Click on the image above to read the entire article, “Application And Acceleration: Latin Labels Prepare to Dive into the Mobile App Pool” by Ayala Ben-Yehuda, and be sure to pick up the January 23, 2010 issue of Billboard!
Parranda: Plena Libre grabs headlines in El Nuevo Día (December 28, 2009)
VAYA BROQUI DESARROLLA APLICACIONES QUE PRESERVAN NUESTRA TRADICIÓN MUSICAL
SAN JUAN, PR / 25 de diciembre de 2009 – Vaya Broqui, el equipo de desarrolladores que debutó las Navidades pasadas con ‘Parranda’, su primera aplicación para el iPhone y iPod touch, han lanzado toda una familia de aplicaciones nuevas para la temporada que mantienen nuestra tradición musical vigente a través de lo último en la tecnología. Estas Navidades se unieron a la ‘Parranda’ original, las nuevas aplicaciones ‘Parranda Cuatro’ y ‘Parranda Plena Libre’, las cuales permiten que sus usuarios se diviertan tocando versiones virtuales de nuestros instrumentos tradicionales, descargando así ritmos, melodías y sonidos típicos de las mejores fiestas en Puerto Rico.
“En Puerto Rico tenemos reputación de que nos gusta la fiesta y se sabe alrededor del mundo que gozamos de una de las temporadas navideñas más extensas y cargadas. No paramos hasta que pasen Las Octavitas y Las Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián,” comentó Alfredo Richner, diseñadores y co-fundador de Vaya Broqui. “Pero quizás no se conoce tanto nuestra rica tradición musical, que es lo que buscamos promover y conservar a través de este medio innovador, divertido y de alcance mundial. Estamos llevando parte de Puerto Rico a equipos móviles de manera a que en otros países – y hasta nuestros propios puertorriqueños expatriados – puedan disfrutar de nuestro calor y espíritu musical.”
La primera aplicación del equipo logró alcanzar la séptima posición en la lista de aplicaciones musicales más vendidas en iTunes durante la pasada temporada Navideña y se ha descargado sobre 10,000 veces. Este año, además de añadir ritmos e instrumentación adicional a ‘Parranda,’ el equipo se dio a la tarea de expandir su idea original, resultando así en dos nuevas aplicaciones: ‘Parranda Cuatro’ y ‘Parranda Plena Libre’. “Ya que nos habíamos concentrado en la parte rítmica con nuestro primer producto, decidimos diseñar un cuatro puertorriqueño que sirviera como su complemento melódico,” añadió la otra mitad del equipo, Pablo López. “Parranda Plena Libre, por otra parte, te permite tocar lo mejor de la música puertorriqueña junto a la orquesta elite de bomba y plena de Puerto Rico, reconocida alrededor del mundo por sus 13 producciones musicales y cuatro nominaciones al Grammy.”
LA FIESTA NO HA TERMINADO
Estos desarrollos por parte de Vaya Broqui demuestran que la ‘Parranda’ ha llegado al mundo móvil y digital para quedarse. ¡Con la despedida del año, el Día de Reyes, las Octavitas y San Sebastián – aún queda mucho tiempo para gozar! Todos las aplicaciones están disponibles para descargar inmediatamente ya sea través del App Store desde su iPhone o iPod touch o a través de la tienda iTunes en su computadora a un costo de $2.99 cada una.
Links directos hacia las aplicaciones en iTunes:
Parranda – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/parranda/id297296714?mt=8
Parranda Cuatro – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/parranda-cuatro/id341645522?mt=8
Parranda Plena Libre – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/parranda-plena-libre/id345238996?mt=8
Vaya Broqui, an iPhone developer team hailing from the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, have created a family of music applications for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch devices that allow anyone to celebrate the Holidays in their country’s characteristic mix of merriment and tradition. Parranda, Parranda Cuatro, and Parranda Plena Libre allow you to play several traditional instruments and fire away party hollers and cheers over a collection of festive Latin rhythms – bringing true Caribbean flair to any celebration.
“Puerto Rico is well-known for its world-class Christmas celebration: the island starts getting ready early in December for Christmas Day, but things really pick up right after with New Year’s, Three King’s Day, what we call ‘Las Octavitas’, and all the way up to the third week of January with the traditional festivities of San Sebastián Street in Old San Juan,” says Alfredo Richner, half of Vaya Broqui’s development team. “We wanted to distill part of that unique Holiday spirit and bottled it up in fun and simple apps that the whole world could enjoy.”
Debuting late last year with the original Parranda application – big in Puerto Rico and a modest hit in iTunes with over 10,000 downloads to date – the team decided to expand on their original idea by developing additional applications that could complement each other and create a richer user experience at party settings. “While we concentrated on rhythmic instruments in the original Parranda, we developed Parranda Cuatro – a virtual guitar-like instrument based on the ‘cuatro puertorriqueño – as its melodic counterpart,” added team member Pablo López. “Parranda Plena Libre, meanwhile, allows you to jam with Puerto Rico’s elite ‘bomba y plena’ orchestra and four-time Grammy award nominees, Plena Libre.”
Vaya Broqui’s applications are guaranteed to provide an instant jolt to your Holiday celebrations (the team recommends playing them through external speakers for the full experience). All three are currently available for purchase through iTunes and the App Store at $2.99 each.
Direct links to apps in iTunes:
Parranda – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/parranda/id297296714?mt=8
Parranda Cuatro – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/parranda-cuatro/id341645522?mt=8
Parranda Plena Libre – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/parranda-plena-libre/id345238996?mt=8
*** Take your Parranda to the next level with one of Puerto Rico’s elite latin orchestras – Plena Libre! ***
AVAILABLE NOW FROM THE ITUNES APP STORE FOR IPHONE AND IPOD TOUCH
Founded in San Juan by bass player/composer Gary Núñez, Plena Libre is well into a 15-year voyage has seen the orchestra re-invent the sound of Puerto Rico’s plena and bomba traditions. The group has recorded 13 stellar albums and garnered four Grammy nominations. Now you can bring Gary and Plena Libre along to ANY party with Parranda: Plena Libre!
This new addition to the hit Parranda application family by Vaya Broqui allows you to perform like a master musician and seasoned pro in front of your family and friends using a repertoire of original music and sounds recorded by Plena Libre. The application also includes a deluxe four-instrument kit with special all-star pro sound play areas, making it our most most fun and polished kit yet.
Parranda: Plena Libre is the perfect soundtrack to Christmas and New Year’s celebrations, Three Kings Day, Las Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián, Trullas, Asaltos Navideños, Parades, Birthdays, Weddings, Family Gatherings, and any party looking for some flavor!
Parranda: Plena Libre includes 4 deluxe instruments, 5 original expert rhythms composed and recorded by Plena Libre, and a collection of ‘jolgorio’ party hollers created by the band to help you keep your own Parranda going ’til the break of dawn. Read the rest of this entry »
*** Celebrate the Holidays with the best companion app to Parranda! ***
AVAILABLE NOW FROM THE ITUNES APP STORE FOR IPHONE AND IPOD TOUCH
Discover the sounds of the traditional Cuatro Puertorriqueño with Parranda Cuatro. While the original Parranda application delivered on authentic rhythmic Puerto Rican fun – Parranda Cuatro runs away with the melody. This member of the guitar family of string instruments, popular throughout Latin America, is typically used as accompaniment to popular songs. This particular variant from Puerto Rico has ten metallic strings that are organized in pairs and tuned in ascending order.
Parranda Cuatro allows you to play your own melodies using ‘Free Play’ mode or enjoy some of the great examples of traditional Puerto Rican melodies, including La Borinqueña, Seis Mapeye, and the Aguinaldo Isabelino. The app also includes authentic jíbaro sounds, güiro accompaniments specific to each melody, and bonus palitos (or clave) sounds – just shake your device!
Puerto Ricans are notorious throughout the world for knowing how to truly celebrate and throw a great party. Now you can be the life of ANY party with Parranda and its new companion app, Parranda Cuatro! Parranda Cuatro’s repertoire of authentic music and sounds from Puerto Rico provide the perfect soundtrack to Christmas and New Year’s celebrations, Three Kings Day, Trullas, Asaltos Navideños, and Family Gatherings. Read the rest of this entry »
AVAILABLE NOW FROM THE ITUNES APP STORE FOR IPHONE AND IPOD TOUCH
Discover Puerto Rico’s buoyant independent music scene with PuertoRicoIndie.com’s first compilation app! This eclectic mix features 17 of the Island’s best indie groups, representing the following genres: rock, punk, hardcore, folk, electronic, 8-bit, ambient, emo and more!
‘PuertoRicoIndie.com Vol.1: Puppy Love!’ Featured Artists include:
NPR All Songs Considered blog ‘Second Stage’ featured artists: Suturee and Fantasmes!
Acclaimed singer-songwriter, Mima!
Punk and Hardcore scene veterans: Tropiezo and Juventud Crasa!
Electronic groups: Vliot, Go Organ!, tach.dé, and Dead Hands On A Piano
Odradek
Los Niños Estelares
Cougar City
Scores
Hábitat
Cautela
Mobius Collective
drain the Ocean
All profits from sales of this app will go to Save-A-Sato, a non-profit organization dedicated to easing the suffering of Puerto Rico’s homeless and abused animals (’sato’ being slang for street dog), and finding them new homes in Puerto Rico and the United States (for more information visit saveasato.org and saveasato.blogspot.com).
Fall in love for the first time with Puerto Rico’s indie music scene, and help Save-A-Sato and Puerto Rico’s homeless and abused animals with PuertoRicoIndie.com’s music compilation app.
*** The best way to celebrate the Holidays like in Puerto Rico! ***
AVAILABLE NOW FROM THE ITUNES APP STORE FOR IPHONE AND IPOD TOUCH
Puerto Ricans are notorious throughout the world for knowing how to truly celebrate and throw a great party. Now you can be the life of ANY party with Parranda! Parranda’s repertoire of authentic music and sounds from Puerto Rico provide the perfect soundtrack to Christmas and New Year’s celebrations, Three Kings Day, Trullas, Asaltos Navideños, Parades, Birthdays, Weddings, Family Gatherings, and any party looking for some flavor!
Now with 6 unique instruments, 5 exclusive ‘ritmos sabrosos’ (savory rhythms), and a collection of ‘jolgorio’ party hollers to help you keep your own Parranda going ’til the break of dawn. Read the rest of this entry »