App Shopper: Irish Flute (Music)

App Activity

Nov 16 '11	Version 2.0
Nov 14 '11	$1.99 -> $.99
Mar 16 '11	Version 1.1
Dec 30 '10	$.99 -> $1.99
Dec 22 '10	$2.99 -> $.99
Nov 01 '10	$1.99 -> $2.99
Oct 30 '10	$2.99 -> $1.99
Oct 24 '10	$.99 -> $2.99
Oct 13 '10	New App: $.99, v1.0

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Irish Flute

iOS iPad

Irish Flute is an authentic sounding wooden Irish flute for the iPad.

This is the perfect app for anyone interested in learning to play the Irish flute or pennywhistle, or someone who already plays the Irish flute and looking for way to practice tunes on their iPad when it might be inconvenient or impossible to play the real instrument.

The fingerings are based on those used for the real instrument and will also be immediately familiar to Irish pennywhistle and flute players.

The sounds are from high quality per-note recordings of my 1857 British Metzler wooden flute.

Please visit the app website for a live demonstration video!

To get started playing, first show the on-screen fingering chart and hole labels by touching the '?' icon at the lower right corner of the screen.

Start by touching the top half of the flute starting with the tips of your left index, middle, and ring fingers on holes #6, 5, and 4. The holes light up when touched.

Next touch the bottom half of the flute with the tips of your right index, middle, and ring fingers, on holes #3, 2, and 1.

Using the fingering chart as a guide, play each note of the scale starting from the low-D and working up to C#.

To play the second octave, touch the bar next to the flute with your left little finger while using the same fingerings as the first octave.

Touch the bar at the top of the screen with your left thumb to stop the sound while fingering a note. This can be used for repeated notes in the place of doing a cut or tap.

Playing tip: For the most fluid flow of the sound, when playing the note that use primarily the left hand (G, A, B, C) you can anchor your right ring finger on hole #1. This is often done on the real instrument as well and allows for a smooth legato transition between the left hand notes with no breaks.

Finger vibrato may be done with the middle finger of the right hand on many notes. The amount of vibrato is adjustable.

For the most authentic sound, practice making your movements very accurate and precise to avoid "crossing" sounds.

For those who already play the real instrument, the app is a great way to practicing making clean transitions between notes because you'll hear it if you're not precise!

Touch the 'i' icon at the lower left corner of the main screen to show/hide the volume and vibrato controls. All settings are saved and restored the next time the app is run.

Play along with tunes in your iPad's music library by starting a track using the iPad iPod app, then launching Irish Flute. Adjust the volume using the real-time performance controls.

Q: I have an iPad with iOS5 and the sound stops when I put four fingers on the screen.

A: Go into the iPad Settings app, and disable the "Multitasking Gestures" feature. This feature creates issues for all apps like mine that use more than 3 fingers on the screen at a time.

Q: I'm not hearing any sound, help!

A: Make sure that the mute switch on your device is turned off.