Jelly Band, Toca Band and Incredibox are all games that let you make your own music by combining animated characters to trigger looping sections of music. You can feel like you are making your own music by combining loops, short constantly repeating sections of music. These apps are versions of Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) like Garage Band that use engaging visuals to increase the fun and engagement and work really well with younger players. Instead of dragging squares of music blocks onto an arrange screen in a DAW you can interact with fun characters who animate in comical ways.
JellyBand
Platform: iOS & Android
Price: $1.99 USD
As soon as you launch Jelly Band you have a choice of 2 different stages. Each stage is a different song with its own set of looping instruments. You start loops by dragging characters onto little wooden platforms. There are crowd sound effects to make it feel like you are performing to an audience with spotlights moving around the space.
In Jelly Band the position of the platform from foreground to background control the volume the loop. If you experiment with moving the animated character to different areas from front to back it raises or lowers their volume compared to the others. It is left to the player to discover the effect on their own. There is a fun “dice” button that will randomly add different characters to the mix that adds an element of fun and surprise. There is not much else in terms of interaction or ways to change the music but there are many characters to explore.
Toca Band
Platform: iOS
Price: Free
This loop combiner app from kid’s app powerhouse Toca Boca has many similarities to Jelly Band. You drag characters to platforms that trigger loops. The characters are all lined up at the front of the screen and when you hold your finger on them you can preview how they sound. When I watched my daughter play with this app it generated an element of surprise that let her know, “these things make sounds.” This function is also a nice way to quickly preview what you would like to add to the music.
In this game the different platforms, instead of controlling the volume of the loop, alter the content of the loop. As they go toward the background from the foreground, they grow busier, adding more notes or rhythms to the loop. It makes the music feel more energetic as the loops are made more active via the different platforms.
My favorite aspect of this music looper is the starred platform, a fun surprise when you find it. When you drag a character to the star platform it rises and opens a whole new screen where it becomes an interactive instrument. All the instruments inventive interaction design makes them delightful for toddlers to adults. Such as a cat that makes space alien style theremin sounds by dragging balls around inside its mouth and a nervous character whose teeth chatter forming tap dance rhythms. Its wonderfully imaginative.
Incredibox
Platform: Mac, PC, Kindle, iOS and Android
Price: $3.99-$5.99USD
This app has the most choice of songs and sets of loops to play with. Rather than dragging characters onto platforms you dress a row of characters in different hats, scarves, glasses, t-shirts, and other outfit elements. Every musical element in this app is produced through vocal sounds.
This app also lets you record your combinations but adds a unique game element. There are icons on the top of the screen that when pressed provide suggestions for specific combinations of loops. There are series of buttons to unlock to reveal many hidden videos. It is an artful way to provide some surprise as well as cuing the player toward specific choices.
Explore orchestration and texture in music
All three apps let the player explore musical texture or orchestration. They are all musical sandboxes that let the player explore and experiment with mixing instrumental parts together. They can have large ensembles or contrast with solo or duo instruments creating thick or sparse musical textures.
Both Jellyband and Incredibox let you record your “performance” but unfortunately Toca Band does not. There is advantage to being able to share “tracks.” Players can compare their unique approaches to arranging the sounds. If these apps were used in a classroom setting they could be used to submit assignments with objectives such as “create a piece of music that employs contrast in musical texture.” To get over this the screen recorder function could be used for Toca Band.
Jellyband would be best for exploring dynamics in music, Toca Band for varying textures and improvisation with the interactive instruments and Incredibox for exploring different genres of music. Two of these beat making apps do not clearly show the instruments that are played. Incredibox is all acapella vocal sounds. Toca Band uses metaphors for instruments such as a chef banging pots and pans for the drumkit. They could be used for a musical instrument or part guessing game such as “what part is played by this character?”
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