Smartphone Symphony

智慧型手機交響樂Grab your phone and make some music! by Bryan Hagerla

The days of carrying around both a cell phone and an MP3 player are history. Nearly all cell phones sold today double as music-listening devices, with Smartphones going one step further. Thanks to features such as built-in motion sensors and touch screens, Smartphones have turned cell phones into music - making devices that respond to a user's hand movements. Music apps available now allow users to produce the sounds of instruments by tapping virtual drums and forming chords on virtual strings. The following musical apps are two of the most powerful and creative ones on the market.

Improvox
Robert Taub, a famous concert pianist, was looking for a way to help his daughter remember musical compositions. His original idea was to develop software that could photograph a score, play it back and allow a student to imitate the music. Taub decided to leave his performing career behind and form a start-up company called MuseAmi for the purpose of developing such a musical app. Although MuseAmi's first app, the iPhone app called Improvox, doesn't live up to Taub's original idea, it does break new ground.

Described as a "vocal instrument," Improvox helps even terrible singers sound like professionals by correcting their pitch in real-time. Users sing into their phone's microphones and slide their fingers across their touch screens to adjust background harmony and add in effects like echo and reverb. Indeed, Improvox provides tools similar to the ones used in professional recording studios so the users can adjust their sound. And when they're done singing, they have the option of saving their performances and sharing them with friends via e-mail.

Ocarina
Dr. Ge Wang, a professor at Stanford University's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) specializes in making computer-generated music more mobile. His efforts have led to the formation of such experimental groups as the Princeton Laptop Orchestra (PLOrk) and the Standford Mobile Phone Orchestra, or MoPhO. Dressed in black and wearing gloves with round speakers attached, the members of MoPhO look more like super heroes or rock stars than orchestra members. As Wang conducts, they make music by moving their hands in different directions and sliding their fingers across their iPhones' touch screens.

Wang's passion for developing Smartphone music led him to co-found Smule, or "Sonic Mule." This start-up allows him to share his music research with the masses by developing apps that feature "interactive and expressive audio." To date, the company's most popular product is Ocarina, an app that turns the iPhone into an electronic version of the ancient wind instrument of the same name. Users create melodies by placing their fingers on the touch screen's four animated finger holes and then blowing into the phone's microphone. It looks and sounds as if the users are playing real ocarinas!

In line with the company's goal of creating interactive apps, Smule designed Ocarina with World Listener mode. When this mode is selected, users can listen to Ocarina players from around the world whose locations are represented on a global map. As Wang says, Ocarina is perhaps the first instrument in history that allows players from around the world to hear each other. To date, more than 40 million performances have been shared within the around the world to hear each other. To date, more than 40 million performances have been shared within the Ocarina community. And if Wany has his way, millions more will soon join this global Smartphone symphony.

More Information:
As the creativity and power of music-making apps continues to grow, some music bands are turning in their traditional instruments for smartphones.

One such group, iBand, a trio from Europe, plays original music using iPods and iPhones with costume-designed musical apps. Although the group features computer-generated music, the band's singer, Mara, still uses her actuarial voice to sing the group's lyrics.

Grammar Tips:
Although Museami's first app... doesn't live up to Taub's original idea, it does break new ground.
"to break new ground"
"break"-making into pieces
"ground" - the surface we are standing on.
"break ground" - to make progress or achievement that no one else has done before.
*In 1960 Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Ceylon (or Sri Lanka) broke new ground by becoming the world's first female prime minister.
*The medical team broke new ground when they discovered how the new drug could fight cancer cells in mice.

Vocabulary Tips:
double as something-more than one use, use as something else.
double- 兼具另外一种身份或功用.
*The dining room table double s as Josh's worktable.
*Before we find a substitute, the receptionist, Becky, will have to double as our operator.
score-(n)這兒不是指"成績”而是指“樂譜”，也指“戲劇或電影的配樂。”
*This music genius memorized the whole score of Symphony No. 7 by Beethoven.
*The score of this new song can be downloaded on the Internet.
*The score for this animated movie were written by a Chines composer.
"start - up" - 新成立的，創業公司。small and young company.
*A lot of people are paying attention to this start-up because the owner is a celebrity.
*This start-up software company only focuses on the local market for now.
vocal-聲音，使用嗓音的。"voc"-聲音
*Lips are an important vocal instrument. 嘴唇是非常重要得發聲樂器。
*The vocal techniques for singing operas take years of training to master.歌劇的發聲技巧 *The vocal part of this piece of music was recorded in another studio.音樂中人聲部分
via-經由，透過。
*I ordered a new cell-phone via on-line shopping. 透過網路買的
*we had our meeting via Skype.透過。
*The plane flew from Taipei to L.A. via Tokyo.經由東京
conducting -指揮，或是執行某些事情。conductor -指揮員（家）
*Henry has been conducting a church choir for several years. 指揮教會的詩班。
This piece of music is considered extremely difficult to conduct. 。。被認爲非常難指揮的
interactive-互動的，互動式。 "inter" -“二者之間”。
*Language development is an interactive process.
version-同一種物件不同的版本，型號，樣式。
*The latest version of this computer software costs over $1000. 最新的版本
*A Chinese version of this novel will be published in May. 中文版
mode-電腦，電話被設定的狀態。
*The office phone was set to automatic-transfer mode during the holidays.
*The computer was set to hibernation mode. 休眠的狀態。

Chat Room:
muse- 繆斯，宙斯的九個女兒之一。善長詩歌，音樂，舞蹈等。靈感的來源，任何給你靈感的東西，讀、都可以說是“muse”。（v）深思熟慮，沉思，冥想，深思。
exercise is my Muse -運動是我靈感的來源。
I'm musing over a trip to South America.-深思熟慮。
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speaker- refer to a person who does speech演説者. or an instrument that makes sound loud.叭
keynote speaker - 大會主持人。
woofer-低音喇叭
subwoofer-超低音喇叭。很多人在汽車裏加裝（sub woofer）.
loudspeaker-擴音器。
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coin (n)- money, coins. 銅板
coin (v)- create， 創新的
a newly coined word：-一個創新的字。
unfriend--拒絕戶，不是朋友。是個網路創新字。
blend word = 混和字：two single words to them together.
Smule = Sonic Mule = Sonic and Mule compose together.
Sonic is a name brand of electronic company.
mule- a slow animal, can carry heavy load.
brunch= breakfast and Lunch= late breakfast and early lunch, skip one meal.