making music with an iPad

oh neat! I found one of his right away. Reminds me of Spacetime Continuum.

I'm trying to make detuned noisy stuff with it and but it is very slow going so far

Novation have a new, free app called Groovebox which is pretty good fun.

Yeah I am seeing it described as a less hobbled Figure

New and exciting for me this week is a new synth in the Minimoog style by the wonderful developer ApeSoft who did the brilliant iOS incarnation of the VCS3 Synthi. It's more than just a Mini homage-- it's got a feature where you can load a WAV sample which then warps the oscillator frequencies in some odd way, and a step-based waveform in the LFO options, and the ability to double tap almost anything in the app to assign it a dedicated LFO. The app is an Audio Unit so you can deploy multiple instances of it in GarageBand or Cubasis or whatever.

Following soon, it sounds like, is an (also Audio Unit enabled) app called Ripplemaker from the same developer who did Troublemaker and Phasemaker -- this one is his take on 'west coast' buchla style modular synthesis. THAT I can't wait for.

Also, KRFT now has virtual MIDI Out!

Yeah I am seeing it described as a less hobbled Figure

New and exciting for me this week is a new synth in the Minimoog style by the wonderful developer ApeSoft who did the brilliant iOS incarnation of the VCS3 Synthi. It's more than just a Mini homage-- it's got a feature where you can load a WAV sample which then warps the oscillator frequencies in some odd way, and a step-based waveform in the LFO options, and the ability to double tap almost anything in the app to assign it a dedicated LFO. The app is an Audio Unit so you can deploy multiple instances of it in GarageBand or Cubasis or whatever.

Following soon, it sounds like, is an (also Audio Unit enabled) app called Ripplemaker from the same developer who did Troublemaker and Phasemaker -- this one is his take on 'west coast' buchla style modular synthesis. THAT I can't wait for.

Also, KRFT now has virtual MIDI Out!

the Apesoft synth is called Mood ftr

Really excited for Ripplemaker!

I know!

Durrr me forgetting to name the apesoft synth. Pronounced 'mode' of course, cute.

Holy crap Ripplemaker is under App Store review already and might be available this weekend!!!

Holy crap Ripplemaker is under App Store review already and might be available this weekend!!!

I've bought every Bram app on launch and have had zero regrets. Can't believe how quickly this one seems to have been developed.

got newish iPad mini!

Novation Launchpad is pretty promising in terms of an app for playing live w/samples

Playing live with multiple apps running things seems too tricky for me ... is that something people do even?

Hey that's great! I have an iPad Mini 3 and it has been able to handle any apps I've thrown at it.

Performing with multiple simultaneous apps - this is definitely something people do but it's a bit overwhelming to me too. I think people tend to use AUM for this (it's kind of a virtual mixing board which can host disparate apps at once on separate busses) or something like Infinite Looper (where you can have a bunch of different loops each sending virtual MIDI to a different app and use it to launch certain loops, pause other ones, switch to alt version of loops, etc).

I find this kind of thing more manageable with a groovebox type setup like Gadget where I can sculpt a little lineup of synth patches and get them looping along together at uneven loop lengths all within the same app, and then add a final Gadget synth I use to improvise over the phasing repetitions.

Sarah, I definitely think you would love Ripplemaker--which is out today!-- and also iVCS3 for sure, they are both deep and crazy enough to generate a real performance from without using anything else.

Korg has a half-price sale on Gadget, etc at the moment (having doubled the prices in three years, tbf).

The Korg iMono/Poly is still discounted through September 30. It sounds pretty goddamned amazing

Yeah I got it, it's fantastic

The iMono/Poly is terrific. Are all the Korg soft synths this good?

The only one I've tried is iWavestation and it's one of my favorite synths: Others I rate highly would be Model 15, Mitosynth, Phasemaker, and Nanostudio's Eden. I'm also pretty sure I like SynthScaper, but I still suck at it. I haven't tried iMono/Poly yet. Recently bought Zeeon and like that one a lot so far.

What's everybody's favorite DAW app (or environment)? I've tried Nanostudio, Beatmaker 2, SunVox, KRFT, Modstep, Garageband, Infinite Looper, and various combinations of those + AUM and/or Audiobus 3. I can't seem to hit the sweet spot. If Nanostudio was more open, allowed AU/IAA inserts and audiotracks, it would be hands down my favorite. Looking forward to Nanostudio 2. Haven't tried Beatmaker 3 yet. I gravitate toward long linear tracks and realize that my desired workflow is pretty similar to (the PC version of) FL Studio.

I feel like most iOS apps push me toward a pattern-based ultra repetitious techno style. The most fun I've had is with probably just doing long meandering ambient style tracks with a midi sequencer or two using AUM as a host + mixer.

Have you tried the Cubase one? That's what I would use if I was still messing around with apps, it seems the most like a traditional DAW.

NanoStudio 2 is going to be just what the doctor ordered for both of us, I think. I’m totally with you on needing iOS DAWs where I can just start a linear soliloquy and go as far as I want. I never get anywhere with the pattern based ones. Just a great weird 8 or 16 bar groove that I never do anything with. As it is, NanoStudio 1 is the one I’ve gotten the most “me” tracks completed in.

The revamped version of FL Mobile (FLM3) is pretty great for linear, actually, at least once you buy the IAP polysynth. I’ve only made stuff with the (very nice sounding) onboard synths and not audio or IAA, though.

On iPad, MultiTrack Studio (geert bremmers) is really great. Supports AU, lets you fluctuate tempo, gives you the choice of standard keys or a fretboard layout for the onscreen keyboard, and also supports soundfonts.

I bought Gadget to entertain myself while travelling and it's hugely impressive. The sequencing is a bit fiddly but the range of sounds is good.

I would love gadget to death if I could only have a linear ‘record as long as I want’ mode.

I love the Phoenix and Dublin gadgets a lot; of the extra purchase ones, the bass guitar and odyssey ones are crucial (the bass guitar one has a more expressive, easier to play onscreen keyboard than the rest and the odyssey one has by far the best sheer sound quality

Is that the ARP Odyssey you’re referring to?

Yes if you buy Korg’s arp odyssey app you get to also use it in Gadget (its gadget name is Lexington iirc)

Aha

Idk why they give them alternate names inside gadget - the wavestation in gadget becomes Milpitas- I guess just so everything fits the city-name scheme.

Does Gadget let you have odd time signatures

or you know I could use a search engine

https://support.korguser.net/hc/en-us/community/posts/202885814-3-4-time-signature-

That is one strength of gadget - you can change time signature per scene in your song sequence. On one project, I just needed an odd pause between sections so I inserted an empty 1-bar scene in 1/4

The only one I've tried is iWavestation and it's one of my favorite synths

Picked this up yesterday and could see myself happily tinkering with it for months to come.

New track from my kid: https://soundcloud.com/djisbister/magmatic-domain-by-benjamin-isbister

(made with KRFT)

I totally deleted KRFT because your kid is better at it than I will ever be, btw

😃

IOptigan. When you change sample banks, it displays all the original jacket art for the original optical discs, If for any reason any of you would like to be happy.

I saw that -- it looks pretty awesome. Prior to that app description I had not understood exactly how bonkers the optigan's operating principle was.

I just wanted to hop in here and say that moog model 15 is on sale for 9.99 (from 29.99) AND has just been updated as an IOS AU. Track it up next to an instance of Ripplemaker and an instance of iVCS3 and enjoy the unearned feeling of being king of all synths

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gm8NnyfHAFQ

Just bought this, very well designed and easy to use

I made a quick little Steve Reich-y thing this morning and concur, Esion is fun and really easy to pick up. Thanks for the tip. Now just get it to plug into AudioBus!!

^ that looks fun!

I had swung back to PC for music making and was kind of starting to regret the money I'd dropped on gadget, module, etc, but last night I finally dug into getting audio sources from the ipad integrated with Ableton via Studiomux, and once it's set up it works really well! midi going from the PC to the ipad (so I can use controllers that don't rely on a bluetooth connection) and audio going from the ipad to the PC--it's neat, like an outboard VST.

I can't yet get patterns from Gadget into Live easily--I know you can save a gadget project as a Live set, but I'd like to be able to just play the patterns in gadget and "record" them into a midi clip as they arrive in Live.

i'm basically just killing time until Nanostudio 2 gets its iPhone version

So if I wanted to record an iPad (mini) directly into my DAW/interface, is a dock the only way to go?

Even then...I'm looking at the Focusrite iTrack dock, and it seems like everything is designed to record into the iPad, not out? Could I use the stereo monitor outs to record the output?

I know I can just send audio files to Dropbox, but that's super laborious with my setup (bad internet, and an offline studio computer).

Nope, the solution I described above using Studiomux only requires a USB cord. With macs it's even easier, no third party software required I think (but I don't use a mac for music stuff so I'm not sure)

Oh amazing, thanks! I had assumed that was just for midi. I'll definitely give it a shot.

And of course you could just run the 3.5mm jack from the ipad into one of your interface's audio inputs, but (and I'm no expert, but I'm given to understand that) you'll probably lose some audio quality compared to staying in the digital realm

Revive!

Apple was selling refurb 2019-model iPad Pros at a cost effective enough price so I bought one. There is no way I'm going to make it through quarantine with the wounded iPad Mini 3 I've had forever. Anyway, this has completely revolutionized my recording process to some degree but enough about iVCS 3. Anyway, what's the cool stuff now?

people are going crazy about Drambo

The Moog Minimoog app was and might still be free for the pandemic - it sounds great for a vintage emulation with some bonus features (polyphony, looper)

Drambo is a lot of fun, and based on what I'm seeing people do on youtube and other forums, seems to have limitless potential, but... aside from some ok-sounding generic synths sounds that I could have made just as easily in Zeeon, I'm feeling a little bit clueless about how to do anything awesome in it.

I made most of this in Beatmaker 3 on an iPad (not the live bass though). I recorded Nord into it for the Rhodes, and used Sunrizer and another AU synth for the other bits.

Eventually dropped all the stems into Ableton to finish, though, and got a couple of analog synth tracks and Ultranova stuff for the coda.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIVoQG1bg1w

got a couple of analog synth tracks and Ultranova stuff for the coda

from a friend.

got the ikaossilator app on my phone and it’s super fun

buying this today based on this article. The dev’s other apps are great especially Tardigrain.