Bloom for iPhone and iPod touch is a one of the most compelling music applications ever created. Created by Brian Eno — the father of ambient music and one of the greatest musical minds of our time — and programmer Peter Chilvers, Bloom is “part instrument, part composition and part artwork.” It’s also a must-get.
Bloom for iPhone by higher-music
MEDITATING WITH BLOOM FOR iPHONE
When viewed as an instrument or game, as many do, Bloom may come across as a little repetitive. However, when viewed as a meditation tool, the nuances of Bloom take on new significance. Though not explicitly created for meditation, this is an awesome interactive meditation experience all the same. Bloom is an ever evolving tapestry of sound that always works, but is never quite the same. Get it. It just may prove to be one of the most interesting pieces of meditation music that you will come across.
To meditate with Bloom, turn on the application, select listen, activate the settings menu by tapping the little triangle on the bottom right corner of the screen, activate the sleep timer and go!
PLAYING WITH BLOOM
When you launch Bloom, you are presented with three modes:
- Classic mode recreates the sights, sounds and smells of the original version of Bloom.
- Infinite mode patterns evolve endlessly and settings are shuffled during pauses.
- Freestyle mode, where all of the settings can be controlled.
You are also prompted to “listen” to a generative composition or “create” your own. You are then presented with a colored screen and a quiet drone. Tap the screen in various places and different tones play depending on where you tapped. The tones then loop, spinning an unique, ever evolving piece of music. To clear the sound, just shake the iPhone and start over.
On the lower right hand corner of the screen, you can press the small triangle to access several pages of settings and options, including the main instrument sound, one of twelve moods, and general playback settings like loop length and a sleep timer.
The moods have ethereal names like “Bergamont” and “Neroli”. I have strong preferences for some while not being so fond of some of the others. The mood appears to control musical aspects like keys and modes, but with such esoteric names, it is hard to correlate them to exact “real world” matches. (Which, for the record, is a good thing. Just open your ears and listen – your feelings will help you pick what’s best for you.)
BLOOM AUDIO SAMPLE
The audio is 6 Minutes long, and you can download it here if you are so inclined. I used two moods: the piece begins with a mood called “Benzoin” which sounded a bit dark to me, so I switched it over to “Bergamot”. The track was performed on an iPhone 3GS and recorded with MOTU UltraLite
