As most of you have probably noticed I'm a sucker for new iOS music apps. The iPad is such a good platform for creating music, sure you're not going to create the next big hit using just your iPad or iPhone but it's the process of making music on a mobile device that's so appealing.
The iPad is great for jamming out, experimenting or just getting down some quick ideas on the fly. There's only one way to describe making music on the iPad; it's fun.
The quality of the software that's becoming available for iOS devices is rising. With synthesisers such as Sunrizer and the Korg emulations hitting the iPad it's not hard to see that the developers are pushing the boundrys of what can be achieved with your favourite multitouch device.
When I woke up this morning I noticed that Rhythm Studio had appeared in the app store and at an introductory price of just 69p! (I don't know what the regular price will be, if anyone knows post a comment so I can update this post) I quicky tapped through to read the description and check out the screen shots to see what it was all about.
My first impressions from reading the description were overall very good so I brought it on the spot (at 69p I would have been a fool not too), it was a no brainer really.
The app features a hardware clone of the Roland TB303 bassline synthesiser, the TR808 drum machine and the casio VL-1 toy keyboard (an odd choice but it has a nice sound none the less). It also boasts a 3 track Mackie style mixer, an insert effect, a send effect and an x/y style controller.
The first thing I noticed was that the layout looked a little bit like Audiotool but without all of the wires and routing options. It was simple and clean, very user friendly. If you've never actually used hardware gear then I imagine this would be easy enough to pick up.
There's plenty of built in demos that help to get you familiar with some of the gear but I skipped them as I was fairly confident that it wouldn't be too hard to get the hang of.
The first thing that I tried out was the TB303 clone as it's one of my all time favourite synthesisers. The layout was authentic and true to the original box but I found the sound of the clone to be a bit dissaponting, don't get me wrong it sounds good but it's no TB303. The filter didn't seem to have the bite of the original box but ether way I spent quite a long time programming acid patterns and tweaking the knobs.
It's not going to replace your little analog bass machine but ether way it's fun to play about with and really easy to get a nice acid sound from it.
Next I turned to the TR808 clone, the sound on this little recreation is pretty impressive. Put on some good headphones and you will instantly notice the power and clarity of the kick drum. The sound of this clone is really good and it's really easy to program a nice drum beat.
As I said earlier, the Casio VL-1 instrument is an unusual part of the line up but it's still pretty cool. The instrument has 32 preset sounds to play with including the ones that featured in the original pocket keyboard. It has a sequencer similar to the TB303 which makes sequencing really easy and quick. It also has controls for attack and decay of the envolope and three brightness settings to further shape the sound.
Together, these modules make quite a nice line up that makes it really simple and straight forward to create some nice beats.
Along with the instruments there's also the x/y style controller, the controller can control any of the instruments and you can set the musical scale so that it works in key with the rest of your song.
The mixer is nice too, it's clear and simple so that it gives you compleate control over your mix. You can control the volume and pan of each instrument independently. There's also mute buttons and the ability to turn the insert effect on and off and at the top there's a knob to control the ammount on the send effect.
There's only a couple of things that I've seen that could be improved in the app. I see no mention of midi support for the app in the iTunes description or on the website but I've yet to test that my self. The second is that there's no support for audio copy, I'd like to be able to copy a few loops from the app and use them in conjunction with some of my other music apps.
To top it off the app is universal, which means that it will work on your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. Pulse Code have also stated that there will be lots of additions to Rhythm Studio in future updates and they will be completely free. Which means that you won't be made to buy the latest synths, effects or features via in app pechase.
This app is a steal for 69p, it's quickly become one of my favourite iPad apps for music and I can only see it getting better with future updates.
