Why did mobile music production never take off?

[WackyZoundz]

I am not trying to persuade but you are putting up arguments that just show lack of experience with the technology.

The degree of your ignorance is astonishing. And it shows that YOU have absolutely no experience. You never worked professionally/for a living. I'm pretty sure you never even used speakers to mix. Everyone who uses speakers knows why a smartphone or tablet can't be used because you can't bow your head down to look at a screen because this changes the perception of sound. You also get a sore neck from doing so. And nobody holds a touch screen in front of them for hours because this gives you sore arms. A tiny screen that barely shows anything, has a bad response (Lag, inaccuracy). Not to mention the lack of processing power and software (Thanks to a different architecture nobody wants to develop for). And how many smartphones or tablets are out there which feature a 4 TB SSD (or larger) for all the projects and sample libraries? And having to use wired headphones (To avoid the lossy compression that comes with ALL wireless headphones) connected to the audio interface which is also connected via cable to the smartphone/tablet (To keep latency down, you know) also defies the purpose of such a device, doesn't it?

I can go on because there are a lot more good reasons to use a tower or laptop instead. But I'm sure you will stay as ignorant. Because you refuse to listen to any counter-argument, thanks to your own bias and your need to be hip and cool. No, just because something is new or unique doesn't mean it's useful. You want to toy around, fine. But people like me want to work. I'm not going to fight with janky touch controls for five minutes to set a filter frequency, this has to be done in no more than five seconds. And for this you need a mouse and a physical keyboard. And for low latency processing (1 ms) you need a laptop or tower, avoiding all wireless connections.

So yeah, have fun with your toys. But don't try to convince anyone that you can use such devices to work professionally because that's obviously not possible. You're only making a fool out of yourself.

[WackyZoundz]

Life is unhealthy.

It's definitely unhealthy to read more stupid comments like yours, containing nothing more than bogus arguments. Bye.

[WackyZoundz]

Pretend I’m not here and I’ll do likewise. Life is short.

That's the first and only logical thing you ever wrote. Obviously by accident but I'll take it. Bye.

[Ah_Dziz]

Lack of professional level hardware is a big part of it. I do all sorts of sound design wackyness on my tablet and my phone mostly just to pass the time. O tried out a few "mobile " daws when I still had an iPad and they were a bit of a hassle to use even over a laptop. Basically it has always seemed that if I really want to work , I can just go to the real machine. If I have some time to kill and I'm near lots of interesting noises, I might sample some stuff into my phone and fiddle around with it. There's also decent use scenarios for tablets and phones for live performance. One can turn a phone onto a very decent sound module with a bit of tinkering.

[WackyZoundz]

There's also decent use scenarios for tablets and phones for live performance. One can turn a phone onto a very decent sound module with a bit of tinkering.

Tell me how you can play with all your fingers on a smartphone as fast and accurate as on a keyboard over several octaves. Tell me how can reduce the input lag to 1 ms or less. Tell me how you can make touch display input pixel-perfect (like a mouse). Tell me how you can make fingers transparent so you always see the entire screen with all its data displayed. Tell me how you install VST and AU plugins written for a completely different architecture on mobile sequencers. Tell me how to upgrade the CPUs so they are as powerful as those in laptops and towers, capable of running hundreds if not thousands of plugins. Tell me how to upgrade the battery so it can provide enough power for such a setup, lasting long enough for a concert.

[Dalle]

iPads are amazing for music making. Things like synth programming or step sequencing with p-locks are way faster with multitouch than a mouse.

[Ah_Dziz]

There's also decent use scenarios for tablets and phones for live performance. One can turn a phone onto a very decent sound module with a bit of tinkering.

Tell me how you can play with all your fingers on a smartphone as fast and accurate as on a keyboard over several octaves. Tell me how can reduce the input lag to 1 ms or less. Tell me how you can make touch display input pixel-perfect (like a mouse). Tell me how you can make fingers transparent so you always see the entire screen with all its data displayed. Tell me how you install VST and AU plugins written for a completely different architecture on mobile sequencers. Tell me how to upgrade the CPUs so they are as powerful as those in laptops and towers, capable of running hundreds if not thousands of plugins. Tell me how to upgrade the battery so it can provide enough power for such a setup, lasting long enough for a concert.

Midi cables. Power cables. Using synths written for mobile platforms. Having knowledge of how to use computer technology. Standard things. You could use Google to find all of this out easily if it's something you're interested in doing.

[Scotty]

Yes, a keyboard controller will connect but you can field record and create interesting samples without any controllers. You can send midi via Bluetooth with innovative sequencers. So many great apps available and usually on the cheap. I never transitioned to full mobile audio production but I really enjoy integrating iPads into my studio, particularly granualizers and TouchOSC controllers.

[MidnightRunner]

it was a PITA to move files around apps and in and out of the iOS device. maybe things have changed these days.

[Scotty]

It’s better now but imperfect. You can usually transfe large files via drop box or Google drive without having syncthe device.

it was a PITA to move files around apps and in and out of the iOS device. maybe things have changed these days.

[Synthman2000]

Mobile phones can often barely make an intelligible phone call, what their best use is for.

If you are ok with attempting to make music on a frankly ridiculous interface/device combo as a mobile phone it is probably fair to assume it is the first bad decision in a chain of idiotic choices that only someone who has delusions of grandeur, or no idea what they are doing makes.

[audiojunkie]

it was a PITA to move files around apps and in and out of the iOS device. maybe things have changed these days.

Yes, this was another thing that drove me crazy. And still does.....

[Scotty]

It’s better now but imperfect. You can usually transfer large files via drop box or Google drive without having sync the device.

it was a PITA to move files around apps and in and out of the iOS device. maybe things have changed these days.

[Paree]

I feel like mobile screen is too small to make anything good without getting frustrated, its simply uninspiring.

ipads and tablets are better with respect to screen sizes and ipads are fantastic devices for playing and jamming, however, being a full fledged production device while possible is still limiting, maybe thats good for some people but not for me.

Not to mention that apple has been constantly making decisions such as removing audio jack from ipads making it more annoying to use for music production. If i have to use multiple dongles and devices to make good music, i might as well stick to my pc and my macbook, and macbook is actually a fantastic devices for producing on the go, excellent battery life and more capable and compatible with more devices and has an audio jack.


That being said, i do love my ipad for coming up with ideas, groovebox by ampify is one f the most inspiring apps ive used. But generally, i take the ideas to my workstation to finish them.

With mobile devices, my setup is simple, i just have some piano, drums and composition apps along with a couple of grooveboxes such as gstomper (i use android since it’s not my music making device). When it comes to mobile phones, it really doesn’t matter imo since the screen size is a huge deal breaker. iphone can give you more nice toys to play with tho.

For tablets, android has never even been in question. I don’t even think android has as high of a market share as ipad when it comes to tablets

[Scotty]

There are apps that are more successful than others for making use of touch and the limited screen real estate. I don't have the patience or inclination for exclusive music making on the ipad but I do really enjoy several apps and integrate them into my main rigs. Some of the midi generation apps in particular are inspirational and fun. I send their output to my various gear over blue tooth using low latency CME midi devices.

I feel like mobile screen is too small to make anything good without getting frustrated, its simply uninspiring.

ipads and tablets are better with respect to screen sizes and ipads are fantastic devices for playing and jamming, however, being a full fledged production device while possible is still limiting, maybe thats good for some people but not for me.

Not to mention that apple has been constantly making decisions such as removing audio jack from ipads making it more annoying to use for music production. If i have to use multiple dongles and devices to make good music, i might as well stick to my pc and my macbook, and macbook is actually a fantastic devices for producing on the go, excellent battery life and more capable and compatible with more devices and has an audio jack.


That being said, i do love my ipad for coming up with ideas, groovebox by ampify is one f the most inspiring apps ive used. But generally, i take the ideas to my workstation to finish them.

With mobile devices, my setup is simple, i just have some piano, drums and composition apps along with a couple of grooveboxes such as gstomper (i use android since it’s not my music making device). When it comes to mobile phones, it really doesn’t matter imo since the screen size is a huge deal breaker. iphone can give you more nice toys to play with tho.

For tablets, android has never even been in question. I don’t even think android has as high of a market share as ipad when it cokes to tablets