20110301 Smartphone Symphony (1)

Smartphone Symphony


Grab your phone and make some music! The days of carrying around both a cell phone and an MP3 player are history. Nearly all cell phones sold today double as music-listening devices, with Smartphones going one step further. Thanks to features such as built-in motion sensors and touch screens, Smartphones have turned cell phones into music-making devices that respond to a user's hand movements. Music apps available now allow users to produce the sounds of instruments by tapping virtual drums and forming chords on virtual strings. The following musical apps are two of the most powerful and creative ones on the market.

Improvox
Robert Taub, a famous concert pianist, was looking for a way to help his daughter remember musical compositions. His original idea was to develop software that could photograph a score, play it back and allow a student to imitate the music. Taub decided to leave his performing career behind and form a start-up company called MuseAmi for the purpose of developing such a musical app. Although MuseAmi's first app, the iPhone app called Improvox, doesn't live up to Taub's original idea, it does break new ground.


double as something 兼具另外一種身分/功能
eg: The dining room table double as Josh's worktable.
=> 餐廳的餐桌也兼具Josh的工作桌
eg: Before we find a substitute, the receptionist, Becky, will have to double as our operator.
=> 在我們找到替代者之前接待員Becky會兼任我們的接線生

score n. 樂譜
eg: The score of this new song can be downloaded on the internet.
=> 這首新歌的樂譜可以從網路上下載
eg: This music genius memorized the whold score of Symphony No.7 by Beethoven.
=> 這位音樂奇才可以將整首Beethoven的七號交響曲背起來

score n. 戲劇/電影配樂
eg: The scores for this animated movie were written by a Chinese composer.
=> 這部動畫電影的配樂是由一位中國的作曲家所寫的

start-up n. 新創立的公司
eg: This start-up software company only focuses on the local market for now.
=> 這家新成立的軟體公司目前只針對當地的市場
eg: A lot of people are paying attention to this start-up because the owner is a celebrity.
=> 因為這家新公司的老闆是一位名人,許多人都很關注這家公司


Although MuseAmi's first app, the iPhone app called Improvox, doesn't live up to Taub's original idea,
=> Although MuseAmi's first app, the iPhone app called Improvox, doesn't satisfy/fulfill Taub's original idea,

//== Chat room ==//

muse n. 靈感的來源
=> 繆斯，宙斯的九個女兒
=> 這些muse精通善長詩歌，音樂，舞蹈，歷史等。
=> 靈感的來源，任何給你靈感的東西都可稱做muse
eg: exercise is my Muse.
=> 運動是我靈感的來源。

muse v. 深思熟慮/沉思/冥想
eg: I'm musing over a trip to South America.
=> 我在慎重思考要不要去南美洲


//== More Information ==//

As the creativity and power of music-making apps continues to grow, some music bands are turning in their traditional instruments for smartphones.

One such group, iBand, a trio from Europe, plays original music using iPods and iPhones with costume-designed musical apps. Although the group features computer-generated music, the band's singer, Mara, still uses her actuarial voice to sing the group's lyrics.


//== Grammer on the go ==//


Although Museami's first app ... doesn't live up to Taub's original idea, it does break new ground.

break ground
=> to make progress or achievement that no one else has done before.

eg: In 1960 Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Ceylon (or Sri Lanka) broke new ground by becoming the world's first female prime minister.
eg: The medical team broke new ground when they discovered how the new drug could fight cancer cells in mice.