Fascinated as I am with games and programs that add a variety of social elements to them, when I came across the the Street Orchestra iPhone App I was immediately excited. Not because I have much in the way of musical talent (I don’t, not even a teeny tiny smidgeon, but I do get my on simulations like DDR and Guitar Hero) but the idea of bringing together an unlimited amount of participants in a synched musical experience definitely sounds intriguing.
As I said, the concept is pretty simple. It’s an iPhone app that lets you create a new orchestra and bring in others who are nearby whether that be sitting in the park or on the train ride to work. To start all you need to do is get a bunch of your friends together with theri iPod touch or iPhones and synch them up. One of the players then starts their own game while the other players join the nearby host. Each player then gets to choose which instrument they’d like to play. The original player is assigned an orchestra ID, which everyone who’s participating enters as well. Once everyone receives their sync signal and is ready to go you are ready to play.
The gameplay is very much like some of the other guitar hero/music apps you’ve seen out there. Notes flow down the screen for each individual player to follow depending on the instrument they play. You can compete with each other for scores while trying to avoid that terrible sound the app makes each time you miss a note. Naturally, the fun here is bringing together as many friends as possible to play in your very own orchestra. The synched experience is what really makes the Street Orchestra app stand out, and the ease of use combined with this feature makes it a ton of fun without a lot of headaches. Though not quite as robust as some of the other musical combinations we’ve seen like this this iPad Guitar but certainly less annoying than that horrible horn noise emulated with this iVuvuzela app, the Street Orchestra app should be a must-download for any music app enthusiast.
