On-the-go music making device

[vurt]

usb compatible?

[bharris22]

I have a Surface Go (basically equivalent to an iPad Mini) and it is really great - I highly recommend it. I have loaded a ton of music software on it, and it handles it all (definitely spring for the 8 GB RAM version, though.

With that being said, you could get a very cheap generic Windows 10 tablet for about $130 and load a ton of still very good, useful Windows software on it. If I were trying to limit myself (I try, but am always unsuccessful), I would go with a cheap Windows 10 tablet and Reason Intro - should provide you with everything you need. I would add in there XotoPad from Feel Your Sound - an excellent touch midi controller for the tablet.

[recursive one]

proper trance sounds

Do you know this guy?
https://themaniac1.bandcamp.com/

For what I know he is making all his stuff on an android phone with Caustic app.
https://singlecellsoftware.com/caustic

Yeah, I was aware of him (and his setup) long before he got known. From Psynews.org, actually

Yes, psynews
Did you try Caustic?

I found it a bit awkward to use on a reqular-sized phone but it msut be ok on a tablet. Also you may install a PC version so you could work with the projects you've made on the go, export stems or midi and import them into a regular DAW for mixing and such.

[Forgotten]

usb compatible?

Urban Southern Blues?

Yes it is.

[antic604]

That's almost perfect, but it lacks headphone jack

[antic604]

Did you try Caustic?

I found it a bit awkward to use on a reqular-sized phone but it msut be ok on a tablet. Also you may install a PC version so you could work with the projects you've made on the go, export stems or midi and import them into a regular DAW for mixing and such.

Yes, I did (before I was aware of TheManic, too) and I liked it a lot! But - as you say - it's pretty weird on the phone and I'm not buying an Android tablet any more (had 3, all high-end models but all broke pretty quickly). Also, the PC app is way behind the phone equivalent, as it hasn't been in active development anymore for few years now...

[antic604]

If I were trying to limit myself (I try, but am always unsuccessful), I would go with a cheap Windows 10 tablet and Reason Intro - should provide you with everything you need.

Thanks for the ideas. Reason is terrible on a tablet, though - most things are too small (even on a proper screen with mouse), editing notes or audio is very awkward and there's no multi-touch.

Bitwig is probably the best option for Surface devices, but it's far from perfect too and touch features have not been touched since v1.3 (we're now on v3.1).

I really prefer something that was designed for touch from the ground up (like iPad Pro), go straight to portable hardware (Deluge) or mix of both (Akai Live).

[Forgotten]

iPad is even more awesome if you have a Mac as you can just connect the two and play iPad stuff as an external piece of hardware that is synched to the Mac.

[fedexnman]

Teenage Engineering ....maybe check there website and get you a backpack full of there stuff and some headphones , doesn't seem too expensive ..

[whyterabbyt]

That's almost perfect, but it lacks headphone jack

Its like an iPhone, you use BlewTooth headphones.

[Mushy Mushy]

Its like an iPhone, you use BlewTooth headphones.

[antic604]

Teenage Engineering ....maybe check there website and get you a backpack full of there stuff and some headphones , doesn't seem too expensive ..

Good call, but I found the Calculators to be one-trick-ponies and suitable for more off-beat, fun music and not serious trance OP-Z... I'm probably too stupid to understand it and would require an iOS device to wrap my head around it, at which point I might use Cubasis + AUv3 instead...

At one point I wanted OP-1, but then it went off the store shelves and when it came back it was WAY more expensive, even though nothing changed (AFAIK).

But thanks!

[antic604]

Its like an iPhone, you use BlewTooth headphones.

[bharris22]

If I were trying to limit myself (I try, but am always unsuccessful), I would go with a cheap Windows 10 tablet and Reason Intro - should provide you with everything you need.

Thanks for the ideas. Reason is terrible on a tablet, though - most things are too small (even on a proper screen with mouse), editing notes or audio is very awkward and there's no multi-touch.

Bitwig is probably the best option for Surface devices, but it's far from perfect too and touch features have not been touched since v1.3 (we're now on v3.1).

I really prefer something that was designed for touch from the ground up (like iPad Pro), go straight to portable hardware (Deluge) or mix of both (Akai Live).

To me, on-the-go necessarily means compromises. If I can get the germ of an idea down while on-the-go, I can always polish it up on my main rig. On the hardware front, maybe the Novation Circuit would meet your needs? Not as robust as the Deluge, but significantly cheaper.

[antic604]

To me, on-the-go necessarily means compromises. If I can get the germ of an idea down while on-the-go, I can always polish it up on my main rig. On the hardware front, maybe the Novation Circuit would meet your needs? Not as robust as the Deluge, but significantly cheaper.

Yes, I'm aware of that and on purpose am looking to limiting my options, but ideally in terms of feautres (# of tracks, devices, tweakable parameters, etc.) rather than in terms of cumbersome or straight up broken workflow. I really tried to draft something in Bitwig using SP4 in a tablet mode and it was fun (the ring interface is genious!) up to a point, when I realised there's no (convenient) way of getting to some of the features or they wouldn't work at all. With Reason it was much, much worse because touch wasn't even a consideration in its design.

Good idea with the Circuit - I meant to check it out, but never did! Thanks