Musical instrument apps are all over the iPhone. Most of them stick to the basic individual instruments and haven't really branched out to the more interesting ones. iKoto bring the sounds of a Japanese Harp to the iPhone and offers more functionality then some of the stand alone guitar apps that we've seen so far.
While Japanese Harp may not have been your instrument of choice in high school, you've probably heard it before. It has a really nice sound that, when played right, is beautiful. The interface of this app is really simple and straight forward with a nice background, which is more than can be said about a lot of music apps we've seen. Unfortunately, despite its presentation, this is still just another stand alone instrument.
When you're making music on iKoto, you can hit individual strings or you can strum multiple strings, it's all up to you. You can also record your work and play it back for whoever you would like. You can even close the app and it will keep that recording available. Another feature is the demonstration mode. This is unfortunately a lot less interesting than it sounds. It will play the instrument for you, giving you a little idea how it works, but nothing that sounds amazing.
If iKoto was free, it would be worth checking out because it is unique and interesting. Unfortunately it isn't. With that being the case, it's best that you save your $0.99 for something that offers a little bit more. It's really great to see the instruments branching out past another bass and guitar app, but it's hard to justify paying for them.