TC-11 - unreal performance synthesizer for the iPad

[Karmacomposer]

This you gotta see:

http://www.bitshapesoftware.com/instruments/tc-11/

I'm giving it a whirl and i'll give everyone my impressions when I get to terms with it - this synth is DEEP!

Mike

[DrApostropheX]

Wow! That's quite an endorsement! It does look real purty! How's it sound?

Edit: Whoa! 30 bones! Is it worth it?

[aMUSEd]

Looks awesome - finally a gui that really takes advantage of the touchscreen instead of traditional knobs and keys. Looks like Konkreet Performer in a synth - a must have for me

[Karmacomposer]

What amazes me about this app already is how responsive it is.

You cannot help but be impressed when you use one, two, three or more fingers and move them around. Just amazing.

It also makes excellent use of ALL of the sensors - it literally feels like a musical instrument.

Right now, most of the presets are to show what it can do and not to be musical. It is a VERY deep modular synthesizer, so I am going to have to take some time and create a few presets and see what it can do.

However, there are a few really nice gems in the 64 presets, but only a few.

This app has a lot of power and may seem expensive, but so far, this is one of the coolest apps I have had the pleasure to play around with. There are some GREAT sounding synths on the iPad, but none that allow you to use the iPad itself as a true instrument. I can definitely see performing with this once the learning curve is passed.

Mike

[Aural Chaos]

There's already another thread on this, but just wanted to emphasize how unique this synth is- really one of a small handful that truly takes advantage of the multi touch capabilities of the iPad.Plus the synth engine itself is not too shabby either!

I think it may be overpriced, but eventually bought it anyway, and am happy to own it.

[DrApostropheX]

It looks really cool and I know I'm missing the point by even asking this, but does it have a traditional piano keyboard interface, too? Or CoreMIDI or VirtualMIDI input? I'd love to be able to use that modular synth in more traditional ways as well as for strap-on performance purposes (yeah, I don't really see myself doing that).

[Karmacomposer]

It looks really cool and I know I'm missing the point by even asking this, but does it have a traditional piano keyboard interface, too? Or CoreMIDI or VirtualMIDI input? I'd love to be able to use that modular synth in more traditional ways as well as for strap-on performance purposes (yeah, I don't really see myself doing that).

Not sure about MIDI, but no, it does not have any keyboard. That's not the point of this synth - it's strength lies in the absence of a normal keyboard.

Mike

[Karmacomposer]

I'd live to know where I can pick up one of those harnesses that allows you to 'strap on' your iPad like a guitar!

Anyone know where I can buy one?

The only other thing that would just make the iPad the craziest cool performance tool on the planet would be a wireless audio hardware device that plugs into the data port! Imagine being on stage with no audio cables and playing the hell out of the iPad!!!

I wonder if you could 'transmit' audio via Bluetooth?

Mike

[nineofkings]

I wonder if, in the future, people will have digital performance tools like this as their primary instrument. "I'm a morphwiz virtuoso."

[Breeze]

It also makes excellent use of ALL of the sensors - it literally feels like a musical instrument.
...
Right now, most of the presets are to show what it can do and not to be musical. ...
There are some GREAT sounding synths on the iPad, but none that allow you to use the iPad itself as a true instrument. I can definitely see performing with this once the learning curve is passed.

Mike

@Karmacomposer: I'm also most attracted by exploiting the iPad's hardware as an expressive instrument. At the very least, the fact that you can use the touch screen to control volume of separate notes in a polyphonic setting is a real step forward (Rudess's synths and Animoog for example), but the TC-11 looks like it completely opens up the hardware to a lot more.

But ultimately the big question for me is how well TC-ll fares with all this expressive power in the context of more traditional melody and harmony. Sure the control of texture is clear from the videos and certainly as modulator control of itself it offers a real wealth of possibilities: I have to ask: does it export any of this as MIDI for external control of external or other internal synths?

But as a melodic or harmonic instrument, it seems it could be somewhat of a theremin: it'll take practice to find and and maintain intonation, unless of course you use a template to limit pitch selection, but that's a double edged sword as you lose the flexibility to instantly play whatever you want. Harmonically, I could see a geometric pattern used to generate parallel notes with volume being controlled by proximity to the center and edge.

On the other hand, as a tool for textural exploration, it certainly is a ground breaker...

I think I just talked myself into buying it...

[DrApostropheX]

I wonder if you could 'transmit' audio via Bluetooth

You definitely can. I know GarageBand has an option for this, at least (at least I think that's why it keeps asking me to turn on BlueTooth)? If not, look for a wireless (Bluetooth audio) iPod/iPad speaker dock with line out, and that should work with any app (I have a Bluetooth-enabled speaker dock for my wife's iPod and it seems to work with just about every app).

[ho66it]

I wonder if you could 'transmit' audio via Bluetooth

You definitely can. I know GarageBand has an option for this, at least (at least I think that's why it keeps asking me to turn on BlueTooth)? If not, look for a wireless (Bluetooth audio) iPod/iPad speaker dock with line out, and that should work with any app (I have a Bluetooth-enabled speaker dock for my wife's iPod and it seems to work with just about every app).

Have you noticed any degradation of frequency response with the Bluetooth audio transmission? I use the Sennheiser MM400 Bluetooth headphones and I'm convinced that the frequency response is better when they are connected with the supplied cable than when using the Bluetooth wireless connection. (But I do love the wireless headphones and use them daily and will gladly trade off the frequency response for the convenience!)

Re: TC11, I can't wait to try this one out. One of the strengths of the iPad platform is the ability to move away from traditional controllers, and it's ability to present a number of different controller schemes on one hardware device.

[kmonkey]

I watched youtube demo. While i like true "performance" in regards to technology i think sounds are pretty crappy, melodies are about as shittiest as it can be (which is what you get by playing "melody" with touch screen but without keyboard emu) and soundwise and melodic wise it all sounded like a complete nonsense to me. Very crappy. I see a lot of you guys are excited so hopefully i won't be flamed by sharing my personal view point on this one. I also hope future music won't forget that there is sort of order in melodies inside true art and i hope next generation won't listen something as intelligent as a simple random signal generator while thinking it's a music piece.

There is a big potential that's for sure.

[Karmacomposer]

I watched youtube demo. While i like true "performance" in regards to technology i think sounds are pretty crappy, melodies are about as shittiest as it can be (which is what you get by playing "melody" with touch screen but without keyboard emu) and soundwise and melodic wise it all sounded like a complete nonsense to me. Very crappy. I see a lot of you guys are excited so hopefully i won't be flamed by sharing my personal view point on this one. I also hope future music won't forget that there is sort of order in melodies inside true art and i hope next generation won't listen something as intelligent as a simple random signal generator while thinking it's a music piece.

There is a big potential that's for sure.

Simply put, if you want melodic pretty instrument sounds, you are going to HAVE to get your hands dirty and create your own. It is fairly obvious that the people who perform with this are into music concrete or abstract music.

It is possible to get pretty sounds out of it, but it IS a synth and there IS synthesis going on. The included presets are NOT great, save a few. The actual app IS great and is so deep, it's easy to get lost in it.

Mike

[jobromedia]

This peaked my curiosity. Watching the video, and hearing the sounds: Instant buy for me! Just one thing I miss: Having the tabs visible at all time would be pretty handy. As well as being able to test the sound from within the patch editor.