RD4 - Groovebox v2.0

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...

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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