iPhone App Directory

Fiddlewax Yellow - Harmony Looper (universal) is free for the first week


Well this is a unique pricing strategy, but one that I'm sure we'll welcome. Fiddlewax Yellow is free for the first week of its launch, so grab it now.

Here are all the details of the app:

Fiddlewax Yellow is a live vocal harmony generator, effects processor, and looper all rolled into one.

Create your own music from the ground up using just your voice and whatever is around you! Realtime harmony lets you create and layer sounds as fast you can think of them. Unleash your imagination and build awesome audio tracks in seconds.

Unlike other pitch shifters which often quantize and auto-tune notes relative to a key, Fiddlewax Yellow builds polyphonic full-spectrum harmonies. Slide and bend the pitch of your voice and Yellow will seamlessly follow along.

Yellow lets you make music whenever the inspiration strikes. You will need headphones to record, though, so be sure to have some handy.

Features:
  • Realtime 3-part vocal harmony using our very own super fast, polyphonic, pitch-shifting and audio analysis pipeline. Sing and synthesize new sounds and audio textures on the fly.
  • Built-in effects to add chorus, distortion, reverb, low-pass, and high-pass filters with the push of a button. Quickly transform your voice into other instrument sounds as you play.
  • Synchronized, auto-expanding looper to layer up to 6 audio tracks at once. Easily start/stop any track and clear tracks individually when you want to overwrite/undo.
  • Integrated recording function to save and share songs. Send to other installed apps, attach to email, or download later from iTunes when you sync your device.
  • Low-level core audio implementation makes everything run super fast and robust (built using The Amazing Audio Engine).
  • Headphone-aware control logic reduces the chance of squeaky feedback while you record.
  • Great for all experience levels, from beginners to experts.
  • Precision interface optimized for 10-finger multitouch.

Fiddlewax instruments are designed from the ground up to enable anyone who enjoys music to experiment, play, and create their own songs without formal teaching or instruction.

Every aspect of Fiddlewax puts music first. The simple interface helps musicians focus on what they’re creating; there are no ads, faux-wood textures, or frivolous interaction to distract from the creative process.

Fiddlewax takes the best of both physical and virtual instruments to create something totally new. Full 10-finger multitouch support and maximum playing area provide for seamless digital interaction, while under the hood, samples are processed and routed as analog signals with variable frequency and timing.

Give Fiddlewax a try, and amplify your inner voice.

Traktor DJ for iPhone

Traktor DJ for iPhone gets the same update as the iPad version, which is ...
  • New in-app Mixcloud integration: Record and upload your mix to your Mixcloud page directly from TRAKTOR DJ
  • 3 new effects available: Iceverb, Transpose Stretch, and Reverse Grain*
  • Better track management, thanks to playlist and subfolder improvements
*You unlock the effects via a notification pop-up on first start-up after update. For first time users, new effects can be unlocked after 3 app start-ups (including app-switching).

birdStepper Pitch Tutorial Pt 2 (video)



This tutorial demonstrates how to use birdStepper's pitch effect to create tempo-synchronized arpeggios with an electric guitar.

How Do Synths Sound Through Crystalline?



Sign up to get notified on launch! http://crystallineapp.com/launch

Vintage Yamaha PS-20 analog keyboard connected to iPad using Apogee Jam interface, played through Crystalline. Also features iOS apps Animoog, Audiobus and Arturia iSEM. No other effects or processing done.

Crystalline: Shimmer Effects Processor for iPad
http://crystallineapp.com

Traktor DJ adds Mixcloud integration and new effects in version 1.4

Here's what TRAKTOR DJ 1.4 has in the latest version:
  • New in-app Mixcloud integration: Record and upload your mix to your Mixcloud page directly from TRAKTOR DJ
  • 3 new effects available: Iceverb, Transpose Stretch, and Reverse Grain*
  • Better track management, thanks to playlist and subfolder improvements
  • Plus a number of stability and usability improvements.

*You unlock the effects via a notification pop-up on first start-up after update. For first time users, new effects can be unlocked after 3 app start-ups (including app-switching).


SoundLab gets funded!

You might have seen from yesterday that I posted about getting involved in SoundLab again this year. Well I'm pleased to let you know that SoundLab has been funded by NESTA. You can see the press release on their news page here.

If you're wondering what it is, SoundLab is about configuring Creativity and investigating how digital technologies can help people with learning difficulties to create sound and music experiences in the capital.

If you'd like to know more about it just get in touch.

Have a think about joining the iPad Musician Facebook group

I know that Facebook isn't for everyone, but if you're on Facebook and you're not in the iPad Musician group then you're really missing out. This is one of if not the most active group on Facebook for iOS music people and it's just great. Go take a look and join it. It's worth it, they're really lovely too.

Phoenix Studio for Windows Mobile and for Android


I haven't actually tried out the Android version of Phoenix Studio as yet, but I can still find my way around the Windows Mobile version, and in theory they shouldn't be too different.

I had thought it was coming to iOS as well though.

Obama & Voice Synth (video)



Is it just me, or does this make anyone else think of Laurie Anderson? Just the beginning couple of voices anyway.

Blowing Air with the littleBits Speaker (video)



I'm not entirely sure why you'd want to actually do this.

Registration now open for NIME

You can find the registration page here for tickets.

FretPen, this may appeal to you ...



I just don't know what to say about it though ...

Diane Yaffe's Kitchen music made with PixiTracker (video)



I love music made with normal sounds, and what could be more normal than the sounds of your kitchen. Great stuff Diane, keep it up!

Mobile Synthesis & Future Forward Controllers (Moogfest 2014)



I haven't watched all of this as yet, but it came highly recommended so I thought I'd share it.

Don't forget, vidibox is still on sale this week

vidibox goes on sale for 5 days and drops in price from $9.99 to $6.99.

Musikmesse 2014: Focusrite iTrack Dock



I realised that I hadn't posted these photos from Musikmesse so as a part of tidying up I thought I'd put them up now.

birdStepper improving MIDI sync in next version


ROLI: Modern Music Industry

Another event that I attended recently was at ROLI. If you don’t know ROLI, they are the creators of the Seaboard keyboard controller that’s had loads of media attention over the last year or so. I was lucky enough to see the device in an early stage and I’ve been following its development over the last two years very keenly.

But that’s not all that ROLI do. They’ve also set up a number of regular events for people involved in the music industry, and not just hardware, but a very wide range or sectors within the industry as a whole. The event is called “The Modern Music Industry”, and it brings people from different backgrounds together to talk about how they see the industry changing and developing.

I was lucky enough to be at, and speak at the first of these events, late last year. You can imagine what my agenda was, basically promoting all things mobile of course, but from my perspective it’s really interesting to hear other people’s views as well, and the latest event was a case in point.



The latest Modern Music Industry event had speakers from Goldsmiths and Music Tech Fest. Both of whom were of real interest to me. The speaker from Goldsmiths talked about the work that they do there and also about NIME (New Interfaces for Musical Expression), a conference coming to Goldsmiths in late June this year. Rebecca has also worked with Smule and has a good understanding of the mobile world. Sadly I wasn’t able to stay for the Music Tech Fest talk, but as I’ve been at their events two years running and expect to be there again this year I wasn’t too troubled.

The main point is that this kind of event is excellent for bringing together people from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds within the music industry to talk about what’s happening and how things can change. It’s a great atmosphere for collaboration and for finding out what other people are up to, and it’s great that ROLI host these events.

I hope that they continue to do so.

sir Sampleton adds AB2 state saving

Sampler app sir Sampleton adds Audiobus 2.0 state-saving support in the latest version of the app (3.2). It saves the sound settings and also the last random beat.

Rare Casio VL-10 Keyboard on eBay


I know it's a bit sentimental, but I still have a soft spot for these old things, and they get more and more rare as time goes by. I'm holding on to mine anyway.

VL-10 on eBay

littleBits posts on how to run your own community events

If you're thinking about running events using littleBits kits and components then you should take a look at this post that littleBits have posted about just that, running workshops and events including some useful links and a workshop guide too.

Some more clues about what 4Pockets are up to ...

On their Tumblr, where there are some pictures, but I'm really non the wiser so far.

And this doesn't help me either ...

Anyone want to guess?

littleBits Synth Kit winners

Good to see the winners of the littleBits Synth kit. If you check out each page there's sound, video, details of how each winner was made and the bits used. All pretty comprehensive stuff.

So, here are the links. Go take a look:

http://littlebits.cc/projects/littlebits-synth-beats

http://littlebits.cc/projects/littlebitsdancemusic

http://littlebits.cc/projects/littlebits-disco-dj

So, what are 4Pockets up to, and what's stompboxband?

B-Step Sequencer arrived yesterday, all the details here

In case you missed it, B-Step Sequencer arrived yesterday and looks pretty awesome. You can find all the details here.

Making a "Save a Prayer" Patch for iPolysix (video)



Video description:

"Here's how to approximate the classic intro sound from "Save a Prayer" on Korg's iPolysix. The basic idea can be adapted for other synths. An even closer version can be made with the iPolysix sequencer. Copy the patch to Synth 2 and program the sequence for both tracks. Then set the Effects for Synth 2 to BPM Delay of 3/16. This will give the delay sound of the original. Version with delay at https://soundcloud.com/catabolic/ipol... For all of the latest updates from Catabolic, join the Facebook page http://on.fb.me/13E14cp or the Twitter feed http://bit.ly/10rFWYk HD video available."

iPolySix on the app store:

Missed the round up from last week? Find it here ...

Missed the round up from last week? It was quite late in the day, so you may well have done. If you did, you can find it here.

LittleBits synth jam (video)



Video description:

"Nice bit of mood lighting whilst getting to grips with the LittleBits on a spacey echo jam :)

This configuration patches the envelope through to modulate volume on the noise. The envelope splits off to also modulate the filter which is attenuated by the slider. The filter also has another input mixed in which is the bass line."

Still on sale: vidibox, down to $6.99

vidibox goes on sale for 5 days and drops in price from $9.99 to $6.99.

Meet the Mixer — iMPC Pro Log (video)



Video description:

"The iMPC Pro Mixer is where you mix your project... what else! There's a lot under the hood including on-board EQ, compression, FX sends, automation, and more.

iMPC Pro Log showcases the latest features from the freshest development build of iMPC Pro, the upcoming beat production iPad app from Akai Professional and Retronyms. A new video drops every week until we launch!

[Note: iMPC Pro is currently in development. All features are subject to change]"

Great update for Protein Der Klang!

Protein Der Klang get updated with some really nice new things ...
  • Sample preview within the browser
  • Bluetooth and Airplay audio support
  • Revert and Fade functions both available in Scratch and Slicer
  • Scratch, Slicer, clip &track volume and bank edition updated graphics
  • Minor bug fixes

How Do Guitars Sound Through Crystalline? (video)



Sign up to get notified on launch! http://crystallineapp.com/launch

Clean guitar connected to iPad using Apogee Jam interface, played through Crystalline. No other effects or processing done.

Crystalline: Shimmer Effects Processor for iPad
http://crystallineapp.com

Z3TA+ update brings lots of MIDI stuff

Z3TA+ update has a lot of MIDI in it ...
  • Selectable MIDI Input Channel 1-16, Omni
  • Selectable MIDI Sync Device Input
  • MIDI Learn Support for Mapping Parameters to an External Controller
  • MIDI Learn Save, and Load Configurations for Multiple Controllers
  • MIDI input Indicator Light
  • Updated Factory Presets
  • Language Support for French, German, and Japanese


OP-SCHOOL 10: Tombola (video)



This video is covering the Tombola sequencer on the OP-1 Portable Synthesizer. It is part of a series of OP-1 training videos.

For more information please click on the annotated links in the video or follow the links below:

OP-SCHOOL 01: Overview http://youtu.be/9Pm13Gk1jt4
OP-SCHOOL 02: Synth http://youtu.be/E7GEzeir2wE
OP-SCHOOL 03: Drum http://youtu.be/VBwU-d_WDmU
OP-SCHOOL 04: Tape http://youtu.be/JLDP40_ZiI4
OP-SCHOOL 05: Mixer http://youtu.be/R_Htj0DPzRo
OP-SCHOOL 06: Endless http://youtu.be/TdoLz7I7YVs
OP-SCHOOL 07: Finger http://youtu.be/N-rv2xO-MNc
OP-SCHOOL 08: Sketch http://youtu.be/ku4fMuWGz00
OP-SCHOOL 09: Pattern http://youtu.be/Cl-_0b19zbQ
OP-SCHOOL 10: Tombola http://youtu.be/SHoDUCAd4-I

OP-1s (on eBay)

So, what's this?


Looks very intriguing ...

Caustic - Funky House Loop Tutorial (video)



Video description:

"A short impromptu video showing how to make a basic funky house loop within Caustic.

Caustic is a music creation tool inspired by rack-mount synthesizers / samplers rigs. Everything is real-time and optimized for mobile devices (both Android and iOS)."

Konkreet Performer adds AirPlay

Konkreet Performer Version 2.2 "Desmond"
  • Now supports Airplay Mirroring on iPad2 or later
  • Small bug fixes
I've no idea why this release is called "Desmond", but I do think it's a nice name for a version.

Happy birthday GlitchBreaks

Yep, today GlitchBreaks celebrates it's birthday, starting off in 2012. Happy birthday!

Wotja 1.2.1 is on the bus and much more

Lots of new, powerful features and usability improvements including optional support for MIDI out*, unleashing Wotja’s power as an ideas generator and new “social music instrument”.

  • Shuffle: Icon on toolbar to let you quickly try the tune with different included high quality sounds & backing etc. It is great fun and, if you are interested in quickly trying out different tunes, you can just have it shuffle only the text or words (see Settings)!
  • MIDI Out support: Core MIDI, Virtual MIDI and MIDI clock support means you can use your Wotja melodies either to drive other 3rd party synths or be recorded by 3rd party MIDI apps that support that.*
  • Audiobus 2 support: Run the audio from Wotja into Audiobus so you can record it in other 3rd party apps.**
  • Setting to allow Background audio playback to be turned on or off (default is off).
  • Setting to allow only the text or characters to be shuffled (and the wotja is not restarted), which is great fun for “jamming”.
  • Combined Personalise and Refine screens into the one “Change” screen.
  • Added colour bars to the Change screen and Player and Backing selection.
  • Added new “Counterpoint” Players in Acoustic and Electric Piano.
  • Added a new “Soft” Player group with 4 sounds.
  • Added a “clear text” button (X) in the Text Edit screen to make it easy to start over.
  • Added a special info message if you press Shuffle with no text entered.
  • Emailing and opening wotjas as attachments is now ad supported.
  • Fixed speech play with some wotjas including Emoji.
  • Many other useability improvements.
  • New In-App Purchases:
    • Remove ads
    • MIDI output*
    • Remove audio output port silences**


bs-16i last day of sale

Today is the last day of bismark's bs-16i being on sale, with the down in price from $7.99 to $4.99.

Some thoughts from last month's Music Tech Pitch 4.5

I’ve been meaning to write something about this since the event, and only just got to it now. So, firstly, an apology for this although the delay doesn’t change much.
If you didn’t know it, Music Tech Pitch is a London based event for music tech start-ups to pitch their businesses to a panel of judges made up of VCs, Law firms, Accountancy firms and usually a number of music industry people. I chair the event / moderate the panel, and I’ve been doing this for almost two years now. Over that time it’s been interesting to see how the make up of the start-ups have changed. In the last event we held we had a very wide range of start-ups pitching. These were:
  • ALV Royalty Software - a cloud service performing royalty statement calculation and centralising metadata management
  • Blitzr - reunites all the music media, data and services in a single user-friendly interface @blitzrdotcom
  • Capsule.fm - audio-streaming notifications, stories and music to mobile and wearable devices @capsulefm
  • Exaget - delivers targetable, measurable and interactive audio ads to drive revenue for radio and music broadcasters @exaget
  • MeetandJam - a social network for musicians and a booking/calendar system for rehearsal and recording studios @meetandjam
  • Metable - a metadata and asset management platform, providing tools for labels, publishers and managers @metablemusic
  • Music Gateway - a music industry platform streamlining the way users get connected and conduct business on a global scale @Music_Gateway
  • Nagual Sounds - an interactive musical instrument, which tracks the movement via 3D camera and translates the data of the movement into music @nagualsounds

As you can see, they’re an interesting bunch. I won’t talk about all of them here, that would probably take a long time as even with a short pitch there's a lot of information about all of these and overall their pitches was very good I thought.

The format for music tech pitch is one that many will be familiar with if you’ve seen an event like this. Each start up gets a three minute pitch and then a few minutes to answer questions from the panel. Once all the pitches are done the judges vote on who they think had the strongest pitch using a range of criteria such as the idea, model, and scalability. Also, the audience get to vote separately on who they think should be the winning pitch, and often they come to a different conclusion than the judges.

Speaking of judges, we had an excellent panel this time round, and I think it’s worth mentioning them here:
  • Bruce Elliott-Smith, Business Development Director at Venture Capital Platform, CEO of electronic music company ArchangelUK, as well as a Grammy-winning song-writer for amongst others Kylie Minogue
  • Tom Frederikse, partner, Clintons
  • Julia Hawkins, Digital Strategy Manager, Universal Music UK
  • Phil Hope, Managing Director, Cutting Edge Group
  • Steve Lewis, Steve Lewis Services, previously founder of Stage Three Music sold to BMG Rights
  • Francois Planquette, Music Product Manager, Orange Group
  • Justin Prichard, Director - TMT Corporate Finance, EY

What I find interesting about this mix is how over the last two years we’re seeing a growing number of ‘app’ start-ups entering for the event. This time around one of those won, and whilst it wasn’t a music making app, it was significantly music based. The winning start-up was Capsule.fm. They had a very strong proposition and put it forward very well. It’ll be interesting to see how they do, and I plan to keep an eye on their app.

This time around at music tech pitch we started something a little different. We decided that it would be interesting to see a demo from a start up who’d been through kickstarter (or something similar) and get a view from them about how they’d found the process and how things were going now. We were lucky to get Mark from Dentaku who successfully funded their Ototo board on kickstarter earlier this year. Mark came along and talked about the process, the board, and even gave us a demo of the board running in his drain pipe saxophone, which was pretty awesome.



I hope that we can do more of this in future events too.

Overall it’s been a good experience in seeing how the music industry is changing and starting to accept new technology and how consumers are reacting to it. Mobile is becoming a bigger and bigger part of the picture and the traditional music industry is starting to recognise this too. It’s all good stuff, but we need to keep the momentum going and showcase more of the amazing talent that’s appearing in the music tech scene. I hope that music tech pitch 4.5 and continue to do this. That’s my plan anyway.

If you’re interested in music tech pitch 4.5, please contact me. I’d be more than happy to hear from you.

According to MoMuPro there's a free trial version of B-Step in review

Audulus on Mac: IAPs 50% off


B-Step Sequencer - MIDI Studio for iPad has arrived


I've been waiting for this one to arrive, it looks stunning!

Transform your iPad to a real music-sequencer workstation with B-Step!

The sequencer comes with native support for one or two Novation Launchpads. B-Step supports CoreMIDI, Virtual MIDI ports, Network MIDI and a lot of MIDI hardware devices!

It also supports MIDI Learn, so you can control B-Step's user interface with any MIDI controller you like!

B-Step Sequencer can work as MIDI clock master or you can sync it to another clock master.

With B-Step you program your melodies in a few seconds and you can't hit a wrong note. This sequencer is designed for improvisation and live use - your synthesizers will love B-Step.

Features:
  • Native Novation Launchpad support.
  • Advanced MIDI learn.
  • Drag'N'drop.
  • 3 color profiles.
  • Clean and simple user interface.
  • Run in background

Specification:
  • 16th step resolution.
  • 4 tracks (we call them strings).
  • 16 bars.
  • 5 x 6 chords per project.
  • Pattern auto chain.
  • MIDI Clock master (up to 400 BPM) or slave

MIDI:
  • CoreMIDI.
  • Virtual MIDI ports.
  • Network MIDI.
  • Support standard MIDI hardware devices.

B-Step Sequencer is priced at $16.99.

Reminder: Music Tech Fest London is happening this September


This year it'll be in September. On the 5th - 7th at the LSO St Lukes. I'll keep you posted on what's happening.

USB Audio Player PRO news

Doc Pop Nanoloop carts have been manufactured!


If you back this project then you'll have already seen this update from him, but it's great to see these carts now.

Music Box Composer adds MIDI file export and more

Here's what's new in Music Box Composer:
  • MIDI file export, in the utility flyout: look for the created file in iTunes File Sharing.
  • PDF export as well as JPG - it is saved with the JPG, and the offer to email after creating now will attach the PDF file.
  • '30 Note Mapping Fix' option added; the printed note values on the commercially available 30 note strips were being matched, but those notes were incorrect: this fixes that. The notes played are the same, just the note labels and the layout of the Piano mode.
  • New 'Auto Advance when adding via piano note' added - this advances the timeline by the current snap amount when adding a note via the piano.
  • Extra piano keys added at each end of the piano strip to aid moving forward and back in time (moves by the current snap increment) for a more fluid composing workflow using the piano.
  • Fixed bug where after using the piano keyboard any button required two clicks to activate.

Stompbox adds sharing and something more ...

The latest version of Stompbox says ...

"Added Options for Future Upgrades.
Share to Twitter and FaceBook added."

Sharing is good, as is paving the way for future upgrades ... I wonder what it means?

Xynthesizr is now universal

Xynthesizr is now a universal app!
  • iPad support
  • Ability to select custom morph area
  • Variable velocity per step
  • Pattern shifting and flipping
  • Note names display
  • Optional linear mode for knobs
  • New presets

Nice shot of all Apple's phones since 2007

GuitarApps giving away two GuitarJack interfaces ...

n-Track Studio Pro Multitrack Recorder update bring AB state save and AirPlay, plus more ...

I've been a fan of n-Track Studio Pro Multitrack Recorder for a while now, and it's just getting better and better as you can see from this update:
  • Now you can send audio output to Airplay/Bluetooth devices
  • Audiobus 2 and State Saving support
  • Improved 'Open' and 'Save' pages. You can now delete folders and select all files.
  • Minor bugs resolved

CsoundPad for iPad arrives (and it's free)


CsoundPad is a simple editor/player utility for the Csound music programming language.
  • Edit, perform, store Csound CSDs on an iPad.
  • Transfer CSDs to/from computer with iTunes.
  • Control Csound instruments via CoreMIDI.
  • Record realtime audio performance as WAV file.

Tested to work with bluetooth keyboard (recommended). Tested to work with available CoreAudio compatible hardware.

CsoundPad is free on the app store

Anything new for the wait list?

It's Monday, is there anything that needs adding into the wait list? Let me know if there is, or just take a look and see what's coming up.

KORG M01D: Mario Circuit - Mario Kart 8



Not really something I'd make, but interesting to hear what you can do with the M01D.

A quick note to developers

If you've had an email from me about May, please do try to get back to me as soon as possible. If you haven't had an email from me then please do get in touch using the email address you normally contact me on, or if not check the about page and get in touch.

A lot later than normal, here's the round up from the last week ...

Yep, sorry about this. This week's round up is a bit late, there's lots going on with plans and stuff, all will become clear soon. Anyway, for now, here are the highlights as I see them, day by day ...

Monday:

Tuesday:

Wednesday:

Thursday:

Friday:

And that was about it really, as usual, most of what I posted on Saturday was music, so in some ways it was a quiet week, which is unusual, but then it's been the end of the Easter holidays so, who knows.

Let's see what next week brings ...

What's your workflow?

Everyone has a different workflow and a different way of working and getting the sounds you want. So what's yours? How about sharing it and explaining why it works for you? Just get in touch (check the 'about' page) and tell me all about your workflow.

Started with a Thor Lead by Marcus Padrini



Track created using only iPad Music Apps: Thor, Sunrizer, Geo Synth (MIDI controller), GarageBand (Drums and Bass) and SampleTank (Miroslav Expansion for Strings, Winds and Percussion). http://musicapps.com.br

Get the SoundCloud app to listen on your iDevice.

HoloSpace by Mood481



Testing something new and exciting.

Get the SoundCloud app to listen on your iDevice.

Lent 2014 Week 7 Day 6 : Finale by akvalley



Forty days of Reflection. I create as inspired. Created with Notion Mobile

Get the SoundCloud app to listen on your iDevice.

New Data99_8bars by wharf99



Made with Figure for iOS. Don't have Figure yet? It's a fun, easy and bargain-priced music making app that anyone can use! Read about it here: http://ift.tt/16XygCL

Get the SoundCloud app to listen on your iDevice.

Between Light And Darkness by iosmusicandyou



When I wrote this song, I had two simple goals - finish a song and learn how to use Sector. The first goal was something that I've been struggling with for a while. I've got lots of bits and pieces, some really good starts and some just awful pieces of experimentation. Some constituted me playing around with new apps while others were the result of hours of synth patch creation. This is all normal and good stuff, but for some reason, I just couldn't bring myself to finish anything. I've been dealing with a whole lot of overwhelm and responsibility in both my personal and work life, which seemed to consistently get in my way. SECTOR has been an intriguing possibility to me, but previously, I hadn't dug too deep into it. I love all of Jonatan Liljedahl's apps, so I was ready to make this my new favorite. It forced me to think about music creation in a different way though - I've really explored synthesis in the past, and the manipulation of audio loops hasn't been my main thing. My respect for Jonatan was larger than my fear of a new approach though; I just needed a focus to really learn what the app could do. My solution to both goals was to create a short and simple song - not my usual process, but a seemingly quick way to reach the finish line. I started with a basic and thin texture that seemed positive and full of light; it's a minor key, but there was a hidden bit of hope in the melody and backing track that I enjoyed. As I dug deeper into SECTOR, the ability to warp loops into something new and a bit more edgy really hit a chord with me. I kept extending the piece with a darker edge, constantly playing upon the glitchy potential of SECTOR, exploring the way that it could fit into my music. As I completed the piece, I felt good about the outcome - I accomplished both of my goals while exploring the balance between light and darkness within my own personal approach. I also feel inspired to keep creating, so be prepared for more . . . I created this song exclusively on my third generation iPad, using NanoStudio as my core DAW app. I also used a number of additional apps, including Sunrizer Synth, iSyn Poly, Thor, ThumbJam, SoundPrism Pro, Audio Mastering, AUFX:Dub, AUFX:Space, Turndao, WOW Filterbox, iSEM, Audiobus 2, and of course, SECTOR.

Get the SoundCloud app to listen on your iDevice.

Audiobus jam #10 (anAsa) by efectism



i use Loopy HD for rec the sounds from :SampleTank,Magellan,Pearl Guitar & Animoog via Audiobus # photo by htakat

Get the SoundCloud app to listen on your iDevice.

Hell House by Mood481



Step right up folks! Please keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times.

Get the SoundCloud app to listen on your iDevice.

Positronic Star Collider by Hypervox



Made with Figure for iOS. Don't have Figure yet? It's a fun, easy and bargain-priced music making app that anyone can use! Read about it here: http://ift.tt/16XygCL

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Everybody has rhythm in their heart [Disquiet0120-Duchampbeat] by Mike J Dayton



Using the provided picture as a guide I programmed six drum waves in different drummer using tabla samples. My two tonal and melodic elements came from Stria and Animoog. Disquiet Junto Project 0120: Readymade Rhythm The image at the following link shows the hearbeat of the artist Marcel Duchamp. Study the image closely and from it make the “rhythmic foundation” of a track. Then add two elements, one “tonal” and the other “melodic.” The result is your finished work. You may, of course, loop the hearbeat to achieve the desired length. Given the date of the recording (April 4), you should assume the beat is in 4/4, though deviations are certainly welcome. The image is located in this post: http://ift.tt/1i8ukhN More on this 120th Disquiet Junto project — “Write a song based on the heartbeat of Marcel Duchamp” — at: http://ift.tt/1jgHBXl More on the Disquiet Junto at: http://ift.tt/1jNoOb1 Join the Disquiet Junto at: http://ift.tt/ZU8hbL

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Watching the sun set over the remains by pantsofdeath



Uploaded with AudioShare app - http://ift.tt/109HeHL Some train music from last week...

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Audiobus jam#11 (tHe wHales) by efectism



i use Loopy HD for rec the sounds from :SampleTank,Thor,Nave & Animoog via Audiobus

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Just Wish So Much by Hypervox



Made with Figure for iOS. Don't have Figure yet? It's a fun, easy and bargain-priced music making app that anyone can use! Read about it here: http://ift.tt/16XygCL

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Spellbound by Lymtronics



Submission for ohpeewon.com battle 21. Any sound source was allowed as long as arrangement occurred in the OP-1. I used a Vermona drm1 for percussion sounds (kit made in op1), and a minimoog voyager for bass sounds (recorded via line-in). All other sounds were created with the new DSynth engine on the OP-1 and the required Hitchcock samples taken from Spellbound.

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Swing Shift by Mood481



Created for the 808 challenge. Drums sounds from FunkBox. See the tags for other apps.

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DSynth Sketches by Lymtronics



First explorations with DSynth on OP-1.

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The puppet master (get up on your feet) by Sokpupit



The sock is a disco giant! I am a wool-blend Bee Gee, I am a fuzzy little disco diva!

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77 shapes by kuwala (Hypervox Remix) by Hypervox



Original Composer: @kuwala Original Track: http://ift.tt/1fhRdEu Made with Figure for iOS. Don't have Figure yet? It's a fun, easy and bargain-priced music making app that anyone can use! Read about it here: http://ift.tt/16XygCL

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Mitraillette by Jazflux



Made with Figure for iOS. Don't have Figure yet? It's a fun, easy and bargain-priced music making app that anyone can use! Read about it here: http://ift.tt/16XygCL

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Caustic does orchestra first trial... by EIPStudiosOhio



Using and credit to the Sontanina Orchestral SamplePack project, I've imported many of the sounds into Caustic 3 to see if I could pull off an orchestral piece. This is my first attempt. Inspiration and Credit to Don Davis's Matrix (1999) for this trial run. I am diving deeper into this, as I have some theories on how to take this further.... stay tuned

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Mushroom Clouds by Piascyk



Click Buy to download the free Figure file to remix. Made with Figure for iOS. Don't have Figure yet? It's a fun, easy and bargain-priced music making app that anyone can use! Read about it here: http://ift.tt/16XygCL

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Move your feet to the funky beat by Funky Turnip



This snippet of a song is for the ipad musician fb group 808 comp. Features 6 year old Sarah on vocals. Beatmaker 2 used for 808 drums.

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Tale of Two Uncles by Hypervox



Made with Figure for iOS. Don't have Figure yet? It's a fun, easy and bargain-priced music making app that anyone can use! Read about it here: http://ift.tt/16XygCL

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Space Funk by Jesper Jones



Another track from my album! Check it out here: http://ift.tt/1gmioMG Or buy it on iTunes: http://ift.tt/1pAYnIt Or listen to it on Spotify: http://ift.tt/QNPJGz Made with Nanostudio, Animoog, Alchemy and DM1

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My App of the week this week is ...

Audulus! I love modular synth apps, and modular synths, although I'm trying to avoid going all out down that particular route. So I'm glad to have a few great modular synth apps on my iDevices and Audulus is right up there.

Of course version 2.7 bringing the app universal is a great development for Audulus, and I've already enjoyed using it on my iPhone 5 today.

If you don't know the app then it's not only a great synth, Audiobus compatible of course, and with plenty of example patches to get you started, but it's also a very good way to start to learn the basics of synthesis, which I know can be complex.

So Audulus is my app of the week this week, and I've included the latest video of the now universal app.



Crystalline - Clean Guitar (loop)



Clean guitar played through Crystalline for iPad, connected to Apogee Jam interface. No other apps/processing used. crystallineapp.com

More coming to midiSequencer ...


Hypebot: 7 top Google apps for musicians

Hypebot is generally a good source of information for musicians and every now and then there's a piece on there that I think I really have to share. This is one. 7 top Google apps for musicians. There's a few things in there that I didn't know about at all, so worth a look I think.

BeatStepper Jan W (video)



I think I've got to get one of these ...

"Moogfest day 2 by Dr Bleep" ...

What's your app of the week?

What's the app that's been most useful or the most inspiring this week? Or maybe just the app that's been your work horse for the last few days. Tell me which one it is and why.

PhonoPaper for iOS arrives!


Another unique app from Mr Nightradio who makes the awesome Sunvox, PixiTracker, Virtual ANS and more:

PhonoPaper is:
  • format of graphical representation of the sound (music, human voice, etc.); in other words, it is the 2D audio barcode (by analogy with the QR-code);
  • real-time PhonoPaper-code reader (using the camera);
  • PhonoPaper-code generator (sound to image converter).

Key features:
  • PhonoPaper-code is analogue, so it is not so sensitive to different types of the image distortion (bad camera, dark picture, wrinkled paper, etc.); at least you will hear the "silhouette" of the original sound;
  • PhonoPaper does not require access to the network; its code is self-contained;
  • PhonoPaper-code can be played in real-time with hand-controlled speed and direction;
  • PhonoPaper-code can be drawn by hand (paper version of the Virtual ANS synth);
  • PhonoPaper is free!

Examples of usage:
  • voice messages (or pieces of music) on the billboards, posters, postcards, goods;
  • audio labels for phonorecords;
  • audio examples in some textbooks;
  • art-experiments;
  • learning the basics of the spectral music.

PhonoPaper is based on the Virtual ANS engine - it is a software simulator of the unique Russian synthesizer ANS. So if you want to make more complex PhonoPaper-codes - use the Virtual ANS.

Default PhonoPaper-code length is 10 seconds. But you can make it shorted or longer - playing speed can be changed manually.

Official website with examples and FAQ: http://warmplace.ru/soft/phonopaper

PhonoPaper is free.

Studiolab update has more intrigue

I still haven't got my head around this app, but the latest update looks quite interesting:

"Restore earlier composition states, up to three days selective undo. Collaborative composing with Facebook friends, using Dropbox. Synch compositions among devices, using Dropbox."

Quincy, modular cellular automata composition tool


Quincy is a most unique music composition tool. Its modular approach to interpretation of cellular automata renders Life worlds in styles ranging from Balinese Gamelan music to that of Stockhausen. Auto-generated on-device, interactive music that sounds authentic and goes far beyond the mere triggering of note events or squeeky sine waves. Compositions in Quincy are visually and musically spellbinding and wonderfully strange. They can be looped, react to touch during play and can be shared via AirDrop, messaging and email.

Quincy’s core engine is a full implementation of Conway’s Game of Life, capable of generating all possible Life variants including HighLife and Seeds. It comes with a Life editor, a large library of patterns, color mixer, features an adjustable grid size, random cell insertion and many display options. Editing tools go beyond pen and pattern stamp and also include options like copy, paste and rotate.

Quincy ships with three sound modules (Chroma, Gregorian and Pentrix) with many more to come. Each module uses its own algorithm to create sound but also defines the key and a base scale to be used as tone material. The Chroma module is geared towards atonal music with several symmetric and chromatic scales. The Gregorian module employs church modes and the Pentrix module offers 27 types of pentatonic scales.

There are two playback modes, audio and MIDI. In audio mode playback is routed through a device’s speakers or headphones. This mode offers 128 instruments and adjustable reverb settings. MIDI over WiFi uses Bonjour for discovery of suitable MIDI destinations to seamlessly integrate Quincy’s output into any DAW like Logic or Ableton.

Quick Features:
  • Universal app (iPhone, iPod, iPad)
  • Document based
  • Adjustable grid size
  • MIDI over WiFi
  • Full general MIDI instrument library and adjustable reverb
  • Performance view (iPad)
  • Large pattern library
  • File transfer via Email, Message or AirDrop
  • Extensive online documentation
  • Academic discounts are available

Quincy is very powerful and a joy to work with. Create infinite variations on a theme by combining playback loops with random inserts or use performance mode with one-tap document switching and the ability to draw into playing compositions without disturbing the original. Quincy renders stunning visuals, produces the craziest looking metronomes, very atmospheric soundscapes and strange rhythmic patterns that have many uses in music production.

The app is priced at $5.99