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Hardware-IOS Comparisons
Hi Everyone. I wish to start a thread for everyone on this topic. I was watching a short film my friend had on his ipad on the Artist M.I.A. about 3 weeks ago. i was stunned to know that her first and critically album "agular" was mostly produced on the Roland MC505. I forgot about it and it just came to me now. I was wondering which if any ios music apps is similar to the 505? Also is there and soft-hardware comparisons are out there? 808 909 obvious, but what about other vintage or new gear that closely is model after or simply just sounds close to an ios music app. I hope this can be a healthy thread that can help others decide on music apps that recreates emulates or are vast improvements on existing hardware. so first up Roland MC505, or throw your own comparison in the basket
Comments
by the way, she still uses the MC 505 to this day
As far as I know... there are no 505 clones or similar, if you're searching for the same workflow and/or sounds.
But similar stuff... Yep... you can find some.
Grooverider GR-16 is more of an Electribe 2 beast, but would be the most recommendable groovebox style app, with synthesis and sampling all together
Electribe Wave ?
That too. But it’s focused on wavetables. So not so many synthesis options.
Groove Rider is far better than the MC-505, people would have cried if they had something like this in a groove box back in 1998.
It has less preset sounds than the MC but you can easily connect your favorite sound source to one of the 16 MIDI tracks.
One aspect of the mystique of artists and their secret weapon hardware, is that they spent a ton of time with it, and learned all the key combos and could just fly, programming a song together, without a lot of head scratching. It wouldn’t be enough just to buy a piece of gear, there’s the countless hours of working with it to enjoy the same fluidity as one of these artists.
One kind of problem I ran into on iPad was having collected too many apps and not being fluid with them, or some of them just not working right (usually sync and midi, audio glitches or latency in the background), and creative time would regularly turn into headscratching and troubleshooting.
This.
That is totally my thing. Should have only ever bought one app. Should have been Groove Rider.
I think the iPad can be like that MC505, but it requires creating a replicable workflow that one can use over and over again to build muscle memory through repetition. And it's also about accepting the limitations of the platform. iPad will never be a laptop computer just like Octatrack will be never, but iPad can't be an Octatrack either.
I feel like iPad could be an Octatrack. If somebody writes the code it’s all just software, no?
Disclaimer, I’ve never used an Octatrack.
If somebody writes the code, yes.
Give it a try, I'll be all in!
So true. One of those I recall being Tricky... I think he started most of his stuff on a Yamaha QY-20 sequencer... Later he got a QY-22 and if i'm not wrong, a QY-70
He made good use of them
Oh yeah. Mistabishi and Electribes... thing of pure love
Ok, this thread is coming out nicely. BTW, The roland MC505 is just an example. I was just surprised that album was mostly a 505 produced album. I just like to see what comparisons can be made between IOS instruments and hardware. Tricky using a Qy20, 22 and &0 is just mind blowing. At the same time its not. @Processaurus is on point. I have the same problem. two many synths, effects and drum machines. easily over 150. No joke. Just trying to see which one or two I should go all in on. especially the DAW aspects. Got Auria pro, Cubasis 3, BM3, Nanostudio 2, Impc Pro with a shit load of mpc packs and other Retromyms packs, Garageband, Gadget(all maxed out gadgets), Zenbeats, FL studio mobile(waste of money. very poor interface) I am literally app drunk. I think I need apps anonymous. I even bought mononoke after trash talking it. Yeah, I did and now I need help
Another port to ios. The QY70
There is the Yamaha Mobile Music Sequencer. But I don't know. It didn't click with me like the QY-70
Regarding having too many apps, i'm trying to focus on one app only for most of my stuff, and then layering a bit with others (to justify what I spent haha)
I had an MC-505, and I consider the Gadget workflow to be somewhat similar—but much better🙂 Every time i get a hankering to work with a hardware groovebox again, I start up Gadget and I am soon cured of that hunger.
100%
Now I'm comparing the phase 84 and Shockwave. So far, I love Shockwave, just wish it was polyphonic. Phase84 sounds very close to the Casio CZ1000, but so much better with with almost any reverb AU you throw at it. I'm on a mission to run almost every ios synth of mine through effects apps. I will post a series on this via youtube soon. I'm in China, so I'm stuck indoors for the next moth unless this virus gets worse and DC10's airlift us out of here. I'm not in wuhan, but I'm only an 2 hours away by plane. I have nothing else to do besides making music. Hate to say it but this virus is pushing me to make music.
If 'done right' it's a demanding processing (guessing from a similiar synth I have on a dedicated DSP system and this synth is one of the few I consider essential)
Good point and fx-processing can be way more than just the icing on the cake - it's often an integral part of sound design for certain target idea.
I don't know the 505 album referenced above or the Tricky stuff, but any studio production of that time had access to a wide variety of quality external processors, turning raw sounds into breathtaking events.
Today you can do the same by processing IOS tracks on desktop, if the fx is quality.
(that attribute is not a default, there are lots of mediocre desktop plugins)
A crucial aspect is staying in a single 'sound domain' or crossing borders.
Those examples mentioned above did the latter: a digital MC505 source may have received dynamics by an analog 1176 compressor/limited and a different digital processing by a Lexicon PCM unit.
Feeding a real CZ1000 through an IOS reverb is also crossing borders, as would be tracking a live guitar/band and mix in IOS - you get the idea.
This sums up my experience with different DSP systems (Intel, ARM, Sharc, M56K), analog gear and digital outboard generators/processors.
'Mixtures' greatly open up sound - it doesn't matter much what you mix, but that you do it at all.
Not intended to discourage your attempts - it's just a hint about observations.
I'd definitely prefer to be able to do 'everything' within an iPad, because it's my favourite computer that doesn't pretend to be a computer.
But there always popped up memories about how this or that sound would change by using certain devices... (the ICA4+ and AUM allows me to quickly switch to another system and route back into IOS world).
So if you like (or have to) stay in IOS just pay attention to the basic sound character of you source and fx processing app... and try to find complementing variations.
@Imhodef - Re M.I.A.... Look at my avi my dear. Lol
And yes, she still uses the 505 to START.
The nice thing about minimal kit is there are far fewer distractions.
I tend to find it hard to resist the temptation of trying 'just one more synth sound' when with hardware I would dial in what I wanted much faster. And more importantly I'd commit ideas to tape quickly and move on. I wouldn't try to write, engineer, mix and produce all at the same time. Which even though I know I shouldn't I tend to do in Logic aanyway. Cos you can.
I grew my home studio starting with a CZ3000, RX21 and QX21 2 track MIDI sequencer (!) and 8 track reel to reel all the way to an in-the-box Logic system and then years of wilderness when kids literally took over.
It's incredible what's possible today. I wish I had the time I had back then to play with all the apps I keep buying.
I kind of think of it like comparing writing a song on the computer versus an acoustic guitar. With a guitar, I will have verse, chorus, etc. chord structure and an idea of melody relatively quickly and a full song structure will emerge. Same with just a Piano. Not necessarily good songs, but songs nonetheless.
On the computer these days I end up with 4 bars of ultra-produced crap. And no song.
I'm not complaining about computers, DAWs, iOS or anything. Quite the opposite. But sometimes being forced to focus is a good thing for me. So setting up a Pro-1 with a Mono Station is soooo much fun and pretty creative. Playing that kind of hardware is it's own kind of performance. When I use Logic, I program everything, there's very little actual jamming. It's all different half of your brain. Reconnecting the other half has been good for me I think.
And for me, the best thing about hardware is the lack of pixels. I stare at a screen all day at work, most of my free time on my phone so when I'm making music I'm tired and grumpy and my eyes are strained. Hardware is a lovely antidote to that.
The best thing of all is we have access to all of this stuff and can choose whichever bits suit us personally. And mixing and matching is great too; I'm integrating more hardware into my iOS music making as well. I have different setups for different moods. It's all good.
Whatever helps you write a good tune is good. If that's hardware, then great. Some people are doing amazing things with a couple of apps on a phone. Others need enough eurorack to fill a cathedral. Each to their own. Whatever floats your boat... :-D
But back in the real world, I'm disappointed to announce that my Pro-1 has not so far resulted in me being able to make songs like Vince Clarke. :-/ All these years and I was convinced a Pro-One was all I needed. I was wrong
... unless I really need a real Pro-One and not a Behringer clone. Yeah, that's probably it...
This happens to me almost every time I stray outside BM3 or GarageBand, and even inside BM3.
Now I make sure to sample anything I like as soon as I hear it. That way I can forget about midi and banks etc.
One thing I love is to grab an op-1 and just see what happens. Even if someone made a perfect iPad copy of the OP-1, I’d still prefer the box itself.