Article - Desktop DAW Vs. iOS: Where Is The Best Place To Write Your Music?

[Aboyes]

I like this,, I have to agree regarding losing focus in a full on DAW

http://iosmusicandyou.com/2013/01/09/de ... And+You%29

What do you guys think?

[fmr]

I like this,, I have to agree regarding losing focus in a full on DAW

http://iosmusicandyou.com/2013/01/09/de ... And+You%29

What do you guys think?

I'm not a fan of "apps", and I find all this hype on "i"Things a joke. I would say that someone serious about what he/she wants to do will need a full computer, and a full DAW.

The argument that one may feel "overwhelming" is a joke in itself. If people know what to do, how to do it and what they want to do, they cannot feel overwhelm, no matter what they use.

However, a sheet of paper and a pencil may be enough - and they come almost for free

[Invisiblesupermonkey]

Strictly speaking paper and pens aren't free...

While I agree in part, why limit yourself to where you ejaculate your creative juices? Computer DAW is great for when your at home and have time. iPad is great for when your out and about, supposed to be working, using the loo, just cannot be bothered to move from in front of the tv....

Horses for courses I guess. To thine own creative muse be true.

And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make. Or something.

[nasenmann]

The argument that one may feel "overwhelming" is a joke in itself. If people know what to do, how to do it and what they want to do, they cannot feel overwhelm, no matter what they use.

Well i don't know what to do all the time. You don't either.
Ever heard of happy accidents? They play kind of a larger part in the creation of music.

Plus, knowing 'what to do' is always influenced by what you CAN do. Some people get more creative under more limited/focused circumstances, like using a sequencer on ipad. They have less choices, but that ends up being more valuable to them. Maybe they get more shit done that way. Who are you to belittle that?

MOST people are atleast a tiny bit neurotic about making choices. I know i'm experiencing something like a mild case of autism when i'm browsing through a dropdown list with 100 VSTs.

One thing is obvious though: the problem is mostly self-inflicted. I could take synth1 and drumatic and make tunes with just that. Tadaa, simple setup, just like nanostudio. But no, gotta load them fancy multisamples. Hey, they were expensive!

But they aren't fun

[fmr]

The argument that one may feel "overwhelming" is a joke in itself. If people know what to do, how to do it and what they want to do, they cannot feel overwhelm, no matter what they use.

Well i don't know what to do all the time. You don't either.
Ever heard of happy accidents? They play kind of a larger part in the creation of music.

Plus, knowing 'what to do' is always influenced by what you CAN do. Some people get more creative under more limited/focused circumstances, like using a sequencer on ipad. They have less choices, but that ends up being more valuable to them. Maybe they get more shit done that way. Who are you to belittle that?

I'm no one. Happy accidents usually occur when you are just having fun with the tools, not worrying too much.

Regarding the owerwhelming, I feel the same as you when I am buried in tons of options. That's why sometimes I just take off everythiong I don't really need, and keep just a few bunch of tools - the ones I "know" I will really want to use. But I am not limited by anything else exzcept my will - that's what I meant with my first post.

I had a teacher which kept saying to us: keep the means sparse (I hope I am saying this right).

[dayjob]

this looks like the most annoying and cumbersome way to make music.. not to mention lacking of soooo many important features for sequencing midi



iPads and their apps etc have a long way to go to get to where i'll even pay attention to them as anything more than gadgets.

i'm not attracted to the idead of touching a piece of glass for hours and hours on end to make music.. i'd much rather have a mouse and an actual keyboard and some hardware machines and a powerful computer with lot's of plug ins and applications that do complex things and allow me to make really satisfying sounds

[Karmacomposer]

I disagree with some parts of the article. I believe DAWs are a legitimate tool for recording music. The artist should know what they are going to record. They should already have practiced - same for a band - and then used the DAW to record the artist or band. After recording you can sweeten the mix and make a final master.

On an IOS device, it is way more portable and so many great synths and instruments are available - but it's a lot like virtual instruments. Once you have every music app out there, the choices get harder on what to play with.

That said, I use both. DAW for initial recording and iPad DAW for mixing, adding effects, mobile recording and then final mix - all on the go.

I feel both worlds are best. I plan on buying a second iPad (a 64 GB one this time) so that I can use one to record into the other (i'll be using a Focusrite Saphire).

I feel that is the best way to use the technology.

Mike

[Maadfoo]

this looks like the most annoying and cumbersome way to make music.. not to mention lacking of soooo many important features for sequencing midi



iPads and their apps etc have a long way to go to get to where i'll even pay attention to them as anything more than gadgets.

i'm not attracted to the idead of touching a piece of glass for hours and hours on end to make music.. i'd much rather have a mouse and an actual keyboard and some hardware machines and a powerful computer with lot's of plug ins and applications that do complex things and allow me to make really satisfying sounds

cool

[mobetta]

I can definitely identify with this article...I love using Ipad, i can definitely say i get way more ideas done faster. Sometimes on the desktop, i go from Reason to Maschine to Garageband and never get ANYTHING done with all those options, VSTS and sounds. Shoot, looking at Ableton darn near puts me to sleep! I think the keyboard and mouse always feels like "work" to me while working on Ipad is more like the old MPC and keyboard days. Sometimes I do feel like i should be working in a professional environment, not a "toy", but I can honestly say, some of these apps sound just as good as some of my VSTs and better than my old sound modules..

The good thing about apps is everyday a new update or an entirely new app hits the market, which gives you more flexibility and sounds, so even if it seems limiting, you have audiobus, virtual midi, DAW apps, etc. I think a year ago it was a gadget, i definitely think you can do quality stuff now, if you have a good workflow, and they keep updating the apps. Especially as the ipads themselves get more powerful.

It's like once you've tried the Ipad workflow, the laptop looks like it's a dinosaur, and you still need a midi keyboard, etc, no where near as mobile. just my 2 cents.

[Crabshack]

site is down.

[polaris20]

I can't read the article since the site is down, but what is the gist? Is it where is the ideal place to write music, or where is the ideal place to record a finished product?

It's not the same thing.

I like writing music, i.e. working out ideas, playing with sounds, working out structures, on the iPad.

I record finished products on the desktop, often from things easily imported from my iPad.

[jonnyG]

Site is down, but given that the url is "http://iosmusicandyou.com" then I expect a little bias.

What is wrong with all these 12 year olds that write all this online *tech* pish anyway? Everything is either a "gamechanger" or some sort of a battle to the death between formats. It's all getting very old. Why not just use both?

Still, I guess it's our fault for reading the stuff rather than just kicking the authors' heads in.

[oldlibmike]

Site is down, but given that the url is "http://iosmusicandyou.com" then I expect a little bias.

What is wrong with all these 12 year olds that write all this online *tech* pish anyway? Everything is either a "gamechanger" or some sort of a battle to the death between formats. It's all getting very old. Why not just use both?

Still, I guess it's our fault for reading the stuff rather than just kicking the authors' heads in.

Really kind of harsh! The site is very good for reviewing and commenting on what is says...iOS music software. The article was a bit provocative (which is a fine thing). The author is obviously an iOS fan as am I and looks at why, exactly do many of us use very limited CPUs on touch devices instead of or in addition to desktop DAWs.

This discussion will not go away and will continue either there or here. I can almost hear "Get off my lawn!" while I read some of these comments. No, iPads are not as capable as laptops...yet. But....iPads are as capable as what you made great music with a few years ago. There is something much more intimate about touching and manipulating music with your fingers instead of sequencing beats, measures etc.

Also, it is worth noting that many (most?) of us are amateurs or pro-wanna-bes. For that level of music production which is largely done as a hobbyist, iPads and 16 bit audio are really just fine.

For the pros, I think touch devices will replace, enhance or supplement the gear that you attach to your desktop DAWs. For the less than pros (such as me), you can play around with software synths, plugins, Korgs, Moogs, samples for an entry price of around $5 - $25 instead of having a $100 entry fee for desktop VSTs/AUs.

Food for thought anyway...

[dayjob]

when tapeOp had a section in it about iPad apps the guy referred to himself as an "iMusician" which i made me sigh and roll my eyes so hard i almost fell off the toilet.

i wrote an email to Larry Crane that day... which he printed in the magazine letter section. it was nice to see "the word iMusician is _f_u_c_k_i_n_g_ retarded" in print.

[Invisiblesupermonkey]

when tapeOp had a section in it about iPad apps the guy referred to himself as an "iMusician" which i made me sigh and roll my eyes so hard i almost fell off the toilet.

i wrote an email to Larry Crane that day... which he printed in the magazine letter section. it was nice to see "the word iMusician is _f_u_c_k_i_n_g_ retarded" in print.

Yes. It is always good to see a well crafted argument in print.