IOS music production.... final thoghts after 5 years!

[Deleted User]

So, i thought it´s time to think about what means iOS music production for me today. I started about 5 years ago first time creating my own music with an iPhone 4 and a few little apps.
In the last 1 1/2 years i migrated to OSX a macbook pro 15" and tools like Logic, Omnisphere, Kontakt, Falcon etc.
While it offers some far better FX and workflow options and synths where i could dive in for years i recently made more experiments again with my iPhone and still thinking about an iPad Pro as second workstation and/or midi controller and also of course as sound source.
There are many things in iOS which sucks but there are also a lot things which are just there because of the limitations.
All the apps are standalone (beside the AU only apps) and have a full screen. Most of the apps have an included recorder and a virtual keyboard and midi in/out options which all would be not there maybe otherwise.
The limitations let me focus more on creating content rather then trying to get the last nuance of a sound to be perfect and wasting hours while searching between a thousand settings, options, knobs etc.
On iOS i mainly use Audio to record my tracks. On my desktop i mainly use MIDI until i´m finished.
It booth has it´s pro and contra. I find working with Audio on iOS faster and better as on my desktop while MIDI is a bit of pain on iOS devices while it is great inside a huge DAW like Logic.
What i see as a big "creativity" plus working with audio tracks on iOS is that i always create new patches (with Mitosynth f.e.) which i just create for this one audio track and i have always a unique sound while i play it live and have no chance to rework the midi notes. The only bad side is that it´s hard to recreate a track with other instruments if you have no midi data etc.
Then there are of course the apps itself which are really fun to use and let me think about new ways to achieve sounds.
On my macbook there are fantastic instruments which might never exist in the next years on tablets or smartphones but they make it almost to easy and boring to create a unique sound.
At the end i hope iOS will still evolve and that we see music apps which takes all that even further. The only 2 things i really would need which could get me back to a iOS only producer would be a Kontakt like sampler with great support from third party developers and the option to create and scipt own instruments on the device itself and especially a really huge high quality reverb, which is maybe the most important thing for me.
While i love the 3D touch on my iPhone 6S plus i could see that this on an huge tablet with more ram and cpu power and the right tool would be just such a fantastic thing. Indeed is (like i mentioned before) 3D touch THE big thing and most people still think it´s just a kind of on/off switch.
Then i experienced that i get sometimes more interesting sounds in a few minutes when experimenting with sound i recorded direct into Mitosynth, Eden etc. via iPhone mic as when i record a sound, master it and import it into a monster tool like Falcon.
There is still a lot more but i just want to say a big thank´s for this forum here. I visited many forums related to music but this here is where i still feel at "home"the most even when i often seems to be a bit negative. So i thought it was time to sum up my positive feelings about iOS and music creation.

Cheers!

Telstar5

Nice!!!

[Deleted User]

Yeah, ios music has been and is evolving and for me it's it can be activated in a moment, ready for inspiration ... microscopic or bird's view.

Seangarland

@Cinebient said:
So, i thought it´s time to think about what means iOS music production for me today. I started about 5 years ago first time creating my own music with an iPhone 4 and a few little apps.
In the last 1 1/2 years i migrated to OSX a macbook pro 15" and tools like Logic, Omnisphere, Kontakt, Falcon etc.
While it offers some far better FX and workflow options and synths where i could dive in for years i recently made more experiments again with my iPhone and still thinking about an iPad Pro as second workstation and/or midi controller and also of course as sound source.
There are many things in iOS which sucks but there are also a lot things which are just there because of the limitations.
All the apps are standalone (beside the AU only apps) and have a full screen. Most of the apps have an included recorder and a virtual keyboard and midi in/out options which all would be not there maybe otherwise.
The limitations let me focus more on creating content rather then trying to get the last nuance of a sound to be perfect and wasting hours while searching between a thousand settings, options, knobs etc.
On iOS i mainly use Audio to record my tracks. On my desktop i mainly use MIDI until i´m finished.
It booth has it´s pro and contra. I find working with Audio on iOS faster and better as on my desktop while MIDI is a bit of pain on iOS devices while it is great inside a huge DAW like Logic.
What i see as a big "creativity" plus working with audio tracks on iOS is that i always create new patches (with Mitosynth f.e.) which i just create for this one audio track and i have always a unique sound while i play it live and have no chance to rework the midi notes. The only bad side is that it´s hard to recreate a track with other instruments if you have no midi data etc.
Then there are of course the apps itself which are really fun to use and let me think about new ways to achieve sounds.
On my macbook there are fantastic instruments which might never exist in the next years on tablets or smartphones but they make it almost to easy and boring to create a unique sound.
At the end i hope iOS will still evolve and that we see music apps which takes all that even further. The only 2 things i really would need which could get me back to a iOS only producer would be a Kontakt like sampler with great support from third party developers and the option to create and scipt own instruments on the device itself and especially a really huge high quality reverb, which is maybe the most important thing for me.
While i love the 3D touch on my iPhone 6S plus i could see that this on an huge tablet with more ram and cpu power and the right tool would be just such a fantastic thing. Indeed is (like i mentioned before) 3D touch THE big thing and most people still think it´s just a kind of on/off switch.
Then i experienced that i get sometimes more interesting sounds in a few minutes when experimenting with sound i recorded direct into Mitosynth, Eden etc. via iPhone mic as when i record a sound, master it and import it into a monster tool like Falcon.
There is still a lot more but i just want to say a big thank´s for this forum here. I visited many forums related to music but this here is where i still feel at "home"the most even when i often seems to be a bit negative. So i thought it was time to sum up my positive feelings about iOS and music creation.

Cheers!

Prior to entering the iOS world, I was strictly a guitarist without any way of recording any of my music. I never did any production on PC, so I just riffed aimlessly in my house, with nowhere to go.

Since coming to iOS, I now have some excellent DAW's, exotic instruments (via iTabla Pro, Ruckers 1628, M3000 Mellotron to name a few), and some amazing synths and drum machines. In fact, I rather disliked synthesizers and "electronic music" prior to iOS, and had essentially zero knowledge about how synths worked. Working in iOS has now actually led me to buying hardware synths, which I never would have predicted.

Being able to actually record and distribute my songs, however lame they may be, has been a thrill for me. I honestly never thought that would ever happen. I'm forever grateful to all of the developers who have made this possible.

P.S. - Cinebient, it was your early work as 'GalaxyExplorer' that opened my eyes to the fact that iOS music could really be amazing. Those tracks were so professional, so rich, and theatrical that I realized that there really wasn't a limit on what could be done. iOS devices are not "toys", and your early work was a major turning point for me to see that. So, big thanks to you as well!

animal

To me, it's still the best to mix ios and osX. Like you said, Audio is just so intuitive and fast on ios, that it's a real joy. With a Macbook for routing Midi/Audio most versatile between ios-devices nowadays, and the creation of audioreactive visuals at the same time, I feel like this is, all together, with an Audio Interface integrated, like ONE (modular) instrument of grandious possibilities. Still have to find the edges of possible routings and soundmanglings..., I am one very happy customer, but it does take the mixture of both worlds, for me.
Also: very happy to be part of this mostly polite and Ego-less forum, with lots of information and friendly helpful folks. Thank you, fellow forum-contributors!

RUncELL

ios has bought music making to the masses.. Which can only be a good thing for diversity in electronic music. Although on the other hand, makes it much harder to get heard.

A great remark from Sean here..

@Seangarland said:

In fact, I rather disliked synthesizers and "electronic music" prior to iOS, and had essentially zero knowledge about how synths worked. Working in iOS has now actually led me to buying hardware synths, which I never would have predicted.

Shows that ignorance really is just a lack of understanding.

richardyot

One of the things I like the best about iOS music-making is precisely not being tied to a computer. I work all day in front of a computer, and in the evening when I make music I like the fact I can be i a different room (I work from home), and there's no computer. I'm happy to put up with the limitations of iOS because despite them there are also significant advantages: the touch screen interface is really great for working with music apps.

In my opinion the only real drawback to iOS is Apple themselves. I wish they could provide a more stable and settled environment that was less disruptive to the devs, because the developers have been incredibly innovative and have made the platform very vibrant and interesting, there's a ton a really great apps with great UIs on iOS.

Redo1

It's developing into a stepping stone for me to get into hardware.
I'm going to stand up here and admit that I am an appaholic but a lot of it has been for fun and not serious music production. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It is contributing to creativity in a positive way.
And being inexperienced it was a good stone to step on. Probably same for a lot of people.
The biggest issue I have with it is the screen. I just don't like staring at this thing so long. I have thought of giving it up completely for hardware for my health mostly, some curiosity, and that real knob experience. If I had money I wouldn't hesitate.
I do have a lot of impressive pieces o software on my iPad now though.

Jocphone

Working on iOS is currently closest to my ideal music recording and composing environment. It is good enough that the odd niggle is just that. Part of it is the "not a computer" experience, as @richardyot mentioned. I will buy a Pro at some point but, like @Cinebient, I am curious as to whether it is possible to have 3D touch on the bigger devices.

[Deleted User]

@Jocphone said:
Working on iOS is currently closest to my ideal music recording and composing environment. It is good enough that the odd niggle is just that. Part of it is the "not a computer" experience, as @richardyot mentioned. I will buy a Pro at some point but, like @Cinebient, I am curious as to whether it is possible to have 3D touch on the bigger devices.

How i said, a really fantastic reverb like B2, some big synths and some better sample libraries are the main things for me why i need at least a notebook for the things i want to do. There are controllers like the Seaboard which are great, especially bundled with software made for it but if an iPad will get 3D touch (and i´m sure it will at some point) it could bring new great innovations to light.
If i will be still there i´m sure i will buy the next big tablet with 3D touch.
Fource touch on notebooks could also be usable for some extra things but it´s the same with windows touch.... it´s great and so but developers are still thinking in the past here (beside a few like the Bitwig guys etc.).
If a Surface Pro 5 would have a kind of 3D touch..... i would consider this maybe.
Remember, you have 5 dimensions (best example is the Noise 5D app), strike, press, glide, slide and lift. Add also the sensors like gyroscope etc. on top and it would be a great playfield for new innovativ ways to create sound.
I love the independent developers but i hope we see some day "bigger" apps too.

richardyot

@Cinebient said:
If i will be still there i´m sure i will buy the next big tablet with 3D touch.

I hope that doesn't mean what I think it means?

[Deleted User]

P.S. - Cinebient, it was your early work as 'GalaxyExplorer' that opened my eyes to the fact that iOS music could really be amazing. Those tracks were so professional, so rich, and theatrical that I realized that there really wasn't a limit on what could be done. iOS devices are not "toys", and your early work was a major turning point for me to see that. So, big thanks to you as well!

Thank you I revisited my old interview some years ago after i released my first (and only Album). It hurts still a bit that i just "saved" about 10 from my 200 or so iOS tracks.
I now have better tools and FX and samples for that organic sound i really love to add but often i miss the simplicity of these good old days.

I would even like to make a whole remix of my album and add a better mastering etc..... sadly i think i maybe have just 1 or 2 tracks from it anymore.

I tryed several times to make again a new album like this with a theme and storytelling but i never had the patience to finish it and just trow out track after track.

Maybe it´s time to wake up the GalaxyExplorer from the cryogen sleep and make a kind of remake with all the tools i have now......

[Deleted User]

@richardyot said:

@Cinebient said:
If i will be still there i´m sure i will buy the next big tablet with 3D touch.

I hope that doesn't mean what I think it means?

It´s a long story but there is something which destroys me... physically and psychologically and it seems to raise up.
I just should not talk about it here, sorry but i don´t make to big future plans.