Bandimal
© 2017 Lucas Zanotto
Note 6/6/2018: Bandimal was named winner of the 2018 Apple Design Award. We've updated the review. Tricky but empowering and fun -- this sound mixing experience turns your iPad or iPhone into an eight bar mixing machine. It comes from respected app creator/musician Lucas Zanotto (see Loopimal or miximal). After you tap an animal, you see a confusing mix board, full of controls. It's easy to make a looping mess, but the app is saved by its responsive graphics and your ability to undo whatever you do. We especially liked how the animals animated moves exactly mark the rhythms. Content includes nine animals, each with a different voice, a set of drum tracks, the ability to switch between loop speeds and effects. The interface was inspired by the five note thumb piano (Kalimba) which uses a pentatonic scale. Rhythmically, the app uses eight beat bars, creating a lot of right angles. As a result, there are nice overtones of mathematics. The genius of this experience is that while it is complicated, everything can be quickly reversed; making it easy to tinker and debug. The resulting musical loops can range greatly; but things tend to sound good. Work is saved automatically. Need to know: Use this experience to help children discover sound/math/numerical relationships. It is an amazing musical sandbox that lets you make musical/mathematical connections as you play. Designed to work with iPads and iPhones with iOS 10 or later. Video: Meet Lucas Zanotto, creator of this app --> https://youtu.be/zNt5ULgw0Pk.
$3.99
Teaches: music, scales, math, creativity, pitch, rhythm
CTR Rating: 92%