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Wolfgang IOS Apps: Wish List?
I find that ALL of his apps have potentially the best sound on the IOS platform. They are thoughtful and amazing works of technology for making sounds. With those sounds, music.
I must however admit, that I really don't use Wave Mapper, Wave Generator, and now potentially Phenom all that much.
I want to love these apps, but, something always seems to dissuade me. That is why I made this thread. For all the synths mentioned on this forum, I don't really see these apps mentioned in actual use that much. They are always "listed" as great items, but, not really referenced by many people when describing their workflow.
So, are you like me with the WOLFGANG PPG apps?
Do you love them, but find something about the design or interface doesn't feel right?
Or maybe I am alone.
For instance, I find the MENU's and BANK system a bit awkward when doing 3 other things at once. It requires 1 too many step or something. I wish the preset menu and storage(save) method was cleaner and more dare I say "obvious".
I also find the BPM setting slightly cumbersome.
Lastly, the ARP/SEQ feature. It never seems to allow me to be as creative as I would like to be. The ARP feature seem very myopic and quickly a bore.
Because I want to use these apps more, I wanted to do this thread. I find that PHENOM is improved compared to MAPPER and GENERATOR in some ways. (Please increase the volume of the app) I just thought while there is actual attention on PPG with PHENOM release, now was a good time to do this thread that in my heart I wanted to do for a while now.
Am I alone on this or do you see some things that would make WAVE MAPPER and WAVE GENERATOR more user friendly and productive in your work flow?
Thanks yall.
Comments
Barren AudioBus and AUM/Audioshare, I think that the most unanimously praised musical app on this forum to be Animoog (pls, I am NOT saying it is the best synth around, so do not start a fan flame).
Maybe it is from Animoog one has to start finding what makes an app really good/loved.
So to reverse @RustiK question, one may ask what one likes in Animoog and if this is lacking in other apps (PPG's are the matter here)
I got fed up with the multi-level saving and patch architecture of WaveGenerator that is far from intuitive...
(I'm still trying to get my head around the file-structure of WaveGenerator, don't have Phonem or WaveMapper as both seem to have the same rather confusing and totally messed up file/patch/folder-structure).
I was designing a patch in WveGenerator, drew the wave-forms create paths and stuff, saved the patch (or so I thought) and when I then restarted the app the wave I drew table was gone and the patch was refering to a non-existing wave-table and my patch/waves/folders/files or whatever were 'history'.
The app should at least warn that not everything is saved...
Once I get my grips around the 'Wolfgang-Logic' I might consider getting WaveMapper and Phonem...
Thanks for starting this discussion @RustiK because I've been looking into these apps and wondering the same thing myself. I would love to hear about how others are using them and what they are finding.
I'm a big fan of all those 3 apps. I use WaveMapper the most.
Agree with Samu that saves can be awkward. A save at the highest level should automatically save everything.
I basically use WaveGenerator only for messing about with wave tables. I then use WaveMapper for working on the meat of the sound. I find it set out easier.
Really enjoying Phonem so far, even though I'm still in the learning stages
The way the apps handles presets is certainly clunky, no doubt about it although once you've done it a few times it's not a problem
The things these apps can do though more than makes up for it
I haven't done much in Wave Generator but it is extremely deep and listening to what other people can make it do is just fantastic
Wave mapper is lots of fun and for me is about messing around until some happy accident happens resulting in a great patch. I have yet to dive into the behind the scenes tweaking
Phonem blows me away. The things it can do is just crazy. It does take some effort for complex phrases but that's my iPad singing at me!
Also, they're all very fast to boot and snappy to work with
The only thing i really wish for is a better saving system
Patch saving in Phonem is needlessly complicated, and like a few other great apps I could mention - in terms of what they can do, and how they sound - it's complex to work with. Perhaps Wolfie could run apps by someone of merely average intelligence (and great enthusiasm) who could represent many customers.
Making his apps easier and more intuitive would surely be good for business.
I do like 'WaveGenerator' even though it's clunky at times...
Drawing custom waves and chaining them into sequences is pretty neat and takes me back to 'chip-type' programming of percussion sounds and other effects. It's almost like a 'wave-station' with single-cycle waves.
I do wish there were 'modulation tables' that ran in parallel like a super programmable step-sequencer running at insane speeds controlling selected parameters.
WaveGenerator is one of the few synths that is capable of similar effects to what could be accomplished with the C64, NES or FutureComposer on the Amiga with some creative sound programming
Well to me Animoog sounds amazing, is easy to tweak and patch, and sounds amazing.
I don't really like the way you change the waveform tho, and the fact that I can't seem to be able to make a user folder for saving patches is annoying. But did I mention it sounds amazing!
As far as interface goes, iSEM is tops for me. Partially due to AU tbf but I still love the simplicity of it.
Phenom sounds fantastic and the AU is a win for me but I haven't taken enough of a plunge to comment a lot more.
Patch saving in Phonem is mind bending and numbing, forget about saving patches, it does this crazy near every 'tweak' save so you have a strange history of backups, a massive amount of filesaves, this wouldn't be too bad if all these files were given a separate folder or list, but the MY list needs some serious sorting. The BPM I think is a leftover from the desktop translation.
in the sense of a Moog synth, Animoog's distribution of tweak elements isn't the smartest choice of all times... (polite expression)
But the great XY-animated graphic controller easily distracts from flaws
It's not even that 'moogish' either - for a mini-like sound it really takes some tweaks.
A lot of cheating by duo and quadphonic detuning.
Add a decent list of presets that most users are familiar with in one ore the other way and it's enough to make it a successfull app.
Wolgang's stuff is the uncompromised output of a synth lunatic - he lives synths...
The sound engine is the best I've ever heard and on par with John Bowen's Solaris.
To honest when I heard it the first time I was simply shocked - never had expected such a sound from a non-dedicated-DSP system, let alone a 2 square inch SOC.
Kind of revelation for me.
'Wavetable' is an immensely complex topic, frequently messed with playback of sample buffers (like soundfonts), which is something completely different.
A saw-oscillator is much more 'accessible' than this thing called 'wavetable'.
It's a natural matter of facts and you'll find EXACTLY the same user experience (or rather confusion) whenever this kind of synthesis is involved.
It's equally natural that the inventor of the technology wants to provide features to make the most out of this toolkit.
That's difficult if not impossible - the backgound is complex and if one doesn't even understand the basic principle, it's just ... well, confusing.
Who reads manuals today ? All got to be instant point&click gratification ...
I don't understand that much of it either, but I know exactly where to look and would read the original documentation (PPG and Waldorf) up and down - it's worth the effort.
cheers, Tom
I disagree completely, wave table synthesis isn't what's confusing, having had a microwave xt and a blofeld. If the user interface is good, the synth will be good to use, I only have phonem, so I I can't speak for other of his apps tho. Besides the UI of nave is quite good too. If you are confused about the synthesis type there are plenty of places to learn about it online!
There is one 'thing' that could simplify usage of PPG WaveGenerator and it all boils down to how the 'Init' patch is.
When creating a new patch a new wave-table should also be created instead of pointing to an existing table.
When saving the patch 'everything' included in the patch should be saved.
I do understand why there is a 'separation' between the patch and the wave-table in use. It's simply there so the same wave-table can be used in multiple patches.
I'll have to adjust my methods of working and manually create a new wave-table everytime I init a patch so I won't accidentally over-write a wave-table used in other patches...
I'd like to see IAA transport controls added to all of his apps.
I thought all the PPG apps have the transport controls?
I've only had wavemapper and phonem for a week, but the overall aesthetics turn me off from wanting to open one of them to fiddle/learn. I can't explain why exactly.
same. sounds great (wavegenerator is the only one I own but i've heard the others), but the UI is not fun. It looks pretty good, but too complicated from selecting envelopes to saving as mentioned already.
Add some fun and simplicity to the UI and look out.
Animoog. I am bias on this. Being that I have released various preset banks and about to release my first timbre bank with related preset bank. Plus, the sounds in Animoog match my style to a tee.
So, this is a jaded view. But I will gladly do it.
Animoog''s axis system in tandem with the timbres is a marvel to me. The interface is so ergonomic and logical it assists in performing and creating sonic presentations.
Animoog does for synth apps what MDMA does for the brain. It mixes senses and perception into an experience. Tactile, sound, visuals, creativity, and imagination. That is the rub on Animoog for me.
PPG apps just seem to be very binary to me. It is very analytic and not fun to play or adjust. Drop down menus are not easy to change on the fly.
Just adding more actual knobs or sliders, tweaking the preset system, and a new arpeggiator/sequencer would make the app a near perfect 10. Because the sound quality is there.
I just suspect that with so many app choices I am not alone in not wanting to fiddle with little drop down menus or fiddly numeric controls.
Slightly off topic but I'm annoyed that Animoog 'automaps' Velocity to PolyAftertouch and there is no way to re-map or disable this behaviour. This is only an issue when using external midi to control Animoog where velocity of the notes is automatically treated as poly-aftertouch. Is this a 'bug' or a 'flaw by design' ???
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LOL @RustiK, pushing the comparison further, PPG apps could be like a cup of coffee, making you more alert and rational.
Ehm... I know, I ought to be more careful with my metaphors, but take it as a joke
And they're great. People should download them!
I have to say, that so much of this criticism is related to the patch bank experience.
I've fantasized about writing "PatchKit"... a drop in preset/patch manager based on best practices for patch management. Do you think this is viable? I can't imagine it making money. But it seems so needed.
I must point out for all the interface weirdness of PPG, there are interface nuggets.
For example, WaveMapper's unique interface is unrivaled for the type of patch design it enables.
I also find the midi UI to be klunky... no opinion on the actual midi implementation
I've never seen them on my system. Could everyone load the PPG apps as IAA instruments and sequence a few bars on the piano roll and confirm that they play, and check to see if there is a transport control, and report back? Thanks!
I think I finally figured out WaveGenerators 'save structure'
If a 'wavetable' has been modified 'save' actually prompts to save the wave under a new name and It is possible to over-write user-waveforms.(This must be a recently added feature as I can't remember WG behaving like this before).
I have not yet figured out a smart way to 'delete' wave-segments in order to trim the wave-tables.
It is possible to save only waves used in a within a path to keep things clean.
Also yet to figure out is how to use different wave-table for each of the oscillators.
It is possible to use different segments within a path by selecting different start/end points using the wave-envelope. Maybe this can be done by merging multiple wave-tables...
I don't think cutting down the Wavetables would be advisable. Sometimes you may want to change settings within a sound by changing settings that affect the path. Cutting out segments of a wavetable would make certain changes act as if it really was a completely different wavetable.
I may be wrong (I use WaveMapper more than WaveGenerator), but I always thought that while WaveMapper can choose a separate wavetable for each Osc, WaveGenerator shares the same wavetable. As I say, I could have missed it lol
In my case i was 'recording' a wave-table using WG's record feature and wanted to cut out some parts of it (at start and end of the recording). The linear mode only allows selection of rows. I'll try the custom path feature too and I think it will be able to do what i need it to do.
I'm already using pretty 'choppy/chippy' wave-tables with blending set to 1.00 to create some animation in the sound
See what you mean now. I've not seen any way to trim the recording.
If you have WaveMapper too, you can export your Wavetables to that and then use 3 separate ones.
I just miss the 'simple' wave-table editing in FutureComposer on the Amiga...
So easy, just a list of numbers with wave-form number and a simple area for drawing the wave