Hmmm. The Tenori-On $1,200 or TonePad Pro 99¢,. Which will I go for? For those not familiar with the Tenori-On, it's a visual musical instrument developed by Japanese artist Toshio Iwai with Yamaha. The basic premise is the "keyboard" is a 16x16 grid of LED buttons that light up when you play. Vertically the buttons control pitch and horizontally they control a 16-note sequencer. It sounds rather complex, but this is an amazingly intuitive way to play music. TonePad Pro simply and elegantly brings this concept to the iPhone.
You program the instrument as opposed to play it. By tapping the screen to turn the dots on or off you can create complex harmonics of up to 16 tones. The resulting composition plays short sinewave bursts with an echo that's mapped on the screen as it plays. Those with some musical theory behind them will immediately be able to map out complex melodies that would require up to four hands on the piano. For those who want to take the Zen approach, simply draw on your screen and you create some very rich patterns. There are some unique controls that allows you to shift up or down an octave, turn patterns on their side or randomly shuffle the dots.
These compositions can be shared with other TonePad users directly from your iPhones or emailed as ringtones and synced back to your iPhone. You can also play your compositions back into a computer or amp via the headphone out on your iPhone.
The ad-ridden free version does everything except create ringtones, so you can try before you buy and even import your compositions into TonePad Pro if you upgrade. While the Ternori-On has a few more features...okay a lot more features, TonePad Pro has a little more bang for the buck. Literally, the buck.
App: TonePad Pro
