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.
Comments
Being a collector seems to resonate with a lot of musicians, just look at the pedalboards of many guitar players!
That Propelerhead Reason exists as it is . iOS on steroids.
Wisdom.
That it would completely consume me.
No lie.
I started dabbling with an iPad 2 16GB about 2 1/2 years ago.
A year after that I got my Air 2 and started my app acquisition frenzy.
iOS music is all I think about now.
This forum is a big reason why it is so fun for me.
• Ableton Link is a gold standard (and export to Ableton) which makes idevices great companions with desktop
• Audio/Midi into Mac via USB
• Short term app addiction may lead to a more expensive desktop and hardware addiction
• iPhone makes a great external FX send and return unit (using cck & uca 202)
• Don’t buy too many music apps, you will never be able to give the time and effort to get the full value from all of them
• AUv3 is the AU/VST equivalent on iOS and is the gold standard
• Buy and keep a legacy device for apps such as Alchemy & Nanostudio to back up your heritage apps/ projects
• iOS is still in relative infancy as a platform for music production and standards are only just starting to bed in...fill in a bit about the history here
Planned obsolescence of the hardware platform is slowly choking my musical efforts and the app ecosystem evolves much faster than I can master it. Things that worked perfectly well previously can no longer play properly after some iOS and app updates change the entire performance profile of the setup. I'm feeling a bit dejected about it right now, honestly.
If I knew what I know now when I first started with iOS music, I would have spent more time learning about music, synthesis, and programming and invested less time in trying to do some sort of punk approach where you just try things and see what happens.
iOS is an excellent way to learn any aspect of music you’re curious about. I’ve found that I rarely use my other music or hardware because I feel such a direct connection to the touch interface plus I don’t have to clear any space or setup gear. I really enjoy the modular aspect of using apps. I believe it’s very important to support the developers, app reviewers, and people who do app tutorials.
Take what people say about apps with a grain of salt as musicians can frequently be very parochial in their approaches and what works for them may not be for you and vice versa.
In the beginning I had visions about connecting all sorts of gear, microphones, analog instruments, iPhones, iPads, hardware MIDI controllers, keyboards, mixers, USB hubs, speakers, etc... After doing this for a few years, I realized that I really didn’t know enough to use such a setup effectively. The time I spent setting up gear could have been better spent learning using just one iPad.
A room full of music equipment connected together with cables and cords plus lots of flashing lights looks impressive; however, it didn’t sound so great as you can only have so much going on simultaneously without sufficient planning to justify such a Rube Golderberg musical monstrosity.
The iPad has allowed me to experiment with a wide array of setups without needing to redecorate my studio as if it were a massive musical Christmas tree I was compelled to fill with every decoration I’d acquired over the years in order to stave off humbuggery.
Hehe, nice one!
Thanks a lot for writing up this list, great point about using an iPhone, or even iPod Touch as an external FX send/return unit.
Thanks so much for writing down what iOS means to you, very much appreciated.
I'm interested to hear more about the modular aspect of using apps. Do you have any favorite combos that you keep going back to or that have become the cornerstone of your music making?
• The iPad’s touch screen DOES feel a way more intuitive to control virtual synths then using usb controllers on a computer. Using an iPad synth feels like working with hardware. You can directly push a button, move a fader, turn a knob.
After using Push1, Maschine mk1.. the iPad is what I was looking for when controlling virtual synths.
• It’s very versatile. IAA, IDAM, low latency, network session. If you want to make music, don’t even consider an Android tablet. It will save you a lot of time choosing between a cheaper Android tablet or an iPad…
• Don’t go crazy buying apps.. Buying apps can be tempting.. Turn on restrictions on the iPad and choose ‘don’t allow buying apps, don’t allow installing apps’. This way you won’t see the app store icon. Just check for updates once in a while.
You need to shop till you drop to discover the real hidden gems that suits your workflow.
The iPad One immediately got me with:
Multitrack DAW - so easy to record/overdub, the better Tascam 8 track cassette
Animoog - what an expressive keyboard, what an intuitive way of graphically controlling
SamplR - spot on touch UI and endless creativity, the better MPC (if midi isn't the topic)
iElectribe and Fairlight (Peter Vogel) CMI - that's how you fake hardware
I liked the lean approach a lot and had high expectations.
The absence of a classic file system is essential for IOS, but Apple never succeeded with a functional replacement.
That gap was filled by Audioshare - there's a minor flaw with the single item restriction, but it's well organized. The zip-process compensates a bit.
(sidenote: universal file access would add a ton of extra checks that increase complexity and response time)
Unfortunately (imho) the 'lean' and alternative path was quickly abandoned - replaced by desktop paradigm cloning, adding features over features and (from the developers point of view) to not think functionality to it's end.
If you don't have enough screen estate, it's hard to devide into sub-user interfaces.
(Audio Units are a major annoyance imh personal taste)
Afaik noone ever split an app into sections over multiple devices, connected by virtual networking.
Audiobus Remote was at least an attempt into that direction, but of course it cannot fulfill what a design from ground up would provide.
Tbh I don't complain, I'm very happy with what I got for the price tag - both functional and in sound quality. But the whole IOS thing could be so much more.
For me personally:
Some good points from @InfoCheck about the iPad's value as an educational tool (some good points from everybody in fact). I'd tell the younger version of me to diligently put in the hours with Syntorial. Learn what all of the knobs do and learn to hear the differences. It looks expensive, but I've found it to be a bargain.
The same goes (albeit in a less structured way) for learning lots of music production techniques. Back in the days of yore, when this was all fields, you'd need access to special equipment, places and people - with our precious apps, tutorial videos, this forum (go team) and the occasional written 'how to', we all have an opportunity to level up. There's something ephemeral about apps and the mesmerising glowing rectangles that hold our gaze, but our skills will endure.
'hearEQ' is another good one.
I'd tell younger me that it will be more expensive than expected. Curiosity will get the better of you most times, but that's ok. I'd say stop wasting so much time acquiring new synths and tweaking pad sounds that don't go anywhere. Maybe set a time limit on sound design sessions, actually. It's not that I regret buying the apps I've bought, but the culture of acquisition over mastery doesn't suit me at all. It's easy to get swept up in and I think I might've managed the balance a little better. I'd probably skip over the intermediate steps in many cases and take things right to their logical conclusion (i.e. Auria Pro + FabFilter plug-ins). I'd have saved some money that way.
I'd also give myself a reality check: iOS is not a substitute for Ableton Live, so stop waiting for the new thing that will magically make that click. It doesn't have to be all iOS, or all desktop, or all hardware, or all acoustic. They're all just different faces of the same thing. Play each one to its strengths. As far as iOS music making goes, for me it's the (relatively) cheap and varied sound sources, the tactile connection between fingers and sound (Samplr!), the portability, the educational aspect and the experimental playground opportunities.
Audiobus, synths, effect apps (e.g. filtatron), AudioShare, and MIDI apps (e.g. SoundPrism) were the foundation for chaining together apps. SunVox showed how multifaceted an app could be and the idea of being able to incorporate visual data into music was interesting. More recently, AUM, the ApeSoft apps, AC Sabre, Bram Bos apps, Audio Damage apps, and the FAC apps.
Some apps have introduced me to music programming such as MobMuPlat (Pd), Lemur, K Machine (glsl), and Audulus.
Others such as TC-Data, GeoShred, and AC Sabre have such great MIDI control capabilities that I will use them to control great apps like the Model15 or complex multi app synth preset setups in AUM and/or Audiobus.
The introduction of the Files app, Link and AU have really facilitated the modular approach as they enhance being able to recreate setups, to have apps sync up, to pass information to one another, and the ability to control them via MIDI.
Apps like MoebiusLab, zMors Modular, and Rotor put their own spin on a modular environment.
Apps like TB MIDI Stuff, MIDI Designer Pro, Lemur, TC-Data, and KRFT have allowed me to create my own playing surfaces.
Apps which allow me to incorporate my own samples like AUM’s file player, Sector, ReSlice, BeatHawk, BeatMaker 3, and Animoog are great.
The Twisted Wave app has been very valuable for preparing samples.
The FAC Maxima and Transient apps have really helped to shape the sound and bring an appropriate balance to the music.
There are apps that create more non-traditional sounds like Soup, SoundScaper, and Erik Sigth’s apps. My favorite in this category is BitWiz which uses C expressions in a stack to create complex repeating waveforms which are great combined with more traditional musical elements.
Learning more about scales has been facilitated by apps like Wilsonic, ThumbJam, Dhalang, ChordMaps2, and ScaleGen.
The idea of polyrhythms incorporated in apps like Patterning and Different Drummer has been very helpful.
In general I am not attracted to traditional DAWs as they remind me too much of accounting spreadsheets plus I have relatively little interest in creating a finished product. My main focus is the act of playing and composing music so I have no problem with buying a wide variety of apps even though I know I won’t be able to master all of them. The process of learning them has been very educational. What I learn from one app will often help me to use other apps and introduce me to new areas for exploration/exploitation.
Reaching forward and touching your computer's screen for user input violates the thinking of a young Steve Job's ripping off Xerox with the hand controlled "Mouse" and enforces the mature Steve Job that this "Mouse" must be forbidden.
The end of your finer literally obscures the knob you seek to tweak.
So, after Job's Apple has re-invented the elegant input device called the "pencil": sharp and precise but still without the capability to "click", hover, or move beyond 2 dimensions when
Virtual Unreality is just around the next corner.
Is the Pen mightier than the Sword?
Personally, I'd like to have similar inputs to the system that Stephen Hawking had: eye gestures and the so called "Joy Stick". 1/2 of the human population has a built-in "Joy Stick"...
Never mind this last part. I won't be able to get that image of the new Apple iPad VR Classroom out of my mind anytime soon.
"Ready Player One?"
CORRECTION: the end of your "finger" obscures the little target of your input. Put your finger on the "button" and wiggle about until satisfied.
I guess one of the greatest effects iOS music has had on me is that I have learned so much more about mixing and music and the whole process that I don’t think I would have learned on desktop.
My favorite types of apps are sequencer/groovebox types apps. Where you can’t do everything but in general, the ability to make a complete track is there. They all go about this is different ways, with different interfaces. With the different approaches to sequencing (loop based, timeline, hybrid, this clever feature or that clever feature), you actually begin to understand music on a deeper level when you stop and think about why the developers went with this paradigm over that. You can see what their preferred organizational method of music is and using many of these over time, you realize that there about as many ways to make and conceptualize music as there are genres.
Furthermore, working within the limitations of such apps, you have to get the most out of them. Maybe one doesn’t have any EQ capabilities and all you really have mixing related is some volume and panning. Well here’s an opportunity to get really good at setting levels and panning properly if you want the best sound from that app. And that’s how it’s played out for me. Working within limitations has made me better at everything to the point where now I don’t even think I need anything that a desktop daw offers over iOS. I’ve become a master at getting more out of less.
Perfect example: iKaossilator. There is no mixing whatsoever. None. No volume fader, no pan, no eq, no adjusting the sounds in any way. The only thing you have to work with is the expressive fx programmed into the sounds that depend on where you are playing on the xy pad. So I want better “mixes” out of this thing, but how? By using masking and phase cancellation to my advantage. Also having to learn the art of choosing complimentary yet contrasting sounds. I put the iPhone audio into mono in the settings and i listen carefully as I play and record, because my performance is the mix, so I listen for where things pop in and out, where one sound masks another but by just the right amount to sound balanced. Doing it in mono means there won’t be any nasty surprises. And yeah, bottom line, I’ve gotten some pretty damn good mixes from that thing that really only require a bit of mastering.
So the point is, working within the limitations of the platform and the apps have made me a better musician.
Hey, it's me again, the beginner. I've read every post on this thread, but no one seems to suggest you can just talk to your app.... volume 8.3.... bpm 136.... latency 22 ms....cutoff... resonance... etc. etc. I keep getting messages about enabling my microphone.... what's it there for if not to input instructions to an app? No fingers covering up the buttons! Maybe I've seen too many Star Treks, but nobody ever uses a mouse on the Enterprise....Earl Grey, hot.... I mean, why not? We do live in the future after all.
Forgive me.... I know nothing! I'm not even on the right thread!
(They ignored me there, so I'm appealing to you...)
I’ve never used Siri for anything and turn it off along with notifications because it uses resources that could otherwise be used for music. I’d rather just do some sort of gesture and being able to type in a parameter value (especially setting tempo). Ideally the controls would be designed to provide you with smooth controls that make sense for the parameter you’re trying to control and many apps do indicate the numeric value in an area not covered by your finger trying to set the control.
In the future when iOS devices are more powerful, the overhead of voice command could very well be a viable option.
The request to be able to access the microphone is there in order to provide the app with access to system audio too.
I'm a bit conflicted on whether having bought too many apps is a negative ...On one hand, that's a LOT of money -- Though, TBH, it's money I would have probably spent on music software or gear anyway (perhaps a nice RME interface, etc) .. But on the other hand, I absolutely love variety and the many dozens of different ways I can create music ... All my different iOS daws and music construction kits & software instruments inspire creativity in different, unique ways, leading me to write in styles I perhaps wouldn't have experimented with otherwise.
I'm the same way on PC, love having several different environments to work in , depending on my mood or music goals. (Logic, Reason & Ableton) ... I love the challenge of learning all this stuff and most of the things I learn translate in one way or another between environments, or better yet, finding unique ways to integrate the strong points of each. using them together.
The only thing I can think of that I'd tell my younger music self is to get serious about music sooner, set goals and study hard. The last couple years have been extremely rewarding and I'm looking forward to pushing my creative self to new heights.
There it is.
Very good.
It's the chalet that makes it funny
Sorry (a little bit) for just cherry-picking this excellent thread but thanks @echoopera for the nudge as regards:
It really is. Had no idea. And so the folks who say 'stay away from this forum' are right and the folks who say 'go directly to the forum' are righter. Yes we need to finish our songs. Yes we need to learn our apps. Yes we need to focus. Yes we need....But it's supposed to be fun (however leavening to the broken heart into the bargain etc as with all music)....my biggest regret about the IPad (which I consider to be the most creative -to me- piece of technology in this lifetime so far) is not having had it before, during those thousands of nights where the limitations were apparently great but I would have preferred the widespread indulgence now available to us at this fortunate point in time....
It’s come up a few times now but I would say using it for what it’s good at, rather than trying to make it something it’s not. I spent many hours trying to make it do what it can’t (hampered by the file system, save state inconsistency, routing issues, etc etc). These days I use it as a sound source for sampling, or an idea starter for drum loops, or just little sonic oddities that wouldn’t be so much fun to replicate in my main DAW. And it’s been a much nicer experience as a result of it. As soon as I try and get too deep it becomes an exercise in frustration again and whatever idea made me pick up the iPad in the first place soon evaporates.
aw shucks, i just might be here to dabble and have fun.
I was pretty content using it this way, too. Then my PC broke and I got really used to Cubasis, and the iPad in general for doing pretty much all my computer related tasks. Still haven’t fixed my PC, nor cared too much about it.
One thing you should check out, if you haven’t already and it interests you, is all the cool sequencers on iOS. They don’t push the iPad hard at all, but allow for some fun, creative sessions. Capturing the Midi on a desktop DAW is simple, too. Well, maybe not simple, but there are many ways to do it.