By Nakia Tyler
Starting this month, we will be featuring one fun app each month, to help you get your creative fire started.

This month, our favorite app is MadPad. You heard that right.

MadPad, developed by the gurus at Smule, is an app that makes it easy for anyone to create music with everyday items – your fingers, a cola can, a pencil. You don’t have to be a musician, or have any real musical talent to enjoy this app, and it’s easy to use, so you can start playing with it right away.

MadPad turns your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad into a musical instrument with Sound Boards. These boards are divided into 12 sections of video soundbites that are essentially like keys on a piano. Tap a square on your Sound Board, and it makes a sound. Tap on a whole bunch of squares, make music. It’s that simple.

One of the great things about MadPad is that you have so many options. You can choose to record your own sounds, which are called Sets, or you can play Sets created by others. You can adjust the volume and pitch of individual sounds to meet the needs of your MadPad Masterpiece, and record a series of sounds to play on a loop. On the iPad, you can even control the playback speed and manipulate the pitch of a clip on the fly.

What kind of sounds can you record on your Sound Board? Anything you’d like. Try going to the hardware store, visiting your favorite coffee shop, or spending a couple of hours in your garage. The possibilities are literally endless.

Once you create your fabulous MadPad Set, you can share it with the world on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, so other MadPad users can download and play your Sets, too.

THE BASICS
App: MadPad
Creator: Smule:
Website: www.smule.com
Price: $2.99, but for all the fun this simple app provides, who’s counting.

What are your favorite creative apps? Share your comments with us below, and we may feature your recommendations in the months to come. Or tweet Nakia Tyler on Twitter @kiabear

Photos: smule.com/madpad.