Wooji Juice has updated Grain Science (App Store link), its software synth for the iPad, adding a new chorus effect and additional synth options.
Grain Science is ‘built on similar principles of granular synthesis, but is vastly more powerful’, according to Wooji Juice. Unlike many “experimental” granular apps, Grain Science combines it with traditional synthesis techniques to make a hybrid synthesiser.
Here’s what’s new in Grain Science 1.2:
- New: Chorus FX unit
- New: Pulse Width Modulation blend mode
- New: Wave list shows a count of how many instruments use each wave
- New: More musician-friendly BPM system, goes up to 180bpm with 1/4, 1/8, 1/16 and 1/32 options (old system can still be selected)
- New: Multiple-octave chord arpeggiation
- New: Swipe to delete unwanted audio from wave & audio import lists
- New: “Reed” built-in wave
- New: 6 additional built-in instruments
- New: Tube Resonance Bass can be programmed. Note: It can bite! Slow, gentle programs are recommended, unless you want artefacts!
- New: UI improvement — swap FX units by dragging them around by their names
- New: Setting to choose whether recording is hold-to-record or tap-to-start/tap-to-stop
- New: Mini VU meter on recording button during recording (or, in hold-to-record mode, tap to toggle on/off)
- New: Cropping selections now snap to zero-crossings for smoother results
- Improved: Easier to see when a cropping selection is about to begin
- Improved: Avoids “popping” while installing/uninstalling FX units
- Improved: Slightly more useful naming for newly-created instruments
- Fix: Crash bug when mapping certain kinds of parameter in otherwise-unmodified instruments
- Fix: Issue with reverb resetting itself after re-opening Grain Science
- Fix: Control Mapper shows the same names for Tube Resonance parameters as on their FX dials
- Fix: Issue with Control Mapper Auto-Reset not always auto-resetting to the correct value
- Fix: Issue with Single-Shot grain mode
Synthhead, the fact that I’m the only one writing here is evidence enough to prove my point that the main core of your readers don’t care about apps. This app is as able as any hardware out there..
I totally disagree with you for many, many reasons. Your “evidence” doesn’t even qualify as anecdotal… you simply pulled something out of your a$$ as a platform for you opinions. Besides, it’s really easy to skip posts you don’t like. You should try it sometime.
And FWIW, I really dig this app and welcome the update!
I care. Actually, I rely a lot on Synthtopia for iOS app news. BTW, Grain Science is absolutely fantastic (I’m not going to touch the hardware argument, though). But, it was released not too long ago and there were a couple of reviews posted, so perhaps there’s not much more to be said about it.
Having said that, there seems to be enough mobile-device related material and news to spawn a separate section of the web site (e.g., http://www.synthtopia.com/mobile/) It might fill the gap well with the demise of Palm Sounds. However, I personally like all the stuff in one place since hardware and desktop software is interesting to me too.
Or maybe our site traffic keeps growing, despite ruffling a few feathers with the mobile coverage. Hmmmm……
I am all for ANYONE reviewing apps, what annoys me actually is the readership of this site tend to at times comment negatively on some apps and make statements to the effect that apps are not as good as hardware, or not meant to replace hardware, or can never be as good as hardware etc..
Synth head, if you want to review and promote apps go ahead, as long as its not in the mood of “hey, check this cool app out, but my moog voyager is better”
Likely your site traffic is growing, and perhaps due also to app coverage, and that’s cool
I’d say keep it all in the same place and moderated nicely, but as chris mentioned above about palmsounds, that blog was trod all over by many many trolls slamming this and slamming that
I just don’t want to have to hear people who get elitist about synths put apps down, that’s all
And I promise I won’t slam synths, they are good, no doubt, just that I am focused on apps
Grain synth is amazing, I was playing it last night, that, tc11, addictive synth and sunrizer are fully able pro tools and I believe that any pro synth person, if they tried them out with a midi keyboard and the correct amplification would also testify to that. They have all the right filters and effects and some great presets, and if that is not good enough, most of those apps allow you to import your own by acp or iTunes filesharing
For everything that exists in the universe, there will be fanboys for it, and they are genetically predisposed to hate anything that isn’t what they slavishly worship. A well balanced individual will realize that nothing is perfect, and that there are pros and cons to anything. Try composing on your vintage hardware synth in the passenger seat of a Mini Cooper, for example, if you think hardware is better no matter what. I love any music tool that sounds good, and there are plenty of examples of hardware, software, and “mobileware” that fit that description. I vote Synthtopia report on ANY kind of synth.