Lily is a slightly confusing but fun music-making iOS app: music is created by layering several simple tracks to build a looping soundscape.

Each layer is created by choosing a particular lily pad: there are four differently coloured lily petals and eight differently shaped lily pad bases, making for 32 possible choices that can be programmed.

But there are also four tempos to choose from as well as several scales and chords.

This is all perfectly fine except for the fact that there isn’t a set of instructions: you must figure out how to get it working by yourself.

I wasn’t sure what musical effects would be created by choosing a particular colour or shape of lily pad so it was quite a lot of trial and error. The end result, however, is pretty cool.

Once you get used to fiddling about with the lily pads and begin layering, it is very easy to create a layered piece of music that sounds much more rich and complex than you anticipated.

http://apple.co/2c6qrOB