Animoog upgraded to V2

Moog's awesome iPad synthesiser has just been updated with some cool new features. 



Animoog now has accelerometer integration, this allows the user to "tilt their iPad in any direction as an interactive 3D modulation source".

The update also gives you: note hold and scale lock, load/save MIDI CC maps, audio copy/paste and it even supports audiobus.

There is also a brand new 4 track recorder available in the built in Animoog store. The 4 track recorder is available for free to existing users until December 31st. So hurry before it reverts Back to the regular price of $4.99.

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Free samples: Animoog Soundscapes and FX

The Moog Animoog for iPad has got to be my favourite iPad synthesiser of all time. I especially love it for some of the weird and "out-there" sounds that it can produce. That's where the inspiration for this sound set set comes in, there's 95 sounds in this pack ready to be loaded into your sampler or DAW. The sounds are completely royalty free so you can use them in any project you like, free of charge.

Download the samples HERE (.zip)

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Animoog for iPad updated to v1.1.0 and includes support for midi out

Ever wanted to use Animoog's awesome X/Y pad to control perameters of your hardware or softweare synths/effects? Well the new Moog Animoog app for iPad has just been updated to include midi out. Check out the video for more details on how to go about the update and how to set it up with your other studio gear.

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Making music with apps (pt 2) - Point Blank

You might of remembered the video from Point Blank online where a track was built using nothing but audio sources taken from iOS music apps. Well here's part 2, this vidio focuses on connecting your iOS device to your computer so that you can easily record audio.

"http://www.pointblankonline.net/courses/ableton-live-courses.php In this tutorial Danny J Lewis breaks down the connection process when recording material from your music apps into your chosen DAW (in this case Ableton Live). He uses a camera connection kit to connect a MIDI keyboard to bring a traditional method of inputting note data, and a simple stereo mini jack to 2 x mono phono jack lead to connect the iPad to your audio interface.

Go to: http://www.pointblankonline.net/courses/ableton-live-courses.php to find out how you can learn more about using Ableton Live as a recording tool. Please get in touch with our course advisors at advice@pointblankonline.net if you want to find out more."

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Dubspot Animoog Tutorial part 3 of 3

Here's the third and final Moog Animoog Tutorial from Dubspot. It looks at ways to incorporate Animoog into a DAW environment and goes into ways of beefing up the signal.

Moog have also released a brand new preset/timbre set for Animoog. It's available as an in app purchase for just 69p.

Here's part three.

Don't forget to check out the Dubspot Youtube Channel and subscribe for more awesome videos.

"In the third and final installment of our video tutorial series on Moog's Animoog iPad app, Dubspot Instructor Matt Cellitti offers sound design and production tips and tricks and shows you how to use Animoog in a Digital Audio Workstation.

The final installment of the Animoog tutorials will hopefully give you a few more tricks on how to create some really cool sounds in this great app. Once you have created an interesting sound with a unique path, I will show you how to "stretch" the orbit across your path to create thick sounds, triggering multiple timbres at once for radically transforming sounds. Moving the path around the X/Y axis will allow you to essentially create several different presets inside of one saved sound. I might start with a slow pad if I begin in the top left corner, yet morph to a sharp lead sound by pulling the path down to the bottom of the Y axis.

Lastly, it is important to realize that the signal coming out of the iPad/iPhone headphone jack comes in at a lower volume level than we would like. Simply use some effects inside of a DAW or other host program to boost the signal and create more interesting effect chains for Animoog. Set up an effect chain just once and save it for instant recall when you need it again. Works great in both Live and Maschine. - Matt Cellitti"

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Here's a collection of tunes that I made using just my iPad.

I've had Garageband on my iPad for quite a while now, so naturally I've made some tunes using nothing but the iPad. Naturally the tunes don't sound as professional as they would if I created them using a full DAW like Ableton or Cubase. The process of making music on the iPad is fun, it's great as a musical sketchpad and a great way to create and develop ideas on the fly.

I've uploaded an album of five tracks to my Bandcamp page. All of the music on the album was created using nothing but my iPad 2; I even did the artwork in Photoshop for iOS.

Overall the tracks are pretty short and mixed pretty rough. I used Garageband to do the main arrangement and some of the instrumentation but I also used quite a few other apps that have the audio copy feature.

You can buy the album for £0.99 (or more if you want to give a donation to Voltage-Controlled).But if you like, I've embedded a player below so you can also listen online for free.

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Dubspot Animoog Tutorial part 2 of 3

The folks over at Dubspot have uploaded their second tutorial video on Moog's io for the iPad. This video takes you a bit deeper into what sounds are possible with this awesome little synth.

I posted the first Dubspot Animoog turorial back in January. If you missed it click here and watch it.

Here's part 2.

Check out the Dubspot site for more cool tutorials and don't forget to subscribe to their YouTube channel here.

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Dubspot Animoog Tutorial part 1 of 3

Dubspot have some amazing tutorials on their YouTube channel which are very useful for producers of all levels. I noticed that they've uploaded the first in three tutorials covering my all time favourite iPad synthesizer, the Animoog by Moog Music inc.

I thought that the readers of Voltage-Controlled would be interested in an in depth look into the capability's of this awesome little synthesiser so I've embedded the first part of the Dubspot Animoog tutorial below.

Check out the Dubspot site for more cool tutorials and don't forget to subscribe to their YouTube channel here.

I'll post the second and third Animoog tutorials to Voltage-Controlled as soon as they are uploaded by Dubspot.

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Animoog hits the iPhone

Animoog is my current favourite synth on the iPad, it's beyond awesome and it sounds really cool. Moog recently released it as an iPhone app so as you can probably guess; I brought it. The iPhone version is currently on sale for 69p so it's pretty cheap for such a cool little synth.

With the iPhone version I can now have the power and awesomeness of Animoog with me at all times. The iPhone app is pretty much exactly the same as the one on the iPad with the layout slightly modified so that it fits nicely on the smaller screen.

Your probably getting sick of hearing me complain about this but this app isn't universal, I don't understand why some companies think that people should buy their apps twice. I know it brings in a little more money but many people aren't going to buy something twice anyway. I've only made an exception here because of the low price and the quality of the app, but I still feel slightly cheated here. Universal apps are the way forward, stop scamming your customers out of their money.

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Moog Animoog gets an update.

The Moog Animoog iPad synth has been updated to version 1.0.1. This update brings a few new features to the app and fixes a few bugs.

So, what's included in the update?

Animoog now has support for background audio, meaning that you will still be able hear audio from the app even if you close it. This is especially useful if you want to jam out with some of your other iPad instruments and Animoog at the same time.

There's now a four beat count in for the record module which can be configured in the setup page. Also, a preview button has been added to the timbres page so that you can now select timbres silently or choose to audition them.

There's now a new 'Random Preset' button in the setup page. When you press this all the settings on Animoog with automatically randomise and give you a complete new sound. I'll warn you though, this can get addictive. It's also very hit and miss, you might end up with an awesome sounding preset or you might just get noise and sometimes absolutely nothing at all (silence).

You can get Animoog for iPad in the AppStore now for just £0.69

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iPad synth hits, free samples.

This sample pack contains synth hits taken from two of my favourite iPad synthesizers; the Animoog and Sunrizer.

The pack is completely free and you can use the samples in any way that you want.

Download the samples HERE

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Happy 100th

I started writing this blog back in august 2009, the main point of it was to promote my own music and write a little about what I was interested in (synthesizers and stuff). It wasn't something that I updated all the time and I have to admit that I forgot about it a few times.

About a month after I started the blog I recorded and uploaded a set of samples. The samples were really just some drum loops and bass lines that I recorded for a track I was working on (it never actually got finished). I thought it would be cool to upload them to the blog and allow people to download them to use them in their own productions. After a while I noticed that that one post with the samples had quite a lot of traffic, so I did a little snooping around the Internet and I found that I was being linked to from various websites and forums.

Soon, uploading samples here became a regular thing for me and the blog got more and more hits. Along side the samples, I also put up a few reviews and writings of my own and kept the blog running at a steady rate; posting updates, samples and reviews every time I got my hands on a new piece of music gear or software.

That seemed like ages ago but I still can't believe this will be the 100th post from me. Fair enough 100 doesn't really seem like a whole lot but when I think about all the time that I've put into writing the reviews and recording the samples I still find it hard to believe.

As I posted before, I'm in the middle of a re-imagining of this blog. The name will be changed eventually to something that relates more to the content of the blog (not just my name and a few numbers). There will also be some changes to the blog itself, I want to make it easier for new visitors to find their way around the blog and access older content without hassle.

To celebrate this milestone I've put together a new sample pack. The pack will contain synth hits taken from two of my favourite iPad synthesizers, the Animoog and Sunrizer.

You can find the new sample pack in this post.

-here's to the next 100, Dan.

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Moog Animoog iPad app Demo

Here's the video of me messing around with the Moog Animoog iPad app. this video was supposed to be uploaded alongside the review that I did last week. I couldn't upload it because of internet connection problems (the estimated upload time was approx. 1900 mins). My connection speed increased earlier so I thought I'd upload it while I had the chance.

So here it is.

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Animoog Tutorial - X/Y Pad

I've just stumbled upon this interesting little page by Bob Borries about the X/Y section of the new Moog Animoog app. It explains how the X and Y axis change the timbre of the synth engine. Head over to his site for the tutorial, the animated gifs really help to make it clear.

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Animoog iPad app

As soon as I started playing about with this app I fell in love with it. Fair enough, a digital synth is not something that I would have expected from Moog Music Inc. but in my eyes the Animoog definitely deserves to wear the Moog logo.

The app appeared in the app store in the early hours of Oct 17th for an introductory price of 69p (GBP)! A Moog synthesiser for 69p! I couldn't believe it. Well, it's going to stay at 69p for about a month until the price will shoot up to roughly £20.

£20 is a bit high for an iPad synth but to be honest when I first brought my iPad I instantly installed the Korg iMS20 app which is currently priced at £22.99.

Moog are marketing this app as 'the first professional synthesizer designed for the iPad'. That's a pretty huge claim. I'm sure there have been other professional synths on the iPad before. There are loads of iOS developers out there that are already producing fine instruments for the iPad. Look at the BleepStreet Sunrizer synth for example.

Let's get into the app then and have a look at what it can do. The Animoog is powered by what Moog are calling their new Anisotropic Synthesis Engine. Which to be honest has a really nice sound to it, there's still that warm Moog flavour but with a bit of a twist. Some of the sounds that I've managed to make with this thing are pretty insane and harsh. It still does the good old retro Moog leads and bass as well but to be honest, I'm glad that they didn't just port the Arturia Minimoog V to the iPad.

But it's not just all about the sounds. The interface is beautifully designed and the playability is superb. This is an instrument not just a fancy noise maker with the Moog badge slapped on it. The sounds are controlled and morphed using the x/y pad along with the keys, which are capable of polyphonic pitch bending and modulation.

There are lots of options for sound creation and design in the Animoog app. The timbre page has to be one of my favourite features of this synth. Here you can arrange sounds in the x/y controller, Moog says the sounds are NOT simply just samples but are actually software emulations of vintage and modern synthesisers and pedals.

It also features the staple Moog ladder filter with band pass, high pass and low pass. The filter is pretty much self explanatory and I have to admit I love the sound of a good Moog ladder filter.

The Thick module is also a pretty cool feature; it has a bit crusher, drive and unison with detune. This is the module that is going to help you completely tear shreds out of your sounds and create some filthy patches.

All of these features and more add up to a truly enjoyable playing experience. I think Moog have just raised the bar with this one.

Introducing Animoog from Moog Music on Vimeo.

Update: I've uploaded a video demo of the Animoog synth here.

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