Loopy Pro: Create music, your way.
What is Loopy Pro? — Loopy Pro is a powerful, flexible, and intuitive live looper, sampler, clip launcher and DAW for iPhone and iPad. At its core, it allows you to record and layer sounds in real-time to create complex musical arrangements. But it doesn’t stop there—Loopy Pro offers advanced tools to customize your workflow, build dynamic performance setups, and create a seamless connection between instruments, effects, and external gear.
Use it for live looping, sequencing, arranging, mixing, and much more. Whether you're a live performer, a producer, or just experimenting with sound, Loopy Pro helps you take control of your creative process.
Download on the App StoreLoopy Pro is your all-in-one musical toolkit. Try it for free today.
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My apologies, I wasn’t aware that you were using iPhone only.
I’ve only used it in conjunction with Cubasis on my iPad.
I think others have pointed out iPhone apps it would work with?
Good luck!
Sorry, one more specific question: what actually comes with the full version of Gadget? There are 3 "gadgets" with the LE version and initially, I thought that all the other "gadgets" would come with the full purchase but it sounds like that's not the case. Is there a way to find what does and doesn't come with it somewhere? When I clicked on other "gadgets" in the list, it says to buy the full version but I'm thinking that's misleading as it's becoming increasingly obvious that they don't all come with it. I'm wondering the those mentioned here (Vancouver and a few others) are included or separate IAPs.
No worries. I just wondered if there was a linear DAW that you liked that was iOS Universal. Clearly the iPad will be a huge help in this.
BM2 is universal, and a good DAW but it’s completely sample based. You would have to record or import your own sounds, FLSM and Caustic are solid options as well, especially Caustic IMO.
The IAP gadgets are:
Bilbao
Abu Dhabi
Vancouver
Lisbon
Kamata
Madrid
Gladstone
Purchasing Module gets you
Glasgow
Montreal
Salzburg
Firenze
Alexandria
Then there’s M1, Wavestation, Odyssey, and Monopoly
... and Deemax.
Edit: GarageBand is also a free and fully capable linear DAW
@lifereinspired if you want traditional linear sequencing and don't need tempo automation or time signature changes during the song, you should try Xequence, which is a pure MIDI sequencer without an audio engine of its own, but otherwise pretty full featured. It is also universal (works on both iPad and iPhone and is particularly optimized for small screens). Its manual can be found online and has a dedicated section on using it for driving Gadget (but it's easy enough without the manual
)
EDIT: Sorry for the advertisement, but I've tried to keep it objective!
Careful with this assumption. Sampling is a lot of work, takes a lot of storage space compared to synths, is nowhere near as flexible as the original, and is unlikely to sound nearly as good.
When you sample something, you play a note and grab it’s particular sound to a wav file. The sampler then plays that sound back and pitches it up and down as you play notes. You can only change the pitch of a sample so much before it starts to sound odd. Some samplers let you take multiple samples and spread them across ranges of the keyboard to minimize the need for pitch shifting. Some allow you to sample notes played softer and louder as well. But, as you can see, you could spend a ton of time sampling to try to get anything other than the most basic flavor of another app. And that’s just for one patch.
Gadget’s samplers are fun and useful, but very basic. Don’t fall into the the trap of thinking sampling is the answer for being able to use all your apps in Gadget.
Using Audiobus and/or AUM or a DAW, you can use Gadget alongside your other apps though.
Beat me to it. I was just about to suggest this.
Here's a page that describes all the Gadgets.
http://www.korg.com/us/products/software/korg_gadget/gadget_collection.php
It starts with the ones that come with the app, then the IAPs and the other standalone Korg apps that double as Gadgets.
Gadget would be a little too limited for me with only the included Gadgets, but I do think the initial price to get on board is attractive. I like its quirks and limitations. I use it because it's self-contained, and the alternative "Scene" paradigm is a different way of thinking that works for me to sketch out ideas. A traditional DAW is where ideas get put together and a finished piece is realized. Gadget is just one of many environments I can play with on an iPad. It's not always right for the job, but does what it does nicely.
BTW, Rozeta is nothing like a DAW. It’s a collection of sequencers that make it easy to program cool beats and melodies and/or auto-generate them. Rozeta uses a new feature of iOS 11 that allows AUv3 plugins to send MIDI out just like other apps. To date, the only AUv3 hosts that support this are AUM and BeatMaker 3. Others are on the way though.
You can send Rozeta output to Gadget to trigger its instruments. You can do the same with a more traditional sequencer like Xequence, but in a purely piano-roll / timeline way, not with the generative capabilities of Rozeta.
@wim - EEEK! I don't fully understand this. I hate to admit to being confused by this, but I am - and I cannot learn unless I ask questions - even if they are more basic than I would like. Can you please explain this a little more? From what I can gather, you're saying that what's in SampleTank are "samples" of sounds (yeah, the clue is in the name!) that are pitch changed as needed (though from what I've heard, it's one of the best). Can you please explain how this differs from "synths" as you've described them? Can "synths" as you are talking about them actually be used to make other sounds than what one would think of as piano or traditional synth type pads? Are the sounds within Gadget itself samples or synths? Even the guitars, etc? Thanks so much. I'm learning so much. Please bear with my - I swear I'm trying hard to get all this!
A good sampled instrument uses many samples to cover the range of pitches and range of dynamics from soft to loud. To build your own complex sampled instrument takes a lot of skill and work.
Some Gadgets use only samples for their sound. You trigger the samples when you play or sequence them, and they respond to pitch and dynamics. Other Gadgets are purely synthesizers. When you trigger a sound, it's created by the brains of your device using an algorithm that you set up by programming the sound (all those knobs and sliders.) Some synthesizers use short samples as their sound source (a complex oscillator that can be tuned, filtered, enveloped, etc.)
Sampling is best for real-world emulation. It's hard, if not impossible, to program a synth to sound like a completely realistic piano, violin, etc... A synth is best for creating sounds that don't exist in nature and that can evolve or be modulated more over time as you wish. A hybrid of sampling and synthesis opens up a universe of possibilities.
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As are we all.
Being able to use Gadget sounds elsewhere is interesting. You may also like to grab Fugue Machine, which is an app that will let you play whatever notes you program into it, via Midi out. Fugue Machine works very well under AUM, so have fun.
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Basically, it is a suite of apps - still being added to - which can be used under AUM to play Rhythm, Bass, Arpeggios, and randomness, with more widgets on the way, all assigned to different midi instruments, and/or multiple instances of AU instruments.
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AB Forum is a great place to pick up info on what’s new, and how stuff is done.
Happy New Year!
Just for balance; I find Gadget ridiculously easy to use and agree with @wim above as regards wondering why I don't just use it all the time (too many other toys
)....
I bought the full-on Gadget on release. I bought all the IAP's as they were released. Mainly as I thought I should, but without having an actual need for it. I tried it briefly, without actually jelling with it. Then I spent a lot of money of everything else. All of it, basically. Then I decided to give Gadget another shot. Found it awesome in what it does, which does NOT have to be EDM or DNB stuff (which I don't do). Today I say: It is an excellent sketchpad for music, any genre. I hate the fact I can't easily bring in other instruments, or my guitar (with the sounds I'd like, from for example Bias FX etc, i.e. Audiobus or IAA, as pointed out by Wim). I love the fact that all the really powerful Korg synts become modules/gadgets within Gadget.
This was my first full-on attempts in Gadget, only, which turned out quite nice if you like chillax lounge stuff (which I didn't know when I started doing the song, as I aimed for "dark ambient" but it took on a life of its own, and is all Gadget through and through):
Ahh don’t be so concerned over not getting things right off or for asking questions. No one is born with this knowledge. It’s picked up over time. Let me see if I can explain it better.
Let’s say we want to sample a real piano. Two of the most noticeable effects on a piano sound are the note you hit, and how hard you hit it. If you wanted to get just one key to sound as close as possible to the real thing in your sampler, you would need to record a bunch of samples, starting off hitting the key very lightly, and then harder and harder each time. This is because, when you hit a key harder, it not only changes in volume, it changes in character. Depending on how accurate you want to be, this could be one or dozens of samples.
Likewise for pitch. If you wanted to be completely accurate, you’d repeat this process for every key. This is because if you don’t, then the only way to get the right pitch is to alter the playback to make it sound higher. You can get away with this for relatively small changes, but the further away from that note you go the less real it will sound.
The problem is, that would lead to a gigantic number of samples needed. So, the only alternative is to go somewhere in the middle. So, maybe instead of 10 velocity layers, you have one or two. Instead of 88 keys, you sample one for each octave. The idea being, that in many cases such differences just aren’t that noticeable.
A piano is relatively easy to sample. Something like a violin or saxophone, has so much variable expression that it can be extremely difficult.
In any case, the result is an approximation. If Sampletank is one of the best, it’s because they’ve done a good job at managing the compromises. As others have clarified, some of Gadget’s instruments are sample based, and others are synths. For instance, I think Madrid, the bass-guitar gadget, to be pretty good. It would never fool a real bass player, but it’s good enough for my purposes.
You asked if Gadget’s synths can be used to make other non-synth sounds. Well ... Chiangmai can make some pretty convincing plucked string and bell sounds, others can do pretty good organ, drum, or bass sounds, etc, but generally, if you’re going for realism not really.
What I was really trying to explain back there is that you aren’t likely to be very successful at reproducing other synth or even sample based apps within Gadget using its sampler. You could make some nice sounding stuff by sampling them, but no way is that a replacement for actual IAA or AUv3 apps.
The best way to go about that is to use Gadget alongside those apps. Others have explained those a bit and this post is too long already so I’ll stop now.
I'd have to disagree with @wim. You just need to sample the sound you want. People have produced hit records using less sophisticated technologies than what we've got today now and listeners don't really care about sound quality if the hook is good enough.
Of course you can, but something was said that could leave the impression that it’s equivalent to having all your IAA and AUv3 FX to-hand in Gadget. That would be a vast overstatement.
Wow I also just checked out your channel. Your music is amazing. Everything (snippets) I have made in Gadget is fast, your music has so much space. When the drums came in during memories of marceille it sent chills down my spine. Can I ask were the drums IAP or did you sample your own and what is the approx tempo of that song? thankyou
Taking a broader view, you can make great music with samples, and what you can do with a single sample is a huge number of possibilities. However, if you want to reproduce an existing instrument by sampling, there’s more to it—if you require a certain level of realism and quality. Not everyone is looking to produce a hit record, or at least not without pleasing themselves first as an artist. As @wim correctly pointed out, sampling something isn’t the same as having the real thing. It depends on what you want or need for your particular music.
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Sample Tank and BeatHawk are apps known for having seriously good samples. In other words, a guitar will sound like a real guitar.
Indeed, there is an IAP for Sample Tank called ‘American Accoustic’ which not only has fabulous guitar sounds in terms of notes being played, but also includes the little squeaks of strings and other mechanical ambience.
https://youtu.be/mtP32ghZJmM
You can load this or other packs into ST then have the sounds played by Fugue Machine or Rosetta under AUM or AudioBus.
If you haven’t done so already, it is well worth checking out Blocs Wave. Lots of IAP sample packs for that, currently half price, and you can import your own samples/ export to their other great app, Launchpad. The band I write lyrics for, Repulse the Monkey, use Blocs Wave a LOT. We currently have two albums worth on BandCamp. I should also make it clear that our songs are sequenced in Auria Pro and mastered using Fab Filters under AP.
There is no reason why you can’t develop your style, and when ready, publish your own songs.
IOS only albums are now a reality, and can sound great. So good luck for your musical adventures in 2018.
Totally agree with you there matey. Well said.
Auxy is another killer App. Much more user friendly than Gadget, is cheap as chips and works on iphone and Ipad.
It's funny I looked at this thread on a whim and i've gone from wanting to produce EDM to now interested in ambient music.
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Maybe you should check out Nimbus AU.
https://youtu.be/0mpjzvIAAug
Thank you! The drums on that particular track were from the Gladstone IAP and the bass was from the Madrid IAP. The keyboards were from Marcielle however and I believe the tempo was 110. For every song I release unfortunately days if not weeks go by when the idea for it sits on Gadget as a snippet. Only after I've played around with every possible variation and it consistently sounds good will I begin arranging it and after it's arranged it has to then go through mastering and re-editing... I wish I knew of a better approach
Auxy and Medley look very similar to Gadget and people are always praising them. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious about getting them too.
Rozeta isn't a DAW. However, you can use an app combo like the MIDI sequencer, Xequence, and then AUM/Gadget, though you'll be limited to 16 tracks in Gadget.
Currently, I'm exclusively composing electronic music (hobbyist) - some in different sub-genres - on my iPhone using Gadget. I then export all the tracks to Dropbox and then download, mix and master them on my PC.
My biggest issue is that I have a hard time, with an iPhone+Gadget, visualizing the track. That is, the timing and flow, since I can't see the whole thing. This often makes the middle of the song harder than it should be, and also can make it hard to adjust the length of other parts so that it's short and tight rather than long and boring, even if it's a matter of recognizing that I need to trim one row and adjust the notes in the following or preceding ones.
I have an iPad and don't use it for music because I don't always have it with me, whereas I always have my phone and I don't want to transfer things back and forth between them.
For me, Gadget is one of the easiest ways to make iOS music. Simple.
As I have an iPad, I started out by buying Cubasis and Auria (which you can't do on the phone) and a ton of synths and effects. I found that for numerous reasons it was MUCH MUCH easier to go back to my computer and make music there. Plus, I could buy amazing instruments that are simply impossible to ever come to iOS because they take 70GB and lots of RAM to run. (If Apple ever started selling multi-terabyte instruments I can only imagine what they would charge for them.) No. Making music in iOS was a wonderful gift because it jump-started me into making music on my computer.
So I no longer record anything seriously in Cubasis or Auria.
But I do make music in Gadget and the Ampify instruments because it's EASY and fun. Easier than my computer. Great for when I'm traveling. What a great MIDI implementation! This will pay off for you on your phone, believe me.
There are also many synths where I just PLAY through AUM. I don't finish anything, I just play. AUM is my go-to app for jamming. I like to use instruments that make use of the touch screen. I can't do that on my computer.
If you start investing time into learning Gadget, I can guarantee you that Korg will do many, many significant improvements to the app over the coming years. You'll get some free gadgets and many new features and you won't have to pay a cent for them. If you want, you can do your research and buy the additional gadgets that are best suited for your music. I would recommend Module and iM1 for the biggest bang for your buck.
If a few years from now Apple decides that nearly all the apps we now own will no longer work any more--and they will happily do this!--you can feel confident that big companies like Korg and Novation will have the money and the staff to immediately keep their apps working. Many of the apps are made by one person and this is not easy for them to keep up with, at least quickly. We have seen that some great synths have simply been abandoned because of iOS 11. Obviously most developers will keep their apps running, but everybody on this forum has seen a lot of money go down the drain. Food for thought.
If I was going to advise somebody what they should get to start making music on their phone, I would say Gadget, AUM and AudioShare. Then read this forum for advice on your next step. But be careful, reading this forum can be expensive.
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Popular beat combo The Beatles were limited to 8 tracks, and managed quite well.
I think maybe I should clarify, I'm not interested in sampling sounds myself! I'm more interested in bringing in high quality samples from other professional programs so I have access to additional sounds. I cannot even imagine how much work it would be to do an excellent job on something like this! Thanks for this info. I really appreciate it.
(I'm going through each reply slowly to learn all that I can!)
I’m starting to find it in poor taste that you advertise as much as you do on the Audiobus forum without actually implementing the Audiobus SDK or giving a firm date when you will. Is it just me?