App for quickly making primarily loop-based electronica songs with lots of factory loops included?

SevenSystems

I've just (again) tried using GarageBand on iPad for this because of the included Apple Loops which are admittedly very good, however, the user interface is just so extremely strange and slow that I already killed 3 neighbours and pets in the first 5 minutes of trying.

So, can anyone recommend a simple, efficient "music making app" with a linear sequencer which includes lots of factory loops (drums, melodies, pads etc.), ideally with seamlessly changeable tempo and key? I don't need any kind of AU hosting or connectivity to other apps if the included loops and effects "cut it". (Full disclosure: it's for making a few simple background tracks for a game.)

Thanks!

CracklePot

Maybe Odessi?

Odesi Chords - Create Rhythms, Basslines, Chord Progressions by Mixed In Key
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/odesi-chords-create-rhythms-basslines-chord-progressions/id1056176667?mt=8

Wrlds2ndBstGeoshredr

Blocs Wave. It's free, ridiculously easy to use, plenty of additional high-quality loops to buy.

Halftone

@Wrlds2ndBstGeoshredr said:
Blocs Wave. It's free, ridiculously easy to use, plenty of additional high-quality loops to buy.

agreed - many packs you can buy in Blocs sound quite good (from the previews). I usually don't buy loop packs in apps, but I've bought 4-5 in Blocs - sweet prices too.

[Deleted User]

Blocs Wave is the boss.

AndyPlankton

I want to say Groovebox, but its not really a linear sequencer.....BUT...it sounds great..plenty of loops (more if you buy the packs)....you can either build a full track using the sections screen...you will have to manually switch sections though while real-time recording...OR you can export the loops and build your track on the timeline in Cubasis.

blocs wave would be my second choice

SevenSystems

Thanks all for the suggestions, Blocs Wave sounds like it is it. I've now gotten used a bit to GarageBand but holy moly, waiting for all those animations all the time is really demanding on my patience!

Wrlds2ndBstGeoshredr

Keep in mind that Blocs Wave doesn't have a linear sequencer, although there is a song mode. You can easily export the BW loops though. Launchpad is another good free loops app that integrates with BW. And is also free.

BiancaNeve

BeatHawk can load and sequence acidized loops

db909

Beatsnap is a new one that’s free to try for loops and such. Not sure how many apps with lots of loops are also going to have a linear sequencer. Blocs Wave or Groovebox or Launchpad or all 3 will have you completely covered for loops though

DatGood

Cosign Blocswave or... Launchpad.

Mr_Beak

Am I the only one who thinks nearly all the Blocs Wave and Launchpad loops sound roughly the same? My big problem with these apps is not being able to really shape any of the sound therefore not really feeling like I made music as much as I am just djing with Stems...Novations apps are nice but this bugs me to the point of not using them.

[Deleted User]

@Mr_Beak said:
Am I the only one who thinks nearly all the Blocs Wave and Launchpad loops sound roughly the same?

>

Yes.

I mean, come on. It depends entirely on what you do with the loops, how you combine them.

RTM now have three albums and three singles mostly begun in BW, and no two songs are the same.

[Deleted User]

@db909 said:
Beatsnap is a new one that’s free to try for loops and such. Not sure how many apps with lots of loops are also going to have a linear sequencer. Blocs Wave or Groovebox or Launchpad or all 3 will have you completely covered for loops though

>

But it is subscription-ware.

Wrlds2ndBstGeoshredr

@Mr_Beak said:
Am I the only one who thinks nearly all the Blocs Wave and Launchpad loops sound roughly the same? My big problem with these apps is not being able to really shape any of the sound therefore not really feeling like I made music as much as I am just djing with Stems...Novations apps are nice but this bugs me to the point of not using them.

They don't all sound the same at all. There is quite a variety, although most do tend towards the one style. Still, it feels like cheating to me when I use them. I can play bass and guitar as well as anyone they use, and I can fake the keyboards well enough. But I certainly don't have the production chops to make loops as well as the ones as they provide.

AndyPlankton

@Mr_Beak said:
Am I the only one who thinks nearly all the Blocs Wave and Launchpad loops sound roughly the same? My big problem with these apps is not being able to really shape any of the sound therefore not really feeling like I made music as much as I am just djing with Stems...Novations apps are nice but this bugs me to the point of not using them.

Try Groovebox

[Deleted User]

@Mr_Beak said:
Am I the only one who thinks nearly all the Blocs Wave and Launchpad loops sound roughly the same? My big problem with these apps is not being able to really shape any of the sound therefore not really feeling like I made music as much as I am just djing with Stems...Novations apps are nice but this bugs me to the point of not using them.

I agree with you about Launchpad. It does feel a bit like DJing , and i would find it quite hard to call a track i had made with it "mine", although jamming with it is enormous fun. Weirdly i found the effects more.... er.... effective, (sorry) before i bought the pro IAP. Perhaps i had just got used to the limited features? Dunno. Still fun tho. Unfortunately i'm finding it hard to play music for it's own sake these days, so it rarely gets an outing. Blocs Wave is definitely more useful for making original material....the eq is really very good, sample import, slicing, panning, looping, and the random dice, make it a very capable tool for many styles. Also, is it just me, or do tracks made in Launchpad sound thin? Might just be my subjective prejudice?.........again great fun, but overall sound dosn't quite cut it for me.......another reason i couldn't seriously put out a track/tune made solely in Launchpad ......maybe a cheeky sample sneaked in somewhere, and heavily processed, but not a whole finished piece. Could just be my tastes tho.........horses for courses i guess........

[Deleted User]

@Wrlds2ndBstGeoshredr said:
They don't all sound the same at all. There is quite a variety, although most do tend towards the one style. Still, it feels like cheating to me when I use them. I can play bass and guitar as well as anyone they use, and I can fake the keyboards well enough. But I certainly don't have the production chops to make loops as well as the ones as they provide.

>

So, aside from your no doubt very reasonable fee, what is the difference between using your playing on a track, or buying a loop of someone else playing?

I may have this wrong, but didn’t you offer to play on a future Relulse the Monkey song? Kind of hard to think you would be interested if we’re just a bunch of cheats, for using loops.

Relax. I know that wasn’t what you said or meant, but the point I’m trying to make here is it ain’t what you do it’s the way that you do it...and that’s what gets results, right?

AndyPlankton

You can try hard....don't mean a thing....take it easy....and then your jive will swing !

[Deleted User]

@AndyPlankton said:
You can try hard....don't mean a thing....take it easy....and then your jive will swing !

>

Amen, brother Plankton!

AndyPlankton

@Zen210507 said:

@AndyPlankton said:
You can try hard....don't mean a thing....take it easy....and then your jive will swing !

>

Amen, brother Plankton!

I've got that going round in my head now !

Wrlds2ndBstGeoshredr

@Zen210507 said:

@Wrlds2ndBstGeoshredr said:
They don't all sound the same at all. There is quite a variety, although most do tend towards the one style. Still, it feels like cheating to me when I use them. I can play bass and guitar as well as anyone they use, and I can fake the keyboards well enough. But I certainly don't have the production chops to make loops as well as the ones as they provide.

>

So, aside from your no doubt very reasonable fee, what is the difference between using your playing on a track, or buying a loop of someone else playing?

I may have this wrong, but didn’t you offer to play on a future Relulse the Monkey song? Kind of hard to think you would be interested if we’re just a bunch of cheats, for using loops.

Relax. I know that wasn’t what you said or meant, but the point I’m trying to make here is it ain’t what you do it’s the way that you do it...and that’s what gets results, right?

I'm not judging anyone else in the slightest. Some people make amazing tracks with loops. It's just that I personally have been using BW in a lazy way, to make jam tracks for me to solo to. They sound awesome, but they don't develop. If I were a talented enough producer to actually compose with loops then I wouldn't feel that way about how I use them.

Thanks AB Forum for listening to my inner monologue.....

Tarekith

Groovebox would get my vote, I find the loops more useable than the stuff in BlocsWave myself.

db909

@Zen210507 said:

@db909 said:
Beatsnap is a new one that’s free to try for loops and such. Not sure how many apps with lots of loops are also going to have a linear sequencer. Blocs Wave or Groovebox or Launchpad or all 3 will have you completely covered for loops though

>

But it is subscription-ware.

It is indeed, and not really my thing. But i thought I’d mention it in case it could be of use to someone

Mr_Beak

In other words an app that makes music for you that you can call yours without having to do much but a couple filter sweeps and a flimsy fx section? Sorry but my view on this kind of thing is rigid at best.

Audiojunkie

@SevenSystems said:
Thanks all for the suggestions, Blocs Wave sounds like it is it. I've now gotten used a bit to GarageBand but holy moly, waiting for all those animations all the time is really demanding on my patience!

Wait! There's absolutely nothing close to a linear sequencer in Blocs Wave. I see Blocs Wave as a loop creation center, but I absolutely don't see it as a linear sequencer. Same with Groovebox--no song mode--just patterns. If the linear sequencer part is important to you, you may want to continue looking. These are just loop creation tools. You'll still need something to sequence the loops together into a song. Just something to think about...

SevenSystems

@Audiojunkie heh yeah, I already noticed... Blocs Wave wasn’t for me. So far I’m continuing in GarageBand... maybe I need to license some Apple Loops for Xequence (and add Audio tracks and a mixer in the process ).

@Mr_Beak thanks for emphasizing the importance of creativity you can trust me that all my published productions are completely loop- and even arpeggiator-free. This is purely for adding some vanilla background music to a game and it’s already hard enough to develop one, so I can’t make the originality of the music top priority

Mr_Beak

@SevenSystems said:
@Audiojunkie heh yeah, I already noticed... Blocs Wave wasn’t for me. So far I’m continuing in GarageBand... maybe I need to license some Apple Loops for Xequence (and add Audio tracks and a mixer in the process ).

@Mr_Beak thanks for emphasizing the importance of creativity you can trust me that all my published productions are completely loop- and even arpeggiator-free. This is purely for adding some vanilla background music to a game and it’s already hard enough to develop one, so I can’t make the originality of the music top priority

Why Arpeggiator free?

Halftone

@SevenSystems said:
@Audiojunkie heh yeah, I already noticed... Blocs Wave wasn’t for me. So far I’m continuing in GarageBand... maybe I need to license some Apple Loops for Xequence (and add Audio tracks and a mixer in the process ).

@Mr_Beak thanks for emphasizing the importance of creativity you can trust me that all my published productions are completely loop- and even arpeggiator-free. This is purely for adding some vanilla background music to a game and it’s already hard enough to develop one, so I can’t make the originality of the music top priority

i often use Blocs to throw a couple of drum loops/percussion, maybe a bassline and possibly another loop or two together to sketch a quick groove out. Then export the loops out of Blocs into Garageband - flesh out the song from there and add some of GB's nice instruments on top.

AudioGus

@Mr_Beak said:

@SevenSystems said:
@Audiojunkie heh yeah, I already noticed... Blocs Wave wasn’t for me. So far I’m continuing in GarageBand... maybe I need to license some Apple Loops for Xequence (and add Audio tracks and a mixer in the process ).

@Mr_Beak thanks for emphasizing the importance of creativity you can trust me that all my published productions are completely loop- and even arpeggiator-free. This is purely for adding some vanilla background music to a game and it’s already hard enough to develop one, so I can’t make the originality of the music top priority

Similar to costume design on an indie film.

-those nike shorts
-those oakly shades
-this hat i found in a thrift shop
-white tshirt with a bit of dirt
-done

No sewing, no hemming, no fuss, no muss.

SevenSystems

@AudioGus that sums it up nicely