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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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 WerkBench is an Audio Sequencer. An unconventional one... 2 independent Docks. For each Docks, 4 Patterns (16 steps). The 2 Docks can be played in sync or in chain mode. 4 or 8 Patterns. A loop can be set independently for each. Its length too, so you can can create Polyrhythm patterns. For each step a Sample can be recorded via the built in microphone of your iDevice or Audiobus. For each step an automation can be set for Level, Pan, Attack, Decay, High Pass, Low Pass, Pitch, Crunch, Echo and Reverb. The delay allows you to save 1 step... I explain: if you record a kick to the step one, then, set the Delay Time (in sync mode) to 4. Your Kick will play the steps 1, 5, 9 and 13. The Delay & Reverb can be applied to the 2 Docks independently. For each Docks, a Filter, a Waveform selection with an Attack, Decay and Release parameters. A switch allows you to apply your settings to the selected pattern or all. You can easily copy or mute a Pattern or a step. You can also import a backing track or record it via Audiobus. A Trigger mode allows you to play your samples by a Tap on a step or via a midi controller. This was for the technical side. Now, let's talk about playing with it. WerkBench is a creative tool... its purpose is not to create a drum pattern as you would with a Drum Machine.. No, here the principle is rather to record sounds with your voice, another or several other Apps and create an original pattern, quickly while having a lot of fun. I really really love this App: a Killer App, a Must Have!
Review by Ed 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 modstep is a Midi Sequencer. No,… modstep is The Midi Sequencer! Yes, it’s the best one from all the App Store… no doubt with this… and too bad for the suspense! There are so many reasons for this that it’s impossible for me to describe here all the great features included in it, But I will give you an overview of some of them that impressed me the most. The first one is not a feature, but the stability of the App. To make the tutorial, I worked everyday with modstep during more than 1 month… 2 weeks ago, I deleted my tutorial from my iPad, and I had to restart it from the beginning... (Note that because of this. I am known now as the modstep expert in all the Galaxies…). During all this time, no bugs! The second thing is the UI. Very easy to understand and the Drag & Drop feature is so cool! Some technic characteristics now... unlimited scenes! Variable speed per pattern! Unlimited MIDI & Audio Tracks! IAA compatible app or Audio Unit as an instrument or effect. -unlimited number of effects per track and Audiobus support. modstep comes also with a Sampler and a Synthesizer too. The Sampler comes with a huge library of drum kits / pitch, volume, reverse, fx per slot, 3 band-eq, delay and reverb. The built in Synthesizer with up to 64 harmonics per voice, 3-band eq, delay, reverb, lfo and detune. It comes also with 2 edit modes: a “Classic” Grid editor and a Step sequencer with a repeat notes feature.. An integrated keyboard with scales, a drum-pads. Up to 128 CC modulations per track! A sophisticated template system allows quick setup of tracks to control external MIDI hardware, apps or plugins.... More? Check out the tutorial below! In summary modstep is very powerful, very study, very well done and very easy to use. The Best MIDI Sequencer from the App Store! A Killer App. A Must Have!
Review by Ed No suspens… ChordFlow is great… so easy to use… A clever UI and nothing is missing. A killer App, a Must Have! OK, I wanted to make a review easy to use, but I think that I need to describe the App a little bit more… ChordFlow is a 4 tracks sequencer. But here, you draw the events on the grid with your finger… 3 tools. The first one will add multiple notes while you move your finger on the Grid. The second one will add only 1 note. By moving your finger you will set the length of this note… The third one is an eraser. So, you set the section length, its subdivision and its rhythmic. Then you select the Root note, the scale, it's type and if you want, you add a bass note or not. Then you draw . When you are ok with a section, you create a new one, and so on… In 5 minutes you have a new song or at least an idea. The best I'd that you watch the video demo… ChordFlow is a Killer App, a Must Have for Composer and also for people who want to practice their instrument. In 2 minutes you can create your backing track. I forgot to say... ChordFlow comes with a built-in synthesizer too... (Not show on the video...).
Review by Ed Samplebot is a Looper Sequencer. Here, it's the beta 09 (12) and it's work already very well. Yesterday, Audiobus has been implemented so, it's time now to show you some awesome things that you will be able to do with Samplebot...Navichord is a Chords Player, a midi Chord controller and a Chord Sequencer too. On the first page, 2 areas. One dedicated for the Chords and one for the melody: a classic keyboard. For the chords, it’s not really “classic”. It’s look like an accordion’s keyboard. Circle keys… Check out the tutorial below to understand how it works… watch the video demo to see how fast you can work with it and by the way it's very clever UI. Now, I would like to focus on one thing that I have never seen before… once a Chord has been assign to a Pad, you can choose its type (Major, minor, Aug, Dim, sus2,..). You can also choose the octave for each notes includes in this chord. This is really cool, but the awesome thing is that you can select a different MIDI channel for all of these notes! Hey, don’t smile! It’s not a gadget! Do you like Brass section? do you like Choirs?… For this reason only, I could say that Navichord is a Killer App and a Must Have. But there are also others reasons… Like the Chord sequencer so easy to use, the ability to switch from a minor chord to a Major chord just with a little swipe.. A lot of good reasons… Navichord is a Killer App, a Must Have also for Composers & Arrangers.
Review by Ed When you open an App, you enter inside the brain of somebody, or several people… To understand an App, a Software, a Machine, it is better to understand the logic of the the man who did it than one specific thing… so, the first thing to do, is to look.. Why he put this button here, why… Why… Why… And then you can say OK, OK, OK,… you can start to touch… So, I opened Steps, checked out everything. On the top, one play button, a metronome icon, certainly the song library menu, the setting menu, and one button: a spiral icon... I don't know what it can be, another page… Below 8 circles, 2 arrows in the centre, and certainly 8 steps.. On the bottom, a ribbon, a + and - button…, sure, it's the octave setting… OK, so easy, I can push the play button… Something is a little bit strange… the sequence plays 8 beats… it should play 8x8 beats and 8 notes, 1 note for each first step of the 8 circles… I tap the first circle to add 3 steps. The sequence plays now 11 beats… at this moment I understood that I have to take care.. I am not enter into a normal brain… I tap the centre of the first Circle trying to move the arrows… its green color turn to dark. I thought that I mute it, but instead of this, this circle has been remove from my sequence… now my sequence plays 7 beats… I tap again, and my sequence plays 11 beats again… I tap again, but hold this time, and swipe up and down and the pitch of the 4 notes included in this circle change… then I tap the line on the left side of the first Circle. The Circle disappear. 6 lines now. 3 are plain, and 3 are not… by default the first plain line is selected when you open the App, so I tap on the second one..??? Now this circle plays 4 eighteen notes. I tap the third one, and it plays 4 sixteen notes… I tap the first non plain line, then 4 beats of silence… I tap now on the metronome icon... I want to be sure of something… yes, it was sure! You can set the bpm from 20 to 999… I tap on the icon on the top right side, The spiral). A new page, 8 squares, I swipe on the first square, the notes pitch change. OK… 8 circle below, I tap on a circle, then it is removed from the sequence as it was on the main page, Below 4 wheels, 1 gate: the note's length for all the sequence… top! A Volume, a swing and a glide… In summary, Steps is a unique and crazy step sequencer allowing to create a sequence from 1 sixteen note to 64 beats! I love what I do! Everyday I enter inside the brain of genius people… unfortunately everytime I have to come back in mine… Steps is a Killer App!
Review by Ed Every time I get an App, I'm all excited. I download it and start playing with ... This also allows me to know how long I will need to do the tutorial, (Yes, I have to manage between the big Apps and the smallest ones to be able to post every day.) So a week ago, I downloaded Beatonal and started playing with ... in parenthesis I had a lot fun of with it, and had to force myself to return to my current review. My first impression was: it looks like Figure, better ... so, I closed Beatonal, and thought I would make its review fast, a day when I will have a big App's tutorial to do .. Three days ago, I opened Beatonal again, and started to get a little more in ... actually it's not a small App! A Figure like for Pro musicians also ... I explain .... you have 4 modules, Drum, Bass, Chord and Lead. For the Drum Machine, 8 pads: repeat notes pads (you can set the number of repetitions for each of them). You can assign a parameter to the vertical axis and select a sample for each of the Pads independently. You can also manage the volume, play the sample in reverse mode, tune it and set its decay and glide. For each Drum instrument, an Overdrive and a Bitcrusher. A Master Aux with a Delay and a Reverb effects. Until there, nothing very different from Figure, excepted that Beatonal comes with a Midi Sequencer,(12 bars max) and a Grid editor ... a real one ... and that's great! This Grid editor, we find it on all other modules. For the Bass, Chords and Lead modules., 2 oscillators including one with an ADSR. A Pitch, AM / FM and FX section also. (Reverb, Delay, Bitcrusher, Low Pass, Chorus, and Formant). The keyboard of the Chords module is different from the others, since it allows you to play 7 inverse chords on one key! It also come with an Arpeggiator. The cherry on the cake: is that you can use the Sequencer to control another App! In conclusion: 1 drum Machine and 3 super synthesisers! I do not have much to reproach to Beatonal, except maybe that it is not Audiobus or Inter App compatible ... really a great App, or rather a Killer App!
Review by Ed |
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December 2019
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