Camel Audio Releases Alchemy Mobile v2 for iOS

[BMoore]

Thanks.
Maybe something happened to the upgrade. I don't know.
But I've already made 5-6 beats I don't want to lose if I'd try to delete the app, and install it again.

[Rolix]

Great update!

Only thing I miss: being able to assign different input midi channels to the different track instruments.

Is this planned for an update?

Kind regards,
Roland

[ZenPunkHippy]

Thanks.
Maybe something happened to the upgrade. I don't know.
But I've already made 5-6 beats I don't want to lose if I'd try to delete the app, and install it again.

While waiting for an answer about the iPad 2, I just realised that the 3rd gen iPodTouch I use for testing probably has a lower spec CPU and it can play back the included demo projects at 1024, but generally runs fine with 2 or 3 tracks at 512.

Not sure if this would be solved by a re-install, but worth making sure no other apps are running in the background. Audiobus support might be a bit iffy as well, as that requires additional CPU. I noticed that Apple disabled it in Garageband on the iPodTouch.

Only thing I miss: being able to assign different input midi channels to the different track instruments.

It's not possible at the moment because a single track (or instance of the Alchemy engine) requires all available CPU. The other 3 tracks play a disk render of the MIDI performance.

You may have noticed a snowflake icon on the track badge in the top right corner. This means a track is "dirty" and needs to be rendered before switching to a different track while also hearing the current live version.

Peace,
Andy.

[BMoore]

What does the iCloud option mean?
Can I delete the app, reinstall, and get my songs back?

[ZenPunkHippy]

What does the iCloud option mean?
Can I delete the app, reinstall, and get my songs back?

If you have iCloud enabled on your iOS device, and the iCloud option is enabled on the Extras menu page then your projects will be saved to iCloud. This should - in theory - enable you to load them from iCloud after reinstalling the app.

I say "in theory" because iCloud + app data can be a bit buggy, and this is a known problem that other developers report. Apple need to fix it.

Another way would be to use something like DiskAid or iExplorer, both of which are free or work in demo mode. These apps can explore the iOS device disk directly to copy files etc. It should be obvious where the projects are, and you'll recognise your project names.

Peace,
Andy.

[BMoore]

DiskAid and iExplorer is if you hook up to a computer, right?

[ZenPunkHippy]

DiskAid and iExplorer is if you hook up to a computer, right?

Yes. No iTunes required AFAIK - just plug the USB cable in and start the app ...

Peace,
Andy.

[Sticky Rhythms]

Great. Thanks.

@bharris22 : there was a <free> 'Pro Upgrade' option in the drop down menu ...

I can't find any in-app upgrade option on my iPhone 4. any suggestions?

[ZenPunkHippy]

I just re-read your message, sorry I missed this bit as it's important ...

... I can't even change tracks without hickups and clicks, even at a 2048 latency.

Changing tracks is expected to cause some clicks because of the way the app works. It won't always click 100% of the time, it depends on what the app is currently doing.

It happens because the other 3 tracks are playing back audio renders streamed from the internal disk. The selected track is actually live i.e. you can play notes, or if a MIDI performance has been recorded it will play back the notes in real time.

Switching from a live track to a different track means the previously selected track has to switch to rendered playback mode, and the newly selected track switches to live mode. This change over is what can cause the click.

For a similar reason, changing presets may also cause a click depending on the render status of the current track.

Note: I'm only referring to changing tracks and presets here, not other functions should not be causing any clicks.

Peace,
Andy.

[ZenPunkHippy]

Great. Thanks.

@bharris22 : there was a <free> 'Pro Upgrade' option in the drop down menu ...

I can't find any in-app upgrade option on my iPhone 4. any suggestions?

It should be visible on the sound library menu .... if not, try logging out of the app store in Settings and restarting your device. Log in again after powering up and try again.

Peace,
Andy.

[iPlogger]

Hey iPlogger... How do the light space kits sound? Did they transfer properly?

They sound great. There are two glitchy kits, which I think use the same samples, but have been treated differently. And one 'organic' kit. The organic kit has some almost world-like bell sounds and is probably my favorite of the kits. There are some sound options that can really do some nice tweaking of the kits. Remix pads 4 and 8 make the organic kit sound otherworldly. LightSpace is a terrific library. If you listen to my soundcloud example earlier, it uses two sounds "The Journey Home" (the main pad sound) and "Eye of the Beholder" (the klangy/delayed sound at the beginning of every other measure). I'm really looking forward to using this library some more.

I have installed four of the desktop libraries ("Luftrum: Ambient", "Himalya: Pads", "Ian Boddy: Analogica" and "Biolabs: LightSpace"). They all transferred across just fine. There are a few sounds on LightSpace, as Andy pointed out, that use spectral synthesis which the Mobile app does not have, so nothing plays for those. I think there were 4 or 5 like that. There may have been a few on the others, but at 150 sounds apiece, missing 2 or 3 doesn't really bother me.

> The Pro Upgrade file, which was updated over the weekend, should include 8
> extra demo songs. I'll double check that is working properly.

I tried on two iPads and I do not seem to get the demo projects. I do get the Pro sounds I think (or maybe it was the Bonus sounds).

> There should only be updates to the Pro and Bonus files, nothing else.
> Did you install the actual update from the app store, or is the beta still
> installed on your device?

I upgraded on two iPads. One did have the beta on it, but I went to the AppStore and installed the latest over the beta. The other iPad had the original version 1 app and I ran an upgrade on it. On both iPads, all of my mobile sound libraries have an 'update' text on them and when I go into that library, at the bottom it says, "There is an update available for this sound library". See these images (I already did the update for Cinematic and BigTone when I took this screenshot).
https://www.dropbox.com/s/w7wlc3uxpjo0w ... ibrary.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pirg4ofdq28fm ... brary2.jpg

[BMoore]

I just re-read your message, sorry I missed this bit as it's important ...

... I can't even change tracks without hickups and clicks, even at a 2048 latency.

Changing tracks is expected to cause some clicks because of the way the app works. It won't always click 100% of the time, it depends on what the app is currently doing.

It happens because the other 3 tracks are playing back audio renders streamed from the internal disk. The selected track is actually live i.e. you can play notes, or if a MIDI performance has been recorded it will play back the notes in real time.

Switching from a live track to a different track means the previously selected track has to switch to rendered playback mode, and the newly selected track switches to live mode. This change over is what can cause the click.

For a similar reason, changing presets may also cause a click depending on the render status of the current track.

Note: I'm only referring to changing tracks and presets here, not other functions should not be causing any clicks.

Peace,
Andy.

Well. It's actually useless as it is now. Clicks and pops changing tracks and browsing presets, not to mention the maxed out performance noise.
And I just had a song crash over and over, when the song ends and are about to loop back.

I really regret buying into this app. I get stressed now each time I try to use it because of the poor performance and unstable operation.
Not good.

[chris1a]

All 8 demo songs work fine on my iPad 2 (wasn't there supposed to be 16 demo in the pro version btw?). The audio dropouts when change tracks are by design as explained above by Zen. Close your apps in the multitask bar, then reboot (apps in the multitask bar will use resources even after a reboot). Use the latest iOS. No porn surfing. Try holding the power button until the red shutdown bar shows, let go and press the home button until it goes back to the springboard/homescreen (can fix issues in certain cases). A nearly full iDevice would also slow down performance (it's kinda like a fragmented hard drive). Other then that I dunno..

[bharris22]

Just finished downloading the update (Pro version). If I wanted to add some drum loops I have in .wav format, would the easiest way be to make a single zip file with them and "add custom sounds"? If so, will they show up as the name of the zip file, with an arrow to the right that would then let me select individual loops?

In addition, am I correct that if I wanted to add all of my Alchemy libraries that do not have mobile versions yet (such as Analogica or Himalaya Pads), all I have to do is drag the .CamelSounds versions of these to my iTunes File Sharing section for Alchemy Mobile and sync?

Thanks!

[shanecgriffo]

I'm having an issue that is definitely annoying.. I'm playing alchemy via virtual midi.. I Select a preset, and start playing.. I notice the little 'dirty track' icon is on for that track.. I'm not doing any sequencing tho, just playing the instrument.. Now after a minute or two playing i get a complete sound drop out for about 3 seconds and then a second or so later i notice the dirty track icon disappears and sound returns, this happens everytime i select a new preset, rendering it pretty much a no-go for any live playing.. Sounds like a definite bug to me- keeping in mind i wasnt using the sequencer or changing tracks at all! Unless there some sort of setting i'm missing?