Some people are born with a God-given talent to sing ... and some of us can't even sing Happy Birthday without drawing cringes. If you fall into the tone-deaf category, it might be time to pick up a vocal coach.
Voice Tutor ($4.99) brings you one step closer to acceptable crooning with its series of vocal lessons for newbies and more advanced singers.
After completing the first lesson, you should be able to identify your vocal range and begin focusing on what type of singer you are as defined by; tension, breathiness, cracking, or what the app refers to as connected (a vocalist who can accomplish scales without audible cracking or tension).
A user that is classified as a "tension" singer has difficulty ascending to higher ranges likely unable to reach their middle and head voices. There are 57 brief audio lessons to work on tension issues as there are for breathiness, cracking and connected singers.
There are several voice work-outs to get your cords into shape and practice vocal styling. Riff 'n Run, the most advanced lesson, challenges songsters with complex scales and provides a more comprehensive understanding of what it takes to sing like a pro.
It's currently not possible to check your pitch with a meter, but the developer states in iTunes that it will be included in future updates.
Voice lessons usually don't come cheap, which is the huge win with this app. Start showing up to those karaoke bars a little more relaxed now, or at the very least, the next time someone asks you how that song goes you might just be able to show them.
Head to Head: Back to School Planners
Whether you're heading back to class in the fall or a parent of a school-bound student, you likely have a lot on your plate but the following apps can alleviate some of the pressure of the rapid life of a student.
iStudiez Pro aides overwhelmed students by keeping track of course schedules, assignments and grades, all of which can be backed up via e-mail. There are a few different ways students can manage their schedules, including through an interactive monthly or weekly calendar or by using the student planner. The planner is excellent, and shows an overview of each course, including assignment due. Creating an assignment can get right down to the nitty-gritty, including classifying project type (such as an exam or essay paper) and adding partner information, which is integrated with your contact list. Users who've mastered the art of procrastination can set an alert (push notification) to remind them of when assignments are due and classes are running as well as prioritize homework by date, course and importance. Real-time calculation of grades can display as percentages, letters ( A+) or points. Overall, iStudiez is a very useful tool that might motivate students to stay on a straight-A path.
iHomework organizes and colour-codes homework by day, week and course along with posting the number of assignments due right on the app icon. The interface offers a few screens to easily access and view course lists, teacher contact information (via contact list integration), interactive calendars, reminders and assignment overviews. A fair amount of information can be added to an entry, including course, due date, priority, partner contact details (again, via your contact list) and grades. Unlike iStudiez Pro, individual assignments can be shared via e-mail. iHomework uses a grading system capable of grading by semester, assignment, course and group; homework, project, quiz and test. Setting a reminder can be an unwanted double duty, alerts are added on a separate screen and aren't implemented within the individual assignment. It is also missing a universal planner and fails to use push notifications in the reminders feature. iHomework syncs data with your PC desktop, which requires iHomework desktop software. However, it's only available on Mac OS X.
The Bottom Line:
Studiez Pro makes the grade with its superb lay-out, push notifications, support of 25 languages and full integration with the device's calendar app.