5 iPad Music Apps That Will Make Your Life Cooler

If you're a musician looking to improve your life somewhat, or just up your productivity levels, why not take a gander at this naxt level iPad appery. 'What devilry is this!' you ask? Well, only the greatest iPad music applications to ever grace your multi-touch display. Go on, be amazed.

SoundCloud [Free App] - There’s absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t have the SoundCloud app. It’s free, it’s good, and if you like music (who doesn’t like music?!) it’s a great way to discover new artists, both local and international. Also, it has a handy recording feature that backs up the audio even if you aren’t connected to the Internet. This means that you could – for example – record a sound clip during band practice, store it on the app until you’re in a Wi-Fi zone, and upload it to your account once you have an Internet connection. Read more about the SoundCloud app in my previous post about it.

Features:

• Record sounds on-the-go and share to SoundCloud, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Foursquare 
• Connect with Facebook and easily find and follow your Facebook friends on SoundCloud 
• Listen to, like and comment on any of your sounds in the Stream, see comments and likes in Activity 
• Browse and search user profiles, and see your followers and followings 
• Record a sound now and upload later 
• Background playback

SoundHound [Free App] – This app will change your life. Ever heard a song and thought ‘what song is that?’ and then spent the next few hours trying to Google search lyrics that you think you might’ve heard? Well this app’s purpose is to sniff down songs you love and provide all available information on them. It even works if you hum a tune into it, and you don’t even need perfect pitch control. Not only does it find your sought after song, it also supplies you with YouTube videos, lyrics, cover versions and more – plus, it links to the iTunes store so you can actually legally purchase the songs you find. Oh, and did I mention it’s free?

Features:

• The world's fastest music recognition: name tunes playing from a speaker in as little as four seconds. Now with unlimited usage!
• The world's only viable singing and humming recognition
• LiveLyrics: see Lyrics in time with the music for music recognition and your iPod songs: you can even double tap a line of lyrics to play it!
• An incredible built-in player with lyrics and artist info for your iPod songs
• An included iPad app with beautiful, full-size lyrics and YouTube pages

ReBirth [$14.99] – ReBirth is one of the best-made apps I’ve seen yet. Just like it’s PC/Mac cousins, Reason, Rebirth, Record etc, ReBirth for iPad offers a simple platform to create the music you want to hear. Now, at first, it may seem a little jarring, but there are really only four parts of the main interface to understand. The two Roland TB-303 synthesizers, a Roland TR-808 drum machine, and a Roland TR-909 Rhythm Composer. Once you’ve mastered these four devices you’re on your way to music making freedom. This app costs a hefty $14.99, but is well worth every cent.

Features:

• 2 x TB-303 Bassline Synthesizer with pattern sequencer
• TR-808 Drum machine
• TR-909 Drum machine
• Tempo-synced digital delay
• Compressor with threshold and ratio
• Distortion unit with amount and shape
• PCF effect
• Mixer
• Mod support
• Social Sharing features

Bebot [Free App] – Not only is Bebot a powerful synth, featuring the most adorable robot in the world of apps, it’s also been used live onstage by well-known names such as Dream Theater, The Flaming Lips and How To Destroy Angels. Not half bad. I personally love the Looper preset that enables you to create a loop of Bebot synth sounds and add to it in every cycle, in real time. However, all preset patches are fully customisable, and you can also create and save your own. This app costs a meager $1.99; whether you wait until it becomes free or buy it right this instant, I know you’ll love it.

Features:

• Four different synthesis modes
• Juicy analog-sounding filters 
• Effects and overdrive distortion, 
• Wide range of sounds 
• High degree of control via the multi-touch screen

GarageBand [$4.99] – You should know about GarageBand already. If you don’t, go look it up. It’s only the default entry-level audio studio for Mac. Record your sounds on the go with a wide range of iNtruments, or use your real guitar to record through famous amps and get the sound you’ve been dreaming of since watching that Led Zepp DVD with your dad. Sample your own voice, create loops; the opportunities are most bountiful. And for only $4.99, it’s not going to blow a hole in your wallet.

Features:

• Perform on dozens of musical instruments on the innovative Multi-Touch keyboard
• Tap out beats from the seat of acoustic and electronic drum kits
• Recreate legendary guitar rigs with 9 amps and 10 stompbox effects 
• Record your voice using the built-in microphone, and apply fun sound effects 
• Use the Sampler to create an instrument from sounds you record, then play them on a keyboard 
• Tap chords to instantly create keyboard grooves with the Smart Keyboard
• Strum chords on acoustic and electric Smart Guitars, or trigger fingerpicking patterns for popular chords 
• Groove with an onscreen electric or upright Smart Bass by tapping on chords
• Drag drum instruments onto a grid to create your own beats with the Smart Drums

S4-DRUM [Free App] – This app is super simple but very fun to use. I find drum apps are usually pretty shitty when it comes to touch accuracy and sensitivity, but S4-DRUM gets it very right. Choose between 5 kits and jam to your favorite tracks or with a friend via Bluetooth. S4 can also use this app in conjunction with ReBirth by syncing them via WIST (Wireless Sync-Start Technology) enabling you to jam around in a live environment. This app is free, so I expect you to already have downloaded it.

Features:

• 5 drum kits Play with music stored on your iPad
• Adjust individual drum volume with the mixer

So get downloading! If you have these apps already, leave your opinions in the comment section below.