Hi all,

I have a few Android apps on my wish list including MusePad, Tractivate and Bluebox. Has anyone used any of these apps? Any other apps on your wishlists?

Thanks. God bless.

Aaron

Hi

Not heard of the other two but I do use Tractivate.

It's pretty good for an Android app - a basic 8-channel, sample-based sequencer with a 16-step pattern editor and a decent set of built-in sounds.

Things I like:

I can create tracks directly with no need to create patterns first (unlike some apps).
A reasonable selection of built-in sounds plus the ability to load them from an SD card.
A (fiddly but useful) pitch-shift feature so I can create basslines from single-note samples.
MIDI export so I can export tracks into a DAW on my PC.

Not so good:

Samples are limited to 16-bit mono WAVs so I usually have to do a bit of processing if I want to use my own sounds but Audacity does the job here so it's not too much hassle.
Playback can be a bit wobbly sometimes but that seems to be par for the course with Android audio apps.

Generally I find it pretty useful as a scratchpad for trying out ideas when I'm out and about. The MIDI export is the killer feature in my opinion as it allows me to finish tracks off on my PC.

Hi Cubanoid,

Thanks for the review.

I was thinking about removing this from my wishlist. Now I think I will buy it.

Thanks. God bless.

Aaron

Sigh... no

If playback if not consistent, then the app is doing something wrong and you should complain to the dev or ask for a refund. In this case I suspect they're using timers to trigger samples instead of the proper (sample accurate) way of mixing themselves.

Android audio has 99 problems, but this ain't one.

No, the timing is nowhere near as bad as that would be. I simply meant that playback stutters slightly on the occasional bar - most of the time its fine. Also my phone isn't particularly powerful so it could just be my hardware.

I would still recommend Tractivate - if you don't like the performance you can always use the 15-minute cancellation period.

It's probably not the best choice as a standalone music app but as I do all my serious work on a PC all I need is a portable scratch pad. I like Tractivate because I can compose a full timeline on the go and import it straight into Cubase for finishing off.

I guess it's a case of less is more - most apps I've tried try to be a full DAW and end up getting in my way. I don't need that as I already have it on my PC. I just need a sequencer and Tractivate does that nicely.