ocarina

Play trombone on the iPhone

Smule, the makers of popular musical iPhone application, Ocarina, has just released a new music application today that pushes its social music experiment even further. Leaf Trombone (99 cents) lets you "play" your iPhone like a trombone by sliding your finger on the touch screen to create different notes and you can even play with a musicbox-like accompaniment.

After you launch Leaf Trombone, you can practice on your own to the tune of several user-uploaded old standbys like Auld Lang Syne, Yesterday, and even Happy Birthday. To help you follow the notes, leaves gently blow across the screen … Read more

Princess Zelda spits hot fire in debut album, 'Ocarina of Rhyme'

If you enjoyed Eric Franklin's post on 8-bit NES-style hip-hop, you'll definitely enjoy Team Teamwork's "The Ocarina of Rhyme." It's a mix tape of mashups that combines hip-hop tracks with the score to the Zelda game Ocarina of Time.

Team Teamwork produced the mix, which features unique tracks by Spank Rock, Common, Aesop Rock, Clipse, and my personal pick: MF Doom. Most of the songs fit well with the background score; for example, in "Fumbling Over Words," artist Edan Portnoy's intensity melds seamlessly into the rumblings of the "Battle" … Read more

Channel your inner Link with 'Ocarina'

Smule has quickly become my favorite iPhone app developer.

It's not that their apps have been particularly useful, but they're the ones I get the most excited about. From Sonic Lighter to Sonic Boom and Sonic Vox, these guys are IMO currently the masters of fun, cool, quirky iPhone apps.

Now they're going completely bohemian with their latest release, Ocarina. According to Smule, this is the first true musical instrument for the iPhone with no precompiled riffs.

By simply blowing into your iPhone's mic you'll create sound, and by holding the "holes" on … Read more

Zelda game voted best game of all time--WRONG

In a recent poll conducted by Edge Magazine, readers were asked to pick their favorite video games of all time. And while it didn't surprise me that Nintendo games dominated the top 10, I was appalled at what I learned: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time finished first.

As an avid video game purist, I consider some of the games from my storied youth to be the best ever. And while Ocarina of Time warrants a 9.5 out of 10 on my made-up scale, I can think of at least three games that warrant a 10 rating. … Read more