dot Melody is a kind of sequencer. An unique one. I have a little problem to explain why I love this App so much because there is a lot of things that you can not do with it but because of this dot Melody is an awesome App.... So, dot Melody is a Midi sequencer. 3 tracks only! 3 "monophonic" tracks! (Lead, Bass & Drum). It means that you can not play chords, a kick with a close Hi-hat... it got me somewhat destabilized initially, trying to program a classic drum pattern... The grid is "weird" too... The vertical axis set the note duration, the horizontal one the pitch. On the left side of the screen, you can choose the Chord (scale), on the right side, the patterns selection. You can create as much patterns as you like. In the option menus, you can set the Time signature, the Scale, the Root note, the Chords (scale) and create custom one. Add a Delay for a track and a Reverb to the whole mix. All the parameters can be change in play mode. You can also generate a random pattern, randomise one, and play it in reverse mode. In summary: with dot Melody you can create a melody very fast, with fun and a really great sounding. Even if it's a Midi sequencer, I prefer to use the internal preset. I really love them...). You can also use dot Melody as a random music generator, or a Drone. A Killer App!
Review by Ed
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Zeeon synth is the new release from Beep Street, after iSequence one of the first iOS workstation. GyroSynth a gesture synthesiser for iPhone. Sunrizer synth, a synthesiser which never leave my iPad and Impaktor. I use it for my live performances... So, Zeeon synth is a virtual analog synth. 2 layers plus a Noise layer. Each layers come with 2 oscillators. A Filter module, 2 LFO and a Drive. In the Panel 2 a Voice settings module, a Chorus, a Reverb and a Delay. With this, you have already a Killer Synthesiser for the generated sound. A versatile synthesiser. Great for the Bass, Lead sound, great for the Pad too. Certainly the best analog vintage synthesiser from the App Store. Despite this, this is not the highlight of Zeeon synth, the great 16 steps sequencer either... (Stand Alone version only) No, the highlight is the Matrix... The Matrix allows you to setnd 17 signal source to 42 targets! 8 slots are available for each layer! All the parameters of Zeeon synth can be controlled via MIDI.... I let you imagine what you can do with an external MIDI Controller and the Matrix... In summary, for the generated sound, it's a Killer App, a Must Have! With the Matrix it's a?. Euh,... it's a already the max rating.... It's an App that will stay in my iPad for the next 5 or ten years like Sunrizer.
Review by Ed A lot of changes since this review... 5 days after, Audiobus support has been added. 1 month later, the Core Midi. November, 15th 2013 migration of RD4 from a Paid App to a Free one with an offer in app purchases. In December of the same year, the integration of the Novation Launchkey mini. One year later, in December 2014 the Ableton Link support. In February more Drum Kits were added. The last update was released this year, in May. The 2.3.6 version: bugs fixed. Published on 20 Sep 2013 RD4 is a little workstation. 4 Tracks. It comes with 1 Synthesizer, called Analog: 3 oscillators, 1 AASR and 1 Filter section. The Analog has it's own grid editor. Very minimal: you can only set the keys and the length of the notes. A Baseline (r): 4 waveforms to chose from, a filter section and its step by step editor. The Bassline is certainly the module that I like the least in this App... To finish, 1 Drum Machine. Its only "shaping" parameter available for an instrument is a Punch button. As I said, RD4 is a 4 track workstation. The thing really cool is that you can use any of this instrument in any track... You can use it with 4 Drum Machine, or 3 Bassline and 1 analog... As you like! You also have a Mixer, 4 Effects (Distortion, Phaser, Delay and Reverb). one Send for each track but 4 send 4 each Drum instruments. A Pattern Mode also allows you to play a pattern for each track (8 patterns can be saved for each instrument) from 1 to 2, to 3, and so on. 2 random modes are also available. To conclude, the App is very well done but... The Analog Synthesizer is really cool. It is the module I prefer in this App. You have enough parameters to shape your sound as you like. The Bassline, as I said, is the one I love the least... Not fat enough, for me... The 2 Drum Machines are cool, but it would be nice to be able to create a custom kit... The live record mode is really cool, but more sharing features. At this moment, we only have: iTunes File Sharing,SoundCloud and Dropbox. Ok, it's cool, but I really need to have the AudioCopy / Paste at very least. Hard to rate it, ... Because RD4 is very well done, very simple to understand, but I want more! :-) At the same time, it is only version 1 of this App... I'm sure that it has the potential to be a Killer App... App Store description :
Turn your iPhone or iPad into a musical instrument! RD4 - Groovebox is a music making app with virtual analog synthesizers, drum machines and effects. Compose and arrange your music in real-time. Choose instruments individually for the 4 channels. Record live or set notes with the dedicated sequencer or piano roll of each instrument. "This is no desktop app crammed onto a touchscreen. It seems the interface has been designed around your fingertips." Peter Kirn from CDM (createdigitalmusic.com) Via in-app purchase: Upgrade to premium and unlock the following features: Save Song, Export Loop, Audio Session Recording, Share Sounds, All 10 Drum Kits, All 5 Effects, Mixer Instrument Configuration, Effect Bus Configuration, MIDI Input and MIDI Clock Sync in/out. This multi-touch enabled app makes it simple to invent unique loops and musical phrases. Manipulate the sound of the synthesizers by tweaking the oscillators, resonant filters and audio envelopes. Add audio effects like reverb, distortion, phaser, filter and delay to your sounds. Appropriate both for experienced musicians and beginners. Feature Overview Mixer - 4 channel rack mixer - Instrument selection for each channel - Volume control with level meter per channel - Direct audio effect channel assignment - Tempo control with tap tempo - Channel mute and solo Sequencer - 2 banks with up two 8 bars per instrument - Adjustable play modes from 1 to 8 bars and random modes - Song Mode with a length of up to 99 bars Choose between two virtual analog synthesizers and the drum machine for each channel: Analog - Modeled after legendary monophonic synths of the '70s - For fat sounding bass and powerful lead sounds - 3 oscillators with 6 different waveforms - Each oscillator can be tuned precisely and has a warmth control for the typical analog sound - Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release envelope generator - Pitch wheel - Low-pass filter (24dB/oct, 4-pole) with knobs for cutoff, resonance and an Attack/Decay/Sustain envelope generator - Recording of played notes in real-time - Piano Roll for editing recorded notes comfortably - Or compose by drawing notes directly with the piano roll in 1/16 or 1/32 resolution - Piano roll editing features: Transpose Pattern, Shift Sequence and Quantize Pattern Bassline - Reminiscent of the legendary 303 synthesizer - Create bubbling basslines and screaming lead sounds - Successor of the famous synthesizer Rubberduck from d-lusion - High-quality low-pass filter with resonance, cut-off, and envelope controls - Oscillator with 4 types of waveforms - Real-time step sequencer with accent and slide Beats - Program beats with 10 classic drum kits: 808, 909, 606, CR-78, Linn, KR55, RX11, RZ1, DMX, DPM48 - Booming kick drums, snappy snares and throbbing percussions - 8 channels per drum kit - Punch control for volume and envelope adjustments - Accent programmable for each drum channel - Free assignable effects for each drum sound - Channel mute, Closed Hi Hat mutes the Open Hi Hat - Real-time pattern based step sequencer Audio effects: - 5 effects: Reverb, distortion, filter, phaser and delay - Real-time controllable - X/Y control field for each effect - 4 effect sends - Chaining of 2 effects Technical features: - Audiobus support - Core MIDI support - Connects to all available MIDI input sources automatically - MIDI Clock Sync support, in/out - Automatic MIDI input focus when switching Instruments - Multi-touch control - Live session recording - Audio loop export feature - Session save capability - Cut/copy/paste pattern Ruismaker FM description from the website developer: Ruismaker FM is like the crazy twin-sister to the classic Ruismaker drum synth. Instead of using virtual analog modelling, it sports a single, custom FM (‘Frequency Modulation’) synthesis engine capable of creating a vast bandwidth of different types of sounds. The theory behind FM is too complex to go into right here, but essentially it works by taking an oscillator (called ‘the carrier’, like a sine wave or a pulse wave) and changing its frequency so fast that all sorts of overtones - known as ‘sidebands’ - become audible in the signal. Although FM can be done using analog equipment, the most effective way to do it is using digital algorithms (analog’s charming quirkiness tends to introduce side effects that sometimes makes FM hard to control properly in a musical way). Ruismaker FM uses this type of digital FM synthesis to create percussive sounds. It is capable of creating powerful synth kicks, noisy snares and metallic hihats, but truly comes to life when doing more unconventional sounds (zaps, blips, whirrs, clicks, hollow or metallic effects) or even bass lines. Because it is designed to do percussion, it comes with some specific parameter behavior and waveforms that are optimised for percussive sounds and effects - typically not found on other FM synths. If you like to read the Ruismaker FM review, read the words in bold and underlined.only. If you like to read the Ruismaker review read all words excepted the underlined words. I already reviewed Troublemaker & Ruismaker from this developer. I will review soon, Ruismaker FM, the FM version of Ruismaker I hope that I will be able to review all the Apps from Brian Ross. If not, very very sad I will be, because a big fan of this developer I am… (one more time, I am talking like a Jedï…). I love the UI, I love the generated sound, I love the concept… I also love their User manual which allows me to save a lot of time while I am making my review and tutorial… So, Ruismaker FM… first, if you download this App, use an headphone, you will be able to listen to the quality of the generated signal. A lot of dynamics which is not so easy to find with in a Drum FM Synthesizer Machine and this even if you start to shape the sound of an instrument track. I love this… Ruismaker FM its two modules. Euh, no, it’s 2 Apps in one. A Midi Drum FM Synthesizer Machine and a Sequencer, an Euclidean Pattern sequencer… an Euclidean Midi Pattern sequencer… an Euclidean Polyrhythm Midi Pattern sequencer… I think that I have to make a little break and to give you some explanations… Why it’s not 2 modules, but 2 Apps? With the Audio Unit version, there is no sequencer as we have in the Stand Alone version and in the IAA one… does it means that we can not use the Ruismaker Euclidean Pattern sequencer? No… with Audiobus 3 you can load Ruismaker FM as a Midi input… at this moment, you can use it as midi sequencer to control another App, but you can also use it to control the Audio Unit version of Ruismaker FM loaded in Audiobus 3 or in another App. Check out the tutorial below… note that you can Tap on the GM keymap button located on the first parameters line of the Drum Synthetiser to play the 6 8 available instruments tracks with the Audiobus Midi keyboard or another one. Jump to the C4 octave of your MIDI Controller and play.. Now Euclidean. Euclid was a Greek mathematician from 300 B.C. who came up with an algorithm to calculate the Greatest Common Divisor (GCD) for any set of two numbers. http://cgm.cs.mcgill.ca/~godfried/publications/banff.pdf. It means that this sequencer is not a classic sequencer… don’t try to tap on the grid,… no events will be added to it. Use the Beats button to add beats… set the number of steps for each of 6 8 available tracks from 1 to 32 and use the shift button to move all the selected tracks in an Euclidean style. Add an accent or not, use the Mutation button to add random beat to your track and if your not happy with this track, tap on the randomize button… you can also load a sequence from the Library or save yours. Before to conclude, let’s talk about the Drum FM Synthetiser. 6 8 instruments tracks. You can load 8 Snares, 8 Kicks if you like, or else and save this Preset. The first line of parameters are applied to all tracks instruments: Delay time & Feedback / Reverb and Volume. An edit button open a menu and allows you to randomize the parameters for all or the selected channel. To initialise a channel, to copy and paste it too. An High Pass and a Peaking filter are also present on this line a randomize button is also available. On the second line, the parameters for the selected track instrument: an Oscillator & Pitch, a Modulator with amount & Speed, Attack, Decay, Saturate, Tune / Decay / Personality / Drive / Bitcrush / Delay Send, Pan and Level. The line of Pads below allows you to play the sound of the selected track and select an Instrument preset. So, now my conclusion… I love the Drum Synthetiser… the generated sounds… I also love the sequencer… the possibilities that he can offer to an ex Punk, ex New Wave, ex Rocker and old Electro music lover. I remember the day I listened to the first Tom York solo album… the Eraser… the Drum programming… so far from me… my internal Drum Machine programming system. And it’s too bad because, I love this kind of rhythms so much… Euh, no, it’s was too bad…. Now, I will use the Ruismaker App… a Killer App. A Must Have!
Review by Ed Italizer is made to create sound & Fx for Dub and Reggae. To generate the sound Fx, a monophonic Synthesiser: On the left side of the screen, a wave frequency rotating knob, a wave selector (Sine, Saw, Square, Triangle, Noise), a a 4-pole lowpass filter and 2 LFOs with a frequency selection for each. (LFO 1 sin LFO 2 square). This is for the synthesizer engine. (Note that it’s not a conventional synthesizer. You can not play note with it but you can trigger the sound with an external keyboard, or another App or the built in keyboard of the AUM and the Audiobus App). A great emulation of a Tape delay is also present with a Tap Tempo. In addition Italizer comes with a customizable X/y Pad. A latch mode, a Loop for the delay (feedback), a Trigger switch and a sync feature. Italizer comes with the Ableton Link feature and all the parameters can be controlled via MIDI, like all the other Apps from Numerical. Italizer is really easy to use and can generate all the sound Fx that we can hear in a Dub track, from the Siren sound, the loop delay, the noises, all the sound Fx. To make my video I used a track from The Clash: Bankrobber, and I had a lot of fun to play with it. I am not a specialist in Dub or Reggae, but I am sure that Italizer can be a Must Have for Dub or Reggae band in live or studio. A Killer App, a Must Have! Review by Ed If you want only one Drum Machine, it can be this one. Why? First, because of the huge Drum kits ibrary available for free within the App or from the Cloud, and this is not so usual… secondly for all the available features. Some are usual for a Drum Machine and must be presents especially if it is the only one you have. Import Audio, Midi implementation with a Midi learn feature for most of all parameters. A separate output for the 8 instrument ‘s tracks (IAA & Audiobus). Automation for most of the parameters. 2 Aux Delay & Reverb, plus a Distortion and an EQ. A Song Mode mode too. A song mode with a terrific UI! I've never seen that in another App before. Here you have a Timeline and a grid… you can set the length of your patterns as you like, add a “hole” too. Change the order of the Pattern as you like… it’s a real song mode. Why it’s top? Because usually when we start to work on a music, we start with the Drum. Most of the time the structure of our song will change until the final mix. With Patterning : Drum Machinr, it’s not a problem. It's fast. (Usually, I use to record a Drum pattern to my Daw, then work on my song and at the end, I record my final Drum track with all the fills, breaks,… I think that it's the first time that can imagine to use a Drum Machine from the beginning to the end in sync mode). This is awesome but this is not the only awesome feature… the Pattern panel: here, a Circle grid for each of the 8 Instrument's track. A track can be played in the counterclockwise direction. The grid can Rotate too (set the number of steps you like to be rotated at the beginning of the next bar). A probability mode in the layer panel. The Polyrhythm feature. (All tracks can be set to a different number of steps and be played at the speed you like). An echo mode for the pencil (check out the tutorial below or the video demo). A chock mode. Also, I love the buttons which allow you to copy or add a new Pattern from this panel,… easy and fast. OK, I stop here and will conclude. Patterning is an unconventional conventional Drum Machine. It allows you to do all the things you like in studio or stage. It allows you to work fast in all situations. Perfect! A Killer App, a Must Have!
Review by Ed A great review here... Weird without the tutorial... Sure that it will help you a lot. So, since this review, only the Ableton Link has been added. The last update was released in May of this year, but no iOS 11 compatibility at this moment... I hope that they will update their Apps, because I really love Egoïst. Published on 23 Sep 2013 Wow Filterbox... Wahooo!!! I'm totally convinced! I'm (totally) convinced by: Its UI, beautiful, Double Tap to zoom, Easy to understand... The sound it generates!!! The FUN!!! The Virtual Midi, the AudioCopy / Paste, the Recorder looper, the Preset Library... To conclude, watch the Video Demo, listen to the Audio Demo... Wow is Wahooo!!! Review by Ed App Store description:
WOW2 is here! With a future-dripping user interface, 21 incredible filter types with the famous vowel mode. With distortions that cover your tracks with gas and put them on fire. Modulations that cause more trouble than your modular dark room. And finally that warm and juicy sound, that you were looking for. - 21 Filter types like Lowpass, Bandpass, Highpass, Bandreject, Comb and much more. Low pass types up to 48 db, including flavors like SVF, Diode Ladder and Transistor Ladder. The filters and distortions have been designed for best harmonics without aliasing, for high definition audio quality. - Three different analog modeling overdrives and four digital distortion functions are included. Use them pre or post the filter. - Modulation is power. Power is ***. Create stunning trance gates with the step sequencer, do some giant wobbles with the wobble generator or let all the modulators interact with each other. The LFO offers many different wave forms, restart options and sync flavors. - Presets are just one click away. Randomize presets to inspire yourself. Features at a Glance: - XY-Pads to control 6 Parameters simultaneously - Integrated Player (iTunes File Sharing, Music Library, Factory Loops) - Integrated Recorder (div. Optionen: Start/Stop/Sync/Länge) - Live Modus (Inputs & Outputs selectable) - Auria Plug-In - Inter-App Audio support - Audiobus support - AudioCopy support - Full Midi Support (Virtual, Network, Extern) - Midi Clock Sync - Ableton Link support Wth this part 2 of the tutorial, we are starting to enter for real inside BeatMaker 3... We can now say that BeatMaker allows you to work with 128 MIDI Tracks. That this tracks can control another App or external hardware. That they can be controlled by them too. That you can also load a Bank to them with an associated pattern or not, a Sample from the built in library or via iCloud Drive or AudioShare. That the Pad surfaces can be set to 16 or 64 individual Pads. That we can rename a Bank, Save or Copy it with the associated samples and pattern if we like That we can change the color of a track... All this is great, but I kept the Awesome for the end... The Layer mode! In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a new layer for a Pad. I wanted to know how many layers BeatMaker 3 allows me to create but after the 38 ones and a little bit boring I stopped. The Layer mode is awesome, because with one Tap on a Pad you can play 38 or 10000000 (I don't know...) samples! All the settings that you have made for this Pad will be applied to all Layers. You can use this to play a Chord with one Tap, to play a Kick with a Crash at the same time, to play several loops, or else. This is awesome! Coming soon, the Pads and Keyboards: Tutorial part 3 DM2 The Drum Machine will become soon Dm2 The Drone & Drum Machine. 8 Drones. 1 oscillator instead of 2 for a Drum Kit, The Oscillator Pitch Modulation, The Noise Filter as well as The Oscillator Filter are still present to shape your sound. The Noise Envelope is disable too… you can still use the FX section but no more sequencer and song mode. You can still load a Drum kit as a Preset for the Drum Machine and save them as well! Check out the video demo. I already reviewed Troublemaker from this developer. I will review soon, Ruismaker FM, the FM version of Ruismaker… I hope that I will be able to review the other Apps from Bram Bos. If not, very very sad I will be, because a big fan of this developer I am… (one more time, I am talking like a Jedï…). I love the UI, I love the generated sound, I love the concept… I also love their User manual which allows me to save a lot of time while I am making my review and tutorial… So, Ruismaker… first, the first time you will launch this App, use an headphone,.. you will be able to listen to the quality of the generated signal. A lot of dynamics which is not so easy to find with in a Drum Synthesizer Machine and this, even if you start to shape the sound of an instrument. I love this… Ruismaker its two modules. Euh, no, it’s 2 Apps in one. A Midi Drum Synthesizer Machine and a Sequencer, an Euclidean Pattern sequencer… an Euclidean Midi Pattern sequencer… an Euclidean Polyrhythm Midi Pattern sequencer… I think that I have to make a little break to give you some explanations… Why it’s not 2 modules, but 2 Apps? With the Audio Unit version, there is no sequencer. Does it means that we can not use the Ruismaker Euclidean Pattern sequencer? No… with Audiobus 3 you can load Ruismaker as a Midi input… at this moment, you can use it as midi sequencer to control another App. But you can also use it to control the Audio Unit version of Ruismaker loaded in Audiobus 3 or in another App. Check out the tutorial below… note that you can Tap on the GM keymap button located on the first parameters line of the Drum Synthetiser to play the 8 available instruments with the Audiobus Midi keyboard or another one. Jump to the C3 octave of your MIDI Controller and play.. Now Euclidean. Euclid was a Greek mathematician from 300 B.C. who came up with an algorithm to calculate the Greatest Common Divisor (GCD) for any set of two numbers. http://cgm.cs.mcgill.ca/~godfried/publications/banff.pdf. It means that this sequencer is not a classic sequencer… don’t try to tap on the grid,… no events will be added to it. Use the Beats button to add beats… set the number of steps from 1 to 32 for each of 8 available tracks, then use the shift button to move all the events of the selected tracks in an Euclidean style. Add an accent or not, use the Mutation button to add random beat to your track and if your not happy, tap on the randomize button… you can also load a sequence from the Factory Library or load yours. Before to conclude, let’s talk about the Drum Synthetiser. 8 instruments. You can load 8 Snares, 8 Kicks if you like and save this as a Preset. The first line of parameters are applied to all instruments: Delay time & Feedback / Reverb and Volume. A randomize button is also available. On the second line, the parameters for the selected instrument: Tune / Decay / Personality / Drive / Bitcrush / Delay Send, Pan and Level. The last line: 8 switches below allows you to select an Instrument sound preset. So, now my conclusion… I love the Drum Synthetiser… the generated sounds… I also love the sequencer… the possibilities that he can offer to an ex Punk, ex New Wave, ex Rocker and old Electro music lover. I remember the day I listened to the first Tom York solo album… the Eraser… the Drum programming… so far fom my internal Drum Machine programming system. And it’s too bad because, I love this kind of rhythms, so much… Euh, no, it’s was too bad…. Now, I will use the Ruismaker App… a Killer App. A Must Have! Audiobus / Audio Unit / IAA / Stand Alone / Midi |
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