ShakeMidi for iOS review

ShakeMidi is a wireless music app with a difference. Instead of controlling your software with touchscreen sliders and faders you just shake your iOS device and The app will send midi note information to your DAW.

This app is a lot of fun to play around with but I'm not sure that I could see myself making any serious music with it. But I suppose that's the main selling point of this app, it's fun. The App itself is set out really well, it's simple to understand and there's a built in help section just incase you run into any problems.

I've had a few issues with wireless midi apps in the past but I had no real trouble connecting ShakeMidi to my laptop. All that you have to do is download and install the free rtpMIDI program on your computer to set up a midi port. When you've done that Shake Midi will auto connect. Then there's the small matter of opening Ableton (or whatever DAW) you're using and selecting it in the settings. If this sounds a bit much there's a help page here.

The app also connects via core midi which means that if you have any supporting apps on your iOS device they can be easily controlled with ShakeMidi. This also works with multiple iOS devices on the same wifi network (for example: you can control GarageBand on your iPad with ShakeMidi on your iPhone).

It's always good when an app is universally compatible, especially music apps. Shake midi is indeed a universal app, meaning that it will work on your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch with no problems. However, I can't really imagine anyone with an iPad using this as much. I tried it myself and I just felt a bit foolish shaking my iPad around (good fun though).

Anyway, here's a short YouTube video of my shaking my iPhone. I have ShakeMidi hooked up to Massive in Ableton Live.

More about the iPhone midi app here

ShakeMidi is available from the AppStore now.

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It's here! Lemur for iOS has hit the AppStore

That's right the legendary multi-touch controller has finally hit the iOS AppStore. Lemur is available to download onto your iPad, iPhone & iPod Touch for £34.99.

The original Lemur hardware controller was used by many artists including: Daft Punk. Björk. Nine Inch Nails, Deadmau5. M.I.A., Justice, Hot Chip, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Orbital, Richie Hawtin, The Glitch Mob, Matthew Herbert, Joris Voorn, Stephan Bodzin, Modeselektor, Alva Noto, Richard Devine, Gui Boratto, etc.

£34.99 is a bit of a hefty price tag for an iOS app but you have to admit that this does look pretty awesome. I think for now I'll stick with TouchOSC for now but I'll definitely be considering an upgrade to Lemur in the near future.

You can get Lemur from the AppStore here.

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Ableton live, TouchOSC + FB383

One of my favourite hardware synths that I own has to be the FB383. I've posted about it a few times here on Voltage-Controlled and I've used it in quite a few of the sample packs.

The FB383 is a clone of the famous Roland TB-303 Bassline synthesiser. I picked it up a few years ago from a second-hand place for just £20. It was listed as 'Hi-Fi accessories' so I'm guessing that the people from the shop had no idea what it was that they were selling.

The unit has been sitting on my shelf for a few months now feeling neglected, so I thought that it was about time I took it down for a good jam session.

Because the 383 has no internal sequencer (like the original TB303 does) I've chosen to trigger it using the ABL2 vst plugin via Ableton Live. The drum loops are taken from one of the Voltage-Controlled sample packs that are available to download for free on this site.

I used the TouchOSC app on the iPad to trigger the clips in Ableton. I love how customizable TouchOSC is, creating your own personalised midi controller is a godsend when using music Production software.

I have to admit, the video that I've uploaded has poor sound. This is because It was recorded using the camera on my iPhone. The speakers connected to my laptop weren't turned up very loud so there's a bit of obvious background noise and the mic on my iphone failed to pick up some of the very low frequencies. Other than that the video quality's quite good. After all, I wasn't planning on documenting the sound of the unit and it was recorded just as a random bit of fun. Enjoy.

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