Smule, a premiere developer of interactive sonic applications for the iPhone, today announced that its Smule Ocarina application has jumped to the top in several Apple App Stores around the world, including the United States, Canada, France, Sweden, Holland, and Spain among others. The paid application, priced at $0.99, ranks in the top five in virtually every major App Store around the world. The Smule Ocarina is the first true wind instrument available for the iPhone.

“The reception to our innovative and expressive musical instrument has exceeded our expectations,” said Dr. Ge Wang, CTO and co-founder of Smule and Assistant Professor of Computer Music at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. “We built the Ocarina to explore the creative potential of people around the world, and so we are thrilled to see everyone sharing their music.”

Ocarina.smule.com now features a growing library of musical scores and musical performances of Ocarina performers around the world. Example Ocarina scores, all generated by Ocarina users, include Yesterday, Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, Harry Potter Theme, Zelda Theme, Blister in the Sun, Frosty the Snowman, and Amazing Grace among others. All told, users have already created more than two-hundred-and-fifty musical scores.

A virtual concert anywhere, anytime
Ocarina users are sharing their melodies with others around the world. In less than two weeks since the Ocarina launch, Ocarina users have listened to more than three million melodies, all of them generated by other Ocarina users and users have ‘loved’ more than one-hundred-and-fifty-seven-thousand melodies. There is presently a two-way tie for the most-loved melodies, each melody loved two-hundred-and-forty-nine times.

The Smule Ocarina synthesizes sound based on actual gestures including wind input, tilt, and finger placement over the four holes overlaid on the multi-touch pad. Actual wind input is provided through an analysis of sound amplitude variations on the microphone. Tilting the iPhone allows dynamic changes in the Ocarina timbres. Various finger combinations allow exploration of traditional Ocarina pitches and for advanced musicians, a choice of diatonic, minor and harmonic scales.

International App Store Rankings as of November 17, 2008 at 5 PM Pacific Time:

Austria #1
Australia #1
Belgium #1
Canada #1
Denmark #1
Finland #1
France #1
Greece #1
Holland #1
Hong Kong #1
Hungary #1
Portugal #1
Spain #1
Switzerland #1
Sweden #1
US #1
Italy #2
Mexico #2
UK #2
Norway #2
South Africa #2
Brazil #3
Germany #3
Japan #4
Ireland #4