'Band' On The Run: new iPhone application

Amidst news of the awesome (and affordable) new generation of iPhones, it was something else entirely that caught our attention yesterday: BAND.

The brainchild of Moo Cow Music's Mark Terry, Band is a new application for iPhone that will allow users to compose original tunes on the go with the usage of a two-octave piano, guitar, bass guitar, drum kit, vinyl scratcher, and mixer via the phone's touchscreen. And according to a WIRED report on the new gadget:

All instruments will be usable in the same song, while a multi-touch interface will allow up to five notes or samples to be played at the same time. Animated keys and strings will appear to move when activated, and any part can be edited, erased or overdubbed. An included metronome keeps the beat to keep each part on time.

Check out the above demo video to see Band in action; the initial edition should be available in a few weeks time, while future versions of the application will even allow users to create their own instruments. Apologies to "books" and "reading", but it seems we may have found a new subway activity?

Listen: "Band on the Run" (Foo Fighters cover version)