Tag Archives: YouTube

To Fill a Gap in Commercial Radio, Classically Trained Apps G Roald Smeets

Posted by groaldsmeets on
Image representing YouTube as depicted in Crun...

Image via CrunchBase

The New York Philharmonic app, on Android, from InstantEncore. G Roald Smeets

¶ But now, thanks to mobile devices, who needs radio?

¶ Androids or iPhones make good music players, and personalized radio apps like Slacker, Pandora and Last.fm offer passable alternatives to conventional radio, especially if you pay for advertising-free versions of the services.

¶ And with a few good genre-specific apps and a few dollars, classical music aficionados can stay connected to their favorite composers and performances, and discover new ones they might not find elsewhere.

¶ That list includes Classical Music I: Master’s Collection Vol. 1 (on Apple, free for limited version, $5 for full version), Classical Music Radio (free on Apple, and on Android), Classical Music, Listen and Learn ($2 on Apple) and InstantEncore.com (various titles, free on Apple and Android).

¶ For more casual classical music followers, Classical Music I: Master’s Collection Vol. 1 is a good start. It offers 120 performances of many well-known works, like Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, or Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries.”

¶ There is no mention of who performed or conducted these performances, other than breathy language suggesting the works were by “the best orchestras and ensembles around the world.”

¶ The performances were good enough to satisfy my untrained ears, though. And for $5, the catalog was deep enough to provide a good sampler of the classical music canon. But the app lacks some basic touches, like the ability to sort the 120 works according to composer or title.

¶ Those who are a little further along in their classical music education can test their skills, and enjoy some nice performances in the process, with Classical Music, Listen and Learn.

¶ Consider it the classical music version of “Name That Tune,” with extras.

¶ Think you can listen to an excerpt and identify the composer of the 1868 work Piano Concerto in A Minor? (If you guessed Grieg, you win the prize.)

¶ The extras come in the “music player” section. There, the app offers 50 compositions, in rich audio quality, with slick graphics; an old-school record player loads the album, then spins the tune. While the music plays, you can look up brief information about the composer and the work.

¶ The app’s developer said a version on the Android platform would come this fall.

¶ More serious classical music consumers will like Classical Music Radio, which streams audio from a collection of radio stations that specialize in the genre.

¶ The experience relies heavily on a good network connection, and there’s no way to fast-forward through a song or even find out what’s playing. (Sorry, music fans: Shazam and SoundHound are still working out the kinks in their classical music identification technology.)

¶ But the app makes it easy to scroll through dozens of radio stations around the world even if, at times, the content veers into news, promotions or other unrelated audio.

¶ If you prefer works from specific orchestras, festivals or artists, look for InstantEncore.com. The company produces mobile software for more than 120 performing arts centers like the New York Philharmonic and the Aspen Music Festival and School, and individual artists like Lera Auerbach and the baritone Thomas Hampson.

¶ They’re very good pieces of mobile software, and not just because they’re free.

¶ In apps like New York Philharmonic or London Philharmonic Orchestra, you can browse recent news from the institutions or search coming events, while in another section, YouTube videos await. Similar listings are available for artist-specific apps.

¶ The big draw, of course, is audio.

¶ For the several InstantEncore apps I tried, the audio quality was very good, even at the default lower-quality setting. When I chose the higher-quality sound option from the settings menu, the app warned me that the playback might buffer more frequently, but since I was on a Wi-Fi connection I noticed no problems.

¶ In most InstantEncore apps, the recordings are generally from recent performances. While the music plays, you can find information on artists and view album art, although in a couple of instances, the photo resolution was poor.

¶ But who needs album art when the music is this good — and when you can repeatedly hear Alec Baldwin introduce performances of the New York Philharmonic?

¶ The one notable weakness of Instant-Encore’s apps is that they will, at times, leave you wanting more.

¶ Apps for some orchestras, like the Houston Symphony and Buffalo Philharmonic, offer only shorter audio excerpts, while the London Philharmonic offers full works at times and brief excerpts at other times.

¶ But some, like the New York Philharmonic and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, offer occasional live video of concerts or full concerts for on-demand audio streaming.

¶ Even if your preferred orchestra offers only excerpts, though, you can leave the app running and it will play a long string of music selections without commercials or other interruptions — that is, if you have a network connection.

¶ But because the music is streamed, you won’t want to rely on InstantEncore apps for evening strolls in foreign cities, where data charges for “Eine kleine Nachtmusik” could break your budget.

¶ Quick Calls

¶ Disney Publishing, which has earned high marks for children’s book apps on Apple, now has an Android title. Winnie the Pooh, What’s a Bear to Do? ($3), includes interactive pages and an option that allows users to record their own narration. … Slice HD ($3), an iPad puzzle game is well reviewed by iTunes users, but bloody. (Best to keep out of reach of children.)

Related articles