New Waldorf Wavetable Synth Coming To iPad

Waldorf, creator of a long line of respected synths, and iOS developer Rolf Wöhrmann (Tempo Rubato) are working on a new wavetable synthesizer for the iPad, according to a report by GearJunkies.

The application will offer new options for sound manipulation, based on 3D modeling and Waldorf’s latest research:

An innovative approach to wavetable synthesis allows for the transposition of the spectrum and the balance of periodic and sound spectra entirely independent from a waveís position. The existing wavetable technology is thereby extended by two new dimensions, and it allows for formant shifts as well as numerous other unheard sounds.

Also, unlike with typical wavetable instruments, the number and length of waves in a wavetable will no longer be restricted. It ís the era of wavetable synthesis V2.0!

This app will support a huge number of hardware MIDI interfaces, e. g. all Core MIDI compatible interfaces by IK Multimedia, iConnectMIDI, MIDI Mobilizer II by Line6, ioDock or the Camera Connection Kit by Apple, as well as proprietary interfaces such as the SynthStation by Akai.

App collaboration standards like Sonomas Audio Copy/Paste, Intuas Audio Pasteboard and Virtual Core MIDI will also be supported like the upcoming AudioBus standard and KORGs WIST synchronization technology.

The new Waldorf wavetable synth for iPad is expected to be available this summer. Pricing is to be announced.

47 thoughts on “New Waldorf Wavetable Synth Coming To iPad

    1. At the Teenage Engineering website, they’ve got a job posting for an iOS programmer to work on “a custom Teenage Engineering iOS application”. I guess it is good to be an iOS user. And if TE ports their OP-1 content to the iPad, aren’t the people who spent nearly 1K for an OP-1 going to be happy?

        1. Now, how would an iOS version be any less powerful or have any difference in sound quality? From what I’ve seen, pro synths on ios are as deep as hardware counterparts..

            1. Lol 😀 OP-1 triggers are hardly very expressive as a keyboard. Touchscreen is fully capable for triggering as well as super expressive playing techniques like sliding and polyaftertouch a la Animoog. Of course you can also use midikeyboard in conjunction for ultimate expressiveness.

                1. You need tape to be an analogue recorder and the OP1 is digital therfore the recorder is no different than recording on any other digital format. It might look like a cassette tape recorder but its not.

  1. So I’v been starting to think, with all this midi flyin around why not develop these apps to be more of a editor/sound engin, or at least when pluged into a midi controller, make it a mode. sometimes I feel the keys are kinda hoakie and use up valuable real estate that could be used for more edit or performance control.
    Anyway, I can’t wait for this…

    1. You will be able to plug any midi controller to this synth via the many iOS midi interfaces now available. So, the idea of having your iPad as a synth engine is already there. BTW it already works for NLogSynth PRO like this. Even arp can be synced to midi clock etc. You can play via DIN midi using interfaces from Line6, IK, Yamaha, iConnect MIDI, and many more now upcoming. With Alesis iodock you get balanced audio in case. Some USB midi controller also able to connect via Camera Connection Kit (but not all).

      We will thing about screen real estate to hide the keyboard, yes!

      Cheers
      Rolf

          1. Well I’m buying both!!! But I thought we would be able to use iOs apps on our Macs when Mountain Lion rolled around… I was salivating thinking of using Animoog with Logic!

      1. Yeah I get that it has midi connectivity, and I use this with other synth apps all the time. Thanks for replying to my comment about it. I guess I just can’t believe that this kind of reaction to midi connection hasn’t been though of yet, I mean I get that placement of touch response can give values such as velocity or mod amount but my midi keyboard does that. so more & more with the advances in midi/ipad control, I find that if I’m not using the iPad as a controller (Lemur/TouchOSC) I don’t touch the iPad as much, kinda like a VST/DSP host. Turn it on, plug it in and leave it be. Now that being said, apps where the touch surface is intrigal in performance control like Animoog, I’m all over the surface. So if the surface isn’t nessesarily going to make my performance more interesting, and I am going to use a hardware controller, it would be nice to use that extra screen space for more interesting visual feedback. But like I said I can’t wait to get this app!

        Cheers,
        Salt+Slug

  2. It looks like Waldorf was inspired by Animoog. The interface is very similar, yet very different.

    Not that its a bad thing.

  3. This is exciting. I really like Tempo Rubato’s NLog synth. It’s one of my favorite iOS synths, and it seems very PPG-inspired. BTW, I experienced some unusual bugs with it, and Rolf was super helpful with solving the problems I encountered.

    1. Yep, nLog is one of the best synths around for iPad, and down straight the best value for money on the Mac AU market. I’m curious about this one.

  4. This looks exciting.
    Also… about the keyboard eating real estate space – on Sunrizer, if you click Effects, and then DOCK, the Effects Panel will dock to the bottom covering the keys. Nice touch.

    I’ve asked Rolf to implement Multi Timbral mode to NLOG for iPad, and use the keys area for the multi timbral part. He said he will implement multi mode sometime this year.

    1. Being unable to see the benefit of having a battery powered multisynthesis module with bigger screen than workstation, that you can also play without keyboard when electricity isn’t available and which also expands keyboardists expressive means with sliding, strumming, polypressure and other gestures is beyond my comprehension….

      1. My comment was about the keyboard.
        Strumming, sliding etc have nothing to do with the keyboard paradigm.
        So ask yourself this:
        If you wanted a pizza on the road would an image on a tablet be sufficient for the pizza experience ?
        For me this is simply non existent inteface-controler design.

        Obviously this is not aimed at waldorf per se they are not the only ones doing it.

        1. What did you think my comment was about? Comprehension problems seems to have expanded into wider problems in reading text.

          Touchscreen keyboard certainly has more to do with keyboards, than pizza or anything else that nourishes and feeds you. Picture vs food is hardly comparable analogy to touchscreen vs keyboard.

          You can think of iPad as a synth module, that can act as a fully operational, and fully mobile synthesizer even when Keyboard isn’t available, but even with keyboard attached it offers Buchla-like expressibility that expands the expressive means that mere keyboard doesn’t have. For just one example, being able to control portamento accurately for each note without any automation is very much wanted desirable feature for keyboardist. Of course, you don’t need to comprehend or use any of the expanded expressiveness, you can still enjoy very capable, versatile and affordable sound module.

          Waldorf has provided their latest wavetable technology, so they are collaborators in this synth.

        2. My andromeda begs to differ that sliding has nothing to do with the keyboard paradigm. 😛 So does my Z1…although, my Z1 suggested maybe you were referring specifically to the keyboard bed, and not being narrow-minded by limiting the definition of a keyboard and how the human units interface with them. They both tell me I need to get out more and make friends.

          I, personally, enjoy the fact that I can easily take my iPad with me to work in my bag and create patches for future use during downtime (c’mon ableton. where’s the app already) …with or without a midi controller hooked up to it. Options are always good.

  5. Wow. my dreams are coming true. Well done Waldorf/Tempo Rubato.
    Thanks for taking IOS seriously.
    (Tryng not to go OTT, but my “entitlement issues” are being answered.)

  6. This looks wonderful, and both Waldorf and TempoRubato have a track record of excellence, so I expect great things from this! Even after all this time, NLog is right up there in the best iPad synths.

    My take on the keyboard conversation… I prefer the “strips” instead of keys, just like Animoog and the option in GrainScience. Strips laid out like a traditional keyboard but uniform sized, white/black keys differentiated somehow, and variable input from sliding low/high on the strip is “the” optimal playing surface for a touch screen (at least so far!). I prefer this even to my external hardware keyboard controllers, and wish every iPad synth can with this option. Bonus points if the strips can be set for particular keys, which then eliminate strips that do not fall into that range.

  7. Agree with chopper above

    For guitar players like me who suck at keyboards , slide keys like animoog are insanely awesome to use and open a whole new dimension of playability

    Even the isomorphic ones like geosynth have are better than POKs (plain old keys) !!!

    1. Isomorphic layouts in 4ths are definitely useful for guitar players.
      It’s easy to pick up the fingering, you get a wide range of notes, and you can play really fast!

    2. Yeah, exactly! I play both guitar and keyboards… guitar being the one I’m much better at. Synthesizers are so expressive, but keyboards feel so limiting after playing a guitar. The iPad is the first synth controller that I feel I can really be expressive on the way I want to, and have become accustomed to with a guitar.

  8. I like NLog on iOS and the Mac.

    However, since I’ve upgraded my iPad 1 to iOS 5.1, most of my iOS synths experience audio glitches every few minutes. This basically makes the iPad useless for music. 🙁

    Someone on the Apple forums had luck doing an erase and restore of the iPad, so I am going to see if that helps at all.

  9. i wonder if there is any remote possibility of some sound compatibility with the microwave series…. i badly miss my old one…

  10. The Waldorf Blofeld is a SHIT I have one and i cant use it on stage because it is too buggy!! I hope that ipad version will be more stable!

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