Review: VoiceBand App Ushers In The Age Of The Three-Dollar Rock Star

Sometimes I wake up from a dream where I’ve fashioned a majestic rock symphony. I’ll fumble around for my trusty digital recorder, groggily hum a few throaty bars and fall back asleep; then in the morning I find myself listening to something that sounds like a drowning donkey (or more frequently, I find I’ve forgotten to flip the “hold” switch).

Well, hell with that — for $3, I bought VoiceBand by WaveMachineLabs and turned my iPhone into a recording studio. What’s really cool is that all I have to do is vocalize into the mic and the app transforms my voice into a remarkably credible imitation of a musical instrument.

But that’s just the beginning. I can lay down multiple tracks on top of each other — guitar, bass, sax, drums and yes, vocals — all by just by singing. It takes a little practice (for me, anyway) to remain on pitch, and the autopitch feature is a little finicky; but once I got the hang of it, I was thrilled with what I was able to do.

And VoiceBand is loaded with slick details that make for a well-polished app: a metronome, ability to change tempo, a panning feature (shifts sounds between the left and right channels), reverb setting, autopitch tuning, a very cool, relaxed interface, and tons more. And the finished recordings are even email-able. I can’t think of a better way to spend latte money.

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Verdict: 5/5

I’ve included a vid of someone from WaveMachineLabs demoing it in lieu of a providing a good laugh watching me use the app:

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