Walkthrough of the new Nine Inch Nails iPhone application with Trent Reznor, NIN art director Rob Sheridan, and special guest Kevin Rose of Digg.

The application is a state-of-the-art example of how musicians can use new media to interact with their fans.

NIN: Access is a free app for iPhone and iPod touch that gives you mobile access to nin.com’s media and community features, as well as a new “Nearby” feature that lets you exchange messages and photos with other fans in your area.

NIN: Access will be released in April 2009. More info: http://access.nin.com

Description:

Audiogasm uses the iPhone microphone to visualize sounds and music. Enjoy the hypnotic visuals created while listening to your favorite songs or whistling a tune.

Features:

• Music visualization using the iPhone microphone and real-time audio analyzer
• Dynamically generated artwork that is unique, beautiful, and hypnotic
• Visualize sound frequencies in the color spectrum with amazing animations
• Swipe to take a snapshot and store in your photo album
• Shake device to change the current animation
• Configuration screen for adjusting microphone sensitivity Instructions

Just put your favorite song on your home stereo or whistle your favorite tune. Audiogasm will paint what it hears in “a hypnotic like fashion”. 

Note It is not possible for Audiogasm (or any app) to access to your personal iTunes music. iPod touch (2nd generation) users need to attach a microphone, such as the Apple earphones with mic.

Audiogasm probably won’t leave you screaming for more – but it’s the price is hard to beat.

Aero Synth (App Store link) that turns your iPhone/iPod touch into a simple synth music game. The company behind Aero Synth, Yudo Inc, has also released a free drum machine game, Aero Drum Free.

Not serious music tools, but just some fun free electronic music games.

Binaural beats are illusory “beats” that you can hear when pure tones of slightly different frequency are separately and simultaneously presented to each ear.

It’s an interesting psychoacoustic effect – one that at least some people think can help you do things ranging from concentrating to opening your chakras. Mainstream media has picked up on this so-called “digital drug”, though, and is offering hysterical coverage that recalls the days of Reefer Madness.

Binaural Beats is a free download.

Description:

Binaural beats helps you concentrate, relax or fall asleep by inducing the brain to perceive different brainwave states such as: beta, alpha, theta, delta.

Combining with different nature sounds, you can make your own themes for many purposes such as: Sleep induction, study aid or headache treatment etc. Blocking noise from the outside world, no more distraction!

Features:

• Free combination of binaural beats, background noise and ambient noise to customize your own theme.
• Separately configure the volume of all 3 sound layers. 
• Interval (loop) setting for ambient noise. 
• 6 pieces of high quality stereo background noises and 16 ambient noises. 
• Set ambient noises as loop sound like raining or occasional sounds like thunder or seagulls calling. 
• General volume control in playback window. 
• Programmable application shutdown timer. 
• Sound volume fades out at the end of timer. -
• 7 preset themes with binaural beats: 
  • Pre-sleep induction 
  • Headache killer 
  • Quick relaxation 
  • Study aid 
  • Deep meditation 
  • Memory helper 
  • Busy thinking 
• 6 Background noises: 
  • Autumn Wind 
  • Calm sea 
  • Heavy rain with thunder 
  • Hurricane 
  • Rain forest 
  • Soft tide 
• 16 Ambient Noises: Birds; Bubbles; Campfire; Chimes; Clock; Corbie; Creek; Crickets; Owl; Rain; Rain (heavy); River; Seagulls; Thunder; Waterfall; Wind in trees 
• 9 Binaural tones: Deep dreamless sleep, Dream creation, Deep meditation, Memory helper, Lullaby, Headache killer, Relaxation, Concentration, Busy thinking.

Note: 

• This application requires stereo headphones to take effect.
• It’s dangerous to use the application while driving drowsy.

How it works:

Binaural beats may influence functions of the brain besides those related to hearing. This phenomenon is called frequency following response. The concept is that if one receives a stimulus with a frequency in the range of brain waves, the predominant brain wave frequency is said to be likely to move towards the frequency of the stimulus (a process called entrainment). In addition, binaural beats have been credibly documented to relate to both spatial perception & stereo auditory recognition, and , according to the frequency following response, activation of various sites in the brain.