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Air app for iPhone and iPad


4.8 ( 1888 ratings )
Music Entertainment
Developer: Opal Limited
1.99 USD
Current version: 2.0, last update: 6 years ago
First release : 15 Sep 2009
App size: 32.75 Mb

Air is a generative audio-visual work created by musician / software designer Peter Chilvers and Irish vocalist Sandra O’Neill.  Based on concepts developed by Brian Eno, with whom Chilvers created Bloom, Air assembles vocal and piano samples into a beautiful, still and ever changing composition, which is always familiar, but never the same.

Air features four ‘Conduct’ modes, which let the user control the composition by tapping different areas on the display, and three ‘Listen’ modes, which provide a choice of arrangement.  For those fortunate enough to have access to multiple iPhones and speakers, an option has been provided to spread the composition over several players.

Recommended for headphones and external speakers.

"Air is like Music for Airports made endless - which is how I always wanted it to be" - Brian Eno

Pros and cons of Air app for iPhone and iPad

Air app good for

It really does evoke Music for Airports (and thats a good thing). The samples are wonderful; my only complaint is that occasionally some of the triangles stop responding, and the app needs to be restarted. Otherwise, Air is a wonderful addition to the App Stores generative music catalogue.
I have this app running during the day thru my stereo at home. Every guest I have over is drawn to the sounds Air makes. My only gripe is that the voices sound too electronic in the way that they begin. If they were to fade in more, would it sound more natural? And like another reviewer pointed out, there are some annoying gaps from time to time. Tho setting the delay seems to help. For v1.0, this app rocks. I can only imagine that the developers will improve it much like they did with their other apps. ...speaking of improvements. I love listening to this when Im going to bed. Itd be great if I could turn the screen off and still hear everything.
Bloom was a wonderful app, but what I didnt like was that there was only one type of audio and some of the tones were at an uncomfortably flat or sharp pitch. This app, on the other hand, uses a more controlled set of tones using both piano and vocals. I think, in terms of the potentials for this kind of app, this is a nice evolutionary step toward having entire randomly generated music. Right now its starting to blur the line between random sounds and ambient music. The next step, as I see it, is to add more instruments, go from single notes to chords (within keys, using something like Blooms "moods"), and bring back the moods from Bloom (limiting the chords and voices to fit certain keys). One thing I dont like is that I find this app sometimes goes quiet, especially without the background "hum" that was present in Bloom. Other than that, its a great app. I really look forward to finding out (and likely buying) what these guys (and girls) come out with next.
Brians description of an endless version of Music for Airports fits the app perfectly. There are two main options: Listen, or conduct. The algorithm powering the listen mode is excellent, providing a lovely soundscape in true ambient spirit. The Conduct mode lets you tap on the triangles as you see on the screenshot. Doing so allows you to trigger samples of either the singers voice or the piano (in either high or low pitches). The multiple player option allows the Listen mode to adjust the density of its algorithmic triggers, allowing for each device to set off only simple combinations that will work well across multiple outputs. My only gripe: knowing a bit more about what happens behind the scenes and the samples we can trigger! Perhaps Mr. Chilvers will educate us on his website.
Im a fan of all of Enos apps. This experiment produces very beautiful results.
BloomもTropeも買いましたが、このAirが音楽としてはいちばん気持ちいいです。たしかに"Music for Airports"を彷彿とさせます。 残念なのは、iPhoneをスリープにすると音楽が止まってしまうところ。Bloom/Tropeはスリープでも音が出ていたので、これは残念です。 よいところはスリープタイマーがあるところ。これのおかげで、眠りに着くときもとても簡単にAirを楽しむことができます。

Some bad moments

This app is a bit simple compared to bloom and trope, and sometimes the sounds dont work on my iPod. This makes me frustrated, and Im kind disappointed with my purchase, I love bloom and trope but this one just isnt as good.
Kind of limited and banal, though, ironically, it did feel like a pick-me-up, even when youre left wondering when a more innovative sound will extrude.
もうすこし厚みがほしい。Music of Airportが好きだっただけにちょっと残念。
Wow. I have bloom & trope. Unlike those theres no changing shapes and sound range seems much more limited. These people are getting greedy. Eno apparently did not work on this himself like other 2 mentioned & it shows. Extremely lame 4 $2! save you money
This app is not half as cool as bloom. I am a big fan of bloom. This app is not that innovative and not very beautiful. Also needs to play after screen lock. Please fix it.
I expected the amazingly beautiful complexity of Enos mind and instead got a limited, uninspired app. Impossible to create anything exciting. Zero capability for innovation. Two sounds, no effects. Spend your dough on Trope or Bloom. Appropriately titled, this app delivers little more than...Air.