Apps for musicians

[coconutbowling]

Do you have a link to "Loop DNB extended" .... I can't seem to find it in the app store. Thanks.

I found something called looptastic dnb somethin-or-other. If it's what I'm thinking, it has a lite version which I'm trying now.

Edit: had anyone tried technobox? It's $5 now but I'm still not sure what it all does.

[saviopalm]

Technobox is a Roland TR-808/909 and TB-303 sim. I think it is a good app, if you like those Rolands. The 303 part is great. You can tweak it a lot...

But you can't tweak the drum machine sounds like you could on the real drum machines. The samples are great, but if you want variety maybe you'll be disappointed.

My solution was to download lots of 808 samples and make my own kits for BeatMaker, Hexatone and iDrum. Now that I have the sound variety I needed, I don't use technobox that much...

[coconutbowling]

Thanks. And while I'm here, I found a music app called NESynth. It is an 8bit-like synth that looks cool. I might get it later since it's only $1.99

[saviopalm]

8bitone is cheaper now (50% off).

It has a sequencer/piano roll and can save. Maybe it is a good alternative to Nesynth...

[coconutbowling]

I already have that and it's pretty neat, though the synth could have more to it. If it's half off, then I would say it's a steal.

[Dark NRG]

Hey, forgive me, but I didn't read thru all 26 pages of posts, however I'm a big music app fan and just saw this thread. Two apps other than the normal beatmaker/noise.io/Bloom stuff that I just got hooked on are these:

"FLOW: qin" Incredible chinese instrument generator that is just graphically and visually interactive and I love it!

"Mujik" WOW, this one is really eclectic: a book shelf that has animation to open the books and manipulate bugs that represent rhythm patterns, and that's just the start. Really worth it at the whole cost of "FREE" ;) check it out!!!

[soup]

Mujik sounds eclectic and bizarre enough for the price of free to look at !

thanks for the tip

[Paradigm]

nice. some good recs here.

any decent drum song apps? not for learning drums "for real" but just sometihng like TAP TAP REvenge only focusing on drums alone.

been looking for/wanting something like that.

[drelbs]

ny decent drum song apps? not for learning drums "for real" but just sometihng like TAP TAP REvenge only focusing on drums alone.

been looking for/wanting something like that.
You mean like Drums Challenge (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=317080099&mt=8)?

[soup]

anyone know this lot - GrooveMaker

seem to be several of them

[marlenedegrood]

anyone know this lot - GrooveMaker

seem to be several of them

They have a free version .... I downloaded it but need time to play with it more before deciding whether it's worth buying one of the paid versions.

[ivforlife]

anyone know this lot - GrooveMaker

seem to be several of them

I took the free version for a spin. What I liked about GrooveMaker was that after watching the handful of videos out on YouTube I was able to utilize all of the functionality of the application. As music apps go, I would say that GrooveMaker offered a fair bit of functionality without the added complexity.

On the good side, you can pull together something that won't scare the dogs away without too much effort. Plus you can save it and with minimal effort send it to your desktop.

I cannot attest to the number of loops available as I was only using the free version which contains a single song. That song did have a solid number of loops though from which to choose, enabling you to create a wide spectrum of results from the starting samples. The quality of the loops is quite good.

What you cannot do is import your own songs. At least there is no manner of doing so at this point. The developers of GrooveMaker do promise a free song to anyone that registers, which would lead me to believe that there is a way to add songs. Whether or not that will ever be opened up to the end user is another question.

If you like to mix loops, play around with sequencing and want to end up with something that won't make you wince when you are through, then Groovemaker might just be your app.

You will need to decide if the $9.99 price point is worth it for you. Certainly take the free version out for a test drive. Watch the videos on YouTube. They will help you gain a good understanding of the product to make a valid decision on GrooveMaker.

[cptlockheed]

Oh yay, I just noticed my old favourite BtBx got an update that was promised almost a year ago: session manager and 13 sample sets. I had lost all hope of this ever happening.

BtBx was one of the first drum machine/synth combos in AppStore and it was very fun in it's own limited way. Very easy to use but quite powerful. I had a great industrial-type song going on it using all kind of gimmicks like slowed down reversed piano and stuff, but it didn't survive the update process :(

Now with save and new kits it is alive again - just spent two hours playing with it. There is still no song export, though.

[ivforlife]

Is there a way for me to jump to the last page of a thread? I pretty much browse the Glock Talk most recent post page, and I have to click on the thread and then click to the last page. Does my question even make sense?

Under your user options you can subscribe to threads. When you do, you can choose how frequently you want to be notified when that thread changes.

Another approach, which is the one I use, is to leave one tab of my browser open to the last page of a thread that I am interested in following. That way when I refresh my browser page I will see any new comments, not just those on the last page. I use this approach because depending upon the activity of a thread, you may miss content by only looking at the last page.

[marlenedegrood]

BtBx (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=287398151&mt=8) got an update which now includes "New, Save, Load or Delete Song Sessions", "13 Different Sound Kits" and more. I was reluctant to purchase this in the past but with the update I went ahead and took the plunge. I'm actually enjoying this app a lot .... there's some good demos on youtube.

Still not too sure about Groovemaker ..... I've been playing with the free version (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=323694275&mt=8) but reluctant to purchase the paid versions until I can hear some samples and demos on youtube ..... right now all I find are the free version. If you go to IK Multimedia's website they have some "coming soon" that I may just wait for .... especially the trance version which is more my style. Has anyone tried any of their paid versions? I'd love to get your opinion or maybe even a youtube sample.

[djflippy]

Bit of a flurry recently. Bought:

* Hexatone (cool but complicated!)
* SunVox (awesome but very complicated!)
* Mujik (limited, but fun and free)
* Futuresound (not what I was hoping, really)
* Star6 (cool fun, very easy to use)
* FingerBeat (Simple, fun, very polished, built-in sampling)
* Dopplerpad (great sound, very flexible, needs editing)
* Mixdex (fantastic loops, quirky interface)

Costing me a fortune!

Great list. Thanks!

[marlenedegrood]

New in the app store bleep!Box (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=325451639&mt=8) .... looks pretty cool. Here's the url to the youtube demo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55JQK5300D4

[ivforlife]

Still not too sure about Groovemaker ..... I've been playing with the [URL="http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=323694275&mt=8"]free version (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=287398151&mt=8) but reluctant to purchase the paid versions until I can hear some samples and demos on youtube ..... right now all I find are the free version. If you go to IK Multimedia's website they have some "coming soon" that I may just wait for .... especially the trance version which is more my style. Has anyone tried any of their paid versions? I'd love to get your opinion or maybe even a youtube sample.

I have their hip-hop version. Since you have played around with the free version you are aware of what the application can do. There is nothing added in the way of functionality.

As for loops, the quality is the same as what was offered up with the free version. What you are asking, and I think everyone would like to have, is a sample of all of the loops that are included with each version, because after all, that is what this app is all about.

In retrospect, I should have waited. While the quality of the loops with the hip-hop version are excellent, the selection is so-so. That added to the fact that you can't slice loops and are forced to take them in their entirety drops Groovemaker into the "hey can I play around and make music category".

[marlenedegrood]

I have their hip-hop version. Since you have played around with the free version you are aware of what the application can do. There is nothing added in the way of functionality.

As for loops, the quality is the same as what was offered up with the free version. What you are asking, and I think everyone would like to have, is a sample of all of the loops that are included with each version, because after all, that is what this app is all about.

In retrospect, I should have waited. While the quality of the loops with the hip-hop version are excellent, the selection is so-so. That added to the fact that you can't slice loops and are forced to take them in their entirety drops Groovemaker into the "hey can I play around and make music category".

Thank you for replying with your opinion. I think I just may wait on this one and see what they come out with and what the user reviews have to say .... or .... until there are some samples posted on their website or youtube.

[soup]

Bit of a flurry recently. Bought:

* Hexatone (cool but complicated!)
* SunVox (awesome but very complicated!)
* Mujik (limited, but fun and free)
* Futuresound (not what I was hoping, really)
* Star6 (cool fun, very easy to use)
* FingerBeat (Simple, fun, very polished, built-in sampling)
* Dopplerpad (great sound, very flexible, needs editing)
* Mixdex (fantastic loops, quirky interface)

Costing me a fortune!

nice one !
i'd somehow missed both FingerBeat (which is cheap so i've bought)
and Dopplerpad ...which is expensive so i'm thinking about - the vids i've seen look awesome though...eg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxTMHH6RlcU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b-XMLD4HrU&feature=related

and Mixdex is free :)

[marlenedegrood]

nice one !
i'd somehow missed both FingerBeat (which is cheap so i've bought)
and Dopplerpad ...which is expensive so i'm thinking about - the vids i've seen look awesome though...eg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxTMHH6RlcU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b-XMLD4HrU&feature=related

and Mixdex is free :)

I think that what's keeping me from purchasing Dopplerpad is the sounds ... I just don't like them.

[robman84]

I've held off on Groovemaker. I have the free demo, and it makes nice little mixes on its own with the clever automix buttons, but it feels too limited to cough up full price for. Also the sequencing page drives me mad - I keep losing my "grooves". For loop-related mixes I have to go with Looptastic, which IMHO is a pro-level app that DJs could easily use.

I did buy bleep!box though. WOW! Just last week I was pining for a drum synth (i.e. not samples) and now here is a brilliant one. Loads of potential and worth the (high) price for me.

[ivforlife]

The 'feature' that drives me mad with GrooveMaker is when you change the tempo, the pitch of the loop changes as well. Not that I am not a fan of The Chipmunks, but when the my dogs can no longer hear the pitch, you know something is wrong.

[robman84]

Very few iphone apps can do real-time time-stretching (changing the speed of the loop but keeping the pitch the same) that I know of. In fact I think there's only the awesome Looptastic that does it.

[jbarr]

Has anyone tried Xewton (http://www.xewton.com/apps/xms/index.html)? It's $20.00, but it looks simply amazing. I've purchased quite a few apps including iSequence, iSyn, Piano Studio, and many, MANY others--LOTS of others. But this looks like it pulls everything together quite well.

The reviews on AppStore look very favorable. Anyone else try this app?

[NotYou]

Wow. Xewton look pretty amazing. I'm not too impressed by their demos, but that's likely because of the person making them and not the app itself.

Do you know if you can add your own samples for the instrument? Also, can you export to midi? That would make this well worh $20!:)

Has anyone tried Jasuto modular synthesizer yet? It's absolutely amazing and it's only $.99 right now. You can't do much with it by itself, but in combination with a sequencer, it's unbelievable. Sound wise, it's pretty standard, but the interface is nothing short of incredible. There's also a free plugin(which is the full synth, BTW) for you sequencer, via VST.

[Mindfield]

Wow. Xewton look pretty amazing. I'm not too impressed by their demos, but that's likely because of the person making them and not the app itself.

I just set my sights on this one too. A bit pricey without a good solid demo of what it's capable of, but it looks like it's right up my alley -- like a really scaled down Fruity Loops with piano roll and stuff.

I'd really like to see someone with musical chops demo this though before I drop a couple of sawbucks on it.

[jbarr]

Do you know if you can add your own samples for the instrument? Also, can you export to midi? That would make this well worh $20!:)
I believe no, and no, but MIDI export is definitely a planned upgrade. I'm sure once these two are added, this could be a very excellent app.

[NotYou]

I believe no, and no, but MIDI export is definitely a planned upgrade. I'm sure once these two are added, this could be a very excellent app.

As soon as it gets MIDI, it's an instant buy for me.:)

[marlenedegrood]

Has anyone tried Xewton (http://www.xewton.com/apps/xms/index.html)? It's $20.00, but it looks simply amazing. I've purchased quite a few apps including iSequence, iSyn, Piano Studio, and many, MANY others--LOTS of others. But this looks like it pulls everything together quite well.

The reviews on AppStore look very favorable. Anyone else try this app?

Waiting for some maturity on this app before I buy. Most importantly .... waiting for my tried and true TA fans to recommend.

[RayLancer]

8bitone is like $1 now. I just picked it up and messed around with it. This thing has got me interested in music synthesizer and chiptune music. In fact I'm looking for the DS version of KORG DS-10.

[NotYou]

:eek:JR Hexatone Pro:eek:

Holy crap. I downloaded it this afternoon and I can't stop messing with it. It's brilliant. Most drum machines just make beats in repeating patterns, this one, through a process I'm not going to try to explain here, slightly randomizes the pattern. It's not really random, though (again, it's frickin hard to explain). It sounds much more organic than a normal drum machine.

You can also completely randomize the sequence, which works surpassingly well. Again, this app is brilliant.

The best part is that it works with Noise.io and Beatmaker. The sound libraries of all three apps are shared. I'm almost overwhelmed.

If you use Beatmaker and/or Noise.io, and even if you don't, I can't recommend this enough. It's more impressive than any desktop drum machine I've tried and it's $10!. I'm almost afraid that nothing similar will be made for desktop sequencers in the future. I'm spoiled now.

[skyye06]

:eek:JR Hexatone Pro:eek:

Holy crap. I downloaded it this afternoon and I can't stop messing with it. It's brilliant. Most drum machines just make beats in repeating patterns, this one, through a process I'm not going to try to explain here, slightly randomizes the pattern. It's not really random, though (again, it's frickin hard to explain). It sounds much more organic than a normal drum machine.

You can also completely randomize the sequence, which works surpassingly well. Again, this app is brilliant.

The best part is that it works with Noise.io and Beatmaker. The sound libraries of all three apps are shared. I'm almost overwhelmed.

If you use Beatmaker and/or Noise.io, and even if you don't, I can't recommend this enough. It's more impressive than any desktop drum machine I've tried and it's $10!. I'm almost afraid that nothing similar will be made for desktop sequencers in the future. I'm spoiled now.

I am putting this on top of my list...thanks Notyou

[RayLancer]

:eek:JR Hexatone Pro:eek:

Holy crap. I downloaded it this afternoon and I can't stop messing with it. It's brilliant. Most drum machines just make beats in repeating patterns, this one, through a process I'm not going to try to explain here, slightly randomizes the pattern. It's not really random, though (again, it's frickin hard to explain). It sounds much more organic than a normal drum machine.

You can also completely randomize the sequence, which works surpassingly well. Again, this app is brilliant.

The best part is that it works with Noise.io and Beatmaker. The sound libraries of all three apps are shared. I'm almost overwhelmed.

If you use Beatmaker and/or Noise.io, and even if you don't, I can't recommend this enough. It's more impressive than any desktop drum machine I've tried and it's $10!. I'm almost afraid that nothing similar will be made for desktop sequencers in the future. I'm spoiled now.

Wow that does look awesome, though the price is kinda steep for me (i'm not really a musician). But that might change soon. I'm just trying to get the most of out 8bitone first and see if its the thing for me.

[NotYou]

Wow that does look awesome, though the price is kinda steep for me (i'm not really a musician). But that might change soon. I'm just trying to get the most of out 8bitone first and see if its the thing for me.

I've also been checking out Sunvox. It's only $5. They have a free demo for your desktop (desktop software is $10). I played around with it, but it's a bit too "electronic" sounding for my tastes.

If you like things like 8bitone, then it might be worth checking out. It seems extremely versatile, it's just not my thing. Actually, the guy that helped create Hexatone(the guy in the app store picture with the weird goatee)has a quote about Sunvox in the app description.

[herr_sebbe]

As soon as it gets MIDI, it's an instant buy for me.:)

Xewton can export as WAV, though. ;)

[lildragon]

Anyone know of a good Metronome app? Was just about to head out and buy a physical one, but since I always have my iPod Touch with me anyhoo I thought I should check here first. This is for drums mainly.

[superbad]

I am t pain! Woot!

[coconutbowling]

Should've waited on 8bitone. It's nice, but I never use it. Oh well, that's the game.

[soup]

not out yet but check out this preview :)

http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2009/09/05/playing-with-touch-dj-v-0-8/#more-16552

and about hexatone

have a look here too
http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2009/08/09/1-year-of-iphone-music-software/

this seems to be a good site for music apps

[organerito]

Anyone know of a good Metronome app? Was just about to head out and buy a physical one, but since I always have my iPod Touch with me anyhoo I thought I should check here first. This is for drums mainly.

There is Visaul metronome (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=290385587&mt=8) and Tempo (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=304731501&mt=8) which are very solid. Tempo is a little louder and looks nicer.

[organerito]

Has anyone tried Xewton Music Studio? (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=328608539&mt=8)

[soup]

now this looks cool !

Thump iPhone Groovebox
a $3.99 “pocket groove box”

http://www.youtube.com/user/mrkbrz

[djflippy]

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=330785968&mt=8

[drelbs]

I miss having a subscription to CM, just cost too much, and I wasn't getting as much out of it as I should have (not enough time.) Still pick up issues now and then, the software included is a bargain for beginners/hobbyists...

[NotYou]

I said before that if Xewton got MIDI export that it'd be an instant buy. It just got the update, but I also downloaded iSequence recently which not only has MIDI export, but it also uses the ioLibrary with Beatmaker, Noise.io, and Hexatone.:eek: That means you can ake amazing sounds in Noise.io and make loops in iSequence with them.

All four of those apps are linked together now and share sound libraries. Xewton looks good, but I don't think it can compete with that. If you don't have those other apps, then Xewton may be worth it. Beatmaker is $20, Noise.io is $15 and iSequence is $5 (and Hexatone is $10). That's $40, or $50 if you want Hexatone, which is quite a bit more than Xewton's $20.

[djflippy]

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=323674242&mt=8

[djflippy]

I already have Flare, which I like, and wondered if anyone would recommend DJVD (lol) over it or in addition to it?

@Booch138 - I noticed that you've used it. Can you compare the two or no?

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=288055259&mt=8

[Rozzwell]

So I decided to take the plunge and buy Noise.io and Beatmaker, both are amazing considering the cost and the device. It's seriously cool that you can use both together.

For those of you interested in buying Xewton, it's definitely a cool app, and worth the money, but its definitely a sketchpad for a composer. Those wanting to experiment and dabble should look else where (i.e. Noise.io and Beatmaker). If you have an idea or melody and want to work out a basic arrangement this is a fantastic app. The sounds are OK, nothing special, but perfectly serviceable. The instrument selection is limited (they say they'll add more later) but covers most bases. I think this app is aimed at a more competent type of musician, who knows what they want to do, and who is looking to create an arrangement on the fly.

I have a question about Noise.io

Is it me or does the developer need to work on the recording function? The count in seems kind of strange, sounds like it cuts off before it has finished. I mention this as I find it quite distracting and difficult to get a good timing.

Another thing, there is also an noticeable click at the end of the recording, does any anybody have any ideas how to remove this? It's annoying when I export the file to Beatmaker.

Sorry, that was two questions.

[werner]

Recording: the developer is well aware of that; 1.4.5 has just been submitted to Apple - 1.5 is in the works - so sooner or later this functionality will be improved I guess.

Click: you can edit your samples within Beatmaker, that includes fading in/out and cropping them. On the 'Pads' page choose 'Sample', scroll down to 'Edit Waveform' - you should find your way from there.

http://noise.io/forums/
http://www.intua.net/forums/

[Bronson15]

Live Metallica!

[franny]

I already have Flare, which I like, and wondered if anyone would recommend DJVD (lol) over it or in addition to it?

@Booch138 - I noticed that you've used it. Can you compare the two or no?

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=288055259&mt=8

I have both Flare and DJ VirtualDeck, it depends what you want to do with it I suppose. DJ VirtualDeck has looping, reverse, and effects (filter, echo) but unfortunately the sound cuts out randomly for me and the scratch function is useless (as you can see on their website's demo video, strangely). I own a Denon S-5000 and Vestax PDX2300 with a thud rumble stylus, and use my friend's 1210s with Ortofon STs so I am familiar with what a record sounds like at various speeds. If you just scratch really fast you won't be able to tell the difference, but at low speed the digital emulators sound like styrofoam rubbing against itself. At least with Flare you can actually control the output, I can spin back to the same spot over and over, whereas DJVD feels like the piece of crap that is Hip Hop All Star's "scratching" mode. The track does not follow your finger, there is no way to spin back, and the sound is like aforementioned styrofoam plus a cat dying while waiting for a dial-up modem. I'd be surprised if the dev ever scratched a real record.

[djflippy]

I have both Flare and DJ VirtualDeck, it depends what you want to do with it I suppose. DJ VirtualDeck has looping, reverse, and effects (filter, echo) but unfortunately the sound cuts out randomly for me and the scratch function is useless (as you can see on their website's demo video, strangely). I own a Denon S-5000 and Vestax PDX2300 with a thud rumble stylus, and use my friend's 1210s with Ortofon STs so I am familiar with what a record sounds like at various speeds. If you just scratch really fast you won't be able to tell the difference, but at low speed the digital emulators sound like styrofoam rubbing against itself. At least with Flare you can actually control the output, I can spin back to the same spot over and over, whereas DJVD feels like the piece of crap that is Hip Hop All Star's "scratching" mode. The track does not follow your finger, there is no way to spin back, and the sound is like aforementioned styrofoam plus a cat dying while waiting for a dial-up modem. I'd be surprised if the dev ever scratched a real record.

Much appreciated, franny. This will be a pass for me.

[Almy]

Guitar Toolkit just got another update and I noticed it mentioned an app from them, Tab Toolkit. Looks pretty good for anyone using tab.

[djflippy]

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id331738583?mt=8

See the full thread for comments and footage.

[djflippy]

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sonorasaurus/id331570554?mt=8

Here is the thread to discuss it.

[scorelessmusic]

How about a musical instrument app that you can play without even looking at the screen? :)

Season greetings and blessings!

I just thought to drop you a note on something new that I'm about to launch on the iPhone OS which I am really excited about, a pre-release announcement that I hope will make its rounds on the internet so that an often overlooked group of iPhone OS users will be informed for some Christmas cheer.

---------------------------------------
A NEW (MUSICAL) HOPE - COMING SOON
---------------------------------------
It's with great excitement that I make this announcement... I have created a new musical instrument that EVEN the blind can use!

Right now, out of all the hundreds and thousands of musical instrument applications that you can launch on your iPhone and iPod Touch, none of them are truly friendly or even made with the visually handicapped in mind. We all know that Apple have always taken great strides in making all their technology accessible, but it is still up to the third-party developers to design well for the impaired.

I am going to introduce a new musical instrument that will not discriminate even the blind.

Unlike other apps which can work with Apple's VoiceOver technology, musical instrument apps cannot afford to have VoiceOver intercept every touch. Musical instruments require instant triggering of sounds and samples and functions, and with many such apps, the screen(s) are complex and difficult to use with a small margin of error even for those with sight. Just imagine the challenges that musical instrument app designers face when trying to address all these issues including the special needs of the blind.

In this respect, I have given it a lot of thought and I honestly believe I have created something special and unique for the App Store's ever-crowding space.

What's the point in changing the world if it's not for the better? Come this Christmas season, my dream and soon-to-be reality is to bring new hope and cheer to an often overlooked community, especially when it has come to musical instrument apps. My Christmas wish this year is that the visually handicapped won't just be hearing joyous singing and music, they will be making some of that themselves with their own hands and voices.

The new instrument is called Chordica Touch and I hope to have it submitted to Apple for approval soon.

-------------------------------

VIDEO Links:

Chordica Touch debuts Live Rhythm pads. See the rationale behind the design:
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPgX99qo_l8

4 Chordica Touch in Unison to play a song
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwdOYiRpky8

[soup]

PatternMusic – A Gorgeous Matrix Synth For The iPhone

PatternMusic retails for $4.99. Detailed specs below.

If you’ve used PatternMusic, leave a comment and let me know what you think of it!

PatternMusic Features:
The Stage
Intuitively mix and arrange your songs by moving instrument icons.
Effortlessly add, duplicate and delete instruments.
Multi-Touch™ Pattern Editor
Easily create unique looping note patterns.
Editor zoom – because not everyone has the same size fingers.
Up to 64 notes per pattern via the scrolling timeline.
Scroll through a 4 octave range for each instrument.
Solo mode – focus on a single part of your composition.
Dynamics for individual notes.
Voices
50 instrument voices to choose from.
Change voices at any time.
A full drum kit and percussion set.
Built-in Help and Tutorials
A complete Help system is accessible throughout the app.
Access built-in and on-line Video Tutorials without leaving the app.
Instrument and Song Settings
Tempo (including “tap tempo” for interactive tempo matching).
Time Signature
Scales – work within a mode and avoid “wrong” notes (more than 40 scales available).
Note length configurable from 1/16 note triplets to dotted whole notes.
Looping control – infinite or counted.
Configurable instrument start point.
Swing – create shuffle effects.
Transpose – up or down up to two octaves (an 8 octave total range).
Song Management
Auto-save – PatternMusic automatically saves your songs when you quit or when you are interrupted by a phone call, and it automatically restores your last session when you return.
Manage your songs including song duplicate, rename and delete.
Play along with your iPod Music
iPod Music Library access and control without leaving the app.
Small app download
You’ll be creating music in no time.

- looks interesting and on sale for 1.99 at the moment

[Bdragonst]

i personally think Xewton Music Studio is better than BeatMaker.

[adin]

the demo videos look interesting...has anyone played with this app yet?

(after reading through the manual, I see that you can set up instruments to play sequential or interleaving patterns by adjusting the # of times an instrument loops and how far into the song the instrument loop starts...and export is only by recording the sound output, no "digital" method of transferring/playing songs ATM, though they say they are working on it)

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3jKfOI5nWzI
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/patternmusic/id335591152?mt=8

[djflippy]

@soup and adin - I bought Pattern Music, but haven't had a chance to try it out yet. Too busy babysitting the Black Friday thread. :)

[soup]

well please try it before the sale ends :)

[djflippy]

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/euno/id325300380?mt=8

[djflippy]

well please try it before the sale ends :)

Okay, I sat down and spent a little time with PatternMusic, but not enough to give a full review. I can give you my first impressions, though.

When you first start the app, you are provided a video tutorial of basic functionality and then they unleash you on their demo cut. You can also opt to load any of a number of other songs, rated by complexity, or start in or your own song from scratch.

I didn't warm to the interface immediately, but the more I used it, the more understood the developer's direction; it's a pretty decent balance between approachability and functionality. You have a ton of different instruments, that you can drag onto your musical "canvas". The higher it is, the louder it is and lateral placement dictates stereo placement. The instrument has a basic sound like a bassoon or drum, for instance, and when you double-tap its icon, a grid is displayed that allows you to tap out the notes. Deciding on a basic pattern is not too hard and when you decide on your score, you press and hold each note to place it. This could have been more fluid, I think, but it works okay. You can slide the piano key strip up and down to cover the whole range of notes, or in the case of percussion, trigger different instruments.

There are several menus elegantly hidden on the edges of the screen, tapping or swiping brings them into view. Sliding left and right on pre-defined sections allows a very large amount of tweaks and sliders; very clever and efficient. You can swap quickly between instruments, set volume for each, and tweak values. There is also an extensive in-app manual, which I really appreciated.

So the user simply picks an instrument, plops it on the canvas, sets the note sequence, time signature, and other values, then moves to the next. At any time, double-tap an instrument to bring up it's note grid and make adjustments. Once you get used to it, you can put together a song relatively quickly, which I did and was pleased with the result.

Rating apps for quality, not purpose, I would say it wasn't as immediately approachable and fun as Star6, for instance, nor was it a top-tier app like BeatMaker and Noise.io, but it is an interesting take on music-making and I felt it was worth the $2 sale price. Personally, I will probably continue to explore other apps, but this was an interesting diversion that may be perfect for someone.

[djflippy]

SunVox on sale for $1.99.

[saviopalm]

Have anyone tried ThumbJam yet??

Pretty awesome app! Love the sounds and all the scales! Spent about an hour messing with it now...

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/thumbjam/id338977566?mt=8

[djflippy]

Xewton Music Studio on sale for $14.99.

[eddieg]

Xewton Music Studio on sale for $14.99.
Looks pretty cool...but is it worth it?
Still on the fence on this one

[djflippy]

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dopplerpad/id321627614?mt=8

[Joshuax]

Looks pretty cool...but is it worth it?
Still on the fence on this one

Yes. And it can only get better if they add more instruments and options.

[Vingdoloras]

I'm not a real musician, but I love playing around with music apps...

I own FingerBeat, JR Hexatone, Dopplerpad, Noise.io and Xewton Music Studio.

Fingerbeat is the easiest to use, you can create smaller loops pretty easily, but you won't get far with it.
Noise.io was very overwhelming at the beginning, but you can create some pretty nice patterns with it.
Dopplerpad has a huge potential, too. It makes a lot of fun to mess with it and try to nake some nice sounds :D
Hexatone is in my opinion a nice App for creating drum patterns. It will give you a totally new perspective on making sound loops.
Xewton Music Studio is the most impressive, yet hardest to use, music app. For real musicians it is a must-have in my opinion.

[marlenedegrood]

I'm not a real musician, but I love playing around with music apps

Then you might want to try ThumbJam (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/thumbjam/id338977566?mt=8). It has the most realistic sounding instruments you will find on the iPhone and for a non-musician that enjoys music, it's gratifying just to play, without knowing how to play. It is $5.99 but well worth it! For the best mind blowing sound ... use your headphones!

[Bdragonst]

i own Xewton Music Studio and it's one of the best app i own.. it just need more percussion instruments and perhaps.... i forgot lol

[Vingdoloras]

Then you might want to try ThumbJam (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/thumbjam/id338977566?mt=8). It has the most realistic sounding instruments you will find on the iPhone and for a non-musician that enjoys music, it's gratifying just to play, without knowing how to play. It is $5.99 but well worth it! For the best mind blowing sound ... use your headphones!

Thumbjam looks interesting... but something keeps me from buying it... I dont know what... the screenshots look weird.

[jxjja]

If you want to learn tabs the best app is TabToolkit, is like guitar pro in your pocket

[microDOT]

Thumbjam looks interesting... but something keeps me from buying it... I dont know what... the screenshots look weird.
ThumbJam is amazing.. I love the looping features, direct import and export of samples, recording of your own samples.. not to mention, the best sounding instruments I think I have ever heard in synthesis.. Even professional musicians can respect what this device does.. if nothing else, lets you get your ideas out quickly and produce something to email off to yourself / splice up and throw into your own DAW... endless.. it really is my favorite app so far..

[Vingdoloras]

I thought about ThumbJam again, and I finally bought it... let's see if a non musician can do anything with it :D

[yeah yeah]

seems like the best overall studio type apps are Beatmaker and Xewton. think i'll wait for Xewton to implement their sampling features before i make my purchase. i'm a hiphop beat maker, and wouldnt mind messing around on the go to get some ideas together.

anything you can recommend?

and on a fun tip, what are some good DJ / mixing / scratching apps that you can recommend? some for fun, and some for actual work / brainstorming?

[Negamaki]

seems like the best overall studio type apps are Beatmaker and Xewton. think i'll wait for Xewton to implement their sampling features before i make my purchase. i'm a hiphop beat maker, and wouldnt mind messing around on the go to get some ideas together.

anything you can recommend?

and on a fun tip, what are some good DJ / mixing / scratching apps that you can recommend? some for fun, and some for actual work / brainstorming?

Flare and Touch DJ.. Flare offers that vinyl scratching sound and it's pretty fun. Touch DJ is a more professional app for aspiring DJs. It's fantastic - best of its kind hands down.

[Vingdoloras]

I'm impressed. If you aren't scared by the UI (It looks unfriendly at the beginning :D) and try to work yourself through the menus, you can easily create some pretty nice sounds.

I needed a few minutes to find out how the recording thing works, but all in all the App is very polished!

I found a "Collaborate" option somewhere... is it possible to work on one Recording with two devices? It sounds awesome to me :D

[JazzFlight]

I thought about ThumbJam again, and I finally bought it... let's see if a non musician can do anything with it :D
ThumbJam is freaking amazing. If you've ever played with BeBot (one of my favorite iPhone apps), this is essentially the full-fledged sequel to it. The sound you can make with this app is absolutely incredible, and I love the ability to shake the device to add vibrato or pitch bend. The looping feature allows anyone to make a song once you pick a particular key to play in.

It's so cool. The only thing missing (if anything) is some sort of sequencer, so you can lay out a full song. This is more like an amazing improv session simulator. I wish I knew someone else with an iPhone/iTouch and this app, because it even has a bluetooth collaboration mode where you can jam together.

[Vingdoloras]

seems like the best overall studio type apps are Beatmaker and Xewton. think i'll wait for Xewton to implement their sampling features before i make my purchase. i'm a hiphop beat maker, and wouldnt mind messing around on the go to get some ideas together.

anything you can recommend?

and on a fun tip, what are some good DJ / mixing / scratching apps that you can recommend? some for fun, and some for actual work / brainstorming?

For putting together very simple things with recorded samples, FingerBeat is a nice thing I guess. Although I haven't recorded own samples for it yet, making some small loops with it is very easy. The interface looks well done everything is very user friendly.

For a more professional mixing of self recorded things, DopplerPad is nice, too.

Xewton will get a sample function? Great :D (too bad I bought it a few weeks before they put it on sale :P)

[frogtorch]

I've been getting tons of fun out of The Muppets Animal Drummer. It's more of a "rhythmic Simon" than Rock Band. Free play mode is fantastic. It's not the best sounding drum app, but man is it fun to play along with the ipod.

[yeah yeah]

do any of the dj apps let you scratch or mix over your own library that's on your phone/touch? i downloaded one, and it was horrible. :(

[Negamaki]

do any of the dj apps let you scratch or mix over your own library that's on your phone/touch? i downloaded one, and it was horrible. :(

Touch DJ is the best one out there, but it comes at a steep price. You can upload your music to it.

[soup]

not my reviews ....but keeping the info in one place

http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?p=800902#post800902

[scorelessmusic]

Just thought to drop a quick note to inform you of a demo video of our upcoming CHORDiCA Touch (http://chordica.com/touch) app.

The vision of Scoreless Music is to enable anyone to make music. With that vision in mind, and seeing how almost all iPhone music instrument apps are poorly designed for the blind to use, Scoreless Music went to the drawing board and came up with CHORDiCA Touch (http://chordica.com/touch). CHORDiCA Touch (http://chordica.com/touch) is possibly the 1st iPhone music instrument app that has deliberate design and assistive technology that does not discriminate against the visually handicapped. Watch this video to see a short demonstration of the Vocal Coach in action.

LgpezjAEq_k

All the best for 2010!
http://chordica.com

[drelbs]

Imagine what an iPad version of Bebot could look like...

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/255/bebot.png

[Random_Guy]

RjDj. A fun music app.

[xJavonta]

TabToolkit is useful for those who play guitar, bass, drums and other instruments that tabbed. I use it often because it supports Guitar Pro tabs, and basic text tabs (I hate txt tabs though) and you can mute all the other instruments in it when playing back a Guitar Pro or Power Tab.

[Bdragonst]

Xewton Music Studio just got an update with BUNCH of new instruments for sale and improved a lot in many ways..

[Random_Guy]

I am T-Pain by Smule.

[Vingdoloras]

Will anyone of you be buying the instruments in Xewton?

I am really thinking about buying them. If I buy any, then I'll buy the full pack anyway. But that would be the most expensive item I ever bought in the app store.

On the other hand, I listened to the samples, and they are great. I totally want these instruments :-/

[megasamus1]

Will anyone of you be buying the instruments in Xewton?

I am really thinking about buying them. If I buy any, then I'll buy the full pack anyway. But that would be the most expensive item I ever bought in the app store.

On the other hand, I listened to the samples, and they are great. I totally want these instruments :-/

I just had a look at the itunes page for that app. (I guess that it's called "music studio" now...) It looks useful, but I can't get over the price: Is it worth it? Is the DLC worth it?

[Vingdoloras]

I just had a look at the itunes page for that app. (I guess that it's called "music studio" now...) It looks useful, but I can't get over the price: Is it worth it? Is the DLC worth it?

The main app is DEFINITELY worth it. For DLC, it contains 48 additional instruments, you can hear samples and/or test all instruments for 24 hours. Every instrument is 0.99$, but you can buy them in packs, which saves you some money, and you get all instruments for about 25$ (I don't know the exact value since I'm only seeing the German prices :-/ )...

Definitely get the app, and if you like the extra instruments, think about getting them, too.

[megasamus1]

The main app is DEFINITELY worth it. For DLC, it contains 48 additional instruments, you can hear samples and/or test all instruments for 24 hours. Every instrument is 0.99$, but you can buy them in packs, which saves you some money, and you get all instruments for about 25$ (I don't know the exact value since I'm only seeing the German prices :-/ )...

Definitely get the app, and if you like the extra instruments, think about getting them, too.

Thanks!
I'll be downloading it soon, I just wasn't sure about the price, thanks for clearing that up for me!

[Vingdoloras]

I just started the 24 hour trial (you can test the whole instrument pack for 24 hours without any restrictions, but of course only once xP) and I'm impressed and really close to buying it.

[Gadm]

yeah Music Studio is very good, I think I might buy the new instruments since I've been messing around with this app alot.

About Synths: Thninking of getting Noise.io, is it worth it?, I am using Argon which is quite good but I feel it less professional.

[Vingdoloras]

yeah Music Studio is very good, I think I might buy the new instruments since I've been messing around with this app alot.

About Synths: Thninking of getting Noise.io, is it worth it?, I am using Argon which is quite good but I feel it less professional.

I own noise.io and it's an amazing synth app. Although I am not a musician, it's pure fun to play around with :) At the beginning the range of features was a bit overwhelming, but after a while you get used to it ;)

I bought the instrument pack in Music Studio (it really isn't named Xewton anymore?), since the 24 hour trial ended but I wanted to continue messing with the instruments so much xP

[Gadm]

I own noise.io and it's an amazing synth app. Although I am not a musician, it's pure fun to play around with :) At the beginning the range of features was a bit overwhelming, but after a while you get used to it ;)

I bought the instrument pack in Music Studio (it really isn't named Xewton anymore?), since the 24 hour trial ended but I wanted to continue messing with the instruments so much xP

Yeah, right now I am trying the new instruments, they are very good, but the bunch is expensive.. and I just bought noise.io

[adin]

anyone trying out iholophone yet? How are the instrument samples? what kind of flexibility do you have for drum beats?

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/iholophone/id366319895?mt=8

[AmidioInc]

Hello again! Thanks for sharing info about iHolophone!

There's a free version, called iHolophone Free: Happy Birthday edition.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu-IzgkHtco

You can get it at http://amidio.com/iholophone

As for the main app.. here are some promo codes:

RLM79MWK3HM7
FXNKFEAW63YA

Please reply if you use them. And, of course, we'd appreciate a review on itunes :rolleyes:

[eddieg]

Got FXNKFEAW63YA
Thanks! Can't wait to check it out!

[adin]

Took RLM79MWK3HM7 — thanks guys! This looks like a great music creation app!

[AmidioInc]

so, any impressions about iHolophone to share? ;)

[organerito]

so, any impressions about iHolophone to share? ;)

I would also like to hear some impressions. I am a musician, so I am always looking for a nice app.

[adin]

I have to admit that I haven't really had time to give iHolophone the time it deserves yet.

Like most Amidio apps, this has a lot more depth than may initially appear; when you start constructing or altering any of the many "scenes" (instruments/notes + drum beats, 40+?) you have very fine grained control of just about everything you could imagine. (I really need to read through the full manual).

There is a quickstart manual and you can start playing with the provided scenes/presets right away. (I do wish the quickstart stepped through a little more of the interface)

I initially loaded up iHolophone on the iPad which meant that I got about 2 minutes using it before everyone heard iHolophone and wanted to play with it on the iPad (3 musicians in the house).

I haven't had a chance to load it on my 2G iPhone yet, though I'm really looking forward to diving in a lot deeper and using this as a bonafide performance deck, especially the sequencer. (too bad you can't import sequences from Hexatone!)

BTW, it does appear that iHolophone has song export (Amidio, please correct me if I'm wrong), so you can use it for more than just live performances.

[incommunicado]

try Simple Songwriter for chord suggestions.. I love this app cuz it takes the pain out of trying to remember which chords sound good in a key while composing; it also uses the Circle Of Fifths so you can basically see your chords as the numbers the notes represent on the scale.

The other app I just tried recently was 'Reverse Chord Finder' for Piano, that lets you select notes on a visual piano and it then derives possible chords those notes fit into. Does a good job.

Finally, a good tuner i've liked (for tuning your acoustic guitar - and in my case also a sitar :) ) is 'TuneORama'. I'd tried several but this one seems to have higher sensitivity and also better results.

[Gadm]

Can you record on iHolophone?

[marlenedegrood]

I bought it the day it came out .... it's awesome as are all of Amidios music apps .... I have all of them except Touch DJ (which I'm saving to get) and I'm really happy to have added iHolophone to my collection.

[adin]

Can you record on iHolophone?

you can record performances and you can save scenes...you import samples/loops for the sequencer.

[Bdragonst]

Beat Maker dropped the price to 9.99

[eddieg]

Beat Maker dropped the price to 9.99
Hard to resist at that price.

[medianotzu]

Yeah, I just saw Beatmaker dropped to $9.99 and I'm thinking about it. Right now the only music app I have is Thumb Jam, and I'm not a real player or anything, although I have done some musical composing/performance as a band singer back in the day...I got Easy Beat Maker while it was free, but that app doesn't have any way to let me use it in tandem with Thumb Jam and arrange and save stuff from that app. Does anyone know if Beatmaker is accessible enough for a non-musicican and non-tech to get into and use to sequence other recorded material?

Or would anyone recommend another app instead?

Edit: I see on the BeatMaker page it says, "Export your songs to audio file (WAV) and MIDI score and share them with your friends." Surely this means you can get it to an MP3 format to listen to in your library, no? Basically I just want to sequence stuff from ThumbJam, although if Beatmaker has some cool rock/electronic sounds that would be a huge plus. I am also looking at Xewton Music Maker but that looks extremely pricey and more performance based than sequencing based to me.

[Vingdoloras]

Aww I got BeatMaker shortly before the price drop... but it's worth it! It's a must-have at that price!

I'm going to take a look at iHolophone.

Oh, and I downloaded SoundGrid... It has improved a lot compared to the old versions. I think I'm going to keep it this time :)

[Vingdoloras]

SoundGrid is one of the few apps that made me able to make some sounds that really sound cool xD I tend to only produce weird stuff with piano interfaces.

That's why I also like the iHolophone interface. It's abstract, and works great. I've been playing with the lite for a few minuts and I'm impressed. Probably going to buy the full soon.

[Vingdoloras]

So I got iHolophone.

Just like the other apps by Amidio, without reading any kind of tutorial it's pretty hard to find yourself into the app at the beginning. I'm still taking this route, because it's most fun to discover things while playing around with the app. It's amazing. I was able to produce some neat little sounds.
Recommended even for non-musicians!

[Madgarden]

Ahh, I'm planning to release a music app this summer. :) It will use the synthesizer from Sword of Fargoal...

[Bdragonst]

I already had Xewton Music Studio and now I bought BeatMaker.

[waterduck]

Ha I wish I could have hacked it No its just in safari its little online apps that are kinda like.. mini-apps and you have to be in sarfari and online for them to work

[Vingdoloras]

One thing I hate about iHolophone... It takes a long time to react on your touches (still under a second, but it hurts when improvising...)

[Gadm]

megaSynth, NLogSynth or Ellatron?

Anyone tried out Randgrid synth? http://itunes.apple.com/mx/app/randgrid-synthesizer-drum/id300765050?mt=8

[AnupTA]

iTick is a pretty good metronome app, if you need one to jam to or to set the BPM for practice.

i've seen Xewton Music Studio and it looks mindbogglingly comprehensive for a mobile app, but i wasn't too impressed with the demos on the site. Anyone's tried using it for production quality tracks? or does it work only as a musical sketchpad?

[Vingdoloras]

Was reading through lines and lines of genius recommendations, looking for a new interesting game. Didn't expect to find anything cool.

I didn't find a game, but I found an app called "Sonic Wire Sculptor". The pictures made me very sceptical, so I decided to take a look at their website. The video on there impressed me.
Take a look for yourself.
http://sws.cc/

So, does anyone have it? Is it as good as the video suggests?

[DGH94]

That looks awesome as hell!!! TOFTTing.

[Gadm]

Was reading through lines and lines of genius recommendations, looking for a new interesting game. Didn't expect to find anything cool.

I didn't find a game, but I found an app called "Sonic Wire Sculptor". The pictures made me very sceptical, so I decided to take a look at their website. The video on there impressed me.
Take a look for yourself.
http://sws.cc/

So, does anyone have it? Is it as good as the video suggests?

Hey Vingdoloras I guess you have plenty of good Music Apps, which are your favs?, is iSample any good?

[soup]

gotta admit that Sonic Wire Sculptor looks good !

costs 3.99 btw

[Vingdoloras]

Hey Vingdoloras I guess you have plenty of good Music Apps, which are your favs?, is iSample any good?

I don't have iSample. Just had a look at this in the store, looks interesting, but I won't get it right now, because it's price would burn 50% of the money I have on my iTunes account right now :P

If you don't own Beat Maker yet, get it. It's at the same price tag at the moment (or similar, I don't know the exact price right now), and it's epic. I paid two times the money it costs now and I'm still not unhappy for missing the price reduction ;)

DGH, what about Sonic Wire Sculptor? Tried it? I think I'll buy it soon.

[Vingdoloras]

Hey Vingdoloras I guess you have plenty of good Music Apps, which are your favs?, is iSample any good?

Oh, but my favs probably are DopplerPad and Music Studio. Music Studio simply is impressive, and DopplerPad is very innovative.

[Vingdoloras]

Ok, got SWS. Will be playing around with this a lot this evening, let's see what I can do with it :O

[Gadm]

Oh, but my favs probably are DopplerPad and Music Studio. Music Studio simply is impressive, and DopplerPad is very innovative.

Hey Thanks, yeah I bought Beatmaker too at 20 bucks, it is awesome, and have to agree with Music Studio, it is GarageBand toGo, I bought all the new instruments, I will check out DooplePad, looks interesting.

If someone wants recommendations: Argon Synth, very nice UI with 6 or 8 Loop Recorders, at 2 bucks is worth checking out, and Wivi Band, the sound of those instruments is so real, very good stuff.

[Haephestos]

Can someone explain why Xewton is so good?

[Vingdoloras]

Can someone explain why Xewton is so good?

Very, VERY nice track editing
More than 50 instruments (you'll have to pay extra for the lion share, but if you buy all at once, you save a lot of money compared to buying them one by one)
Very polished, everything is pretty intuitive.

[Vingdoloras]

My opinion concerning Sonic Wire Sculptor:
It's simple to learn, it's a nice new way of making and viewing sound loops, and it can even be used for making 3D drawings. But that's it. The app doesn't have much depth. It really deals with drawing 3D things and listening to them, not more. While at the beginning it's fun, I now feel that the concept could have been realised in much better ways.

If you like the way it works (drawing sound in 3D, which is the only special thing about SWS), then you should consider getting it. I don't regret buying it, but it certainly will be replaced by another music app as soon as I see something that interests me.
For the relatively low price tag (compared to most highquality music apps), you get a nice simple app to kill some time, but you won't make any big soundtracks on it.

[Vingdoloras]

Had a look at the Argonsynth homepage. Gonna replace SWS with ArgonSynth now. Looks cool, and that low price is epic!

EDIT to stop the multiposting ;-)

Do you know any free online documentation for real beginnes on how to make music? I'd love making some bigger things with the apps I have, but my knowledge about making music is veeery limited.

[drelbs]

Do you know any free online documentation for real beginnes on how to make music? I'd love making some bigger things with the apps I have, but my knowledge about making music is veeery limited.

Check out Computer Music (http://www.computermusic.co.uk/), and buy an issue of their magazine, if it's sold in your area. Great stuff, (and it'll come with a DVD with all their PC/MAC software, samples, demos, etc!) though I thought their iPhone (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/computer-music-make-music/id348888517?mt=8) offerings (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/computer-music-make-music/id330785968?mt=8) were pretty limited...

[Vingdoloras]

Hmm... From what I've read so far, I guess this magazine focuses more on software and hardware and how to use it.
What I need is something that teaches me how to start making music as a beginner. How to make it sound good, why these note combinations sound good and why others don't, etc. Stuff about music theory, not about using programmes (becuase using my PC is no problem for me :P)

[Gadm]

Hmm... From what I've read so far, I guess this magazine focuses more on software and hardware and how to use it.
What I need is something that teaches me how to start making music as a beginner. How to make it sound good, why these note combinations sound good and why others don't, etc. Stuff about music theory, not about using programmes (becuase using my PC is no problem for me :P)

I've been studying music since I was 6 years old (none of my parents learned music, but my mom saw I was interested so she took me to a school of music), I learned the called Classic Music (they use the wrong name but you understand me) Then at 11 years old I started playing rock at my school (besides the academy of music) and the teacher said I was good, so he taught me guitar, drums and bass and the basics of rock. At high school I made a band with my friends, but then they changed school. Right now I am 17, and now I am trying to do some interesting music by myself, I use Synths, Piano, Gitars etc and the ipod Apps really make a bonus, I still go to the music academy (its a long way to go =D).

After telling you my life XD, I don't know any online music classes, but I recommend this app http://itunes.apple.com/mx/app/nota/id333179169?mt=8 I bought it for my little brother to get him into music, I tested it and is a well resumed copy of the course I took since I was 6.

[paulm12]

iHolophone. Hands Down.

[MystikSun]

iHolophone. Hands Down.That was what I was thinking x) Is it THAT good?

[Vingdoloras]

I've been studying music since I was 6 years old (none of my parents learned music, but my mom saw I was interested so she took me to a school of music), I learned the called Classic Music (they use the wrong name but you understand me) Then at 11 years old I started playing rock at my school (besides the academy of music) and the teacher said I was good, so he taught me guitar, drums and bass and the basics of rock. At high school I made a band with my friends, but then they changed school. Right now I am 17, and now I am trying to do some interesting music by myself, I use Synths, Piano, Gitars etc and the ipod Apps really make a bonus, I still go to the music academy (its a long way to go =D).

After telling you my life XD, I don't know any online music classes, but I recommend this app http://itunes.apple.com/mx/app/nota/id333179169?mt=8 I bought it for my little brother to get him into music, I tested it and is a well resumed copy of the course I took since I was 6.

Looked interesting, so I got it. In my opinion it's pretty helpful :) thanks

[soup]

anyone tried this KORG iELECTRIBE
http://appshopper.com/music/korg-ielectribe

....ahhh hang on ipad only - forget this :)

[Vingdoloras]

At the moment I'm trying to make a project with Xewton Music Studio. At the moment I'm playing one of the few songs I can play on a piano, it's a piano version of Mad world (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N3N1MlvVc4) which a friend taught me a while ago. It's VERY easy to correct mistakes, change note lenghts (there's a quantisize function to make them perfect automatically. I use it to make note placement perfect, but I'm dealing with note lenghts manually). I'm nearly done with that. As soon as I'm done, I'll play around with some additional things, maybe add some slow percussion sounds, just to figure out what might sound good ;)

[djflippy]

Dedicated ReBirth thread (http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=53723)

[Vingdoloras]

Has anyone ever heard of "piezopop"? I jut saw it on the store. It's very simple, I don't know whether I should try it or not...

[Vingdoloras]

Another interesting music app: Flourish. I may test this a bit later.

http://www.creativeapplications.net/iphone/flourish-iphone-sound/

EDIT:

Nanoloop. An old one, I think it started as a homebrew application for the Gameboy
http://www.creativeapplications.net/iphone/nanoloop-iphone-sound/

[soup]

intersting site, Flourish looks good apart from the fact i have no idea whats going on :)

http://www.creativeapplications.net

been looking at some iphone music app that i'd never even heard of there....cheers :)

this is also apparently on the way to the iphone too
http://www.4pockets.com/product_info.php?p=125

looks interesting, cursioius what the price will be

[Vingdoloras]

The page I used for art apps (drawing/picture editing and music) is now a music-only page (well, except for that sketchbook mobile app). Now I got enough space for music apps :-P

[Vingdoloras]

Hmm... I don't understand reBirth xD

[soup]

just search google for "rebirth manual" and you should get enough results to get you started - it is the same as the pc version

[Vingdoloras]

I often (well, not so often, but more than once :-P) seem to receive PMs about which music apps I like and so on... So I'm gonna write a small list of all of them here, with description and everything I like/dislike about the apps.

(I'll start with Xewton right now, and add the rest later)

Music Studio:
Also known as Xewton Music Studio, but the app name has been changed to Music Studio now. I'll still refer to it as Xewton, because that name sounds catchier and it saves a bit of typing ;)
Xewton is, in my opinion, THE music app every musician should have. You can edit EVERYTHING, you can fine-tune the note placement or let Xewton automatically refine the notes you put in by using the piano roll. There's MANY instruments (you have to pay for most of them [which, if you buy the complete package, triples the app cost], but it IS definitely worth it!), all of them sound amazing! You can add some effects (like Reverb, Delay, etc) to your songs, too.
You can easily export your projects as wav or midi file.

[AnupTA]

+1 for Looptastic; I recently tried it out and the paradigm they use for live, visual mixing is simply great. The pre-packaged loop versions that come in different flavors (hip-hop, techno etc) are not for everyone. If you really want to get the best out of the application, you'd have to go for their 'Producer' version, which lets you import your own loops to mix down. The downside? Producer weighs in at 14.99$

http://www.soundtrends.com/

[NotYou]

Can you paste into Music Studio (Xewton) like you can Beatmaker?

On a related note, I can't until they allow multitasking so you don't have close and reopen apps to paste stuff between them. Making them remove the Intua library, or whatever it was called, from Beatmaker made all of those music apps soooo much more difficult to use.:mad:

[Vingdoloras]

Can you paste into Music Studio (Xewton) like you can Beatmaker?

On a related note, I can't until they allow multitasking so you don't have close and reopen apps to paste stuff between them. Making them remove the Intua library, or whatever it was called, from Beatmaker made all of those music apps soooo much more difficult to use.:mad:

You can't paste samples or anything else into xewton music maker. It has got a huge library of professionally recorded instruments (it's expensive but worth it), but you will have to stick with that.

[soup]

not out yet but check this out

http://www.blipinteractive.co.uk/

do watch the video !
wonder when it'll arrive

and on a related note just bought Argon - nice synth
not new but i somehow missed it
http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2010/01/13/argon-a-monoponic-virtual-analog-synthesizer-for-the-iphone/

and a bit better and more usable bebot ...roughly :)
http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2010/03/07/sampletoy-for-iphone/

[soup]

more music.....anyone tried this aurora sound studio
more info here
http://futuremusic.com/blog/2010/05/27/4pockets-releases-aurora-sound-studio-new-tenori-on-style-app/


and dont let the link name put you off, an excellent site for iphone music apps
http://the-palm-sound.blogspot.com/p/iphone-sequencers_31.html

[Vingdoloras]

Nanostudio looks really impressive... if it's not too expensive (don't have so much money lately), it'll be an instant-buy for me when it's out.

Also, I bought Flourish... it is fun and easy to use, but you can still make some really nice music with it. Too sad that it doesn't have any kind of synthesizer and the range of instruments is pretty limited. In addition to this, it doesn't have any export function, so if you really wanted to export your Flourish compositions, you would have to take an audio cable, plug it into your phone and computer and record the audio on the computer :(

Anyway, this will still stay on my phone for a while.

Oh, and I also recently bought nanoloop. I somehow wish I hadn't bought it... It isn't bad, but it doesn't feature anything that sets it apart from other apps. It's a bit too minimalistic.

[soup]

Dopplerpad reduced to 7.99

http://appshopper.com/music/dopplerpad

[agent59512935]

I keep seeing people talk about how great Noise.io is, but I've owned it for over a year and still have absolutely no idea how to use it. Does it actually do anything? Maybe I'm thick but the UI of this app makes absolutely no sense to me at all. All I can do is trigger tacky sounding arpeggios with various sounds.

[FrontierGuy]

Appreciate those who have mentioned our music apps, iShred and Guitar. We have a few others: PianoStudio, Cowbell Plus, along with 'LE' (lite) versions of iShred and Guitar. We also developed the guitar game Six-String for Universal Music Group.

This week we released a new app, iShred LIVE. Using an adaptor cable (we worked with Griffin on their cable: http://tinyurl.com/GuitarConnect) hook your guitar to the iPhone and iShred LIVE provides a bank of stomp box effects and amp simulator, along with tuner, metronome, and a looping song player. Anyone who's used iShred will find it as familiar and flexible in creating great guitar sounds, but this time for your real guitar.

It's a free app (additional effects cost a buck or two): http://fdgm.us/iShredLIVE

Thanks for reading...

[Vingdoloras]

Nanostudio dev plans to submit the app on July 15.

[NotYou]

I keep seeing people talk about how great Noise.io is, but I've owned it for over a year and still have absolutely no idea how to use it. Does it actually do anything? Maybe I'm thick but the UI of this app makes absolutely no sense to me at all. All I can do is trigger tacky sounding arpeggios with various sounds.

I ignored it for a long time because I didn't get exactly what it was supposed to do.
Mess around with the sounds and use the record function and you'll eventually get it. It's touch to make a song from it, but if you use it along with Beatmaker, it's a priceless app. I use a few music apps, but I use Beatmaker to bring them all together. Switching between apps is a pain on my 3G, but it'd be a ton easier to do on something that can multitask (3GS or iPhone 4).

[sid187]

i have some money put aside for when agile+peavy comes out with there guitar interface/software. i checked out the interface PRS came out with.. talk about a POS adapter.. hoping this month. crosses fingers.

chris.

[soup]

nanostudio pricing

The price for NanoStudio has been settled. Here are the regional figures:

UK - £11.99
Europe - 15.99 Euro
USA/Canada - $19.99
Australia - $23.99
Japan - 2300 YEN

NanoStudio will come complete without the need to buy further add-ons.


although there seems to be some discussion about maybe a cheaper start off price for the first couple of days

[agent59512935]

I ignored it for a long time because I didn't get exactly what it was supposed to do.
Mess around with the sounds and use the record function and you'll eventually get it. It's touch to make a song from it, but if you use it along with Beatmaker, it's a priceless app. I use a few music apps, but I use Beatmaker to bring them all together. Switching between apps is a pain on my 3G, but it'd be a ton easier to do on something that can multitask (3GS or iPhone 4).

I thought they had to remove the Beatmaker compatibility?

Anyway, I've kind of tried to do that but I feel like I'm fighting against the app to try to do even the slightest thing with it, and honestly haven't even heard much come out of that sounded too great. I was thinking the reviews on the store must have been fake but I guess a lot of people really do like this app?

[proximity1]

Nothing can replace the true feel of an instrument, but sometimes we find ourselves in a place where there aren't any guitars, drums, synthesizers, or even a piano to play.

There are many best iPhone apps available which could be great for a musician that's on-the-go. They can be used to compose, tune, play, and even keep your calendar so you'll never be late to a gig or miss an audition. So which ones are better than the rest? Not all of these iPhone music apps are free, so are you willing to spend up to $20? Even the ones for 99 cents can add up when you keep downloading and not thinking of how many you've already bought.
__________________________________________________ _________________
Used Auto Parts (http://www.autopartsinc.com) | Used Car Parts (http://www.autopartsinc.com)

[Vingdoloras]

Nothing can replace the true feel of an instrument, but sometimes we find ourselves in a place where there aren't any guitars, drums, synthesizers, or even a piano to play.

There are many best iPhone apps available which could be great for a musician that's on-the-go. They can be used to compose, tune, play, and even keep your calendar so you'll never be late to a gig or miss an audition. So which ones are better than the rest? Not all of these iPhone music apps are free, so are you willing to spend up to $20? Even the ones for 99 cents can add up when you keep downloading and not thinking of how many you've already bought.

My favourite one is Xewton Music Maker (they deleted the "Xewton", so it's just "Music Maker" now, but some still refer to it as Xewton).
A pretty nice one to play around with (but useless for real music creation since you cannot export anything) is Flourish.
DopplerPad is funny, and makes it easy to create good music. Not an essential one, but a nice addition to the collection.
Argon Synth has a low price, but it's a nice synthesizer.

Once Nanostudio is out, it will probably take Xewton's place as my most favourite music app...

[aldarich]

It will help to some extent. If you are a qualified candidate and you are being compared with some other person who is equally qualified, then special talents like music are things that will really put you over the top.

[CygnetSeven]

Can anyone recommend an app that is similar to Music Generator or Garageband?

[Stratimus]

Looking at the newest update to 8bitone, "You can Upload and Download to server"...

So does it actually support exporting now? Anyone know what means or formats?

[Vingdoloras]

Nanostuio was submitted two days ago (which means two days ahead of the schedule, which is good :D). We all hope for approval on July 20th, but let's face it, nanostudio is HUGE and Apple might need weeks to test this...

[soup]

Nanostudio For the first week of sale it will be priced at £8.99 ($14.99). The earliest it will go on sale is Tuesday 20th July.

Suspect i'll pick ths when its released - it looks stunning

oh and the last update to DopplerPad
Added support for AudioCopy/Paste 1.1. This gives support for paste into BeatMaker, named audio copy and copy history.

so that sounds as though its a tough one to ignore now :)

Here more info for what works with Beatmaker https://code.google.com/p/intua-audio-sharing/wiki/CompatibleApps


Also the music learning prog Nota has support for Retina Display now

Anyone tried MorphWiz - http://www.morphwiz.com/
looks stunning, check out the media page - and its a universal app

and heres some news about ......Beatmaker 2
http://intua.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1453

MegaSynth has just been updated and looks cool

instant beat classic is available and free

MendelSynth looks unusual

Symphony now works with ios4

Randgrid on sale for $2.99

[soup]

iComposer info
Since iComposer 2 is coming soon and it is totally different from the former versions, if you are interested in iComposer, please don't buy it for now, hopefully one month later you can download iComposer 2. According to requirements from kind customers, iComposer 2 will be a dedicated and productive music notation tool and a score reader for iPhone/iTouch instead of a sing/play toy. We have thoroughly redesigned the App and most development work is done. But before version 2 is released, we need to focus on completing new version, thus we can not respond to any new demand or question, also the forum will be closed for 1 month.


and also released is Akai SynthStation
review here http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2010/06/24/akai-synthstation-first-review/
some complaints about it now but it is a 1.0

[Vingdoloras]

Nanostudio For the first week of sale it will be priced at £8.99 ($14.99). The earliest it will go on sale is Tuesday 20th July.

Suspect i'll pick ths when its released - it looks stunning

oh and the last update to DopplerPad
Added support for AudioCopy/Paste 1.1. This gives support for paste into BeatMaker, named audio copy and copy history.

so that sounds as though its a tough one to ignore now :)

Here more info for what works with Beatmaker https://code.google.com/p/intua-audio-sharing/wiki/CompatibleApps


Also the music learning prog Nota has support for Retina Display now

Anyone tried MorphWiz - http://www.morphwiz.com/
looks stunning, check out the media page - and its a universal app

and heres some news about ......Beatmaker 2
http://intua.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1453

MegaSynth has just been updated and looks cool

instant beat classic is available and free

MendelSynth looks unusual

Symphony now works with ios4

Randgrid on sale for $2.99

People keep asking me about my opinions on music apps, but they should really ask you instead xD

[Vingdoloras]

btw taking a look at morphwiz, first glance impression was "Looks bad" but now it sounds pretty nice... haven't found price yet, gonna look for it xD

[soup]

People keep asking me about my opinions on music apps, but they should really ask you instead xD


lol naaaa just had a bit of time today and somehow ended up checking out the iphone music scene
so i thought i'd update our thread :)

[sid187]

seen a game in the feature list in the appstore today.. called "6string"

its getting closer to what i want. a guitar hero/rhythm game for the guitar.
now that amplitude has put out the irig. mine came in the mail yesterday.. id wait to buy it in the music store i pre ordered mine and had to pay 13.00 for shipping OUCH.. anyhow.

the irig is way better than PRS guitar adapter for the iphone/pod/pad.

this 6string game is basically like the virtual guitars you can buy. and lights up the notes on the given string for the song.

i wonder how hard it would be for them to add the option to use real guitar.

i sure hope someone comes out with a rhythm game now the irig is available.. and peavys link will be out soon too.. once peavey adapter its out, ill compare it to irig and see which one is the better adapter..( im bad at being a gear head) i can say the PRS adapter sucks.. granted its the cheapest.. but you get what you pay for i guess.

i think it would be cool, you could even use the same game as a teaching tool.. and sell DLC lessons.. along with game play..

chris.

[soup]

following on / up with the Akai Synthstation - this is due for release soon

http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/product/43320-akai-ipk25-synthstation-25.html

which does look entertaining :)

[sid187]

following on / up with the Akai Synthstation - this is due for release soon

http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/product/43320-akai-ipk25-synthstation-25.html

which does look entertaining :)

that is way cool.

chris.

[Vingdoloras]

Bought Morphwiz, this will keep me busy until nanostudio is released...

[Vingdoloras]

First impressions on Morphwiz:
I've seen some of the tutorial video by Jordan, he really talks about many features.

You can really customize much, but my first impression is that the dev focused a bit too much on making the app look good instead of making the design actually useful (note: I'm talking about iPhone version. It may be different in the iPad version). You can pick from a set amount of scales (I like dopplerPad much more here. You can manually add or substract keys from the keyboard and are not forced to pick from "few" [maybe not few but still not as many] choices). You can vary the sound somehow, but I haven't looked into it that much, because on this side the UI feels like a big list of sliders that has been split up into groups. Other apps definitely do it better or at least make it feel better.

That's just my first impression, though.

[marlenedegrood]

Thanks for the updates Soup .... I guess you know that you can always get a lot of the latest info from Palm Sounds (http://the-palm-sound.blogspot.com/) too.

[sid187]

thank you so much for the webpage:

http://the-palm-sound.blogspot.com/

if and when the app i have dream up of in my head becomes reality im sure that blog will post it.. lots of apps iv not even heard of just reading for a short time.. its exciting times we live in. rock on.

chris.

[soup]

Thanks for the updates Soup .... I guess you know that you can always get a lot of the latest info from Palm Sounds (http://the-palm-sound.blogspot.com/) too.

yep i acutally posted that too on page 41 :)
we may have to restart this thread soon i suspect - its getting a bit long for clarity.......opinions ?

[marlenedegrood]

yep i acutally posted that too on page 41 :)
we may have to restart this thread soon i suspect - its getting a bit long for clarity.......opinions ?

Yes, I agree this thread has a lot of very outdated info in it and may be humane to put it to rest and start a new one. It's especially nice to be able to come to a music app thread and get user opinions and maybe even tutorials. It will be a great person who sacrifices the time to get one started .... that's a hint soup :)

[adin]

I guess it would be too much to hope for our own little section? Then we could have multiple coherent conversations! ::grin::

It'd be a slow section, but full of good solid threads.

[marlenedegrood]

I guess it would be too much to hope for our own little section? Then we could have multiple coherent conversations! ::grin::

It'd be a slow section, but full of good solid threads.

Well .... The Apple Store has a section titled "Music Creation Apps" so if it's good enough for Apple then I should think it would be good enough for Touch Arcade :)

[soup]

yeah its a good point because i think one thread does get messy....i would at a minimum prefer at least 2 - so one for instruments / synths etc and another for music creation apps so beatmaker etc (yes i know there are crossovers but you get the point) - and yes i may start a new thread soon :)

[Mew2468]

I've been eyeing BeatMaker for a while . . . is it similar to Hydrogen (http://www.hydrogen-music.org/)? Can you input sounds by beat count? (If not are these any good, polished apps that can?)

Also, are there any good piano transcribing apps out yet?

https://ccrma.stanford.edu/wiki/Images/e/ec/Hydrogen_sm.png

[ReadMyLips]

You just skip trying to fruitlessly pursue musical creativity on your ipod or ipad (nanoloop is pretty awesome though) and just get logic, ableton live or pro tools. Preferably Logic though because it's awesome:D

[soup]

You just skip trying to fruitlessly pursue musical creativity on your ipod or ipad (nanoloop is pretty awesome though) and just get logic, ableton live or pro tools. Preferably Logic though because it's awesome:D

or wait until tomorrow and check out Nanostudio which looks awesome
....and if you have the slightest interest in it i suspect it will be worth picking up in the first week when its cheap...er...cheaper :)

[Gadm]

Best Piano app?, I have echo piano and the sound is great, but I wish it had a "lock keyboard" button, sometimes it moves while playing.

[marlenedegrood]

or wait until tomorrow and check out Nanostudio which looks awesome
....and if you have the slightest interest in it i suspect it will be worth picking up in the first week when its cheap...er...cheaper :)

Hoping it does come out tomorrow ... I have been sooooo looking forward to Nanostudio ..... hmmmmm ... you think it will go up in price after the first week? Or am I misunderstanding you?

[Mew2468]

Hmm. Now I've taken a look at [Xewton] Music Studio and I really like it. Is it worth getting BeatMaker if I buy Music Studio?

[soup]

Hoping it does come out tomorrow ... I have been sooooo looking forward to Nanostudio ..... hmmmmm ... you think it will go up in price after the first week? Or am I misunderstanding you?

yes definately ....they have already said so.
Price = USA/Canada - $19.99
First week = USA/Canada - $14.99
mind does not mean that i will ever go on sale again, but if you are interested and not broke i would grab it straight away.


I personally if i did not have Beatmaker would definitely put off buying it til Nanostudio is out - because it looks like a very serious competitor, oh and also because Beatmaker 2 is somewhere in the wings too - but i dont know when thats due for release - may be a while i suspect

[marlenedegrood]

Soup .... I'm hoping you can answer this.

I thought I saw a list a while back that listed all the music apps that utilized the copy/paste function between them. Do you recall such a list?

[soup]

well beatmaker had one on google....found it

https://code.google.com/p/intua-audi...CompatibleApps

dont know if thats what you meant?

[marlenedegrood]

Thanks .... I did find the one I was looking for on Palm Sounds here (http://the-palm-sound.blogspot.com/2010/02/audio-sharing-on-iphone.html)

Which is also in another form http://code.google.com/p/intua-audio-sharing/wiki/CompatibleApps

BTW .... your link didn't work but I think it's for the one I have linked above (you were missing the "o" in audio.

Thanks again:)

[marlenedegrood]

Looks like NanoStudio was a bust for coming out today. I always kinda hate it when there's a bunch of hype about a release of an app on a certain date .... and then ... it doesn't happen .... I mean .... the developers have to know that Apple is going to do what Apple is going to do as far as the review process. They are going to review the kind of apps that are the most popular .... game apps ... shoot the zombies .... match 3 .... whatever .... makes perfect business sense ... but us ... who love our music apps must wait .... and wait we will :)

[nooobynick]

Has anybody bought and received the irig? I was thinking about getting one and wanted to hear some opinions.

[soup]

Looks like NanoStudio was a bust for coming out today. I always kinda hate it when there's a bunch of hype about a release of an app on a certain date .... and then ... it doesn't happen .... I mean .... the developers have to know that Apple is going to do what Apple is going to do as far as the review process. They are going to review the kind of apps that are the most popular .... game apps ... shoot the zombies .... match 3 .... whatever .... makes perfect business sense ... but us ... who love our music apps must wait .... and wait we will :)

i agree with that but in this case you can't really blame the developers, all they did, was said when it was submitted and merely mentioned that apple says 85% of submissions are approved in 7 days, so they said that the earliest it could be out was the 20th !
ie that was not the release date from them

its just quite a few people are a bit hyped about this one :)

oh and info nicked from palm sounds
Hexaphone has arrived at a discounted price, 75% off!

Here's the description:

Hexaphone is a performance-oriented musical synthesizer for iPhone and iPod Touch, created to give musicians a flexible tool that's small enough to fit in your pocket, but powerful enough to deliver big, expressive musical performances.
Most iPhone instruments are hindered by the small screen size. The keys are too small, which means it's easy to play a wrong note.

well i've just picked it up - for 99c gotta be worth a try :)

[marlenedegrood]

i agree with that but in this case you can't really blame the developers, all they did, was said when it was submitted and merely mentioned that apple says 85% of submissions are approved in 7 days, so they said that the earliest it could be out was the 20th !
ie that was not the release date from them

its just quite a few people are a bit hyped about this one :)

:)

You are very right and it was my bad to blame the developer for hyping his app as releasing on the 20th. Good news is that he now reports that it's out of queue and into the review process ... yeaaaaa! Now let's just hope it gets approved :)

[sid187]

wish there was a music section on here. o well. anyhow guitar players if you have not seen this.. it sure looks handy, im gonna order one and will let you know if ya like. peace.

http://www.castiv.com/en/guitar-sidekick.html

chris.

[Vingdoloras]

nanostudio went from "Waiting for review" to "in review" and was approved a few minutes afterwards. Nice. Will be available in the App store sometime during the next 24 hours...

[Vingdoloras]

Wow! Correction: available in Germany! If you read this, check the appstore!

[adin]

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nanostudio/id382263651?mt=8

up in the US store!

[Vingdoloras]

Very early impression:
EPIC! Tops everything I've seen on the iPhone yet.

[marlenedegrood]

nanostudio went from "Waiting for review" to "in review" and was approved a few minutes afterwards. Nice. Will be available in the App store sometime during the next 24 hours...

It was released 2 minutes ago .... downloading now :)

[Vingdoloras]

Even more impressed by nanoStudio than expected. And btw, downloaded Hexaphone because its only .99 and I'vee seen a cool youtube video :-P

[sid187]

i wonder if this will allow guitar input in updates.
ill probably buy it to play with anyhow.. looks cool :)

chris.

[Vingdoloras]

Quick note on Hexaphone:
The idea of the instrument's design (keys that are next to each other sound good together) is so natural and makes creating something that sounds good pretty easy but the rest of the app doesn't feel as polished to me. Will keep it on my phone, but I hope for some major updates (First thing they should add is a way to create own drum loops! I hate being forced to use premade drum loops)

[Mew2468]

Well I decided to buy Music Studio and I have to say, it's an amazing tool. And it even runs perfectly on my 1st generation iPod Touch. :eek:

Perhaps I should have gotten Nanostudio . . . anybody want to do a comparison? Nanostudio's UI looks much more polished. The only voice (albeit versatile) for the keyboard in Nanostudio is the synth, right?

Edit: Why didn't I notice Nanostudio earlier . . . looks like I'll wait for another sale. BTW Blip Interactive has Nanostudio for Mac OS X and PC available for free (http://www.blipinteractive.co.uk/download.php). It's the exact same as the iOS version.

[Vingdoloras]

Well I decided to buy Music Studio and I have to say, it's an amazing tool. And it even runs perfectly on my 1st generation iPod Touch. :eek:

Perhaps I should have gotten Nanostudio . . . anybody want to do a comparison? Nanostudio's UI looks much more polished. The only voice (albeit versatile) for the keyboard in Nanostudio is the synth, right?

Edit: Why didn't I notice Nanostudio earlier . . . looks like I'll wait for another sale. BTW Blip Interactive has Nanostudio for Mac OS X and PC available for free (http://www.blipinteractive.co.uk/download.php). It's the exact same as the iOS version.

Yep they said they give it away for free on PC/Mav because PC/Mac misses multitouch and the app won't be able to compete with the REAL programmes that are available on PC/Mac. Still, this app is AMAZING!!! And you should try out the PC/Mac version.

[Vingdoloras]

the best music is that , different player can set different music that he likes.

Umm... Random advertisement post? I don't want Vibrant Fivefinger shoes lol... At first I thought it's an iPhone app xD

[soup]

nanostudio is definately impressive, should keep us all busy for a while :)

[Golden Smith]

Beatmaker
Cue.Play.DJ
Tempo
iDrum
none of those are free and i don't really know what your looking for but those are my favorite music related apps (excluding pandora/last.fm and fstream)

[soup]

hmmm is it me or should someone at least read more than one page of a 47 page thread before posting ?

[soup]

well i have had a chance to spend more than 5 minutes with nanostudio but WOW it seriously puts everything we've seen uptil now in the shade - absolutely incredible !

shame rebirth didn't get this level of love put into it :)

[sid187]

yeah all the feed back is positive. think they have a hit on their hands.

chris.

[chris1a]

Is it possible to load multiple samples into Nanostudio and map it on the (Eden?)keyboard?

Edit: Let´s say i got 3 piano samples (c2, c3, c4) and map those over the keyboard. Or are the pads the only way to load a multi-sample?

[Vingdoloras]

Is it possible to load multiple samples into Nanostudio and map it on the (Eden?)keyboard?

Edit: Let´s say i got 3 piano samples (c2, c3, c4) and map those over the keyboard. Or are the pads the only way to load a multi-sample?

You can use one sample per synth, and you have 4 synths. But you can't map samples on the keyboard as far as i know

[soup]

you can also ask here

http://forums.blipinteractive.co.uk/forum/7

the devs seems to be very helpful and active there

[chris1a]

You can use one sample per synth, and you have 4 synths. But you can't map samples on the keyboard as far as i know

Thanks, well just got it and tried it for a few minutes. Really love it, Eden sounds amazing, and the UI is really fast/responsive/intuitive. Really a complete DAW on the iDevice. Hopefully a multi sampler unit with dedicated tracks is possible to implement down the road. Definitely 5 stars from me on this one.


Edit: Soup Thanks.

[soup]

wow its already in the top 100
someone has a sucess on there hands :)

there is a small interview on palmsounds with thee developer btw.

[soup]

Jasuto Pro modular synthesizer is on sale again at 4.99

and what might be of interest to ipad / potenial ipad users is the sentence in upcoming features......native ipad support

[soup]

new video up on the developers site for FunkBox ($1.99)

http://syntheticbits.com/funkbox.html

I'd missed this completely, it lets you export your stuff too and its universal

oh and ThumbJam has just had an update and should now play nice with iOS4

[soup]

long interview about morphwiz here

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/8545002#utm_campaigne=synclickback&source=http://www.synthtopia.com/&medium=8545002

ok just finished watching it - its 35 minutes long and gives you an insight into the possibilities that are available with morphwiz, if you've got it, its worth watching

[drelbs]

Anyone having trouble with iShred / Guitar loading since their recent updates?

2nd Gen iPod Touch, 32GB iOS4.0.1, not jailbroken.

Both apps are running fine on my wife's 3GS with OS 3.1.3.

I've emailed FDG support, but haven't heard back from them yet.

[Vingdoloras]

Any impressions on FunkBox yet?

By the way, here are some songs that have been created with NanoStudio by many different people. They sound amazing!

http://soundcloud.com/tracks/search?q[fulltext]=nanostudio
http://soundcloud.com/groups/nanostudio

[soup]

some freebies

BeatBox(BtBx) - sequencer
DigitalBassLine(DB 303) - a db 303
AFC - robot synth

i wouldn't say any of these are must haves but for free have a look and make up your own mind

FunkBox - what put me off was the "this is the last feature update until a bigger 2.0 release" - i asked the devs if that was going to be a new app or an update - no reply up til now

[medianotzu]

What do you guys think of Nanostudio compared to Beatmaker? I've got Beatmaker and I like it well enough, although I can't help but wish I had something a little more intuitive, and with more available samples, as well as a piano roll. Does Nanostudio fit this bill? I also like to work from Thumbjam to Beatmaker as well, so I'm hoping that will work with Nanostudio as well.

Edit: Well I just went ahead and got Nanostudio. It does seem to fit the bill with an intuitive UI and sharing utility, and holy shit, I haven't done much with it yet but it seems like you can do a ridiculous amount with it. Freakin' awesome.

[Cilo]

Looks like Nanostudio is the equivalent to Reason on the iOS, and that isn't a bad thing.

Whatever you do don't buy Rebirth, it's horrible. I was sucked in by nostalgia since I used to use Rebirth all the time back on OS 8, but omg the port they did is a disgrace.

[Mew2468]

What score composition app does everybody recommend? I've been looking at Symphony; is there any other app that's more polished / has more features?

[Vingdoloras]

The makers of Argon Synth are working on a new app called Xenon. The interface looks pretty similar to Argon's, but the way you create music is totally different, as you use a sequencer in Xenon, and in Argon you record everything you do into one loop...

[Shatner's hairpiece]

Can anyone recommend a good beat maker, with REAL drums. The funk box is cute, but they sound fake. I need something I can use at actual gigs with backing tracks.

[Vingdoloras]

Can anyone recommend a good beat maker, with REAL drums. The funk box is cute, but they sound fake. I need something I can use at actual gigs with backing tracks.

Get NanStudio :-P it has got amazing drum sounds, and you can create your own backing tracks :-D

[Vingdoloras]

Xenon is out, so I bought it :-P gonna have a look at it now. On another note, Xenon is the app that made the amount of money I spent in apps higher than the amount of money I spent in the actual iPhone + contract... Amazing, but also a bit scary...

[soup]

oooops :)

i hope at least that its good !
awaiting your opinion

[soup]

NOT my opinion but found this and thought it informative enough to repost here


Xenon !
Managed to download this in a coffee shop before heading home on a three and a half hour train journey. Have played around most of the way and jotted down some rough thoughts below.

Xenon feels to me like the App that Akai's Synthstation should have been, and one I might have been really impresed with if I hadn't already seen Nanostudio. In fact it is testament to just how good Nano is that an App like this appears slightly lacklustre!

The App sounds all right to me and has a flexible range of synth options and a combination of mono and poly synths assigned to specific tracks. It's largely on the little things that it falls down.

Audio copy is supported at pattern song and loop level, and recognises track mute so it's easy to export all tracks separately, but audio paste into the drum pads is not supported and there is no resampling (an opportunity missed!)

The sequencer is pattern based and allows real time recording but each pattern is limited to 1 bar long which is a pain. There is also no automation beyond velocity.

Ergonomics are not bad with double tapping to reset synth controls but navigation to specific synth parts in specific paterns can feel a bit long winded. Also the patterns are just numbers on the song editor so no piano roll to recognise them by until you enter patern edit.

There is a decent drum library but no audio paste or content created in other Apps and I don't even think file transfer of samples is supported.

The delay unit is good but it's the only effect in the rack! The simple mixer can control send for each synth but it's all drum sounds or none!

I can see me using this to produce synced multi-track parts for multitrack DAW etc or to create synth sounds in areas where Xenon is strong and paste the audio into another App. The lack of audio paste however stops it being used to work up some additional tracks on top of a sub mix of content produced elsewhere and the short pattern length and lack of automation would put me off doing anything too complicated.

It's beaten Nanostudio to Audio copy and has a nice range of sound creation options but at the moment it looks to me more like a supporting App rather than a primary workspace. It wouldn't take much however to put it right up there and the price seems good for the facilities.

I'm begining to think we're being spoiled by the rate that new Apps are appearing a by the functionality that they now offer. (I need to keep remembering that this is actually a phone....)

Just some thoughts from a few hour on a train so feel free to point out any errors.

[Vingdoloras]

I agree with that review... It's nice, but has a few rough edges. If there was no NanoStudio, Xenon would be a must-have, but now it doesn't really feel special.

Still, if NanoStudip is too expensive for you, get Xenon. It's price is pretty low compared to other music apps of it's complexity.

Yet another thing: I just bought Bleep!Box. Sounded interesting to me. Let's see if it's worth the money.

[dyscode]

What score composition app does everybody recommend? I've been looking at Symphony; is there any other app that's more polished / has more features?

check out Music Studio by Alexander Gross
there is also a LITE version.

[DJCaseyD]

I would like to find a drum machine app so that I can put my ipod into my speaker system and have drum beats to play along with my guitar to. Anyone have thoughts on the best drum machine app? I don't need any music production or creation stuff, just a drum machine. I don't want something where I have to press buttons to play drums. I just want something to play a beat. For example, I put in 120bpm and it plays a beat. Something more than a metronome though. I already have that with Guitar Toolkit. Thanks

Also, I asked this another thread, but anyone ever used Amplitube with the iRig adapter?

[dyscode]

HI,

I use these one:
Drum Track8 for synth style drum. Easy Drum machine.

If you are looking for something more natural and less grooveboxy
I´d recommend iGOG by Mave Machine Labs
or
Instand Drummer: Heartbreaker by Somnia WireWorks

[jarop]

So i've just finished clearing all 50 apps of music apps worth buying. The list is massive :) So i was wondering if those experienced with some of them could leave some feedback on ones worth missing / that double up? I'm pretty big on the music scene but i really would like to avoid spending money on apps that just don't cut it, whether it be to functionality/exporting/latency issues or if they're just not good.

prices were mainly for my benefit, but they're in AUD

intua beatmaker - 1.2
idrum hedkandi - 1.2
idrum: RAZ of wu-tang - 1.2
modizer - 1.2
ocarina - 1.2
nesynth - 2.5
drum meister - 2.5
ikoto - 2.5
digidrummer - $2.5
Bebot (Synthesizer)- $2.5
idrum beatbox - 2.5
8bitone - 4
leaf trombone - 4
randgrid - 4
iDrum rock - 4
pianist - 5
guitarist - 5
bassist - 5
organist - 5
cleartune - 5
ishred - 6
basslne - 6
idrum MoS - 8
thumbjam - 9
rebirth - 9
nlog - 12
beatmaker (multitracking recorder) - $13
GuitarToolkit (chord, tuner, metronome reference) - $13
minisynth pro - 13
dopplerpad - 13
looptastic producer - 13
nanostudio (reason) - $18
Amazing Slow Downer - $18
noise.io - $18
karajan - 18
xewton music studio - 18 (18)
touch dj 2 - 24
irig - 70

and i've still been unable to locate any good sibelius-esqe apps, do they exist and function resonably well?

thank you in advance :) Maybe this list will stop others from having to go through what i did rofl

[drelbs]

iShred is on sale for $0.99! (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ishred-guitar-effects/id301203136?mt=8)

[drelbs]

jarop - here's my mini takes on these:

ocarina - A lot of fun, but there is a volume bug making this one very quiet on my iPhone 4

Bebot (Synthesizer) - Total blast, my daughter loves playing around with this one

ishred - Fantastic guitar app (as is their acoustic Guitar - wish that was DLC for iShred instead of a separate app) Currently a buck, well worth it for anyone who wants to play with a guitar on their iDevice!

thumbjam - Another fantastic app - the sampler version of Bebot, very customizable and will sync with other devices running ThumbJam

nanostudio (reason) - Wife and I love it to pieces. A DAW in your pocket.

xewton music studio - Decent studio app, sample based, I didn't like the "feel" of it as much as other apps (especially NanoStudio)

You didn't mention Jasuto, but it's a one-of-a-kind modular synth on the device. Fun to play with, especially if you want to make unique sounds. :)

[Shatner's hairpiece]

I tried instafunk drummer and I'm disappointed. For $3 I expect more than 'two chorus', one bridge, one verse, selection. the intro and outros are crap. this is a real lazy job they did. You can vary the intensity and tempo but you are still getting a drummer that can't play more than one pattern, so this is ONE song app. Funk has hundreds of patterns.

Anyone know of anything better, that includes more loops, patterns? I had fun with free version of groovemaker, especially the random options that let you change up the entire 8 track selection of loops.

Something like groovemaker, but more of FUNK direction would be perfect for me.

[djflippy]

@jarop - From your list, my top picks would be:

intua beatmaker
nanostudio
noise.io
xewton music studio
touch dj 2

I would difinitely add Sonorasaurus Rex to your wishlist.
Reactable Mobile is kinda kewl too.

Good luck!

[drelbs]

Has anyone here used iVoxel (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ivoxel/id382428641?mt=8)?

[DJCaseyD]

HI,

I use these one:
Drum Track8 for synth style drum. Easy Drum machine.

If you are looking for something more natural and less grooveboxy
I´d recommend iGOG by Mave Machine Labs
or
Instand Drummer: Heartbreaker by Somnia WireWorks

I wish I could explain it better. Basically, I just want something like you can get in a hardware-based drum machine. You put in how many bpm you want and maybe the type of beat, and it just plays it for you. My guitar teacher has one that he turns on when he is helping me with strumming patterns or to get the feel for a song I'm trying to learn. Does one of these do that or would something like nanostudio? I don't want to spend $19.99 if I don't have to, but if it does a better job, I would.