Live Guitar
| Category | Price | Seller | Device |
|---|---|---|---|
| Music | $7.99 | Patrick Madden | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
Chords are organized in sets, which you can customize and change on a song-by-song basis. A single touch on the fretboard selects the first chord of a set; two touches selects the second, and so on. It's possible to move quickly and accurately between fifteen different chords without needing to look at the screen. When playing guitar, switching between chords smoothly is critical; the app has been designed so that you can play music, not just notes. By making switching between chords quick and easy, you can play complete songs, rather than just noodling around, locked into a single scale.
Single string notes and strums can be played with touches or swipes; the organic sonic texture that comes from varying note intensity is obtained by adjusting where on a string you touch. The interface orientation on the iPhone gives more space between the strings, allowing you to play individual strings more accurately.
Sets of chords can be assembled quickly within the app -- choose from standard chord constructions, with dozens of chord types, or select specific chord voicing from the standard-tuning guitar interface. Sets of chords can also be imported and shared easily using the built-in Twitter interface.
MIDI connects your playing to laptop or desktop recording tools like GarageBand, Logic, Reaper, or ProTools. CoreMIDI, Virtual MIDI, and DSMIDI are all supported; you can choose the interface that gives you the best performance on your system. Live Guitar can send MIDI to the GarageBand app, as well as most other synthesizer apps.
Each string can be mapped to a different MIDI channel, to work with guitar tablature and transcription programs. Use Jam Maestro, Progression, or GuitarPro, and others -- by using chords based on a standard tuning guitar, and a MIDI channel per string, you can capture every detail of your playing with ease.
Live Guitar has hundreds of sounds built in -- guitars, basses, pianos, organs, and more. The app uses the acclaimed General MIDI SoundFont by Christian Collins, which can be found in many of the leading music apps. With support for Audiobus and Inter-App Audio, you can integrate Live Guitar with your other music apps, to add a natural and realistic guitar sound to your music.
Reviews
Perfect app for songwriters
Kolton H
Pros: great interface, midi integration, different guitar tones, notepad/web browser Cons: unable to transfer notes to and from other apps, windows midi setup not well documented. I had been looking for an app like this for quite a while. It provides an easy way to experiment with chord progressions and the inclusion of a notepad and web browser is a great idea. The different guitar tones give you a good idea of what the chords will sound like on a broad range of guitar setups. The midi integration was also really easy. I currently have my iPhone hooked up to my windows DAW through rtpmidi. Although a little more documentation for windows based midi setups might help less experienced users. Overall this is a great app for songwriters who want to experiment and sketch out ideas when their equipment isn't around.
Midi works instantly in windows
ReniGhost
I got irritated because I couldn't find the midi configuration panel. But then it just worked with Live no problem! I must have rptMidi going in the background, but I didn't have to configure anything. Nice! Very playable
Great!
Marlow77
Very useable and enjoyable! Would like to see DSMI integration too, because coremidi can be a pain on Windows, but still very playable. Thanks!
Great guitar layout; I love this app
mrythmic
Very comfortably designed for playing, no finger cramping even on long sessions. Great visually intuitive arrangement. Transcription import works well, and actually fun for songwriting and impressing friends with iPad licks (ha ha, yeah!)
Fun AND useful
Pigfarmer Jr
I enjoyed playing around with this app but after hearing a demo using this as the guitar I realized how useful it could become. I like being able to work on song ideas while the wife is shopping.
needs landscape fretboard for iphone
matimaui
I love how you can bend the strings but the fretboard would work much better in landscape view instead of portrait view. what were they thinking!!!
Actually playable
jpopdragon
Update -- still enjoying it, and the tab import is full of win. On my system, CoreMIDI was OK, but DSMIDI is definitely faster. --- Nice little app; it took a minute to figure out how to switch chords, but after that, I was able to strum, finger pick a little, and play it sort of like a guitar. It's a little cramped on my Touch, but definitely something that can be played. The app has a ton of chords built in, and it was easy to add my own (I like using open string drones, so a lot of the stuff I do doesn't use standard chord forms). Decent variety of guitar tones (could we get bass in the future? Mandolin?). The pitch bend on the single note fretboard is way too sensitive; my notes were bending all over the place -- would be good if that was toned down (or you could turn it off). Also, a couple of times, the chord set editor seemed to get confused, and the chords I was entering didn't show up. They weren't lost -- just not showing up -- not sure if I'm doing something wrong, or if there's a bug.
It launches again on my iPhone 3Gs. Weird!
musiquenthusiast
It occasionally crashes but at least it launches now. There's definitely a bug or two in there. The only thing I don't like is that the tap mode is STILL in portrait orientation, meaning you can't play it like a guitar. The newly added DSMIDI support has made it so much more responsive. MIDI freezes sometimes but all you have to do is exit tap mode and go back to strum mode and it starts working again.
Guitar playin. ????
Hydra vein
Works well. Sounds great. I have yet to find a guitar app that does or has a decent sounding palm muted sound. You know Metal!! ?????
eh...needs a lot of work!
grizzledcamudgen
Don't get the other reviews, must be a typical iTunes "developer" ratings!? The sounds are off and harsh, small controls and confusing setup. IMO needs a lot of revamping/fine tuning. Sounds nothing like "Guitarism" which is smooth and fluid & also has Audiobus integration. IMHO - buy "Guitarism" if you want smooth realistic guitar sounds for your Audiobus studio lineup! $1.99 is not much but if it doesn't sound, feel, work to your expectations then its too much. •I'm just trying to be constructive and not meaning to bash but it needs looked into to make it a worthy tool.
