Acoustic & Electronic Instruments, Musicians, News, Tutorials, Videos & Interesting Finds
Acoustic & Electronic Instruments, Musicians, News, Tutorials, Videos & Interesting Finds

Pearl Guitar virtual acoustic steel guitar launched by Amidio [iOS App]

pearl-guitar-iconAmidio, maker of noise.io, Star Guitar and JR Hexaton Pro, has just released its latest iOS app — a virtual acoustic steel guitar for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

Simulating a six-string acoustic steel guitar based on the legendary vintage 1979 Martin & Co dreadnought, the app contains 76MB of optimized samples with CascadeEQ processing. This offers up pristine stereo audio and includes authentic-sounding roars, hums, string noise and guitar body resonances.

Amidio says that the strumming action feels natural, and the dynamic sound varies based on the speed of playing, suggesting that after just a short time of training, the digital sound is “hardly distinguished from a real guitar”.

The app includes a conga drum and metronome for rhythm assistance.

Pearl Guitar offers a novel way to play impressive solo passages – SoloBoard, a button matrix that represents the notes within the detected scale. Players can bend the strings and slide between frets, discovering new melodies and progressions.

Record singing along with the guitar is possible after connecting a headset (like EarPods) or just headphones, with the support for overdubbing. The minimalistic interface provides instant access to the recording to .WAV, MIDI and metronome features. A “Smart Follow” option highlights the next correct chord in the sequence of the song.

The standard version offers 16 most popular chords. Upgrade to the Premium Mode unlocks File Manager and the Chords menu, as well as the ability to make your own songs using the built-in 1000+ chord database (with variations), or own custom created chords. Songs can be exchanged with the community over Internet.

The app costs $2.99 and is available now from the iTunes App Store.