iPad & Guitar

The iPad is one of those gadgets that I just love to use when making music. I was a bit bored earlier so I decided to have a little recording session. Here’s the outcome.

The iPad synths are played live exept from the drums. iElectribe effects modulated live.

Drums - iPad (iElectribe)
Synth lead - iPad (Moog Filtatron)
Synth strings - iPad (sunrizer)
Guitars -Fender Mexican strat (Guitar Rig)

IPad & Guitar - Ambience in C major by dan-weatherall

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Rhythm Studio by Pulse Code, Inc. Review

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.

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A closer look at the new Pulveriser effect in Reason 6

The guys over at Propellerheads have just uploaded this micro tutorial on the new Pulveriser effect that will be included in Reason 6. It looks pretty cool; I can’t wait to get my hands on it.

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Korg AG-10 Pizz string multi samples

Multi sampled pizz string sound taken from the Korg AG-10 Sound module.

Sampled notes from C3 to C4 ideal for use in the sampler or DAW of your choice.

Samples are in high quality .WAV format.

Download here (.Rar)

All samples are royalty free.

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Propellerheads Reason 6 announced

Earlier today, Propellerheads software announced the release of Reason 6 and Reason essentials.

This new update will combine their popular music production platforms Reason and record.

In my opinion I feel that it would have made a lot more sense for Propellerhead to have combined these two pieces of software from the start.

For many Reason users the ability to now record audio within their favourite music production environment is a big deal and something that many reason users have wanted for a long time (without having to purchase Reason/Record Duo package).

Personally I’m looking forward to the new creative effects that are included in Reason 6 and the ability to finally get my hands on Neptune without buying record.

One thing that I’m not looking forward to is sacrificing one of my USB ports for the annoying security dongle. I use Reason on my laptop and I take my laptop everywhere, I will probably lose/damage this dongle.

The update is scheduled for release on 30th September.

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Analog acid/minimal bass stabs (multisample)

These multi samples were taken from my FreeBass FB383 bassline synth. It’s a rackmount analog bass synthesizer (clone of the Roland TB303).

The samples were recorded directly into Ableton live, I then added some EQ and compression to give the samples a bit more bite.

As always the samples are completely royalty free and available to download at no charge.

There are 13 individual bass hits in .wav format (notes C1-C2) ideal for loading up in any software or hardware sampler.

Download here (.RAR)

Hope you find them useful.

-Dan.

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Tenori-On iPad app review

Back in 2007 Yamaha launched their popular Tenori-On tone matrix instrument. The original hardware instrument boasted a 16x16 LED step sequencer that gave it a futuristic look and quite a unique way of sequencing music.

The instrument experienced instant success with big name artists such as Bjork, Little Boots and even British comedian Bill Bailey, who used it on his 2009-2010 world tour.

Although the original Tenori on experienced instant success it had quite a high price tag which ment that it's unique charm could only be enjoyed by a cirtain few.

Over the following years we've seen numerous software reincarnations of the tone matrix style of sequencing (especially on the iPhone/iPad) and it was only a matter of time before we saw an official software version of the Yamaha Tenori-On.

The official Tenori on iOS app entered the app store the other week but at £12 I was a little hesitant to buy it. After a little thought and a bit of googling I decided it was indeed worth the price.

The cheapest hardware Tenori-On (the TNR-O) is roughly £500 where as the current price of the iPad 2 is £499 (cheapest wifi only model) so considering that both the devices are pretty much exactly the same price (and I already own an iPad) it makes sence to get the iOS version.

Fair enough, you don't get the same feel as the hardware version and it's nice to have a dedicated instrument for live use but if your just looking to experience the Tenori-On style of sequencing or you're just looking to use some of the sounds included then the iPad version is definitely the way to go.

The iPad is the perfect platform for the TNR-i software. The 9.7 inch touchscreen display really is the perfect way to experience the hands on approach to sequencing that the original Tenori-On offers.

The software version also includes all of the original sounds that are found in the original Tenori-On. Which gives you a wide choice of cool sounds to choose from (127 in total), so you're not stuck with those boring sine wave or basic piano sounds that are overused in most of the other tone matrix sequencers that are floating around the app store.

What's more, the TNR-i features midi in/out via the iPad camera connection kit. This means that if you get a bit tired of using the built in sounds then you can connect it to an external synthesizer or DAW using a midi/USB cable. It also means that you can play the sounds in a more traditional way the sounds using and external midi keyboard.

Another cool feature is that when you connect TNR-i to an external sequencer or a midi keyboard can can edit some of the perameters with CC messages. These include control of the filter cutoff and resonance as well as the attack and release of the amp envolope. You can also control the vibrato depth with the mod wheel and pitch bend with the pitch wheel. These are some pretty basic controls but if you can access them then it turns the app into a really expressive sound modual.

In fact the iPad version of the Tenori-On is pretty much exactly the same as the hardware version. All the sequencing modes are there and the usability is pretty much straight forward (when you get used to the L&R buttons).

At £12 the Yamaha TNR-i app is a really useful (and fun) piece of software, it comes with 127 high quality sounds and some really inspiring ways of sequencing. Couple it with an external midi device and you can get some really creative sounds out of it.

The app is also universal, so I can also have it on my iPhone (at no extra cost) and use it on the go. But for a £10 app I would expect it to be universally compatible anyway (I'm looking at you Korg). The iPhone version is a little small but the zoom feature helps a lot with the tiny size of the LED grid. Even with the small screen on the iPhone it's still very playable and easy to use. But to be honest, the bigger screen on the iPad is better and makes a lot more sence.

The ability to join live collaborations using Apple Game Centre seemed a bit strange to me at first but after thinking about it it does seem like a pretty cool idea. The TNR-i is the ultimate collaberation instrument mostly because if you stick to the in-built scales then you can't really go wrong. Collaborations can often be frustrating if you're working with someone that has absolutely no experience or knolage of music theory. Stick with the scales and they can be as creative as they want without having to worry about staying in the same key as each other.

Look at the original Tenori-On, your getting all of that sequencing power and innovation for a fraction of the price, £12 (rather than £500). It's a steal but you have to wonder how this is going to effect the market for the original Tenori-On.

Pros:
Way cheaper than the real thing
Quality sounds
Fun sequencing
Core midi
Apple Game Centre collaboration

Cons:
The lights don't seem to be bright enough (background should be darker)
L&R buttons can be awquard at first
A bit small on the iPhone

Below is a YouTube video of me showing off some of the performance setting in the Tenori- On app.



Update: just to clarify, the TNR-i app does support both midi in and out. it can send and receive midi messages on 16 midi channels (1 for each of it's layers). This means that it can be a very powerful sequencer for your hardware gear.

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