This madness! Mazetools Soniface

skiphunt

@brice said:

An update came through yesterday. Not an update adding the necessities, but at the very least it gives hope that the path is defined.

I have a number of mixed feelings about this app so far; ranging from "good lord that's amazing" to "what in the hell is going on!" What I do know is that it desperately needs a very comprehensive manual. The "Help" tags are...helpful. But I am finding it's incredibly easy to completely destroy something great and never get it back again. In that regard it's wildly frustrating to work with.

As far as its ability to write defined melodies....I'm not sure. I've yet to achieve such a thing. It''s mostly (completely) very ambient and drone-y. Which it does very well, and will most likely be how I use it if I keep it around. For now the jury is still out.

Heh, that description sums up how I feel about LayR too ;

skiphunt

Lately, or for the last few months or so... I've mostly just been enjoying simply playing with apps for no other reason than the pleasure of it. Barely even record anything unless I need a loop to play in something else.

I'm not even making stuff for video pieces like I'd originally planned. I don't even record any arrangements. Just enjoying figuring out beautiful and genius interfaces. Making sounds for no one else but my own joy.

Weird right?

So, with that perspective... I might have to give this one a whirl.

TheVimFuego

@MonzoPro said:

@AudioGus said:

@MonzoPro said:

@JohnnyGoodyear said:

@MonzoPro said:

@Telefunky said:

I see no problem playing it along something else on it's dedicated system and record the audio via analog path.

For me it defeats the whole point of using it on an iPad. If I'm mucking about with cables, recording into a desktop or laptop then I might as well just use the desktop version.

The whole beauty of iOS music, and the revolution started by Audiobus is to be able to do everything on one device.

I know from past experience with other apps that don't connect, that I'd just get fed up with the hassle and not use them.

Fingers crossed the dev adds the connectivity it needs.

Let's revisit in three weeks....when it will almost be the end of June which is after all also the end of the first half of the year. January 1st is always such a deal for folks (understandably) as regards the resets of resolutions, I like to try and do the same reassessments on July 1st as well. I know, completely meaningless, but works for me

I'm just tetchy with this one because I really like it, and want to get my hands on it. Don't want it to become another Skr#m.

Though there will be a wait anyway, because the washing machine has just packed up, and apparently that takes priority over iOS synths.

Hygiene is a scam perpetuated by the man.

I've explained this to Mrs Monzo but she's not having it. My temporary fix to our 17 year old washer/dryer has given up the ghost, so my wallet is due a hammering.

17, that's impressive. I resurrected our washing machine 3 times over 11 years (switches, drum seal, computer thingy) before finally giving in and buying a new one. This one is musical so it's a step up ... A cheery machine helps the weekly drudgery.

[Deleted User]

@TheVimFuego said:

@MonzoPro said:

@AudioGus said:

@MonzoPro said:

@JohnnyGoodyear said:

@MonzoPro said:

@Telefunky said:

I see no problem playing it along something else on it's dedicated system and record the audio via analog path.

For me it defeats the whole point of using it on an iPad. If I'm mucking about with cables, recording into a desktop or laptop then I might as well just use the desktop version.

The whole beauty of iOS music, and the revolution started by Audiobus is to be able to do everything on one device.

I know from past experience with other apps that don't connect, that I'd just get fed up with the hassle and not use them.

Fingers crossed the dev adds the connectivity it needs.

Let's revisit in three weeks....when it will almost be the end of June which is after all also the end of the first half of the year. January 1st is always such a deal for folks (understandably) as regards the resets of resolutions, I like to try and do the same reassessments on July 1st as well. I know, completely meaningless, but works for me

I'm just tetchy with this one because I really like it, and want to get my hands on it. Don't want it to become another Skr#m.

Though there will be a wait anyway, because the washing machine has just packed up, and apparently that takes priority over iOS synths.

Hygiene is a scam perpetuated by the man.

I've explained this to Mrs Monzo but she's not having it. My temporary fix to our 17 year old washer/dryer has given up the ghost, so my wallet is due a hammering.

17, that's impressive. I resurrected our washing machine 3 times over 11 years (switches, drum seal, computer thingy) before finally giving in and buying a new one. This one is musical so it's a step up ... A cheery machine helps the weekly drudgery.

If I can find one that does the washing and supports 'open in' via Audioshare I'll be happy.

I cleaned out the filter but think the pump's gone this time. Think it's probably time to bite the bullet and get a new one so my app buying is going to take a hit for a few months though, if I want clean pants.

brice

@oat_phipps said:
Shoot, it's a lazy Saturday, I'll take the plunge if @brice can confirm the crackling is under control?

Unfortunately I cannot confirm such a thing. I hear it every now and again. But I will say that it isn't too problematic as far as I am concerned. It usually occurs when making a substantial parameter change, and does seem to be pretty isolated. @JohnnyGoodyear similar / different experience with the crackles?

kobamoto

did they get sample import into this app?

JohnnyGoodyear

@brice said:

@oat_phipps said:
Shoot, it's a lazy Saturday, I'll take the plunge if @brice can confirm the crackling is under control?

Unfortunately I cannot confirm such a thing. I hear it every now and again. But I will say that it isn't too problematic as far as I am concerned. It usually occurs when making a substantial parameter change, and does seem to be pretty isolated. @JohnnyGoodyear similar / different experience with the crackles?

Exactly the same here.

I am off shortly and have told myself to not think about this app's further development at all for at least these few weeks. They either will or they won't. Hopefully they will.

brice

@kobamoto said:
did they get sample import into this app?

Not that I am aware of. Though it would be incredible if they do.

db909

@kobamoto said:
did they get sample import into this app?

You already knew the answer to this

Trueyorky

@brice @JohnnyGoodyear are you able to generate a wide range of sounds with this app and also, can you multi layer sounds or is it just one sound plus three beats at a time?

brice

@Trueyorky said:
@brice @JohnnyGoodyear are you able to generate a wide range of sounds with this app and also, can you multi layer sounds or is it just one sound plus three beats at a time?

The sound palette is incredibly narrow in my opinion. It all sounds relatively the same no matter which way I try and push it. But, you can have multiple "circle things," each with their own sound. Not sure just how many you can have, though.

Trueyorky

@brice said:

@Trueyorky said:
@brice @JohnnyGoodyear are you able to generate a wide range of sounds with this app and also, can you multi layer sounds or is it just one sound plus three beats at a time?

The sound palette is incredibly narrow in my opinion. It all sounds relatively the same no matter which way I try and push it. But, you can have multiple "circle things," each with their own sound. Not sure just how many you can have, though.

OK thanks

JohnnyGoodyear

@Trueyorky From down here in the pool I would have to say stay up on the fence for now. While ever-optimistic, we are waving and drowning, awaiting more explanations and/or updates...

db909

This is sounding more and more like its own specific instrument, rather than a song maker/groovebox whatever, making connectivity all the more important

skiphunt

@JohnnyGoodyear said:
@Trueyorky From down here in the pool I would have to say stay up on the fence for now. While ever-optimistic, we are waving and drowning, awaiting more explanations and/or updates...

I was about to pull the trigger on this, but your's and @brice 's assessment talked me off the ledge. Thanks for the honest feedback from the bleeding edge.

mazetools

Hi everyone and thank you for testing the Soniface. I just forgot to introduce myself to let you understand what the background of this app is. My name is Stephan and i designed and coded this app. Before that i made an geometry-animation study and ended up with kind of geometric poem. I set it to music and got this Animation Film: Geometric Poetry

I dedided to make it interactive. I wanted to create an app that could also be used for music therapy and started with it very simple

Later we used it for live-performances

For Live-Visuals

For creating video-artwork

2015 i decided to work on version for releasing it. There's a lot of more things to tell, that are missing, but a last word about me. I'm also into sound and worked on a lot of soundproductions and generative-sound art installations and know exactly what you mean in point of quality, accessibility and connectivity. Well, i wrote about that before, but a lot of functions in Soniface are deactivated, because of some compatibility and security reasons. A lot of things will be back very soon, like: MIDI/OSC In/Out, Sample Input, Mic Input, Camera Input, Face Tracking, LeapMotion Input Motion Tracking, Projector Output and Wave Recording.

A further update is nearly ready and i hope the most of quality/noise/crash issues are solved. I hope you enjoyed the videos and maybe you get an idea of what Soniface is about.

Thank you

Stephan (Mazetools)

Trueyorky

@JohnnyGoodyear said:
@Trueyorky From down here in the pool I would have to say stay up on the fence for now. While ever-optimistic, we are waving and drowning, awaiting more explanations and/or updates...

@JohnnyGoodyear sounds like good advice right now, thanks and actually this triggered me to revisit some Lemur templates which I can map to synths using MIDI learn. Also similar with TC data the MIDI version of TC-11. Both are extremely capable apps but I'm still itching for this one to be enriched with connective goodness

Telefunky

@mazetools said:
Hi everyone and thank you for testing the Soniface. I just forgot to introduce myself to let you understand what the background of this app is. My name is Stephan and i designed and coded this app. Before that i made an geometry-animation study and ended up with ...

your explanation made it much clearer

Carnbot

Thanks @mazetools for posting those videos, some nice work there. I'm still very interested to see how the app develops. I hope you also consider Ableton Link as that would be very useful for this type of app.

Trueyorky

@mazetools thanks Stephan good to hear from you. The planned updates sound exciting.

[Deleted User]

Hi @mazetools - thanks for the history, it's a great app, but what most of us on here are hoping for is Audiobus and/or IAA support so we can record audio and use it alongside other apps (this is the Audiobus forum after all).

I can't speak for others, but that's essential functionality for me before I purchase.

I don't see it mentioned in your post, is this something you plan to support?

Trueyorky

@MonzoPro quite sure one of their early posts said they would like to add AudioBus

[Deleted User]

@Trueyorky said:
@MonzoPro quite sure one of their early posts said they would like to add AudioBus

Yeah, I haven't seen it mentioned in the list since though, so just wanted to check if this was still a go-er

Trueyorky

@MonzoPro said:

@Trueyorky said:
@MonzoPro quite sure one of their early posts said they would like to add AudioBus

Yeah, I haven't seen it mentioned in the list since though, so just wanted to check if this was still a go-er

Good point

mazetools

@Telefunky : thank you, we'll do our best to get things more clear with more details about the app and the concept and with a online/offline manual on our website.

@Carnbot, @Trueyorky and @MonzoPro : the basic connectivity like midi/osc and the in/outputs like samples/audio/video will be available soon as possible depending on the certification and validation stuff. Our aim to get it ableton-linked and able to get wired with the audiobus is also planned for this year. I think our upcoming free-version will also be a cool thing to see how it works and i'm really lookin forward to get your feedback.

What i missed to say is, to get further help about parameters, menus or functions inside of the app, you can press the "?" button, even if it is already activated, or press the "tour" button in start menu.

Have a nice day and keep it up

skiphunt

@mazetools will there soon be a way to record the output of your app without having to use external hardware? At least IAA support or record within app and export recording via AudioShare? Or, is that planned for later in the year too?

db909

@skiphunt said:
@mazetools will there soon be a way to record the output of your app without having to use external hardware? At least IAA support or record within app and export recording via AudioShare? Or, is that planned for later in the year too?

This should be a big priority. Record in app and export a wav file via AudioShare is the bare minimum required to use this in a music making workflow.

mazetools

@skiphunt and @db909 : yes, recording the output-audio in the iOS version will be one of the features coming soon next to MIDI/OSC. We're not yet through which of the iOS connectivity features will be the next, but Ableton-link, Audiobus and Inter-App-Audio is on top of our list.

[Deleted User]

@skiphunt said:
@mazetools will there soon be a way to record the output of your app without having to use external hardware? At least IAA support or record within app and export recording via AudioShare? Or, is that planned for later in the year too?

^ this. Most important for me, it's really essential for iOS music making.

Trueyorky

@mazetools Stephan, after watching this series of videos and reading your story I get it. This definitely helps me to understand your project and to buy into the Mazetools journey. Some really good stuff here