If you happen to have an iPhone I have a treat for you. Ambient composer and artist Brian Eno in conjunction with Peter Chilvers and application developer Opal Limited have just released an application for your device that truly demonstrates what happens when a prodigious creative talent like Eno is given a blank slate I’m imbued with the capabilities native to Apple’s evolutionary hand held platform.

Bloom is part do it yourself composing tool, part ambient sound generator, part relaxation and meditation and a complete pleasure to use for personal entertainment.  Bloom is, in my humble opinion anyway, the most creative use of the iPhone to date. Without question worth the $3.99 price tag from the iPhone App Store.

Eno and Chilvers call this unique combination of composition and machine iteration Generative Music.  Although it is quite simple actually in terms of functions it is nevertheless capable of nearly infinite variation making for a piece of software that can entertain and at the sane time provide some health benefits for as long as you have your phone.The application provides a combination of aural and visual stimulus incorporating pastel circles that appear atop a contrasting but also pastel background. The circles are produced in response to the touch of your fingers upon the screen and will vary in size and persistence based upon how long your touch lasts and apparently also to how much pressure you apply.  The tones generated vary in pitch depending where upon the screen you place your fingers.

The result is a tonal and visual composition of your own creation that can be saved if pleasing or deleted with a quick shake if less than sonorous. What’s more there is even a setting that allows the application to take your original piece and if left idle will evolve your work over time. In addition to the creative mode you can also select a passive listening mode where the program will randomly create ambient music that is pleasant to hear combined with colors peaceful to regard.

The one complaint I do have about Eno’s creation is simply that it intuitively begs to do even more. One wants to explore beyond the simple touch / tap interface into other more complex movements; to smear one’s fingers, one, two, three at a time -to drag out certain notes or stifle others. Those with a good ear will long for the ability to move beyond pitch and gain more complete tonal control while visual artists will undoubtedly wish for the ability to change color, to alter hue, depth, intensity and luminosity.Don’t let that dissuade you from purchasing this delightful little application though; after all this is only V-1.0 and knowing Eno he craves the added functionality worse than anyone meaning the application will likely evolve just like the compositions you make with it do.

Tags: Cognitive Science, Downloads, Mobile, Oliver Starr, Reviews, Software, inspiration //