Nothing.

I'm assuming that Mike didn't actually attempt to plug in their guitar and play a song - didn't you folks just do a show on the iRig?

April 06 2011 at 2:40 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to John Maher's comment

MattyD

After reading this review I went to the iTunes store to pick it up as well. I first decided to sit back and read some of the reviews and they were not good.. I decided not to pull the trigger and wait to see if it improves, for now I will use my handwritten tabs and my ear to gauge if I am playing it correctly.

April 06 2011 at 4:52 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Cy Starkman

I am surprised one of the guitar companies haven't made a guitar shaped casing that plugs into the dock connector and works in conjunction with an app and an interfaced fret board. Potentially strung with strings and a sensor system, not your pissy guitar hero style toy.

Anti-patent pending 6th April 2011

April 06 2011 at 9:19 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

2 replies to Cy Starkman's comment

MattyD

There are two connectors actually, the iRig and one similar made by Griffin. They work with Amplifier software but I see no reason why this software couldn't be updated to utilize the iRig style connectors.

April 06 2011 at 11:07 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Cy Starkman

I know about iRig etc. I am not talking about that kind of thing.

I am talking about an iPad mounting into a hole in an actual "guitar", in the body part, so that the screen is where the plucking part of the strings would be.

The fret board is either pressure digital or actually strung, this part is where the iPad plugs in via the dock connector and feeds information about actions taken on the fret board to an app. In a strung version it actually meaures location, pressure and bend of strings.

The headphone out of the ipad connects into a jack which feeds out of the guitar just like a normal guitar jack would.

The iPad screen then becomes the plucking part of the guitar, so you are strumming the screen, a screen overlay might be employed to provide capacitive ridges along the screen. The extra screen space has sound/module/whatevers that you can interact with as you play.

So it is neither guitar or iPad, it is a strange new hybrid instrument, a strung digital guitar thing. One hand is interacting with a strung fret board just like a real guitar but the other is strumming and adjusting on screen. Each string could be a different sound, or sections of the fret. It could have built in sequencing, so you can build layers.

It is nothing like an iRig

April 07 2011 at 1:22 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply