Quick first impressions (no promo code in effect here)
My initial impressions were very good. I like the interface. It was clean and easy to read and work with (I have fat fingers). I really like the circular track and how it identifies note(s) on/off. I find this easier to read when trying to get a quick overview of where the note/chord placements are. The note/triad/seventh/extended is a nice touch and I find it just enough to scratch down an idea when I am away from my studio. And even though I doubt that I'll use the Arp much I do think the delay adjustment is another nice touch. And like almost everything in the app you get the feeling the dev put some thought into before they started coding.
However what I wanted to know is if it could handle the wireless midi connection with my iMac. And its a mixed bag, sort of. Inside of Changeling you simply flip a switch (no other routing to handle and I really like that). On the iMac side I did what I always do with any of the other connections (adhoc network connection & network midi connection) and its a simple thing. After that I started Live and all of the note info was streaming without a hitch. I threw in a few Zebra's and an ACE with a little Microtonic and was on my way. So in short, it does what it says on the tin.
With that said it would be awesome if the sync/tempo info was also sent (or recognized by Live) when working with Ableton's Live. Now I don't know if it's being sent I just know its not having any affect on the transport or tempo. However, I know the app is new so this is not a drawback in my opinion, its more of a request. Even in its first incarnation this would be a really useful feature.
In a post above:
I would add that even outside of these areas of interest this app can/will prove useful. It took me about 10 minutes to hammer out a 4 track sequence. No need to look at the manual since almost everything is pretty obvious and the menu's are easy to understand (read: no deep nesting or unfamiliar terms). I setup four tracks in Live to receive the data, set tempo to match, hit play in Changeling and then Record in Live. After I had enough to work with I hit stop and cropped the clips. Even though sync would improve this part the whole thing wasn't that painful. In addition I could just use Live as a fancy sound module.DrApostropheX wrote:If you have interest in Jazz or Classical piano composition, it's very useful and a lot of fun (within 20 minutes of firing it up I'd noodled-out a pretty cool-sounding Satie-esque piece).
All in all a win, IMO. Next thing to work on is a decent set of soundfonts and how to get them on the iPad. For now that can wait though. Having a bit too much fun sitting away from the comp controlling a bunch of instruments.
Cheers.
