QuickAdvice: Accordéon - The Accordion App Featured During Apple's iPhone OS 4 Event
April 9, 2010
Accordéon ($1.99) by Alex Komarov Inc. is getting its 15 minutes of fame thanks to the one and only Steve Jobs mentioning it during Apple's iPhone OS 4 preview event, so we just had to give it a try. I mean, why not? It's a digital accordion for the iPad that features multi-touch. What's not to like?
Accordéon features a total of 19 keys and eight buttons to mash on, which is much fewer than a real accordion but perfectly suited for the iPad's screen size. It also features a major-minor switch to produce different tones.
Although you can't actually compress or expand your iPad like a real accordion when playing, the act of holding it on your lap and placing a hand on each side absolutely makes you feel like your playing a real instrument. If you are the kind of person that's into appearances, it's probably worth mentioning that it makes you look like a rock star as well. Anyone can look cool playing an accordion.
The app is extremely responsive and produces fantastic sounds that should make any one man band proud. Keys and buttons are large enough to allow you to easily jump from one to the other, and the shadows and button highlights are clear and recognizable so you can see which ones you are pressing. If you are actually somewhat musically inclined, you will definitely appreciate the production values here.
But that's kind of the issue as well. If you really don't know how to play, mashing on the buttons will only keep you entertained for so long. Accordéon doesn't have a tutorial, and there is little other interactivity to keep you hooked and make you feel like your money was well spent.
If you are looking for a neat and/or amusing way to show off your iPad's musical capabilities, Accordéon is definitely worth its current $1.99 price. Its sleek look and pitch-perfect accordion tunes will make any music lover proud. However, if you aren't musically inclined and aren't willing to learn, your $1.99 will be wasted.
