Explore the Zeldarian mode.

Play together or in groups!

This issue seems to be with the most recent Apple iPhone 2.2 firmware update. We suggest upgrading your iPhone OS with the latest Apple release.

This issue seems to be resolved with the most recent Apple iPhone 2.2 firmware update. We suggest upgrading your iPhone OS with the latest Apple release.

It is a known issue with the Touch interface that Ocarina holes sometimes stick. In some isolated cases, holes can stick when playing the Ocarina. We have found that this is due to a grounding issue with the iPhone hardware itself and have reported the issue to Apple.

The quick workaround is to either connect your iPhone USB cable to the phone, or to keep one finger touching the metallic strip on the edge of your iPhone. Both methods prevent the grounding issue from causing detection errors on the iPhone touch screen. For more discussion about this issue, please visit this post in our Ocarina Q&A Forums here, here and in this Video clip.

Another successfull workaround is to vary your fingering slightly to avoid aligning your touching of holes (as the iPhone screen scans for touches on its surface, if the touch points are directly aligned, it can cause issues recognizing 3 and 4 finger touches.  We will introduce a special hole configuration in an upcoming release, as an option, to make it easier for users to avoid this problem.

We have tested and found some potential anomalies in the touch interface related to OS or Hardware issues with grounding in the device itself. It is possible to workaround some of these false/missed touches by touching the silver edge around the screen with your skin, or by having the usb cable connected.

More specifically, code in our 1.0.2 release fixed two multi-touch bugs:

1. If the user manage to press two touches in one quadrant and then releases one, the hole will be released.
2. If the user presses to the left or the right of the radio button and then slides up, this touch will never get processed.

Users of beta releases of iPhone OS 2.1 may experience audio initialization issues. Upgrading to the official release version of iPhone OS 2.2 may be required to alleviate these issues. (Forum Posting) We suggest upgrading your iPhone OS with the latest Apple release.

Yes, we agree.  The 3G hardware is much better for audio than the original iPhone. Audio sometimes distorted on first generation phones.  We are working with Apple to address this.  Our pending 1.0.2 release provides some improvements, as will Apple's next 2.2 firmware update.

Yes you can. You can use many kinds of external microphones with Ocarina such as the kind of products you'll find here. Just make sure that the microphone has the correct adaptor for your device and you should be good to go. Rock on!

This will happen if you have no access to a network, either on your cellular network or WIFI.  The globe view is real-time:  we are pulling data off of our servers every time you access this.  If we can't get to the data (with a network), then we will not play anything.

The heart means you like a song.  The skip button means you do not, but also will skip whatever is being played.  The Smule Sonic Network will feature songs that are liked.  And yes, we're busy developing enhancements so that your preferences can carry more weight for your own view.

Yes, we're working on this too.

We're working on it!  Stay tuned.

Yes, we're working on this too.

Well, as our Stairway video demonstrated, quintets and duets, etc., are certainly possible.  We're thinking about other ways to play together.  Feel free to send us your own thoughts here, or participate in the ocarina.smule.com forum.

Tutorial: Modulate your voice with Sonic Vox.

Here are a few ways to use Sonic Vox:

• Just talk into your phone, holding your phone to your ear as you would when using it as a phone.
• Sonic Vox is better with headphones.
• Sonic Vox is best if you plug your phone into external speakers and use the phone as you would a microphone.

Our tutorial video, for example, has the phone plugged directly into a video camera (speaker-out to mic-in) -- this is quite effective.

Note that Sonic Vox cannot change your voice on existing iPhone calls.

You can, however, integrate Sonic Vox with Skype:

• Connect your iPhone (speaker-out) to your MacBook (mic-in).
• Switch the System Preference to Line-In.
• Launch Sonic Vox.
• Launch Skype.   
• Make that call.

Use your touch pad to dynamically adjust your voice.  Swipe left makes your voice more dark, and swiping right makes your voice more silly. Swiping up will add echo. Swiping down removes the echo.  

Yes you can. You can use many kinds of external microphones with Sonic Vox such as the kind of products you'll find here. Just make sure that the microphone has the correct adaptor for your device and you should be good to go. Rock on!

Swipe left while talking into the microphone.

Swipe right while talking into the microphone.

At this point you cannot do that.  Apple has not allowed any applications to interfere with the use of the actual phone.

You will need a computer running Skype.  On a MacBook, plug your iPhone speaker-out (with a simply stereo cable) to your MacBook line-in.  Update your system preference/audio to use the line-in instead of the built-in mic.  Launch Skype.

As you can imagine, we are busy working on several different 'characters' for our first Vox update.  Stay tuned.

Tutorial: Light Sonic Boom with your finger.

Simply touch the Smule icon on the lower left corner and then select the globe icon.

Well, yes, they are real virtual explosions.  Every time someone blows up a firecracker, an event is registered on the Smule servers, including location (GPS) and TNT values.  The globe view will query this server in real-time and play back the 100 most recent explosions around the world, pin-pointing their location and approximating their TNT values, of course taking into consideration the proximity of your view and location relative to the explosions.

If you are an iPod Touch user, you need a microphone to enable ignition from an iPhone.  Any type of microphone attachment should work.  Direct the sound from the iPhone towards your microphone on the Touch.  Make sure the volume is set at a reasonably high level on the iPhone -- especially if you are in a noisy setting.

If you wait a moment before launching the globe, Sonic Boom will have more time to load your GPS coordinates.  Notice that once we have them, we'll show a blue circle as a beacon to indicate your location on the globe.

You require access to a network to see the world explosions.  On an iPod, this means you must be on a wi-fi network.  On an iPhone, this means you need a network signal of some sort.  Otherwise, we can't download the data of the latest explosions around the world.

Simply tap the Smule icon in the lower left corner, then select the camera icon, and then select a photo.  We strongly encourage you to use care and taste when using this feature, particularly with younger children.

How to light one Sonic Lighter™ with the flame of a second lighter.

How to ignite and blow out the Sonic Lighter™ flame.

Fixed in the 1.2.1 update. Please update your iPhone with this new version.

Make sure the Sonic Lighter is running on your phone and your friend's phone. Make sure your volume is on a reasonably high setting. And make sure that you don't have a head-set plugged into either phone. Press and hold the valve (next to flints). Point your microphone (base of the phone) to the receiver (the speaker embedded in the touch-pad) of your friend’s phone.

A downward motion of your finger against the flints should produce light.

A Sonic Modem is a simply a modem, and in this case, a modem built into the Sonic Lighter. The modem embeds data (e.g. instructions) in sound. The Sonic Lighter uses a Sonic Modem to communicate the ignite instruction to adjacent phones. As sound dissipates with distance, the modem will only work in close proximity to another phone -- you know, like heat. The Sonic Modem communicates between iPhones by embedding instructions in a sound. Like it's forefather – the traditional modem – the Sonic Modem sends information from one device to another. In the case of the Sonic Lighter a sound emitted on one phone ignites the lighter of the phone that hears this sound (needless to say, the receiver needs to be pretty close to the sender).  Imagine the possibilities!

First, try blowing harder. Or, it's possible you are not aiming your air at the microphone. The microphone is located at the base of the phone, just to the right of where you insert the USB cable to connect to your computer. It’s also possible that you are simply not getting enough exercise – think about taking a walk every other morning or evening.

Click the flame button in the lower left corner of the globe.

Win more games, especially around late March. It’s that simple.

This issue is resolved in the 1.1 update.

This issue is resolved in the 1.1 update.

This issue is resolved in the 1.1 update.

The Sonic Lighter was not able to get a GPS fix prior to launching the globe and so centers your globe at GPS coordinates (0,0) -- just off the coast of Africa. Try waiting a moment longer before launching the globe.

Smule will send the following information to the smule server: your phone unique identifier, Joules burned, whether you have received a light from the mule, and whenever your phone ignites or is ignited by another phone. If you decline GPS when prompted, then no GPS data will be sent; otherwise, GPS coordinates will be uploaded for each ignition event. If you log a support request, and you agree to include debug information, then a debug log will be sent with the email message -- just scroll down this message and you'll see everything in the debug log.