Generative Music on the iPhone

There is some really cool stuff going on with Generative Music on the iPhone App Store. It’s little surprise that Brian Eno would be involved, and he has released an App called Bloom that creates music based on touch screen input. Here’s a link to the first video demo I came across on youtube, and there are no doubt many others. (Unrelated Brian Eno/iPhone note: there is also a free virtual deck of Oblique Strategies cards on the iPhone App Store)

Possibly even more exciting is RJDJ an App that features multiple “scenes” most of which generate soundscapes based on input from the iPhone’s microphone, while others use the built in accelerometer. Check out a video demo of several of the scenes given by one of the App’s developers. He claims that RJDJ is like a “digital drug” because it alters your perception of reality, and I bet it would be pretty trippy to walk around having your every step and movement affect the tempo and melody of a song, or for everything around you to sound as if it were run through a looping pedal.

One of the scenes is even a game, a sound based ping pong simulation where you swing your iPhone like a paddle when you hear the sound of the ball approaching you. This is all pretty awesome considering it only costs a few dollars and runs on a device that fits in the palm of your hand.