IOS MusicAppBlog

Started by Elantric, December 06, 2013, 11:08:25 AM

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Elantric

I'm forwarding this letter from John Walden of MusicAppBlog.com - perhaps some of our members could help John compile useful IOS Music production strategies

John Walden of MusicAppBlog.com wrote>
http://www.musicappblog.com



I've had some interesting emails arrive from readers this week and they have prompted this week's newsletter. Indeed, they also prompt a couple of questions so, read on, and if you can spare a minute, drop me a line back with your thoughts....

Exclusive vs non-exclusive

I received an email from a Music App Blog regular Graham Earnshaw this week in response to my recent 'Getting Music Done' post. Graham combines both desktop and iOS technology in his own music making process and his suggestion/request was for some more content aimed not at either/or but at how the two platforms can be integrated.

http://www.musicappblog.com/getting-music-done/

This suggestion is something that a couple of other email subscribers have also mentioned to me over the last few weeks; integrating iOS devices (and the apps they run) into a desktop music production environment. This is something I'm more than happy to do so 'watch this space' and, as time permits, I'll bring a thread of this into the website's content.

Anyway, as a consequence of Graham's email, I got thinking about the diverse ways we musicians might use iOS technology and, as a guide to me in thinking about the best way to approach this content, I'd be interested in hearing about your own iOS workflow, particularly if you are a recording musician. So, have a think about the following question and, if you can spare a minute, drop me a line in response.

If you are interested in recording your own music, do you do this (a) exclusively using a desktop computer, (b) exclusively using iOS, (c) a mixture of both or (d) use a different approach such as a hardware multi-track recording unit?

If you want to add a comment or two about where you are at with that process (just getting started, experienced DIY recordist, pro recording musician, etc.) then that would also be great.

Apps gone AWOL

A further email from Tristan Maduro appeared in my inbox just as I was finishing my review of the Auto-Tune iOS app. Tristan commented on what he saw as an obvious hole in the array of music iOS apps available on the iTunes App Store; a killer audio editor. This is something I commented on quite some time ago on the blog and the reason it resonated was that I've thought the same thing about pitch correction software.

http://www.musicappblog.com/audio-editor-app/

For good or bad, pitch correction gets used extensively in modern music production and, while there are a couple of iOS apps that have some of this technology available (VocaLive for example), and a whole bunch of karaoke-style apps for drunken parties that provide 'Auto-Tune effects', the only really serious attempt to do this to date has been the ReTune plugin available as an IAP in Auria. Auto-Tune iOS is far from the finished article in this regard - and it could benefit from IAA support - but for a bit of gentle automatic pitch correction it does a decent job and it is good to finally see this particular gap starting to be plugged.

http://www.musicappblog.com/auto-tune-ios-review/

My other 'missing in action' app gap would be an iOS equivalent of BFD or Superior Drummer on the desktop; a virtual acoustic drum kit app with both samples and grooves but in a 'lite' enough format to work on an iPad. This might be a big ask but it would be great to see.

So there are a couple of personal app-sized holes waiting to be filled...  but what about you? So, my second question is this....

Is there a music app, function or feature that, as yet, you think we are still missing under iOS?

As requested earlier, if you can spare the time, all answers to either or both questions in an email will be gratefully received....  And if there are some good ideas then I'll build a post to two around them for the blog.

Until next time....

Happy iOS music making,

John

John Walden
The Music App Blog 

http://www.musicappblog.com


supernicd

That's an interesting read.  As for me, I use both iOS and the desktop for producing music.  But I never integrate the two environments.  A song lives in either the tablet or on the desktop.  Interestingly, it is much more likely to actually get completed if it's on the desktop.

I'm not sure there's any particular reason for it other than that it seems hard to get tracks from one place to another.  But really I'm not sure that's true anymore...
Strat w/ GK-3, Godin LGXT
VG-99, GR-55, GP-10
---------------------------------------------------------------

Elantric


App of the week
Without wanting to make this a total habit, I think it is pretty easy to follow last week's newsletter format this week and talk about an 'app of the week'. If you have not discovered it yet, then Jonatan Liljedahl's Sector is most certainly worth a close look. Jonatan is the main man behind Kymatica and is responsible for the also excellent AUFX series of audio effects apps (I've looked at all these on the website so dig out those reviews if you have not seen them yet).

Sector is, however, a different beast altogether. While it can be described as a 'beat slicer' this really doesn't do Sector justice because there are most certainly elements of 'playable instrument', 'audio mangler' and 'creative rhythmic soul-mate' thrown in there also. One of the brilliant things about this app is how Jonatan has managed to combine a very intuitive interface with something that, should you spend the time with it, is also very deep. As a tool for creating endlessly interesting rhythmic variations from even the most basic of drum loops, Sector is a class act.

In my own testing, Sector worked very well and, with Audiobus and IAA support, the potential to work the app into your music productions is obviously there. Jonatan has the ability to sync to MIDI clock lined up for the first update and this will make locking the app to iOS DAWs like Cubasis possible.

If I could get a version of Sector for my desktop music system, I'd buy it in a flash; this is a brilliant bit of software and, if you like to take your drum (or other instrument) loops apart and reassemble them in creative ways, then check out the full review on the blog.

http://www.musicappblog.com/sector-review/

App of the week (part deux)

I'm also happy to repeat a 'part 2' this week; As a guitar player and iPhone owner, it was great to see BIAS come to the iPhone this week. What was even more impressive was that (a) it sounds just as good as the iPad version and (b) given the somewhat more compact screen format of the iPhone, Positive Grid have managed to retain a very similar user interface experience.

It somehow doesn't seem like it ought to be possible to coax guitar tones this big out of a device as small as an iPhone...  but BIAS manages it. If you are an iPhone-owning guitar player - and even if you already own the iPad version - BIAS for iPhone is very tempting. And, for just a day or two, is at an introductory price.

http://www.musicappblog.com/bias-iphone-review/

Other news

The last couple of days has also seen some other app activity. For example, JamUp Pro has been updated by Positive Grid. IAA is now supported and the iPhone version also now plays happily with BIAS for iPhone. Equally, available today, Effectrix has been updated. I haven't had a proper chance to check this out but Sugar Bytes have apparently improved the IAA support amongst a few other fixes. Effectix is a fabulous app and, when I've experimented with the update a little further, I'll report back on the blog.

Another app that I haven't got around to reviewing as yet - Stroke Machine - has also been updated this week. I know that lots of readers have been using this app for a while and love the sound, although the interface does take some getting used to :-)  I encountered a few technical issues when I experimented with the initial release but, once I've explored the update (which I think has addressed some of the issues I had), I'll line it up for a full review.

Finally, Cakewalk's Z3TA+ synth app landed yesterday in the iTunes App Store. If the iOS version is a good as the desktop version, then it ought to be very good indeed. Again, if I can get my head around it over the next few days, I'll get a review online during next week.

Until next time....  have a good week and keep making music.....

Best wishes,

John

John Walden
The Music App Blog

GovernorSilver

Great blog.  I recorded three sound files of my acoustic guitar, before I realized that Sector works with only one file at a time.  I plan to append the three files into one, then let Sector mangle it.  8)

Elantric

John Walden wrote>

And you favourite app so far is....?

I started the email list for the Music App Blog back at the beginning of November last year (4 months or so ago) and, about 600 subscribers later (I'm suitably amazed), it is still growing at a healthy rate each week. Thanks to everyone for signing up to come along for the ride....

As you might recall, one of the incentives I offered for signing up the list was the free '25 apps to get you started' guide. This was never really intended for the experienced iOS musician - they could easily put their own list together that would be just as good as mine I'm sure - but was more aimed at the newbie user. And, while I've had lots of friendly banter with folk asking why app X or Y or Z wasn't in the list, I know many subscribers who are just starting out on their iOS music making journey have found it useful; a kind of 'safe' list of apps where they are unlikely to get burned too badly :-)

However, we have seen some tremendous new apps released recently and, 4 months down the line, I think the '25 apps' guide is in need of pretty serious overhaul. So, if you have a minute - and an opinion you would like to share - drop me a line with a suggestion for your absolute 'must have' iOS music app. It doesn't matter whether the app is old or new, or whether you think the choice is obvious or a bit more left-field, just let me know and it will be a big help to me as I think about giving the guide a refresh.

Volunteers wanted: an update

A few weeks back I suggested the possibility of a new section for the website based upon users explaining how they put together a track of their own with the help of iOS technology. I've now had a couple of exchanges back and forth with those that expressed an interest in being involved in a trial run.

Just by way of an update - and thanks to the feedback I received from those volunteers - I think we have now settled on an initial format. I'll be circulating that to the subscribers taking part in the next few days. My hope is to wait until I've got a few of these 'how I made this track....' examples complete before I put them online but I'll keep you posted on further progress.

What? No app of the week?

Of course there is....   In fact, there could well have been two but one possible candidate - Drum Perfect - I haven't finished writing up for the blog yet (it sounds great by the way but there are some interesting design choices in the interface that some might find unusual). The other, however, is a nailed-on synth superstar; Cakewalk's Z3TA+.

If you have used this synth in its desktop incarnation they you will already be aware of just what it can do. If not, and you have not already succumbed to App Store temptation, then do check out the full review. This is a top-notch synth app and up there with the very best of the current iOS crop.

http://www.musicappblog.com/z3ta-review/

Oh, and with updates to Audio Mastering, iFretless Bass, Gestrument, Effectrix, JamUp Pro, WOW Filterbox and Gadget over the last seven days or so, it has been quite a busy week for iOS music. You can catch up with all that news in more detail here.....

http://www.musicappblog.com/category/news/

Until next time....  have a good week and keep making music.....

Best wishes,

John

John Walden
The Music App Blog 

Elantric

#5
John Walden wrote>
App of the week

It seems there is barely a week that now goes by without some brilliant new iOS music app hitting the App Store and putting temptation in our path. This week, my personal highlight would have been the first release of Final Touch from Positive Grid

http://www.musicappblog.com/final-touch-review/

As an app aimed at DIY mastering, Final Touch obviously has a very well-established iOS competitor in Igor Vasiliev's Audio Mastering. The two apps make for a very interesting comparison. However, one of things that really appeals to me is how iOS provides a platform where an indie developer like Igor can go side-by-side with something from a larger developer and still make a competitive product (OK, PG are probably still a relatively modestly sized company in the broader scheme of things).

Final Touch probably offers more in terms of raw features and detailed control but Audio Mastering is perhaps a touch less intimidating to the new user. When I bring my own (admittedly rather conservative) approach to mastering using these apps, both can achieve very credible results for my own needs. Whatever your own personal preference, however, competition is a good thing for us consumers and the app store makes it possible for competition to exist between developers regardless of their scale of operation.

Update of the week?

OK, so this is a rather arbitrary category but the update to Sector from Jonatan Liljedahl also got me bouncing around my iPad-based studio this week. I absolutely love what this app does and, in bringing a whole range of excellent new features (the highlight of which is the ability to use MIDI Clock sync so that playback and tempo of Sector can lock to a suitable iOS DAW), Jonatan has made a great app even better.

http://www.musicappblog.com/sector-update/

Next week's 'App of the week is....'

No, I can't see in to the future but, as the Audiobus team have confirmed today that Audiobus 2 is going to arrive next Thursday, then I'll eat my iPad cover if another iOS music app arrives during the week that tops that release.

http://www.musicappblog.com/audiobus-2-news/

I can't wait.....

How I made this.....

Finally, a quick note to say 'thank you' to those brave readers who volunteered to be crash test dummies in the site's new 'Reader Track: How I made this....' section. I've already had some very positive feedback from other readers and a number of additional folk who have asked how they can get involved.

Having got the initial format bedded down a little (it might evolve with time but, for the moment, seems to work pretty well), I'm now happy to call for more volunteers. So, if you want to get your own track featured in this section, then just reply to this email and I'll happily send you the full instructions. It's not a difficult or protracted process (deliberately so) so, go on, give it a go and share your workflow with other iOS musicians.

http://www.musicappblog.com/user-tracks-intro/

That's it for this week so, until next time....  have a good week and keep making music.....

Best wishes,

John

John Walden
The Music App Blog 


http://www.musicappblog.com/music-app-blog-archives/

Elantric

App of the week? No need to even ask....

As I suggested would be the case in last week's newsletter, I don't think there is much debate about 'App of the week' this week; Audiobus 2 was always going to be in a class of its own. I suspect most of the newsletter subscribers are already Audiobus owners and users. They will need no convincing and will, therefore, have already downloaded the free update and paid the modest fee for the IAP to access all the available features.

However, if you are still finding your feet with iOS music technology, from the perspective of those of us who have 'been there, done that' for a little longer, it would be difficult to think of why you wouldn't want this tool sitting on your iOS device. While I've only had a limited time to spend with Audiobus 2 since its release yesterday, and as I documented on the blog, my experience so far has been overwhelmingly positive.

http://www.musicappblog.com/audiobus-2-review/

The key new features - presets, State Saving, multiple Effects slots and multiple audio signal chains - all have huge potential, both from a workflow perspective but also from a creative one. What's more, the interface design seems slick and smooth. Let's all hope that our favourite apps get full Audiobus 2 support - including State Saving - as soon as possible. I suspect app developers are already getting plenty of 'When will this be implemented....?' emails J

All mixed up

While I appreciate that your favourite iOS recording software might not be the same as mine, I know there are a lot of subscribers who use Cubasis as at least one of their recording platforms. As a Cubase user of many years standing, it was a very natural choice for me to go down the Cubasis route. Cubasis is not, of course, the complete deal and, impressive though the current version is, it is still missing a couple of key features.

Perhaps the most significant of these - and the one that gives Auria a distinct edge over Cubasis if you are only interested in audio recording - is automation. Steinberg announced a while back that automation was 'in development'. However, it was great to hear that v.1.8 - including automation features - is to be with us before the end of the month. There is a teaser video available that shows the system working and, while the details are still a little sketchy at present, it does look like it has considerable potential.

http://www.musicappblog.com/cubasis-update-teaser/

The ability to automate a mix is now considered a fundamental part of music production and, while Cubasis already offers a great recording environment for both audio and MIDI, as a platform for actually mixing, automation is going to be a big step forward. Fingers crossed Steinberg can maintain their proposed delivery schedule.

Giving it all away

If you have been on the site today you will have seen that I'm running a giveaway for Igor Vasiliev's Audio Mastering app over the weekend. Audio Mastering has just been updated to v.2.4 and Igor has added some excellent new features to what is already a great app. However, I can only run these sorts of giveaway because of the generosity of developers - little and large - who are prepared to cough up some promo codes for me. I know these giveaway are popular with the readers (and you as subscribers) and I would, therefore, like to thanks developers like Igor for their continued support. If you are lucky enough to get pulled out of the hat at some point, do feel free to make a noise about it on whatever social media platforms you might inhabit or leave a 'thank you' for the developer via the blog's comments system; I'm sure they would all appreciated it :-)

Until next time, have a great week and make sure to get some music played or made....

Best wishes,

John

John Walden
The Music App Blog

mbenigni

QuoteHowever, it was great to hear that v.1.8 - including automation features - is to be with us before the end of the month.

Fantastic!  Thanks for the heads-up, Steve.

Elantric

Bus routes
As I mentioned in last week's newsletter, having given Audiobus 2 a bit of a performance workout on my iPad Air and iPad 3 (albeit in a very unscientific fashion), I thought I might do a bit of a similar experiment comparing Audiobus 2 and IAA. Having been impressed with just how complex a setup I could create using the new Audiobus 2 feature of multiple audio lanes - my 'five lane highway' setup - I wondered how IAA might compare with the same sort of app combinations.

This was an interesting comparison and you can checkout a full discussion on the website:

http://www.musicappblog.com/audiobus-2-vs-iaa/

In my experiment at least, the overall performance differences between the two technologies were not significantly different and, while both bring their specific advantages in terms of workflow, for me at least, one conclusion was pretty clear; all other things being equal, State Saving currently gives Audiobus 2 an edge and, providing that technology can be rolled out to other iOS music apps sooner rather than latter, it really is a significant time-saver in terms of workflow efficiency.

One man (or woman) and his blog

As some of you will already be aware, Doug Wood, who runs thesoundtestroom YouTube channel, was taken ill and admitted to hospital earlier this week. As a result, he has been offline for a week or so. Doug does a lot to support the iOS musician community so I'm sure we will all want to wish him well. Thankfully, the news is now a little more positive....

Also somewhat sad, although obviously in a different way, is the news that Alex at the iDesignSound sound website has decided to close the site. This was one of the first websites I found when I first started to get into iOS music technology and it is a shame to see it now disappear. I don't know the details involved other than Alex has other commitments/interests he now needs to pursue but the site will be missed....

All of which got me thinking about just how dependant the whole iOS musician community is upon a relatively small number of online information sources. I've shared a few thoughts about that on the blog:

http://www.musicappblog.com/ios-music-technology-industry/

While I've focused on the journalist side of the 'industry', there are other issues about the way the financial aspects of iOS music technology works, and in particular how app developers (big and small) can make a profit (and therefore stay in the market), that are worthy of consideration. One thing is for certain; the industry as a whole needs to generate sufficient income from users if it is going to be able to survive and support those users. Like it or not, money makes the iOS music technology world go around.....  Anyway, read the piece and if you want to share your thoughts, I'd be interested to hear from you.

Until next time....  have a good week and keep making music.....

Best wishes,

John

John Walden
The Music App Blog

http://www.musicappblog.com/


Elantric

One man (or woman) and his blog - part 2
As many of you will already be aware - and as I mentioned last week - Doug Wood, who runs thesoundtestroom YouTube channel, was taken ill recently and admitted to hospital. His wife Jo is posting updates on a thread over at the Audiobus Forum and, thankfully, he is now home again and slowly improving. If you get the chance, hop over to the Audiobus site and send Doug some positive vibes - I'm sure he will appreciate it...

http://forum.audiob.us/discussion/4232/doug-thesoundtestroom/p7

Want to help raise the iOS music profile?

As I mentioned in the newsletter last week, I posted a discussion piece on the blog about the current status of iOS as a platform for music production:-

http://www.musicappblog.com/ios-music-technology-industry/

Given what prompted me to write the piece, I focussed on the way in which journalists, bloggers and the wider music technology press might have an important role to play in promoting the iOS platform. The article attracted quite a lot of comments from the site's readership and there were some really interesting observations made. In addition, Tim Webb over at discchord posted an interesting follow-up piece and that also created some discussion:-

http://discchord.com/blog/2014/4/18/music-app-blog-reports-i-am-important.html

The various comments to these two posts got me thinking of a number of further issues. However, the one that got me most interested was the idea of how iOS music technology industry might get some leverage out of established and well-know artists who, in some way or another, already use iOS music technology in their own work. What would be great to see is that (random?) world-wide hit that just happened to have been created on an iPad in someone's bedroom but, equally, it would be interesting also if it was just the occasional well-known name using iOS for demos or guitar practice or as a synth sound source at gigs....

I mentioned one example a while back involving Elvis Costello:-

http://www.musicappblog.com/elvis-costello-ipad/

... but I'm sure there must be plenty more like this.

And that's where you come in. If you know of any examples like the Elvis one, then drop me a line. It doesn't have to be a mega-name (I'm not sure Elvis is now but he was at one stage and is still a well respected musician) nor something that was done exclusively on iOS; just any example you have heard of where said artist has made use of iOS music technology in some way. If I get a decent number of suggestions then I'll dig a little deeper and follow a few of them up...  and if there is enough to go on, then I'll write a follow-up post for the blog.

App of the week?

This week, the app I've had the most few with has been birdStepper. It's sort of an 'Effectrix-lite' kind of an app, a breeze to use and can create some great audio effects. You do need to ware sunglasses though J

http://www.musicappblog.com/birdstepper-review/

Next week, I'm looking forward to getting stuck into b-step - a new step sequencer app from MonoPlugs. I'll keep you posted....

Until next time....  have a good week and keep making music.....

Best wishes,

John

John Walden
The Music App Blog 

http://www.musicappblog.com/


Elantric

App of the week?

There were a few decent contenders of app of the week this week. For example, I posted a review of dot Melody which is the latest release from Olympia Noise Co. This is the team that gave us Chordion and I'm a big fan of that app as it allows even a keyboard numbty like me to bash out MIDI chord progressions with ease. However, dot Melody is a slightly different beats as, while it can generate MIDI data to send to other apps, it is much more of a music creation tool.

There are similarities to apps like NodeBeat and to Figure but, in the end, I think dot melody is it's own thing....  and it manages to be deceptively simple to use which also acting as a spark for music ideas that, for me at least, I'm not sure I would have come up with without the app.

http://www.musicappblog.com/dot-melody-review/

However, the other obvious contender for me is Crystalline from Holderness media and that launched today. Christopher Rice has already given us apps like Echo Pad, Swoopster and the brilliant Stereo Designer and, if you liked those audio effects, then you are pretty sure to also like Crystalline. I've only had a short while with the app, and it most certainly is a niche effect, but, in the right context, it sounds great. I'll post a review in a day or two but, if swirly, swooshy reverb ambiences are your thing, don't let that stop you downloading it in the meantime and having some fun :-)

Update of the week?

Two contenders here also for me; Audio Mastering and Z3TA+. Audio Mastering has moved to v.2.5 and adds some excellent new features to what is already a brilliant app. In Z3TA+, Cakewalk have addressed what was the key missing ingredient; comprehensive MIDI support. The new MIDI Learn features is excellent and allows you to create presets for different hardware controllers. This is a top-notch virtual synth and with these new features is a much better bet for use in a live context as well as in the studio.

http://www.musicappblog.com/audio-mastering-update-2-5/

http://www.musicappblog.com/z3ta-update/

Happy Birthday Palm Sounds!

Finally, congratulations to Ashley Elsdon who runs the excellent Palm Sounds mobile music website as, this week, the site celebrates its 8th birthday.

http://www.musicappblog.com/palm-sound-8th-birthday/

Back when the Music App Blog was not even a twinkle in my eye and I was a new iPhone owner, Palm Sounds was one of the first resources I found that got me interested in the music possibilities of my new phone. It is still a great resource and I'm a regular visitor. Having run the Music App Blog for less than 2 years, I think I can appreciate just what a commitment Ashley has put in and all of us mobile musicians should be grateful for his efforts. If you get the chance, pop over to Palm Sounds and say 'thanks' to Ashley and wish the site a happy birthday....

Until next time....  have a good week and keep making music.....

Best wishes,

John

John Walden
The Music App Blog

http://www.musicappblog.com/


Elantric


The guitar's the star (except when it's a MIDI guitar)
If you have been dipping into the Music App Blog for a little while you will be well aware of my insecurities as a keyboard player :-)  Indeed, I lay no great claim to being a stellar guitarist either (you know, the old line that the retired gunslinger always used to the young rookie who fancied himself just a bit too much... 'no matter how fast you are kid, there is always someone faster....') but I get by in my own pentatonic (or should that be catatonic?) sort of a way.

However, given that I am also a music technology nut, and I love synths and virtual instruments of all sorts, I've always been waiting for the next great thing to come along in the field of MIDI guitar; the technology that was finally going to allow me to play my classic rock licks without compromise and turn them into MIDI data for a sample-based Xylophone....  20 years on and it still hasn't happened. Now, the world without blues on a Xylophone is probably a better place but it would be nice to have that technological breakthrough anyway in case I (and other guitar players) could find something musically interesting to do with it.

All of which is background to explain why I had a bit of a MIDI guitar week this week. I reviewed both the YouRock Guitar hardware and Jam Origin's iOS MIDI Guitar app based upon audio-to-MIDI conversion.

http://www.musicappblog.com/yourock-guitar-review/

http://www.musicappblog.com/midi-guitar-review/

The YouRock has been around for a while and the current model is the 'gen 2' version. It's an interesting concept and, because it uses pressure sensitive triggers on the neck to generate notes rather than some sort of pitch or frequency detection processes, there is no latency between hitting a note and the MIDI output. It is, therefore , a very response device.

There are downsides though; no string bending (other than via the whammy bar although that works well enough), rapid strumming is still a no-no and, for someone just taking a first peek into the rather murky world of MIDI guitar, it's not a pocket money investment (unless you get way more pocket money than I do).

Jam Origin's MIDI Guitar app, however, is a different proposition. Yes, it still has its quirks and requires quite considerable modifications to your playing technique (and still no string bending or rapid strumming) but it is at least an inexpensive way of giving the technology a try. In fact, testing the app out is free although there is an IAP to fully unlock all the features. If you are a guitar player who has somewhat limited keyboard skills, this is a brilliant place to start with MIDI from a guitar. Check it out....

What stops you making music?

There have been a number of occasions when I've asked the email newsletter subscribers a question or two about their music making habits and preferences and these always cough up some interesting - and sometimes really surprising - answers. A few months ago, I touched upon the issue of 'getting music done' and how many of us, myself included on a regular basis, manage to spend all this time learning about music technology only to spend very little time using said technology to create some actual music.

http://www.musicappblog.com/getting-music-done/

Anyway, I know I've approached this question with you before but perhaps in a less direct fashion. This time, let's just go for the jugular....  if you have a minute, send me a one-liner email back and let me know....

What's the one thing that stops you making the music you would like to make?

I don't mind what the answers are; your significant other, your work life, your kids, your goldfish, doing the housework, a specific skill you think you are lacking or perhaps even something that's missing in terms of the music technology you have available.....  just one thing that you think represents your most difficult bottleneck.

If you feel able to share (be as honest as you are comfortable with) then drop me a quick line. What I'm hoping is that a few replies might sow some seeds of ideas for me...  and perhaps lead to some new articles for the blog. Heck, and maybe even some solutions for you....

Anyway, hope to hear from you soon...  and until next time....  have a good week and here's hoping that this week brings you some time to actually make some music :-)

Best wishes,

John

John Walden
The Music App Blog

http://www.musicappblog.com/




Elantric

Thank you all....
A big 'thank you' to all those who took the time to respond to my question posed in last week's newsletter. You might recall I was looking for suggestions as to the most significant bottleneck that was stopping you making your iOS music. I got all sorts of answers; interesting, informative, amusing and, in a couple of cases, unrepeatable J

However, there were two themes that popped their heads out above all the others as causes of productivity blocks. First, several readers suggested their key issue was being able to capture an idea quickly before the tiny spark of inspiration slipped away. Interestingly, this included times when they were not in their usual 'writing space' or home/project studio; just out and about and trying to grasp an idea before it disappears.

Second, and this is something I've discussed before on the blog, a good number of readers identified technology overload as a key problem. In particular, many of you commented that you had lots (and lots) of very good music apps (and there are a great many of them to be had) but, because you had so many, you didn't feel you ever quite mastered any of them or knew which specific combination of apps to turn to when you wanted to get an idea started. In short, the problem was too much time experimenting with apps and not enough time making music.

While these are two different issues, they do have something in common; if you are going to be productive with your iOS music making, you need the right app at the right time. Given just how many of you identified one or other of the two issues outlined above, I suspect this might be a theme I should look at in some future blog posts....  and as getting some ideas about what the readership's 'needs' were was the key reason behind asking the question in the first place, I guess that's job done. I'll give this some thought and get back to you via the blog J

Best music apps ever?

Of course, the App Store is stuffed full of music apps and, while there are some that are best avoided, there are a large number of very good musical tools available and, in the main (and compared to desktop equivalents), available at pocket-money prices. So how to you pick 'the right app' mentioned earlier to have with you at 'the right time'?

There is no 'one size fits all' answer here but - and as email subscribers you have all seen this document - one of the reasons I produced my own '25 apps to get you started' guide was to try and give new iOS musicians (not really the 'old hands'; you could easily create your own list that was just as good as mine) a bit of a heads-up and direction towards the 'best of the best'.

I compiled the first edition of that guide back in November 2013 just prior to launching the email newsletter. As of last week, new subscribers are now getting the second edition as I've just (6 months in) updated it. This was an interesting exercise. There were a good number of the apps included within the original version that most certainly still make the list (and, as you will know, it actually included more than 25 apps; there were some categories where I identified a few to choose between); Garageband, Audiobus, Cubasis and Auria, for example, are among those that still make the new version of the guide.

However, what surprised me most was just how many new apps - apps that have only really appeared within the last 6 months or so - that I found myself considering for inclusion. Gadget, Caustic, Stereo Designer and Sector would be obvious examples here but there were a lot of others also.

All of which is a leader to say two things. First, iOS music technology - on the app front at least - is still moving incredibly fast and it perhaps shouldn't be surprising therefore that new (and some old) iOS musicians find app overload a bit of an issue. Second, if you are new to the newsletter (and didn't sign up in the last week or so) and want to get hold of a copy of the updated guide, then just drop me an email.  Once I've collected a few names I'll find the best method to get a copy of the new edition out to you as efficiently as possible.

Until next time....  have a good week and keep making some music J

Best wishes,

John

John Walden
The Music App Blog

http://www.musicappblog.com/

Elantric

Update heaven....
It seems that every week brings a number of new - and potentially interesting - music apps to the iTunes App Store and, as one of the primary things I do on the Music App Blog is app reviews, I've got an ever growing list of things I'd like to look at but, as yet, haven't quite got around to....

However, this week, I think it was the updates that really took the headlines as some of the long-standing (as much as anything is long-standing when it comes to iOS) and most popular iOS music apps got updated. For example, Synthecaster, Launchpad, ThumbJam, DrumJam and Auria all bought combinations of bug fixes and significant new features to existing users (free of charge don't forget; not something you often see in the desktop music software world) and you can read about all of these on the blog; just scan through the posts for the last few days....

http://www.musicappblog.com/

Caustic also got a significant update to v.3.1.0. This really is a brilliant piece of software and, providing you can get along with the rather retro graphical style, it is about as close as iOS currently has to Reason (admittedly, a early version of Reason without audio tracks) for a virtual rack-based approach to electronic music production. With a new synth instrument included, some powerful new features for the Modular synth and the much requested support for Audiobus added amongst some other things, this is a great step forward. Oh, and if you don't already own it, you never know, you might win a copy in the giveaway that's running over the weekend. Many thanks to developer Rejean Poirier of Single cell Software for providing the copies for me to give away :-)

http://www.musicappblog.com/caustic-update/

Update of the week....

Of course, at a personal level - and as a self-confessed Steinberg fan - my update of the week was Cubasis v.1.8. Whether I was a Steinberg user of the desktop or not, Cubasis would still hold a lot of appeal for me under iOS; the interface is slick, it strikes (for me at least) a good balance between the feature set and a streamlined workflow and, most of all, it supports both audio and MIDI recording.

http://www.musicappblog.com/cubasis-update-v-1-8/

And now it also features a pretty comprehensive automation system so, as well as a good platform for tracking, it has now become a pretty good one for actual mixing. This is a pretty big step forward for Steinberg with Cubasis and I think it is to their credit that they are continuing to develop the feature set of the app. Having spent a little time with the v.1.8 update, so far at least, I'm pretty impressed. There are a couple of things that I've found a bit surprising and, like any application, it is always possible to think of additional features you would like to see...  Anyway, I hope to do a full review of the update next week so I'll cover that ground in more detail then....

Until next time....  have a good week and keep making some music :-)

Best wishes,

John

John Walden
The Music App Blog

http://www.musicappblog.com/

Elantric

Master your muse
As you might recall, about three weeks ago I asked a question in the newsletter about things that readers see as bottlenecks in their iOS music workflow. I got lots of interesting replies but, of a couple of themes that seemed most common, the issue of being able to quickly capture a musical idea (before that idea evaporates) was top of the agenda.

Of course, the reason for asking the question was to see if I could think of anything that might help in terms of unblocking the bottlenecks....  Hence, today, I've posted a piece on the blog about 'Mastering your muse'...

http://www.musicappblog.com/master-muse/

The essential idea in this post is to identify a core set of iOS music apps that can be used to capture basic musical ideas very quickly; no fuss, no frills, just grab it while you can.

Anyway, I'll be interested in your thoughts on the approach I've suggested and the short list of apps I identified as my selections for each aspect of the task. And if you want to suggest some alternatives to my choices, then please either leave a comment on the post or drop me an email in reply.

Update of the (last) week....

The other thing that occupied a decent chunk of my iOS music activity this week was exploring the recent Cubasis v.1.8 update and the new automation system that it brings. I posted a full review of the update earlier in the week:

http://www.musicappblog.com/cubasis-1-8-full-review/

I have to say that the more I've explored this, the more impressed I've become. Is it perfect? Well, no of course it is not, and I'm sure the iOS development team at Steinberg are as aware of the limitations in the current implementation of the automation system as any of us regular users. Equally, ten minutes after we take the automation system for granted, we can all think of the next 'essential' feature we need to see in v.1.9....

Don't miss the wood for the trees though; Cubasis is now a very capable recording, arranging and (at last) mixing environment. For those elements of the task (and not considering the microphones, preamps, esoteric analog hardware, beautiful vintage instruments and top-notch recording spaces), it is more powerful than anything available when your favourite 'classic' albums from the 1960s or 1970s were recorded.

Don't get me wrong; having the latest and greatest tools is always a nice position to be in but don't let not being in that position stop you from creating something. Cubasis will allow you to create some great music....  providing, of course, you have some great music to create :-)

Spread the iOS music word....

Some of you might have read the piece I posted a few weeks ago about the iOS music technology industry being 'not quite mainstream':-

http://www.musicappblog.com/ios-music-technology-industry/

That started quite a conversation both at the Music App Blog and on other sites such as discchord. Another article that was part of the reason that got me thinking about this issue was published in Sound On Sound magazine a couple of months ago in their regular 'Sounding Off' column:-

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr14/articles/sounding-off-0414.htm

In that article, Peter Wavell documented some of his own frustrations at the iPad and iOS as a music-making platform. While there were some sentiments that Peter expressed that I had some sympathy with, I did feel that the humble iPad was getting a bit of a bad rap...  so I wrote a response piece. That was published in the current (June 2014) issue of the magazine and, if you don't regularly pick up the print copy, you can read the article here:-

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jun14/articles/sounding-off-0614.htm

Feel free to get back to me with your thoughts on the two articles or, better still, hop onto the SOS Forums and stick up for the iPad there. Perfect it may not be but brilliant it still is....

Until next time....  have a good week and keep making some music :-)

Best wishes,

John

John Walden
The Music App Blog

http://www.musicappblog.com/

Elantric

Why iOS rocks....

This has been a pretty quiet week in terms of mega-star app releases but that doesn't mean there hasn't been plenty of interest for iOS musicians. Indeed, three apps caught my eye...  not because they are world beating or 'must have' apps for the iOS musician (unless, of course, you 'must have' everything just to keep your app habit suitable fed)....  but because each, in their own way, demonstrates why iOS-based touchscreen devices are such a good platform for making music with.

I looked at all three of these apps - Oscilab, vidibox and Earhoof - in varying details on the blog this week. They all do very different tasks but they all excel in the way the exploit the touchscreen to open up new ways of interacting with their controls to create music (and, in the case of vidibox, music video). There are elements to all three apps that would be much more difficult to implement on a desktop computer platform without a touchscreen.

In the lab....

In some respects, Oscilab is not the finished article; no Audiobus, no IAA and no MIDI. In others, however, it is a brilliantly conceived electronic music production tool that crosses the boundary between user-based composition and software generative music creation. The really interesting thing is how the user draws and manipulates waveforms in various ways on the touchscreen....

I've only scratched the surface of what Oscilab can do and I'll try to get around to a full review of the app soon. However, the quality of the sound is great and the interface a joy to use. And, apparently, Audiobus support is on its way....

http://www.musicappblog.com/oscilab-launches/

Video makes the music star

As iOS-based musicians (and computer-based musicians in general), we can all define our own set of tools that we require to complete a piece of music. With the musical elements, we are in our comfort zone (relatively speaking). However, adding some visuals can be a great way to open up addition routes to promote your carefully crafted music.

If you don't have, and can't face the prospect of acquiring, video editing skills that match your music making skills, then vidibox might be a worthwhile option. This app essentially allows you to 'play' video clips rather like Launchpad plays audio loops and the touchscreen is exploited to the full in that process. Yes, you need a source of some interesting video footage to get the best from it but, even for a novice 'video producer' (that is, someone who knows next to nothing), it is then insanely easy to create some eye-catching visuals to go with your audio.

http://www.musicappblog.com/vidibox-review/

If you have a finished music mix that you want to create a quick video for this is a cool option. As described in the review, you might have to use the app in a slightly unconventional fashion (it is really designed for video DJs), but it is a doddle to use.

On the hoof

I have to admit I was just a bit baffled when I first saw Earhoof but it didn't take long to see the light. In essence, this app provides you with a means of creating rhythmic patterns but this is unconventional stuff - no straight drum or percussion loops - more electronic pulses and percussion.

http://www.musicappblog.com/earhoof-review/

As with the other two apps discussed above, the interface is brilliantly design to exploit the touchscreen and the way you can use a combination of one and two fingered gestures to create an every changing rhythmic performance is brilliant. Fortunately, Earhoof is already Audiobus compatible so it is easy to use as a source of inspiring rhythmic beds in a wider musical context. MIDI Clock sync is apparently on the way which will make this even easier....

iOS rocks....

Whatever the other limitations of an iPad compared to a desktop computer, because of the way the developers of the three apps mentioned above have exploited the touchscreen interface, all three offer you something that a standard desktop platform cannot currently match. These are tools for musicians that are, in some ways, simply better than what can be done on a more powerful desktop computer that lacks a touchscreen interface.

In other words....  iOS rocks.... :-)

Until next time....  have a good week and keep making some music :-)

Best wishes,

John

John Walden
The Music App Blog

http://www.musicappblog.com/


Elantric

Roadtrip part deux....
If you happen to have popped by the website in the last couple of days then you might well be aware that, as back in March, I'm on a bit of a roadtrip this week with my wife. The trip is part of a fairly major life changing relocation project that we have been working towards for quite some time...  it's exciting, challenging but also just a tad on the scary side... so do wish us luck.

http://www.musicappblog.com/roadtrip-time-part-deux/

Anyway, this is just by way of saying that, as a result, things might be a little quieter on the blog than usual as we will be about 1000 miles away from Music App Blog central....  I've a few posts lined up to go live while we are away but, of course, normal service will resume as soon as we are back from our trip.

Studio in a (small) bag

While I don't expect to get much by way of music making time during our week away (we will be too busy trying to find a roof to go over our heads) trips like this are an excellent opportunity for some mobile music making research.

I'll be taking a bare-bones recording studio with me; iPad, CME Xkey and a pair of decent earbuds. That will be sufficient for a trip like this as I know my time will be limited. However, in considering what I might take on the trip, it did get me thinking about a couple of things.

First, the words 'bare-bones' don't really do the mobile setup I'm taking with me justice. It might only be three items of equipment but, given the confirmed app addict collection of stellar music apps installed on the iPad, this is anything but a basic recording/composition system.

Second, I know I wouldn't have to add much more to this setup to broaden it's scope even further; my iRig PRO, a small condenser mic and a pair of decent studio headphones (my personal choice would be Audio-Technica ATH-M50s but your mileage might vary). I could still get all this into my hand luggage with room to spare....  not perhaps enough room for my Les Paul but I guess that serves me right for being a guitar player rather than a keyboard player :-)

Mobile magic

Of course, there are all sorts of other things that you need to make a great 'recording studio' (a good space and good monitoring, for example) but, with that decent set of apps mentioned earlier, these six items of hardware (five if you do either/or on the earbuds/headphones), represent something that is incredibly powerful. Compared to what passed as recording technology when I was starting out, the capabilities of the 'studio' I've just described are staggering....

.... and it all fits inside a small flight bag. Add my guitar and I'd be all set. Don't you just love where mobile music technology is taking us and, in cases such as my roadtrip, letting us take it?

Until next time....  have a good week and keep making some music :-)

Best wishes,

John

John Walden
The Music App Blog

http://www.musicappblog.com/

Elantric

Roadtrip part deux.... the results are in
As some of you might have been aware, I was on a roadtrip with my wife over the last week or so trying to find a new home for our family. Thanks to all of the regular readers who wished us luck...  it was much appreciated. Anyway, the trip went well and we have a rental house all sorted out from the end of August and schools for our offspring. My French needs some work (OK, a lot of work....) but, otherwise, it is full steam ahead....  and we can't wait :-)

Mobile kit report

I did take my (very) minimalist iPad-based music system with me and, while I didn't get that much time to 'play' (I'd have got a slap if I had), the iPad/CME Xkey combination worked a treat.

There was one catch.... I took the iPad and Xkey (plus an Apple wireless keyboard) in my hand luggage (yep, all very portable) but, if you do the same, make sure to drag it all out of the bag when you go through airport security. Getting an iPad out is standard practice but the x-ray scanners didn't like the Xkey so I got asked to empty the whole bag on the outward journey. All very politely done - and they liked the keyboard when they finally discovered what it was - but I'll know better next time :-)

Round up round up

I'd prepared a few posts prior to going away and scheduled them to go live during my trip (so the blog wasn't felt too neglected!). A couple of these took the form of 'round up' posts, essentially each looking at one category of music apps and offering some suggestions as to some good starting points for those just making their way with iOS music making.

The two posts this week looked at 'virtual instrument' apps (a difficult category to pin down) and 'all-in-one' electronic music production apps.

http://www.musicappblog.com/virtual-instrument-roundup/

http://www.musicappblog.com/electronic-music-production-roundup/

These followed on from a couple of earlier 'round up' articles I'd published a while back looking at iOS DAWs and guitar amp sims.

http://www.musicappblog.com/ios-daw-roundup/

http://www.musicappblog.com/best-ios-guitar-amp-sim/

If you are a hardened iOS music app addict, then I suspect there might not be too many surprises in the suggestions I've made in any of these pieces however, I do hope they might help the newbie users in giving them some pointers if they are looking for some app recommendations.

If you have your own favourite apps in any of these categories and I haven't included them in my own selections, then please add a comment or two to share your views...  it's great to learn from the experiences of other iOS music app fans....

I've a few other 'round up' articles planned for the next few weeks....   so keep watching the blog for those. As with the articles above, you will find then in the 'Getting Started' section of the site....

http://www.musicappblog.com/category/how-to/

Right....   having (just about) recovered from the roadtrip, now I better go an catch up on all the app updates, new releases and blog related email that has piled up while I've been away....  Oh, and having watched England vs Italy while in France, and England vs Uruguay about 2 hours after stepping off the plane home, I suspect the England football supporter in me might have plenty of time on his hands over the next few weeks :-(

Until next time....  have a good week and keep making some music :-)

Best wishes,

John

John Walden
The Music App Blog

http://www.musicappblog.com/


Elantric


Back in the groove....
It was nice to get back into the usual routine this week after my recent roadtrip and, as most weeks it seems these days, there were some interesting app developments during the last week. My two 'highlight' updates of the week would be for Oscilab and Sunrizer and I've posted some details on both of these in the last few days.

http://www.musicappblog.com/oscilab-update/

http://www.musicappblog.com/sunrizer-update/

Oscilab has become a firm favourite of mine since its initial release and this update introduced Audiobus support. IAA support is, apparently, next on the list but I'm hoping MIDI Clock sync will also soon follow. However, for some pretty instant - and very creative - electronic music making, Oscilab is a brilliant app.

Sunrizer is a well established iOS synth but, while I've owned it for a long time, I have to admit that it doesn't get as much use as some of my other top-end synth apps. However, that might be about to change as the latest update brings full support for Audiobus 2 and, for the first time, IAA support. These are both very welcome additions and make what is undoubtedly a great synth engine much easier to use in a wider iOS music production workflow.

Can I have some more please....?

One of the key differences between working on a desktop and under iOS is the 'one instance of any app' limitation that iOS places upon us. For some tasks - word processing, web browsing, email, photo editing - that's not such a big deal. Indeed, even when running a DAW app like Cubasis or Auria it is not a significant issue.

However, when it come to virtual instruments or audio effects, then it is a constraint. Want two tracks of Thor or Z3TA+ in your music project? Well, you have to render one as audio first before you can record the second. Want two instances of Stereo Designer or Turnado to process different tracks with different settings? Too bad...  render one before moving on to the next....

Of course, the somewhat humble total processing power of current iOS devices (humble compared to a well-specified desktop computer anyway) mean that we are unlikely to be running 10 top-end iOS synths and an equal number of complex audio effects apps all at the same time anyway; your iPad would simply go belly-up if you tried. However, it would be nice to be able to run just a couple (or maybe three even?) versions of a single app on occasions when the need arrives...  but you can't.

Well, except that you can...  Well, you can if that app happens to be the AD 480 reverb effect app from Fiedler Audio. The developer has done something very interesting with this app and made three versions available of it on the App Store at different prices - free, basic and pro - and you can use all three at the same time. Each has different feature sets but - and this is the clever part - if you have more than one version installed, all versions 'dynamically upgrade' themselves to the feature set of the most expensive version.

I've no insider knowledge of how this has been implemented but it works and provides a very neat solution. Having installed both the 'pro' version and the 'free' version, I can then use two instances of the 'pro' version and, as AD 480 happens to be one of the better iOS reverb effect apps currently available, this is quite a neat trick.

http://www.musicappblog.com/ad-480-reverb-review/

Will the approach catch on? I've no idea but it would certainly be something worth making a bit of a buzz about on any online forums that you frequent just to see if any other developers might pick up on the approach :-)

The price is right

The other item that caught my attention this week was the press release by Positive Grid to say that a desktop plugin version of their BIAS iOS amp modelling/design app is in development for release later this year. BIAS is great and I'd love to have it on the desktop so it was welcome news.

http://www.musicappblog.com/bias-desktop/

However, it did get me thinking about software pricing....  So, in the main, we have seen desktop music software being ported to iOS. And, in most cases, the iOS version is considerably cheaper than the desktop version. That's great for us iOS musicians and we should try our best not to forget that what seems like an 'expensive' music app (that is, anything over UK£4.99), in desktop software terms is actually small change. How sustainable the pocket money pricing of apps is...  well, that's anybody's guess....

Positive Grid have not made any announcement about the pricing of the desktop version of BIAS but, the question that interested me is whether 'App Store' pricing or 'desktop' pricing might be applied given that the port is going in the other direction? If it is the former, BIAS would be a cracker of a bargain on the desktop (and it would undoubtedly create some waves in terms of the pricing of similar guitar amp modelling software). If it's the latter, well, I'm not quite sure what the reaction might be....  other than folk might just continue using BIAS on their iPads and hook up the audio out to their desktop system....

The pricing model in the App Store has always left me puzzled. It's great (in the short term at least) for us consumers and I can see how it works with an app like Angry Birds. But it does make for a weird comparison with the price of some desktop software and just how long developers of more minority apps can keep going with a low pricing model we will have to wait and see....  Interesting times....

Until next time....  have a good week and keep making some music :-)

Best wishes,

John

John Walden
The Music App Blog

http://www.musicappblog.com/


Elantric


Happy holidays....
While I'm based in the UK (for the moment at least; France looms), on the interconnected planet on which we all co-exist and pursue our interest in iOS music making, it is pretty difficult to ignore the fact that today - the 4th of July - is a pretty big deal in the USA. There are all sorts of traditions associated with this holiday and, for consumers at least, one of those is sale time.

App developers are keen to get their fair share of the 'grab a bargain' mood and, as the App Store market place is pretty much a global thing, when a US-based developer decides to hold a 4th of July sale, then the rest of us also get the opportunity to get some deals. As a consequence, there are a number of music apps currently available as knock down prices on the App Store. I've posted about a number of these over the last few days so, before the week-end is over, check out the blog's 'News' items to see if there is something that might appeal....

http://www.musicappblog.com/category/news/

There are also a couple of good giveaways running over the week-end....  You will find those in the News section also...  but as an email subscriber, you are already entered for all of these giveaway draws :-)

Dock to rock

Quite some time ago I posted an article on the blog discussing what I'd like to see in my ideal iPad-friendly audio/MIDI interface.

http://www.musicappblog.com/ideal-ipad-audio-interface/

While I use a number of different items connected to my current iPad Air, I'm still not sure I've found the 'perfect' match to my feature wishlist. However, this week, I've taken delivery of two 'on loan for review' candidates; the Focusrite iTrack Dock and the Alesis iO Dock II.

In broad terms at least, these two devices are similar in specification and in the same ballpark in terms of price. Given that both provide a decent collection of audio and MIDI inputs and outputs, if you were looking to build a solid recording setup around your iPad, then either might be well worth considering.

Which is best? Well, I'll hopefully get reviews of both items up onto the site during next week so I'll say more about their respective merits then. However, I will say that exploring both has been a lot of fun and that there are some detailed differences that mean the feature sets are distinct enough to give you some basis for making a choice that suits you.

On the same front, those nice people at Apogee have also promised me the loan of couple of review units....  More on those when they arrive....

Until next time....  have a good week and keep making some music :-)

Best wishes,

John

John Walden
The Music App Blog

http://www.musicappblog.com/


Elantric

Making space

While there are been some interesting news items on the iOS music front in the last week (new apps on the way from both Secret Base Design and Holderness Media for example), my undoubted highlight of the last few days has been exploring the new release from Igor Vasiliev; AltiSpace.

I'm a fan of a number of Igor's apps - Audio Mastering, Master FX and Master Record - and they all provide an excellent balance between features, ease of use, audio quality and, of course, price, with their App Store pricing making them all accessible (and, if you are quick, you might still catch the current sale price on all of these):-

http://www.musicappblog.com/igor-vasiliev-sale/

For someone who has hung around the world of music technology for more years than he cares to recall, AltiSpace is remarkable on a number of grounds. The app is a convolution reverb and, while Auria ships with such a reverb processor included, I think AltiSpace is the first stand-alone iOS reverb effect that uses convolution processing (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).

While convolution processing can be CPU hungry, the upside is that is can also deliver fabulous results. It wasn't that many years ago that such reverb plugins were challenging even for a desktop computer to run. Seeing the same technology transfer to a (humble?) iPad is pretty impressive stuff.

Equally impressive is the design. You get enough features to give you plenty of flexibility but not so many that the app is difficult to use. As ever, Igor has hit a sweet spot here in terms of a design suitable for the iPad context (although the app also runs on an iPhone by the way).

The third impressive thing is that Igor has managed to make AltiSpace sound very good indeed...  and he seems to have done it without totally hogging all the resources available. Yes, you get more CPU breathing space on a more recent iOS device, but you can run this app alongside other iOS music apps via Audiobus or IAA without the wheels falling off.

And the final - and also impressive - thing is the price; at launch, AltiSpace has special pricing of UK£3.99. Please don't ask how much the first convolution-based reverb plugin I purchased for my desktop computer cost a few years ago. Suffice to say that it was many times more expensive than this.

You can read my full review of AltiSpace on the website....  All I'd add here is grab it while you can at this introductory pricing because it is well worth adding to any iOS musician's recording toolkit.

http://www.musicappblog.com/altispace-review/

What would you like next?

A few months ago, AltiSpace could quite easily come under the 'things I never thought I'd see running on a iPad' banner....  and although we are perhaps getting a bit blasé about just what fabulous tools we have available - and how ridiculously inexpensive each of these tools is when taken in isolation (the problem is not the price of each app; it's just how many apps we choose to buy!) - I'm sure we can all still think of things we would have on a personal wish list.

For me, top of that wishlist would be an fully-featured IAA pitch correction app. Melodyne for iOS anyone? Yep, that one would be in the 'things I never thought I'd see running on a iPad' category also but it would be wonderful to be proved wrong at some point :-)

Anyway, if you have a minute, drop me an email back with a single suggestion of your 'most wanted' iOS music app. I'm sure there are a few keen developers out there who would love the kind of market research that we could provide :-)

Until next time....  have a good week and keep making some music ....

Best wishes,

John

John Walden
The Music App Blog

http://www.musicappblog.com/

Elantric

iOS music production; your missing links

First, a big thank you to everyone who took the time to drop me a line in response to last week's email newsletter question. There were all sorts of interesting things you suggested as 'most wanted' but a few of them certainly got me in a 'me too!' mood.

For example, Sean Foley suggested support for multiple tempos and/or multiple time signatures in iOS DAWs (yes please). Paul Holland's suggestion for more fully-featured piano-roll MIDI editing also hit a nerve for me (for example, groove quantise would be good!). Toz Bourne suggested a Leslie cabinet speaker simulator app (that's got to be achievable hasn't it? Any developers fancy a punt?).

However, the suggestion that appeared most often - and I've been asked about this on a number of previous occasions also - is to see a version of Ableton Live for iOS. Now, I'm not a big user of Live on the desktop but I've dabbled enough to know just how powerful an environment it is and I think it could translate brilliantly to iOS. Any thoughts? More importantly, does anyone know any developers at Ableton? I'm sure they must have pondered the idea at some stage....  but if the feedback I've received through the Music App Blog is anything to go by, if it was well done, I'm sure there is a big potential user base that would lap it up.

Desktop vs mobile; either/or or both?

When it comes to making music, there are almost as many workflows as there are musicians. And, while there is plenty of science in the technology many of us use to write, perform and record our music, this is an art form we are talking about. Rights and wrongs simply don't apply; you use whatever tools you have access to, and in whatever way you wish, so that you can get the job done in a way that pleases you.

Enthusiasts for iOS music technology have long had to put up with the 'just toys' comments coming from dedicated users of powerful desktop-based music production systems. Those attitudes are (perhaps slowly) changing as more and more musicians discover just what iOS can offer (and, more specifically, just how good some iOS music apps can be). However, if we are measuring things in terms of pure power, mature and fully-featured DAWs/sequencers and multi-gigabyte, multi-layered, multi-timbral virtual instruments then, frankly, however much of a fan you might be of your iPad, it is difficult to deny that a well specified desktop system is a very powerful tool.

Equally, there are those who prefer the mobile experience because of the flexibility/portability it brings, the absence of whirring disk drives, simplicity (e.g. fewer wires), and, for the software at least, the pocket-money pricing.

Of course, while you can choose to make this an either/or, it most certainly doesn't have to be that way and I've used my iPad alongside my desktop system on a regular basis. While I'll often sketch out musical ideas on an iPad and then move them over to my desktop system for development, the other main use of my moveable touchscreen buddy is as a remote controller for my desktop DAW/sequencer - Cubase - a role that it performs brilliantly.

However, given just how good some iOS music apps are now getting - effects and instruments - I've also spent some time trying to get a workflow that allows be to integrate some of my favourite iOS music apps into my desktop music workflow. At one level, this can be done simply by hooking up a hardware MIDI or audio connection between the two environments... but I still don't think I have what might be called a 'seamless' process for doing this.

Two products I've been exploring in the last couple of days might help improve this. First, in the pocket-money price bracket, we have Patrick Madden's new Apollo Remote Recorder app. This was released on Thursday and I'll be working up a review for the site over the next couple of days. It is, however, an intriguing - and very inexpensive - means of getting audio from your iOS music apps into your desktop audio/MIDI recording environment. If you are on a budget, this is a very cool utility app.

The second is a somewhat more significant investment; the iConnectMIDI4+. I've had a loan unit sitting in my studio for a couple of weeks now and, the more I've used it, the more impressed I've become. Now, this unit has a street price of around UK£180 so it ought to do something pretty useful to earn its keep. However, with the ability to act as a hub for a number of MIDI devices, a couple of iOS devices and a desktop computer, it is a very interesting product. And the fact that you can pass both MIDI and audio between the devices means it can make your iOS music apps feel much more part of the desktop 'whole'.

The other rather brilliant part of the package is the way the iConnect software on the desktop allows you to build a sort of composite 'audio interface'. Essentially, all your audio inputs and outputs can be virtually combined and therefore used together. I haven't fully explored this aspect yet but, potentially, I can think of all sorts of ways that it might be useful. Again, I hope to put a review together over the next week.....  Whether I can then justify the outlay on buying the hardware is another matter (!)

Until next time....  have a good week and keep making some music ....

Best wishes,

John

John Walden
The Music App Blog

http://www.musicappblog.com/

Elantric

It's been just a touch hectic this week here at Music App Blog towers....  There have been some nice app updates to look at, some good summertime app sales on offer but, also, one really quite frustrating day (I'll come back to that in a bit). Equally, however, there have been some domestic things going on (as regular readers might know, I'm in the process of moving from the UK to France; D-day is exactly three weeks away - eeek!) so we have been just a touch on the busy side.

In terms of updates, there were some useful things added to Mitosynth, iMPC Pro and Loopy HD this week. Loopy HD is already a firm favourite and Mitosynth is on its way to becoming one. The update to Mitosynth added IAA support and a very interesting new mode for the Wave Chamber. If you like to craft your own synth patches from scratch, this really ought to appeal....

http://www.musicappblog.com/mitosynth-update/

Talk to me....

I mentioned last week that I was hoping to spend some time with Secret Base Design's Apollo Remote Recorder app and the hardware iConnectMIDI4+ unit that I had on loan. Well, I did both...  and I put a review of Apollo Remote Recorder on the site a few days ago. It is, in short, another excellent little utility app from Patrick Madden and well worth a look.

http://www.musicappblog.com/apollo-remote-recorder-review/

My experience with the iConnetMIDI4+ was a bit of a mixed bag though and I did spend one very frustrating day trying to get all the features of the device working. In principle, the iCM4+ - and the less expensive iCM2+ - are a brilliant idea. They provide MIDI connectivity between combinations of traditional MIDI hardware and your iOS device and desktop computer. Significantly, from a Music App Blog context, this includes the ability to pass MIDI data seamlessly between your desktop and (for example) iPad. This worked a treat and, as a MIDI hub, I'd have no problem in recommending these units to anyone with an interest in driving iOS synths 9for example) from their desktop DAW/sequencer or with multiple MIDI devices they need to connect.

However, the bit that - on my test system at least - had me tied up in knots, was the 'audio pass thru' function. This potentially allows you to also pass audio data between iOS and desktop devices (or also between two iOS devices with the iCM4+). This could, of course, be very useful as you could send MIDI data from your desktop DAW to your iPad and then collect the audio output from your iOS synth back into your desktop DAW; hey presto, your iPad (or iPhone) becomes an integrated piece of your desktop music production system.

The concept is excellent but I simply couldn't get it to work with my particular combination of desktop hardware, OS and audio interface. This was very frustrating as I'm aware of lots of existing users who have this working fine. Equally, however, there are other comments online that suggest I'm not the only person to have experienced teething troubles.

I suspect, with a little more time, I might have got to the bottom of the issue but, unfortunately, I needed to organise returning the loan unit before it got packed up with all my other belongings and shipped to France. However, despite these initial difficulties in my case, I'm very interested in the technology....  and the somewhat cheaper iCM2+ (which might suit my own needs anyway) might be a target for some further investigation at some point in the future.

Anyway, if you do like the idea of integrating iOS and desktop in some way, both of these approaches - Apollo Remote recorder and the iConnectMIDI devices - are worth investigating.

D-day is coming....

As regulars will know from my two recent road trips....

http://www.musicappblog.com/roadtrip-time/

http://www.musicappblog.com/roadtrip-time-part-deux/

.... the Music App Blog is on the move. With just three weeks to go before we start our journey south, there are lots of preparations going on. This week has been particularly mad as we have agreed to buy a house and agreed to sell one.... and while I'm managing to still get some time to work on the blog, my own musical output is having to take a bit of a hit :-( Anyway, I'm hoping to prepare some blog stuff in advance for the week or so of hiatus that will happen when we actually move....   but I'll keep you posted with progress.

Until next time....  have a good week and keep making some music ....

Best wishes,


John

John Walden
The Music App Blog

http://www.musicappblog.com/

Elantric

How many iOS synth apps do you need?

.... and, of course, the well-trodden answer is always 'one more than I currently own'....

I reviewed the excellent Tera Synth from VirSyn this week:

http://www.musicappblog.com/tera-synth-review/

This really is a very good piece of software and, in terms of the combination of design, depth of programming options, sound and price, I'd put it up there with the very best that iOS currently has to offer (for example, Thor, Nave, Z3TA+, Mitosynth) in the virtual synth category. It is capable of a huge range of different sounds, from classic analog style synths through to modern, cutting-edge, tones suitable for today's dance/electronica music....  and pretty much everything in between.

While I've only spent a few days with Tera Synth, I already know it could become a firm favourite. However, as I have probably mentioned more than once before on the blog, it did get me thinking about just how many iOS synth apps I own, how many I really need and how many I actually use on a regular basis. If there is one category of iOS music apps that is particularly well stocked (overflowing?) it's the synth apps....

That's not to say that many of these are not great tools. Many of them are and, given the pocket-money pricing model of the iTunes App Store, they are within the reach of almost everyone and, for many, are simply a casual purchase (unlike the desktop equivalents). This accessibility is, of course, a very good thing....

Virtual synths must represent the biggest market within the iOS music app development niche....  but I do wonder just how long that market can keep expanding and how many of these excellent virtual synth apps actually bring a profitable return for the developers. App addiction is a widespread condition amongst iOS musicians but, at some stage, surely everyone will reach the point of having all the synths they need?

The empty pots

If the synth pot is well stocked, there are a few others that could really do with some attention and there might, for the right developer with the right app, be some interesting opportunities. I think we have an excellent crop of both conventional and left-field audio effects apps. The guitar amp sim pot is also pretty well supplied as, I think, are apps for electronic music production or beat creation.

Where are we less well served? Well, I'd love to see a top-notch pitch correction tool with IAA support, I'd like a better audio editor (an iPad-scaled version of something like Sound Forge or Wavelab), a virtual instrument that brings us a palette of more realistic orchestral sounds would be good and, while Cubasis and Auria are both excellent, it would be great to see the audio/MIDI DAW/sequencer pot stocked with something like 'Logic lite' or 'Ableton lite' or 'Reason lite'....

I know I'm not alone in some of these wish-list items....   visitors to the blog identify the same sorts of items to me on a regular basis. Maybe I need to get more developers on the email newsletter list? :-)  In the meantime, feel free to get in touch if you have any other suggestions of gaps that you think need plugging....

Full to overflowing

All that said, it's a good job that the answer to my initial question about iOS synth is (serious or tongue-in-cheek) 'one more than I currently own' as Twisted Electron's Professor synth - an iPad-sized recreation of the classic Sequential Circuits Prophet V synth - has just arrived on my iPad Air. Having had an initial explore, it does sound very interesting.

It's not the same sort of beast as Tera Synth as it is focused very much on emulating the Prophet V but, if that's a sound that you love - and you are not in a position to pay the mega-bucks for a (probably broken) second-hand original - then maybe UK£3.99 on the Professor might be that 'one more' that you don't currently own? :-) Full review to follow next week....

If you are an app addict synth-head, good luck with resisting temptation for another week....  :-)

Until next time....  have a good week and keep making some music ....

Best wishes,

John

John Walden
The Music App Blog

http://www.musicappblog.com/



admin

It's been an interesting few days here at Music App Blog towers this week. First, I spent some time exploring the rather good Professor from Alexander Smith at Twisted Electrons. Much as I do like my monster-synths (you know, Z3TA+, Thor, Nave, Tera Synth, Mitosynth, etc.), I'm also partial to something that, from a programming perspective, is a little easier on the brain cells.

And, as a virtual recreation of the essence of Sequential Circuits classic hardware synth the Prophet V, the Professor app is exactly that. Indeed, the bulk of the programming options are contained within a single screen of controls. Don't let that fool you into thinking that is won't take long to explore though....  as soon as you load up a preset and then start to tweak, things can get very interesting, very quickly....  just be careful those levels don't get out of hand and your speaker cones start popping out of their housing :-)

http://www.musicappblog.com/professor-review/

It's only UK£3.99...  but it sounds great once you start to dig in.

Orchestra in an app?

I also spent a couple of days exploring Crudebyte's new iSymphonic Orchestra app. This sparked a lot of online commentary when it was launched last week and not all of it positive given (a) the lack of any audio demos (soon attended to by some early adopters) and (b) the UK£37.99 price tag.

I've posted a full review of the app on the Music App Blog site....

http://www.musicappblog.com/isymphonic-orchestra-review/

... so I'll not repeat myself too much here other than to say that, yes, these probably are the best (mostly) string samples I've personally heard under iOS but, no, this is not the finished article in terms of 'an orchestra in an app'. There are some promising sounds here and some potential in the sample-playback engine...  but there is a long way to go to match what's possible on the desktop even with one of the more modestly priced desktop orchestral sample libraries.

We need more RAM

While 128GB of storage space is not massive by today's hard drive standards, there are decent orchestral sample libraries on the desktop that could be contained within 2-4GB of sample data. More (and maybe faster?) storage capacity would be good on an iPad (providing Apple don't milk us for it) but, for building better sample-based virtual instruments, I think the biggest bottleneck is the amount of RAM.

RAM is relatively cheap on the desktop and, as such, sample library developers have designed sample-engines that can exploit that RAM. When you load a complex sample patch with many (many!) samples (velocity layers and articulations), while the bulk of that sample material might be streamed from disk, often the attack portion (the bit the engine needs first) is loaded into RAM (and, in some virtual instruments, all of the sample is loaded into RAM).

With RAM in such short supply in the current iPad, you can not easily port these very effective and well-proven sample playback engines from the desktop over to iOS. Until we get more RAM in our iPads then iOS music app developers working on sample-based virtual instruments have to cut corners or reinvent the sample-playback wheel within some obvious hardware constraints.

And so, as a result, we still don't have a killer orchestral library available for iOS despite the best efforts of companies such as Crudebyte or IK Multimedia (SampleTank and the Miroslav IAP).

So, go on Mr Apple...  make sure the next iPad has more RAM...  pretty please....  You know it makes sense (just don't charge us through the nose to get it).

Until next time....  have a good week and keep making some music ....

Best wishes,

John