'iPhone Therapy'

The increasing amount of people with 'smart phones' and tablet PC's and improvements in these technologies has inevitably led to the introduction of music based apps which enable the user to create music, simulate playing instruments and mixing music etc.
Below are a selection of music based apps which can be found on the iTunes store for free, (some are lite versions of the apps with the full versions generally costing approximately £0.59)

'Digi Drummer' - Magnick Software.

Digi Drummer (lite) is a free app allowing the user to create simple drum riffs with a selection of 8 MIDI based sounds programmed within the app. These riffs can then be recorded and played back etc, with the option of 3 different 'drum kits' or 'patches'. 

This app is relatively good as a simple drum app, however it would be difficult for this to be used by someone suffering with dementia who lacks co ordination. Alongside this, with the common fact that more elderly people are alienated by technology could cause more problems for the use of an app based solution. 

 

I Am Beatbox - Savage Apps 

I Am Beatbox, is a simple intuitive app which allows the user to mix a large variety of midi based loops by moving the 4 coloured gem stones over the grid with each square providing a different loop. Each Gem stone has its own loops within the grid so that the gems can be placed over one another and all play different loops.

The simplicity of this app makes it very easy and quick to learn how to use, with each of the loops being introduced to the mix to fit with the beat that is put down by the other gem stones.The simplicity and logic behind this app is something that could be easily put into place within a music therapy setting, However the lack of tactile interaction may reduce its effectiveness within music therapy and particularly the physical rehabilitation side of the therapy.