The TNR-i Tenori-On for iOS (and other Yamaha iOS apps)

TNR-i

From the moment I got my iPad earlier this year, one of the first things I said would be awesome to have on it was a Tenori-On app. In fact, I was staggered that it hadn’t already been done, especially as there were other Tenori-On-esque apps available, such as Beatwave.

TNR-w

Well, in a massive splurge of release activity, Yamaha have today released the TNR-i app, a Universal (that which has been designed to work on all iOS formats in their respective native modes) offering for £11.99 (we’ll come to the price later)

It is, save for the absence of hardware buttons and knobs, an exact replica of the hardware Tenori-on’s, the TNR-w and the TNR-o. You can even hook it up to the hardware variant for lots of synchronised goodness. Everything we know and love about the Tenori-On is there, including the exact same sound set, but excluding the marvellous double sided illuminated buttons that highlighted the hardware version’s double rasion d’etre as a musical tool and objet d’art (excuse the proliferation of French metaphors!)

Check out this YouTube playlist, assembled by MatrixSynth, containing a number of tutorial videos…

So, the price. It’s £11.99. Not bad, given that a hardware TNR-w, the fully featured direct comparison to the TNR-i, costs approx £875. An iPad2 will set you back £659 max and give you far more for your money. If you wanted a Tenori-On for it’s musical functionality, the iOS version is really a no brainer. For the collectors and arty types, the hardware is the clear winner. But in the world of iOS music apps, is £11.99 a bit too much? Korg charge £19.99 for their spectacular iMS-20 and £11.99 each for the iElectribe-R and the iElectribe Gorillaz Edition. Propellerheads charge £8.99 for ReBirth for iPad. Reactable is £5.99, iSequence HD comes in at £8.99. The Fairlight Pro app is £29.99.

TNR-o

But Garageband is a staggering £2.99. Akai’s Synthstation is currently on offer at £1.19 (although that will change when the new version, currently under review at Apple, gets released any day now) and I can’t help but feel that maybe some of these apps are a tad over priced, but only a tad. I totally appreciate that compared to their hardware or PC/Mac software equivalents, they are bargains and Apple will happily take a loss on one of their own apps as long as it helps sell the far more lucrative hardware to run it on. But I think, having seen so many of the aforementioned apps discounted heavily in recent months, that maybe the prices need to be reviewed and brought a bit closer to the likes of Garageband.

But, whichever way you look at it, the iOS is fast becoming a force to be reckoned with in music making. I honestly never thought I would hear myself saying that, but it’s true. And the upcoming Akai SynthStation49 and Alesis iO Dock will only serve to increase it’s usage in everything from the small bedroom studio to pro environments and on stage.

Once I’ve got a grip on the TNR-i, I’ll pop back with a review and I hope very soon to have more iOS music app reviews and posts in the very near future too.

All I really want now is a Reason and/or Record app and I’ll be in cloud cuckoo land! 😉