Sub-forum for discussion about the DAWs and mobile apps that you use with your MPCs
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By Lampdog Thu Dec 27, 2012 5:36 am
What I have so far.

Beatmaker 3


Magellan 2


iPolysix


KORG iMono/Poly


Thor


Sunrizer


Midi Designer Pro 2


Sample Tank 2


Audio Bus 3


SoundPrism Pro


Alchemy Free


Launch Key Free


Tabletop free


Moog Filtatron


Animoog


AudioKit Synth One


Minimoog Model D


By acronym Thu Dec 27, 2012 12:31 pm
Animoog for all my synth needs, I enjoy the korg synths but I already have them on get and besides animoog is the best sounding synth on there IMO.

Samplr great way to mash your samples and lead into different musical strokes.

Beatmaker soooo good the instruments are weak but I like that the chopping on the app is like a mpc.

GarageBand don't laugh but the acoustic instruments are pretty good and quick way for me to jot down stuff easily.
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By Ocular Sat Dec 29, 2012 5:38 pm
Oh nice, an iOS music production thread. :-D

I'm using Beatmaker 2 and Multitrack DAW as my two main production apps. And for subtractive synths, I have Sunrizer, iMS-20, NLog Pro, and Magellan. DXi for FM synthesis and Addictive Synth for additive/ wave table synthesis. Oh yeah and Animoog for something completely different. I have more but those are the ones I like the most.

I'm looking to get Thumb Jam for a multi-instrument sound module along with Grain Science, TC-11, and Crystal Synth XT. All in due time though, priorities first.

Utility wise, I have Audiobus and Audio Share (good for working around iOS copy/ paste and sonoma wire works discrepancies). Audiobus is the future. However, Beatmaker 2 doesn't support it yet (it will next update) and Audiobus only supports 3 inputs. So, there is still room for improvement in that area.

For external hardware, I have the iRig Midi which is currently just connected to my controller for now. For those in the market for an ipad mini or ipad 4, the lightning to 30 pin adapter works just fine for 30 pin midi adapters. No idea about the audio adapters though.

I have a couple of questions for you, Lamp. Do you find Cubasis a worthy replacement to Beatmaker 2? Have you run into any bugginess with Cubasis and Auria? I was reading some bad reviews in the app store but for all I know the reviewers were using an ipad 1. I've been skimming through the manuals for both these apps, I just need to find some time to really study and compare everything. Personal input is always helpful though.
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By Lampdog Sat Dec 29, 2012 6:33 pm
That Cubasis, Auria, article was pasted from the link I provided at the top of that post. So far I only have the 3 apps I mentioned way up at the top of the thread, Magellan, Sunrizer and Beatmaker 2. All the other stuff here is brought in from other sites, I pasted all the links to the original sources.

Me, ipad3, iRig midi. I plan on getting audiobus, everywhere I read apps are starting to support it with recent updates so I'm sure I'll end up getting it.

I love me some korg, for the last 2 decades Korg has treated me well. I will most likely end up with the iPolysix. The ims-20 is too deep, I'm not a "serious" tweaker, knob/wire fiddler like that.

I am digging the fact that my iPad is also (among many things) a serious sound module, instead of me buying 1 rack modules (which I was looking into 1 year ago) I can just use this. Ipad takes care of MANY things I was looking for 1 year ago and it has saved me from buying hardware that I was about to invest in (hardware purists will string me up for that comment) but oh well.
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By Lampdog Sat Dec 29, 2012 7:00 pm
http://discchord.com/blog/2012/11/26/ko ... sions.html

Here is an excellent performance from :arrow: Rutger Muller, aka iNALOG, which you can download from inside iPolysix's PolyShare. All of this synthesis goodness is happening on Rutger's iPad 1! An impressive feat, considering how much Korg have built into this app.



A few from this page below.
http://www.ipadmusicapps.ca/category/ipad-beatmaker-apps/page/2

Electrify for iPad

Ratatap Drums for iPad

Tabletop for iPad

Rebirth on iPad




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By Lampdog Sat Dec 29, 2012 7:27 pm

http://createdigitalmusic.com/2012/12/m ... eads-fast/

An update to Moog’s massively-popular Animoog synth now gives you Audiobus compatibility, if you purchase the Audiobus app. That means easier recording and processing, in combination with other compatible apps. Photo courtesy Audiobus.

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iPad and iPhone owners got a nice gift recently. Over the Christmas holiday week, a whole slew of new iOS updates rolled in, perhaps caught in the holiday rush. Many of the improvements centered on Audiobus, a proprietary technology that, via a host app, allows iOS users to connect different apps for input, recording, and processing. And with those updates, the picture on Audiobus has become significantly clearer.

Magellan, Magellan, Jr. Since Moog and Korg get plenty of attention, let’s start with the dramatic improvements to Magellan. Earlier this month, Magellan’s industrial-strength iPad app got a hand-sized companion in the form of Magellan, Jr. If the idea of using an iPhone to play a synth doesn’t appeal, presets are compatible between the two versions, so you could create some sound designs on the go, then play with them on the iPad later. See Synthtopia’s write-up from mid-December.

In Version 2.0 of iPad app itself, Audiobus support joins numerous improvements, particularly around touch control (for built-in controls) and MIDI (for external playability). Watch:



Version 2.0 has arrived! Just when you thought we couldn’t add any more awesome features to Magellan… BAM! Our demo here shows off new 2.0 features including Audiobus, enhanced touch pad features (adjustable glide, note-snapping, new voice-control destinations), touch-sensitive velocity, expanded recording features (record a set number of measures for easy looping), new MIDI features (over 350 learnable MIDI CC destinations, UI animation), and more!



Animoog 2.0: Animoog adds Audiobus support, too, along with control and recording enhancements – whether or not you have Audiobus, this is a major update. And yes, it seems the developers at Moog heard user feedback.

3D tilt/accelerometer control for modulation.
Note hold and scale lock.
Load and save MIDI control maps.
Audiocopy/Audiopaste integration (and yes, for some users, this will suit workflows just as well as Audiobus.
“Holiday gift” 4-track Recorder with internal recording, iTunes Library import, split, loopy, copy, paste, and sharing of songs and clips, with SoundCloud integration.

Hurry: the 4 Track Recorder is free now through New Years’ Eve, but becomes a US$4.99 in-app purchase after that.

The price of the app if you don’t have it yet is now US$14.99 for iPad and US$4.99 for iPhone. Filtatron is also US$4.99.

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KORG: The entire suite of popular apps from Korg has added support for Audiobus. (See this forum post if you have trouble seeing those apps.)

KORG has also brought other modern iOS music-making features to many of their apps:

Virtual MIDI (iPolysix, iElectribe, iMS-20)
Retina Display support (iMS-20, iElectribe)
iKaossilator iPhone 5 display dimension support (to use the full size of its screen)
iElectribe “Beat Flutter”
iPolysix song sharing

And more important Audiobus updates: Compatibility with apps out of the gate was the biggest complaint from readers. Audiobus is only useful if your app adds explicit support – and, since many of you are loyal to certain apps, taht left some of you disappointed.

That said, a steady stream of new apps should start to remedy the situation. In addition to these, some of my favorite recent releases with Audiobus additions:

PPG WaveGenerator
AudioShare – significant as it’s a file manager, something sorely needed for music making and field recording and absent in iOS’ dumbed down sharing options (grumble, grumble)
Grain Science (Well, because it’s cool)
KAOSS-style effects, seen in a teaser on Synthtopia, should also be a big deal when that app arrives. The app was just submitted to Apple, so keep your eyes peeled.

If app compatibility still is lacking, though, here are two vital resources:

When will [insert favourite app name here] be getting Audiobus support? on the Audiobus forum answers your question.

And if you’re still not satisfied, here’s a hack/workaround for using non-compatible apps with Audiobus. Spoiler alert: it involves two devices and a recording cable, so, uh, you could also just record – interestingly, already the workflow for a lot of iOS users:



That said, looking at Audiobus, virtual and hard-line MIDI, and other enhancements, it’s terrific to see these apps mature. New and shiny is nice, but these are the sorts of updates that make tools more usable in actual production work.

Let us know which apps you’re using – and this should give you something to do on a New Years’ holiday. Skip the party, stay in and make music?

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By Lampdog Sat Dec 29, 2012 8:05 pm
http://www.cutthenoise.com/2012/12/08/b ... ynth-apps/

Best iOS Synth Apps

by Ben on December 8, 2012

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Animoog

animoogMade by the legendary Moog, Animoog quickly became the talk of iOS apps when it was released last year. It makes use of phenomenal sounds and a unique Anisotropic Synth Engine (ASE) for some really crazy modulation and effects that you’d be hard pressed to replicate elsewhere.
App Store Link: Animoog, $9.99 (iPhone)
App Store Link: Animoog, $29.99 (iPad)

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Sunrizer

sunrizerThe Sunrizer app by BeepStreet was one of the first synth apps that truly grabbed a lot of people’s attention. Featuring traditional subtractive synthesis, Sunrizer can create a huge variety of very “premium” sounding sounds. You have some great midi mapping control here for synth parameters, and presets are very good too.
App Store Link: Sunrizer, $4.99 (iPad)
App Store Link: Sunrizer XS, $2.99 (iPhone)

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Addictive Synth

addictive synthThe Addictive Synth uses additive synthesis instead of subtractive, so the interface and usage may seem bizarre to some, but digging deep reveals some incredible stuff you can do with this app. I think it is one of the more underrated synth apps in the appstore right now.
App Store Link: Addictive Synth, $5.99 (iPad)
App Store Link: Addictive microSynth, $3.99 (iPhone)

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Grain Science

grain scienceGrain Science is basically granular synthesis, allowing you to use and mix up to two “grains” in various ways. It has great midi support, and can emulate subtractive synthesis very well, along with its own breed of great sounds. It has a very useful performance screen as well for adjusting sounds on the fly.
App Store Link: Grain Science, $9.99 (Universal)

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Spacelab

spacelab synthSpacelab might not seem like much: a monophonic synth on a powerful iOS device seems like underkill. However, there is a neo-retro charm to this app, and you can make some great sounds on it. It has some unique performance choices and can be sequenced easily with other apps or hardware.
App Store Link: Spacelab, $0.99 (Universal)

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Magellan

magellan synthExtremely full featured synthesizer that has a staggering amount of parameters to tweak. You have 2 distinct synth voices to work with and play together or separately, giving creative minds out there a ton to work with. Cool chord, arpeggiator, and control options round out the package. Some fantastic patches included as well.
App Store Link: Magellan, $9.99 (iPad only)

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Cassini

cassini synth for iPadAnother very full featured synth with a very clean layout and tons of parameters to tweak modulators to assign. Cassini has a nice clean layout and is very easy to use if you are familiar with subtractive synthesis. One of the more fully featured synths out there.
App Store Link: Cassini, $4.99 (iPad)
App Store Link: Cassini, $4.99 (iPhone)

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iPolySix

ipolysixKorg just recently released another emulation of some of their classic analog gear. iPolySix does a great job recreating some classic sounds, and has a much more refined interface than their iMS-20 app, even allowing for 2 instances of the classic synth and some nice sequencing capabilities making for a full featured workstation. Highly recommended.
App Store Link: iPolySix, $29.99 (iPad only)
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By Lampdog Sun Dec 30, 2012 7:18 am
Tabletop vs Audiobus

There is a list of Audiobus compatible apps out there but I dont see anything for Tabletop except iMpc.

I read that Tabletop apps dont need to be coded for Tabletop to work with them.
I read Audiobus apps NEED to coded for it.

Any thoughts, anyone?
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By Metatron72 Sun Dec 30, 2012 2:01 pm
Lampdog wrote:
I read that Tabletop apps dont need to be coded for Tabletop to work with them.
I read Audiobus apps NEED to coded for it.


No, Tabletop is a closed environment that only features modules that Retronyms created and of course now has the iMPC which they coded. Basically you need to spend the $40-$60 on all the modules for Tabletop to really come into it's own. I was never going to but when they finally added Core MIDI a few weeks ago I bought the bundle. The app is really cool when mapped to a controller.

That's correct on Audiobus, the compatibility/functionality has to be added to the app.

With 3 iOS devices, an Alesis dock as well as the CCK along with all the Korg Mono series stuff, my table is about to become an ungodly mess of wires. :lol:
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By Coz Sun Dec 30, 2012 2:14 pm
I may finally get an iPad in 2013. :oops:

I tinker around with Animoog on my iPhone but it's a bit fiddly on the small screen. I love some of the sounds these synth apps spit out. 8)
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By Lampdog Sun Dec 30, 2012 4:34 pm
No, Tabletop is a closed environment
That's exactly what I was guessing when I installed it and looked around.

That's correct on Audiobus, the compatibility/functionality has to be added to the app.
Yeah, I will have to get audiobus since what I have already supports it.

With 3 iOS devices, an Alesis dock as well as the CCK along with all the Korg Mono series stuff, my table is about to become an ungodly mess of wires. :lol:
I like the idea of the io dock, it's cool.
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By Ocular Mon Dec 31, 2012 10:09 pm
A preview of Beatmaker 2 with Audiobus support courtesy of iosmusician.com

(Note: This version of Beatmaker 2 is not out yet)



I think Multitrack DAW is about to be out of a job :smoker: