Harp for iPhone/iPod

I hope you enjoy the new realistic audio and the roomy iPad support, and I look forward to hearing your feedback!

Click here to see Harp in the App Store!

I have submitted Harp version 1.1 to the App Store, which will be a free upgrade for existing users. Harp 1.1 includes a beautiful, realistic harp sound instead of the sine wave-based sound I used previously. It also loads much faster (the “loading progress” bar is now gone). But the really cool thing is iPad support! On the iPad, the strum bar is two octaves longer and the circle of roots is a true circle. Of course, on the iPad Harp works in any orientation. Plus, there’s ample room to add additional new features I’m planning.

I’ll have a new demo video up soon after the iPad makes its official debut on April 3rd.

JennHi, of Los Angeles writes:

This app is everything I ever needed in a musical transcription tool. Anyone can haul out a MIDI keyboard or guitar, if they wish, to try to transcribe the chords of a song by ear, and how nice is it to balance a guitar on your lap while trying to write, or get room for a keyboard at your desktop? I have room for neither, and besides which, I don’t play piano or guitar. Enter “Harp”, a compact, easy iPhone app which will give you every chord you can think of and a friendly interface from which to pick the chord. It doesn’t insult your intelligence, either, by only giving you a major, minor, or 7th; it offers diminished and augmented triads, and the whole gamut of combinations for the 7th chords. Pick, strum, hear, match to the music. Within a half hour, I had everything I needed from Paul Williams’ Faust, a task that I had been putting off for years due to the hectic struggling to try to get all the tools together. Not bad for someone who doesn’t play guitar or piano!

I like the way Harp is laid out because I have easy access to the circle of fifths along with all the chord variations… that’s 168 different chords at my fingertips. It’s very easy to strum the bar on the right while changing the chords with the left hand. If you want to play an extended chord simply touch the root note and then glide or slide to the structure to extend the chord. It’s a great way to test chord progressions… you can quickly try different chord changes to help speed along songwriting or inspire new directions.

Review of Harp at iPhoneMusicApps.com

Oh, and we will be making the built-in sounds better, and we also have some other surprises coming for Harp. Happy New Year!

When playing Harp, you may not wish to be interrupted by a phone call, alarm, or SMS. However, there is no way that Harp (or any iPhone application) can avoid these interruptions for you— you must do it yourself by deliberately silencing your iPhone or iPod. Here are the steps that Apple recommends:

1. In the Settings application, ensure that the iPhone has Airplane Mode turned on.
2. In the Calendar application, ensure that there are no event alarms enabled during the planned performance period.
3. In the Clock application, ensure that there are no clock alarms enabled during the planned performance period.
4. Do not move the Ringer/Silent switch during performance. When changing Ringer/Silent mode, an iPhone may vibrate, depending on user settings.
5. Lastly, do not plug the iPhone into a power source during performance. When an iPhone gets plugged into power, it beeps twice or vibrates, according to user settings.

Harp 1.0.1, which fixes a crackling sound experienced with Harp by 2nd-generation iPod Touch owners, is now available as a free upgrade.

Note: This problem only affects 2nd-generation iPod Touch owners. iPhone and 1st-generation iPod Touch owners are not affected.

Thanks for everyone’s helpful feedback on the crackling noise that appears when using Harp with the 2nd-generation iPod Touch. I’m sending version 1.0.1 of Harp off to the App Store today, so you should have the fix in your hands shortly. Thanks for your patience.

A nice mention of Harp on the iPhoneDevCamp blog.

Harp is now available in the App Store for both the iPhone and the iPod Touch! Click here to go directly to Harp in iTunes!

Thanks to everyone who provided encouragement and feedback! You can also provide feedback by leaving your comments on this blog or by sending e-mail to feedback@harpapp.com.

Visit Harp’s YouTube Channel!