My new instrument: The iPhone

Last November I got an early Christmas present, my new iPhone.

When the iPhone first came out, I wasn't entirely impressed. Sure you could call people and check your e-mail. But it wasn't until they started pushing the "apps" that I started to take an interest. Suddenly the iPhone's functionality was nearly limitless. And then I started to hear about people making music on their iPhone.

One of the earliest, and most amazing things I saw that finally made me want an iPhone was this:

This video showed someone using the iPhone as a breath-controller to play music. At 8:30 he plays an amazing concerto with three other versions of himself.

I realized that the iPhone's microphone, touch, and accelerometer inputs could all be added together to create brand new ways to create music. I now have a whole collection of music apps. From synthesizers and instruments, to drum machines and other percussion, to multi-track recorders, to general purpose music utilities.

The first app I purchased upon getting my iPhone was the Ocarina app for my son.


The next purchase was another app that made me yearn for an iPhone when I first saw it. "Ellatron" is a Mellotron emulator for the iPhone. Mellotrons were used by a lot of prog bands in the 60s-70s like Genesis, Yes, and Moody Blues.


As a keyboard player, I have tried several times, but have never been able to figure out how to play a guitar. So my next purchase was an app called "iShred" which is a pretty amazing electric guitar emulator with the ability to strum the strings via the touch screen. This has way more functionality than I know what to do with, but I've already started recording "guitar parts" on some of my own songs using this app and it sounds pretty good.


Here are just a few of the other apps I've purchased or downloaded:

• megaSynth: an fairly deep analog synthesizer
• GigDaddy: a multi-track recorder
• I Am T-Pain: an app that autotunes your voice
• Metronome: yes, a metronome
• Wickifon: an synth with a very unique style button input
• Magic Stave: an app that tells you what note you are singing or playing

I have a bunch of others that I've collected and still figuring out if I will ever have a practical use for them, and there are others I want to purchase when the time is right. All-in-all, I think the iPhone is really going to make for a great addition to my other instruments, both real and virtual.

My next few songs will probably end up featuring the iPhone in some form or other.

Song: Don't Want A Love Song

Greg Whitehead - Don't Want A Love Song by GWGumby

"Don't Want A Love Song" is my eighth song I recorded in 2009. I originally wrote this song in 1993 while in college. At that time I created a complete backing track for the song, but never had the ability to record the vocals. I used to perform this song acoustically in the mid-90's while I was in the band Piper Down. It was just me and my piano usually about mid-way through our set while the rest of the band took a break. I recorded a semi-live piano/vocal version of the song two years ago at the same time I recorded a bunch of other piano songs, but I've always yearned to go back and do it the way I originally imagined the song back in '93 with the full backing accompaniment plus harmonies.

The story behind this song is simple. I am not a big fan of sappy love songs. So I wrote a sappy love song called "Don't Want A Love Song." See, it's a sappy love song while simultaneously being about someone who doesn't want a love song. Confusing? Maybe. I thought it was clever.

The piano and harpsichord sounds from this song are recorded on my Roland digital piano. Most all other noises, except for maybe the bass and percussion, are done on my Korg R3.

I made my first animated video to go along with the music. Well, okay, it's four frames of animation repeated until the end, but that's all the amount of effort I want to go through for just a background delivery method for the song. I posted this on YouTube last week, and somehow it has been viewed more than any other video of mine already. Somehow the "Love Song" in the title has brought people to it.