Voice band, in concept, is one of the coolest apps I have come around in a while — at least in concept…. Read on to find out if it can live up to its potential.
When I first came upon Voice Band, it was in a video demonstration in which one of the developers flawlessly recreated Fly Away by Lenny Kravitz. It was one of the coolest and seemingly easy apps I had ever seen on the iPhone. For $2.99, you get basic recording software that requires little to no musical talent in order to create your own music or recreate songs you like. In the video, the man singing is able to create a song with such ease. As somebody who has virtually no singing experience, I found the app more difficult then I was led to believe. The instruments can be really sensitive at times and if your voice isn’t trained to sustain a note without wavering, the sounds that are produced can be very pitchy. After a good 20 minutes of working with the app, this problem became slightly more manageable but was still an issue. Something that is also unsolvable is that it is very difficult to record in noisy environments. This is obviously not the apps fault, but it can be annoying at times. Especially if a song occurs to you on the spot while you are on a bus or crowded city street.
In terms of functionality, for practicing musicians, this app could be very helpful in laying out demos for potential songs on the spot. The software can be a bit limiting in terms of instrumentation (it comes with 2 guitars, 2 synthesizers, a saxophone, bass, and drums) and its editing ability. But for laying out something very basic, I can understand how this app could be useful.
In its current state, the app feels more gimmicky then productive or professional. This can easily be seen in its layout and design and the app is obviously not made for professional use. Although often hard to use, the app can be a source of a good amount of fun. At its current price, it also isn’t too expensive.
My verdict: If creating is something you like, this app should easily be worth the $2.99. If you see it as something to play around with for fun, wait for an update to hopefully fix the instrument sensitivity in order to make it easier.
With my extra time, due to the snow day, I was able to record a few tracks.
The first song is a demo of a song by Broken Bells called “The High Road.” I cheated a bit on this one by recording the acoustic guitar with the microphone function and then adding drums using the built in instruments.
The High Road (Noah Landesberg)
This is an instrumental cover of the song “Kids” by MGMT. This one is entirely Voice Band turning me saying (Bah-bah-bah-bah-beeh-behbeh-
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The Kids recording is great. Not in a sense of quality…more of humor. Most have taken you a little while.