SynthTronica is a unique, spectral synthesizer for the iPad.  It comes with 90+ presets (including vocal/vocoder effects) and the ability to create your own.  It’s formant synthesis allows the filters to use time-varying  formants that can be edited and viewed in spectral form.

Manipulate as many as 11 filters at once by using the Dynamic Multi-touch filter.  Numerous lay outs give you added flexibility to accommodate different playing styles and preferences.

Sharing a mix is easy.  SynthTronica allows you to export your creations as 16-bit and 24-bit WAV or AIFF files.  It also supports Audio Copy/Paste, which is important.

It’s hard not to like this app, but the downside is that it doesn’t have MIDI support and there’s only 92 presets in the core library.

Nonetheless this is still a quality app you can get some functional use out of.  SynthTronica is still offered for the introductory price of $5, be sure to check it out.

Seline Ultimate is a music app for your iPad.  It is the successor of Seline HD, which was already a solid app.  It comes with 30 factory instruments, 8 drum loops, 6 drones, and the ability to expand this library via app store.

A drone is a pad that automatically creates a backing track for your melody.  Record your creations to .WAV/MIDI/.M4A file formats.  Onboard effects include: Stereo Reverb, Dub Delay , Lush Chorus, Grit Crusher, and MeloDist, which is a singing distortion processor.

I like this app a lot.  It houses some quality sounds and its unique, ergonomic design makes playing melodies a breeze.  Seline’s innovative workflow also makes it a unique improvisational tool that can be used for live performances.

I would like to see more factory instruments, and more drum loops, but otherwise, this is an app still worth checking out.  Seline Ultimate was developed by Amidio Inc and is currently priced at $7.

iTrax is an iPad app that allows you to create a song library of your favorite songs and only plays your favorite parts of those songs.  If you like a particular song, but don’t like a particular verse, you can use iTrax to skip past it.

Notable features include: Shuffle Capable Music Player, Alphabetized Play-listing, Lock Screen Controller capabilities, and Song Fading (in/out).  You also have the ability to listen to your edited song before adding it to your iTrax library.  This ensures that you edits are accurate and smooth.  iTrax 2.0 (the newest version) even allows you to export your new songs to your computer.

There isn’t a lot to this app, but there doesn’t need to be.  For $1, you can create a library comprised of your favorite song parts.

Kudos to the young men (Nicholas Krzemineski and Sean O’Shea) who created this app while still in school.  It’s nice to see our Youth pushing boundaries and attempting big things.

Conversely, it’s also a bit worrying that we live in an age where attention spans are so low that people can only bear to listen to certain ‘parts’ of songs and not the song in it’s entirety. Gone are the days of people listening to an entire album, now we can’t even make it through an entire song without getting bored?

If you only have time to listen to parts of your favourite songs be sure to check out iTrax!

bleep!Box is a music production suite for your iPad.  It’s comes housed with a sequencer, a synthesizer, and a drum machine.  It’s noted for its quality sounds, which is rare in the world of iOS.  I would say that the sounds are more tailored to the modern electronic producer than say a Hip Hop producer, but Hip-Hop-heads looking to create some quirky tunes will enjoy this app.

The sequencer gives you 16 steps and allows you to adjust the note, velocity, and swing of these steps.  Parameters for manipulating the tone and shape of the stock sounds include oscillation, modulation, envelopes and filters – giving you lots of flexibility.  The performance page gives you a visual of your pattern in an arrangement view and you can even loop certain segments, on the fly, to create cool FX and change ups.

Another thing I like is the fact that you can create and save your own presets.  If you’re the type who would rather play their arrangements and do less sequencing then bleep!Box has you covered.  Switch to the Pad page and easily record your own rhythms using the touchscreen pads.

The interface workflow could be a little smoother, but otherwise this is still a great app.  If you’re looking to create some electronic music on your iPad, bleep!Box is not a bad way to go.

Developed by Jordan Rudess of Wizdom Music, Morphwiz ($10) offers a unique approach to sound creation and performance. Notes are represented by a series of vertical lines and you play the instrument by touching or sliding your fingers across them – much like a Continuum Fingerboard.

Some of its features include: the ability to morph between different waveforms, specific scale selections (never play a bad note), and you can play chords as well. It comes with a few performance controls like octave shifting, pitch locking, and recording. You’ll also a get a few effects like stereo chorus, tremolo, and some delay. There are some built-in preset sounds, but in my opinion, they just aren’t that great.

While the Morphwiz is fun to play with and very easy on the eyes I would only consider this as a professional tool if I wanted to create some quirky sounds or effects.

If you’re looking for a unique way to toy around with some weir sounds then this is an app you should look into.

Decoded is unique and unlike most of the apps we cover on our site. It’s an interactive experience that centers around the life of famous Brooklyn rapper Jay-Z. Get access to Jay’s greatest hits, interactive lyrics with his own thoughts and side notes, never seen before video footage and frequent updates of Jay’s latest moves.

The standard version costs $4.99 and gives you ten Jay-Z tracks of your choice, but you can upgrade to the full version and unlock all thirty-six of the tracks.

For the serious reader, I would recommend the book, but the app is truly a unique adventure.

Want to learn about and study one of the greatest rappers of all time? Want to be inspired by a great rags-to-riches success story? Step into the shoes of Jay-Z the Hip Hop mogul with Decoded for iPad (also available for iPod Touch and iPhone).