Bandimal

JUNGLE ROCK FOR ALL AGES. $5.99 | yatatoy.com

WITH ITS GOOFY cartoon characters and simplistic setup, Bandimal is clearly aimed at children. Indeed, it follows Yatatoy’s Loopimal, which cleverly introduced kids to sequencing basics by way of a friendly drag-and-drop interface and entertaining animations. But Bandimal is a much more versatile beast — to the point that anyone who likes the idea of making a noise while watching a panda bopping to beepy electronic sounds should consider it. Setup is simple. You get three tracks, and choose an animal for each one. Select an animal and you gain access to a grid of dots, which you tap to define notes for eight available slots. Back in the main screen, you can toggle track effects, and choose between two playback speeds. To round off your tiny musical masterpiece, a trio of percussive instruments sits at the top of the screen on iPad, or a tap away on iPhone. Unless you’re lacking in some combination of heart and soul, it’s impossible not to find Bandimal endearing. The animations are nuts, the built-in sounds, loops and effects are all superb, and you can’t lose your hard work: quit to home and your track is automatically saved. Load a saved track and the animals adorably count in before playback begins. In all, it’s an enchanting, hugely entertaining sound toy suitable for ages 4 to 104.