Sequencing & Synthesis In The Box On The iPad

This video, via Discchord, takes a look at the current state of the art of combined sequencing & synthesis on the iPad, with Genome, Sunrizer, Bassline, Molten & MoDrum.

While the demo would be pretty basic if it were being done on a desktop workstation, the development of this level of connectivity between multiple music apps on iOS is very new. See the August posts on the Open Music App Collaboration Manifesto and the the future of iOS music. An impressive amount of work has been done in getting iOS music apps working togethering in the last month and a half.

What do you think of the current state of iOS as a music platform? And does the platform need more desktop DAW capabilities, or do you think it needs to evolve in a different direction?

6 thoughts on “Sequencing & Synthesis In The Box On The iPad

  1. I think this interoperability is pretty sweet, but I’m not sure of the advantage of this over something like Nanostudio which allows up to 16 tracks of mixed percussion and synthesis. Anyway, it’s great to see this technology moving forward…I guess the big thing is the ability to mix and match your sound sources instead of being only what’s available in a particular Mobile DAW (ie Beatmaker, Xewton, Nanostudio).

  2. Seems nice but it’s still a bit flakey, the patterns on the different midi channels go out of sync after switching them on and off. And the most welcome addition would be if the genome keyboard could real time record the midi notes without latency and without having to stop the sequencer to send genome midi keyboard notes to sunrizer for example. Also the keyboard octave button is too close to the velocity slider, there is latency in switching the tracks on and off, no program changes and no vertical only zoom. And how do you record the outcome? And what is up with those €7,99 ableton, logic, maschine, absynth etc. instruction video apps. Are they hoping that people in their enthousiasm think they can download a ableton, logic, maschine or absynth app for only €7,99 and then discover that it’s videos. Or does anyone think they are more useful then sunrizer for the same price?

  3. Yeh, I have to agree. The most irritating thing is the use of keyboard in Genome, but you can always put in record mode and use Sunrizer keyboard in real time instead… 😉

  4. People who think that any of the sound quality, processing power, and functionality of apps are even remotely comparable to vst’s, hardware, (any!), or software on real computers, (there really is no need to involve A/D anything), need their heads and ears examined. And coming from me, what with the self inflicted 3/8 drill bit lobotomy(s), excessive chemical abuse, and bass bruised eardrums, this is no compliment.
    Yes, anything is an instrument, i get that, but is it necessary to promote the lowest common denominator, just because it can be carried in your pocket, (or your ‘murse’, as the case is more likely to be), as the new messiah?
    Sure it can play samples, but maybe we should work on steady clock, no lagg on the controls, and hell, any app that doesn’t crackle like a mofo while doing anything even remotely strenuous to the processor. And god forbid you get a text, or call, in the middle of your mix!
    Seriously, these things can’t even handle flash games properly. Is the world ready for a new/obsolete control format? ‘Virtual midi’? Hahaha wtf? It’s virtually as shitty as midi ~ only less functional and not really compatible with a process that is over 30 years old?

    1. mildheadwound

      Your comments don’t make a lot of sense.

      Do you think that the math that goes into calculating the output of software synths works differently on VSTs, hardware synths and mobile apps, or something?

      Do you actually have any experience with any of the more serious mobile music making apps? If so, which ones are you talking about? Many of the more recent apps are quite powerful and sound great.

      If you can’t make music with today’s current crop of music apps, the limitation is yours, not the apps.

      1. Okay, i was acting the nut~job in my comment. I’m currently suffering from a fugue in the technology department. These things are fun, well built, and all that. Just that people saying these are professional level, are sorely mistaken. The math is the same, you’re right, just not the processing power of the ipad/phone. The only app i heard that sounds halfway decent, (i mean more decent then just playing samples), is the Moog. But even that one hardly does a mooger~fooger justice. As for “more serious mobile music making apps” Could you clarify? Because i don’t think they exist. Certainly nothing that even compares to the plethora of free VST’s readily available with the click of your mouse. All i get are various beatbox sample players with mediocre or less filtering and effects, or some very limited, flash level synths. Sure you can make tracks on them, but there’s no comparison to the processing power of a real DAW, with VST’s, and it shows. I would just hate to see all the programmers running to this limited format, while abandoning a vastly superior format, simply because people are more likely to spend a buck or two on crap instead of a few hundred bucks, on something vastly superior. Oh well, as usual, quality is flushed down the toilet for convenience and thrift.

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