KVR Audio

ugo · Post by **ugo** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 9:59 pm

What are your favorite sequencers for the iPhone? Please suggest any type you think are especially good...from experimental interfaces and ambient sequencers, to beat makers and multi-track recording.

I've picked up a few little ones to fool around with and get started, but I quickly realized that there are a fair number of these out there and - as inexpensive as most are - it still would be foolish for me to buy all I come across just for the sake of trying them until I find the ones I like. So I thought perhaps I should see which ones you guys have been most impressed with.

So far, the only one's I've tried are:
- Soundrop
- TonePad (free version)
- Aura Flux
- iDrum (Beatbox and Wu-Tang, since the total for the two was only $3.00)

Resonator63 · Post by **Resonator63** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 10:02 pm

This one is coming soon.
Should be good.
http://www.image-line.com/documents/flstudiomobile.html

quiztones · Post by **quiztones** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 10:16 pm

Resonator63 wrote:This one is coming soon.
Should be good.
http://www.image-line.com/documents/flstudiomobile.html

It looks cool, but it seems limited to FL for a DAW. What about a general sequencer that can export to different DAWs?

svrc · Post by **svrc** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 10:26 pm

http://www.intua.net/
http://www.xewton.com/musicstudio/overview/
http://www.blipinteractive.co.uk/
http://www.reactable.com/products/mobile/

~Pd~ · Post by **~Pd~** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 2:00 pm

Probably the most powerful sequencer for iOS is Sunvox. Great built in sampler too.

Tracker interface though... that gives some people the willies. The desktop versions are free.

ugo · Post by **ugo** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 4:25 pm

Thanks for the suggestions! Please keep them coming.

IncarnateX · Post by **IncarnateX** » Tue Jun 14, 2011 5:20 pm

ugo wrote:Thanks for the suggestions! Please keep them coming.

Nanostudio
Beatmaker II
Xenon
iSequence
Aurora
Rebirth
Synthstation
iSyn

For generative ambient: Mixtikl

el-bo (formerly ebow) · Wed Jun 15, 2011 3:33 pm

really loving nanostudio, so far..might buy bmII for 'chopshop' till ns's sample edit gets ome more tricks

el-bo (formerly ebow) · Wed Jun 15, 2011 3:40 pm

hmmm...maybe not...seems like there are huge stability issues, especially in chopshop

reusenoise · Post by **reusenoise** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 4:14 pm

Nanostudio

Dewaine · Post by **Dewaine** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 4:32 pm

ebow wrote:hmmm...maybe not...seems like there are huge stability issues, especially in chopshop

Most of the issues are memory related. Some iPods and older iPhones and even iPad 1, only have 250 megs of ram. With some background programs running you often have very little for a memory intensive program like BM2. Lack of memory will bring a crash. Be sure all other programs are turned off. If possible use an iPhone 4 or iPad 2 which have 512 megs of ram.....

Anyway, the issue is not really BM2, but limited memory of a mobile device. BM2 wiill have a major update soon, and I hope it includes native iPad support.

el-bo (formerly ebow) · Wed Jun 15, 2011 4:45 pm

Dewaine wrote:
ebow wrote:hmmm...maybe not...seems like there are huge stability issues, especially in chopshop
Most of the issues are memory related. Some iPods and older iPhones and even iPad 1, only have 250 megs of ram. With some background programs running you often have very little for a memory intensive program like BM2. Lack of memory will bring a crash. Be sure all other programs are turned off. If possible use an iPhone 4 or iPad 2 which have 512 megs of ram.....

Anyway, the issue is not really BM2, but limited memory of a mobile device. BM2 wiill have a major update soon, and I hope it includes native iPad support.

thanks

i have a ipod touch 3g, so maybe it's a no-go...i have no issues with it running solo, as long as i can stil use paste between bm2 and nano without them both being powered on at the same time

i also only need bm2 for one thing, to chop samples (made in nano, 4track) apply fx/stretch etc and either render as new loops, or single hits to be imported into nano's trg16....no sequencing etc....

am i asking too much of it ??

can i even use it with this workflow in mind ??

many thanks

Dewaine · Post by **Dewaine** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 4:57 pm

I would not think you would be asking to much. Have you ever used BM2? The only thing I would say is that if you use BM2 a while you may not even see the need to import the samples back into NS. BM2 has unlimited tracks, and all the sequencing features of NS.

IMHO the big thing NS has is Eden. If BM2 had as good of built in synth as Eden, it IMHO would be superior in just about every way..... Anyway, use what works for you, NS and BM2 are both the cream of the crop of iOS sequencers....... I own both and plan to stay on the update path for both.....

el-bo (formerly ebow) · Wed Jun 15, 2011 5:07 pm

Dewaine wrote:I would not think you would be asking to much. Have you ever used BM2? The only thing I would say is that if you use BM2 a while you may not even see the need to import the samples back into NS. BM2 has unlimited tracks, and all the sequencing features of NS.

IMHO the big thing NS has is Eden. If BM2 had as good of built in synth as Eden, it IMHO would be superior in just about every way..... Anyway, use what works for you, NS and BM2 are both the cream of the crop of iOS sequencers....... I own both and plan to stay on the update path for both.....

thanks again

i might bite then

to be honest, one of the big draws is 'eden'...but also, i get a great vibe from nano's developer that give me confidence in investing my time with nano....at some point, in the not too distant future, i would imagine nano matching the sampling edit (blip has already hinted that it will get more tricked up)

within days of owning nano, i have started on a really great sounding project and am blown away by what i can achieve on this thing, and i've yet to open the manual

who knows, maybe beatmaker will convince me...having both, with the ability to paste in between, has to be the best of both worlds though, right ??

ugo · Post by **ugo** » Fri Jun 17, 2011 3:51 am

Latest purchases...

Reactable
Really, how could I resist this one after seeing so many videos about the physical version for so years? This really is a very creative and flexible take on music creation. So far my only complaint is that the number of modules is pretty limited, and the size of the table doesn't appear to be able to get bigger. Not that there isn't enough to write some music with, but rather just that I'd like to get more complex just because it's fun to use.

Xenon
I went back and forth between Nanostudio, Beat Maker, and Xenon and I may still pick up one of the others, but I went for Xenon first because its only $5, I liked it's emphasis on synths rather than samples, and I thought it might be good for me to test the waters on something that was relatively basic and easy - rather than something that is trying to be a complete DAW replacement. Indeed, the synths are good and it is very easy to use. I was up and running in no time. It can get a little fiddly at times, but nothing that stopped me from creating a cool groove with it.

Wishlist: more than 5 tracks and longer patterns. Both of those issues are unfortunate limitations and may send me over to one of the other sequencers as I get more into this but for a quick way to make some basic synth-centric music, Xenon does it's job well and makes the process surprisingly intuitive. (It looks pretty cool too.)

Currently considering:

- Technobox2 - The thought of having two really good sounding 303s, plus 808/909, living in my phone for $5 is proving to be a bit hard to resist.

- Thumbjam - Ok, it's not a sequencer but it does have a looper built in. It might be nice to have something that seems so playable. Its not like $7 will break the bank, but I'm less sure if I'd actually use this one since I tend to lean more toward sequencing instead of playing.

And here I honestly figured I likely wouldn't care all that much about audio apps, if I got a smart phone. Considering I'm a gear junkie, I really don't know what I was thinking what I said that.

Favorite iPhone sequencers?