Yamaha's Mobile Music Sequencer is free today (normally $20). Kind of a huge install - 200 MB - but feature packed out the wazoo, incorporating a lot of stuff from their hardware operating systems like the QY series.
It's phrase-based, so not so much for sound design and tweakage as for composition and arranging. It's pretty well rated and I've heard good things about it as a composition tool. More info...
Also a bunch of mostly iPad-based music utilities - the XY pad might be useful for some of you.
Several, though not all, of Yamaha's apps are free today! This includes both the US and International versions of Mobile Music Sequencer! TNR-i and TNR-e are not included in this give away, nor is Synth Arp & Drums.
This one looks very interesting - maybe a big step towards a more integrated iOS/DAW workflow...
Apollo Remote Recorder iTunes Description:
Apollo Remote Recorder is an innovative iOS app that will change how you make music. It can capture sound from other apps using Audiobus, or audio from any iOS compatible input. Recordings are triggered with MIDI, and can be transferred to the desktop using the web server built into the app.
There are hundreds of great synthesizers and samplers for iOS, but getting recordings in and out of a device has been a hassle. Most musicians use desktop DAWs -- Logic, Cubase, ProTools, Reaper, Ableton, and so on; the desktop DAWs offer limitless storage, a wide range of hardware and software interfaces, and more. Studios are heavily invested in their DAWs, and few musicians are willing to abandon them.
Apollo Remote Recorder is designed to bridge the gap between iOS and the professional desktop DAW world. You no longer have to give up a full fledged DAW as part of your work flow, and you don't have to buy a pile of hardware adapters either.
Technical Details:
Because the recordings are triggered by MIDI, the jitter in a connection should be minimized. We recommend hardware MIDI adapters for use with Windows and Linux based DAWs, and either hardware adapters or Apollo MIDI over Bluetooth with OSX. The app will work with MIDI over WiFi, but we do not recommend it because of the potential for jitter.
The app can also be used to record live instruments and vocals; any iOS compatible audio interface can be used, with the recording being captured either by sending MIDI from a DAW, or by tapping the buttons on the interface. The latency of a MIDI trigger will impact timing for the recording of live instruments; most DAWs support latency compensation for MIDI, making this problem easy to eliminate.
If the timing of a recording is not critical, the app can be used as an ordinary voice and Audiobus recorder, for sketching song ideas or taking notes. The built-in web server makes it easy to transfer the recordings to the desktop.
Say you want to record a nice tight loop in Arctic Pro using Audiobus, instead of an audio interface plugged into your iPad. This way you keep the audio signal totally digital, avoiding messy DA/AD conversions. So in whatever DAW you use, you'd create two MIDI tracks. One is going to MIDI Channel 1 for Arctic, the other is going to MIDI channel 16; which is what Apollo Remote Recorder is listening on. For the first track I put in my melody and notes as usual. For the second track, going off to MIDI Channel 2 I just have 1 note (doesn't matter which) going across the full length of the desired recording. So if you have 4 bars of notes that you want to record, just make a 4 bar long C note. When you hit play in your DAW, and assuming you have your MIDI connected properly, Arctic will begin playing your notes and at the same exact instant the note hits Apollo Remote Recorder will begin recording. When that 4 bar note ends the recording ends.
Re: best iOS/android music productions apps
Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2014 5:41 pm
by _ronzlo_
FYI, anyone looking to jump into iOS music making that hasn't purchased AudioBus yet - it's on sale right now for $0.99 (normally $4.99). Solid app.
Propellerheads' Figure app's latest update includes a new bass patch called 'Fraquenzee' that's, like, insta-donk.
Re: best iOS/android music productions apps
Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2014 3:39 am
by Draconis
I use caustic myself...
Re: best iOS/android music productions apps
Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2014 1:19 pm
by radasK
i think there is nothing good on android yet. android 5.0 reduced audio lag but its still fresh system update so i hope there will be good software in the near future. touchosc is too laggy atm and fl mobile is like ejay just to have fun
Re: best iOS/android music productions apps
Posted: Sat Dec 27, 2014 9:22 pm
by _ronzlo_
radasK wrote:i think there is nothing good on android yet. android 5.0 reduced audio lag but its still fresh system update so i hope there will be good software in the near future. touchosc is too laggy atm and fl mobile is like ejay just to have fun
The good news: Samsung is supposed to be working on a dedicated "pro" audio SDK right now, which will reign in the biggest Android audio issue of all; massive latency.
The bad news: it'll probably only be available on devices they'll be selling, the latency will still probably be higher than iOS, and nobody knows when it's supposed to be available.
Re: best iOS/android music productions apps
Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 9:36 pm
by _ronzlo_
IK giving Samsung a run; claiming virtually zero latency (cough).
However, if this spurs development of dedicated DAWphones, I wouldn't complain - even though the idea of Google all up in my OS is odious, can't be too much worse than Apple is already.
Imagine a phone that could load VSTs...
Re: best iOS/android music productions apps
Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 4:15 am
by nowaysj
I'd take that google cock before apple cock, that's for sure. Though I have an iphone.
Re: best iOS/android music productions apps
Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 4:18 am
by nowaysj
2ms round trip latency? Can I get that on my PC?
Re: best iOS/android music productions apps
Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 7:59 pm
by _ronzlo_
Yamaha has officially impressed me.
Ok, so the app is part "book" - all about wonderful Yamaha synths and with tie-ins to new product - but it's also got beat loops... And a pretty fat synth with fun modulation controls. It sounds really good, like people would spend money for. I've been noodling with it for a while now and it's really fun and musical. Not too much control over more than the waveforms for the 3 osc., some bare fx, an arp - but the simplicity is part of its charm.
Also has a regular keyboard plus chord pad layout, pretty sweet for songwriting. Highly recommended despite the large-ish DL size.
