Ableton Note for iOS

mistercharlie

Sampling is killer in this. It’s even quicker to trim a sample than Koala. Then sequence, add fx, plus some drums.

That’s how many of my songs start, before ending up in Ableton to add more elements, arrange, eq, mix etc. This can also record from hardware, possibly synced (via link to midi), which could make it the perfect capture app.

I don’t really see the point of “sketchpad” apps. I’m either making something or I’m not. I don’t sketch then re-do it with “better” sounds later. But for fast capture this is great, and in many ways faster than using proper Ableton.

anickt

It’s not “just a sketch pad” if you’re at all creative. 🤦🏽‍♂️

PS - app has an update .

mjm1138

Not an expert or anything, and I've never really connected with AL on desktop (I have Live "Lite" but haven't spent much time with it). But I think this is an intriguing little app. Nice Gadget-like workflow, nice built-in presets, nice sampling workflow. There are some major limitations on it right now, but it does what it says on the tin, and looks to my eye as the foundation/basis of a more full-featured DAW in the future. I hope it continues to develop in that direction.

db909

@cokomairena said:

@db909 said:
Finally purchased and dove in. You guys were right, this thing is pretty damned clever even as a standalone. Love the way ideas are captured. I would like an option to be able to use free length but have it be independently detected for each instrument. And yeah, unexpected variety of sound sources for sure. With the synth templates and what not.

What do you mean? they are independent

I should have clarified, they are if you don’t have anything playing. But if you have something playing, then it uses that somethings length it seems.

GovernorSilver

@Gavinski said:
Any good for ambient / experimental stuff etc? I got put off by some early comments here but am intrigued

I like the presets under the Evolving category. Each has 8 synth parameters to tweak, as well as 2 FX sections, each with its own set of 8 params.

Can't say though if that alone would be good enough for you.

cokomairena

BUG: Is GATE mode broken on the drumrack? it always play the whole sample for me

cokomairena

@mistercharlie said:
Sampling is killer in this. It’s even quicker to trim a sample than Koala. Then sequence, add fx, plus some drums.

That’s how many of my songs start, before ending up in Ableton to add more elements, arrange, eq, mix etc. This can also record from hardware, possibly synced (via link to midi), which could make it the perfect capture app.

I don’t really see the point of “sketchpad” apps. I’m either making something or I’m not. I don’t sketch then re-do it with “better” sounds later. But for fast capture this is great, and in many ways faster than using proper Ableton.

Think of it as a very nice portable groovebox, you can make music on a groovebox then record it on an studio (export to a DAW) to make a full song

cokomairena

@Jumpercollins said:
If you solo any of your tracks on and off from left to right or in a random order then use the undo arrow I just found out works backwards what you just solo’d on and off ! Didn’t realised it worked for mixers!

nice, then you can use undo and redo as a solo left and right arrow lol, I don't think this has any utility tho?

McD

I tend to buy all these groove box types of apps and never get past the learning curve or I don’t like the sounds. Reason Compact was the exception so far…

But I watched the video and made something that felt like I had made a lot of decisions… I’m pleasantly surprised and recommend this to old timers that never used any beatbox types of hardware units.

I couldn’t output the results but I used my “iPad screen capture” trick to import the resulting video into Koala and save the “sample” out to AudioShare.

I pulled the AudioShare file into Staffpad and added some more instruments to get a hybrid approach. I like it as a way to get me out of the 90’s and yet I go right back with Staffpad:

I intend to Rap over the softer sections when I’m in a quiet and private place. I will rap using my 71 year old OF (Old Fart) Voice.

drez

@Strizbiz said:

@oat_phipps said:
Maybe a lot of you use Ableton and somehow being able to import half-baked ideas is amazing, I dunno, but this just seems like another tinker toy like the Reason one, and several other ones, that got completely blasted. Not seeing this getting much if any love if it wasn’t branded Ableton. Voice Memos reigns supreme as the idea sketchbook.

The reason app was only 3 tracks, Ableton Note has 8 tracks and 8 scenes, if you’re not an Ableton Live user, you’re probably not going to really appreciate this app , it’s not just Ableton branded, it’s geared towards Ableton users. I have several apps that I love because they export Ableton projects but they only render the tracks as audio clips, this on actually uses some of the same instruments that are in Ableton and the macro control assignments. So you can actually edits the instruments once in Ableton. What you see in this pic is what you see once you open an Ableton Note project in Ableton and what one of the instruments looks like.

This right here. If you don’t use ableton, you are probably looking at this as a standalone app. It can for sure be used that way, but the power is that it’s exactly what the screenshot above shows. All the ableton devices in grouped “racks” that have “some” exposure in Note to get the idea down with some light automation, but once you import it into ableton you can then do whatever you want with any of those devices.

It’s amazing for me. If it gets a step sequencer of some sort, I’ll be over the moon.

RajahP

@echoopera said:

@RajahP said:
Well, after importing a Note project into Ableton Live, one can see its power. Everything is so 'lined up'. One can only imagine Midi, Auv3, and Key transpose (like Ampify's GrooveBox)... Hopefully, there is a 'content' store on the horizon.
Pretty nice.

So, who is sharing their creations?

Here’s a track which i built up using a combination of Ableton Note and Drambo. Feel free to use it how you see fit:
https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/03eBGsrPVKfpA2_iqjO-KGaAA#Methods_Of_Being

Thanks..

BroCoast

@oat_phipps said:
Maybe a lot of you use Ableton and somehow being able to import half-baked ideas is amazing, I dunno, but this just seems like another tinker toy like the Reason one, and several other ones, that got completely blasted. Not seeing this getting much if any love if it wasn’t branded Ableton. Voice Memos reigns supreme as the idea sketchbook.

It’s more than you think. It’s not just the Ableton brand and that’s from someone who got rid of their Ableton licenses in favour of Drambo.

BroCoast

@McD said:
I tend to buy all these groove box types of apps and never get past the learning curve or I don’t like the sounds. Reason Compact was the exception so far…

But I watched the video and made something that felt like I had made a lot of decisions… I’m pleasantly surprised and recommend this to old timers that never used any beatbox types of hardware units.

I couldn’t output the results but I used my “iPad screen capture” trick to import the resulting video into Koala and save the “sample” out to AudioShare.

I pulled the AudioShare file into Staffpad and added some more instruments to get a hybrid approach. I like it as a way to get me out of the 90’s and yet I go right back with Staffpad:

I intend to Rap over the softer sections when I’m in a quiet and private place. I will rap using my 71 year old OF (Old Fart) Voice.

Love it!

oat_phipps

@BroCoast said:

@oat_phipps said:
Maybe a lot of you use Ableton and somehow being able to import half-baked ideas is amazing, I dunno, but this just seems like another tinker toy like the Reason one, and several other ones, that got completely blasted. Not seeing this getting much if any love if it wasn’t branded Ableton. Voice Memos reigns supreme as the idea sketchbook.

It’s more than you think. It’s not just the Ableton brand and that’s from someone who got rid of their Ableton licenses in favour of Drambo.

Ok, I could always be wrong. Even probably am quite a bit!

JohnnyGoodyear

@BroCoast said:

@McD said:
I tend to buy all these groove box types of apps and never get past the learning curve or I don’t like the sounds. Reason Compact was the exception so far…

But I watched the video and made something that felt like I had made a lot of decisions… I’m pleasantly surprised and recommend this to old timers that never used any beatbox types of hardware units.

I couldn’t output the results but I used my “iPad screen capture” trick to import the resulting video into Koala and save the “sample” out to AudioShare.

I pulled the AudioShare file into Staffpad and added some more instruments to get a hybrid approach. I like it as a way to get me out of the 90’s and yet I go right back with Staffpad:

I intend to Rap over the softer sections when I’m in a quiet and private place. I will rap using my 71 year old OF (Old Fart) Voice.

Love it!

Promising but must hear OFV before reaching final judgement etc.

cyberheater

Hi folks. Just to confirm. This also works for Live Intro.

dougdi

@cokomairena said:
BUG: Is GATE mode broken on the drumrack? it always play the whole sample for me

Try shortening the release time, I thought the same.

symianbeatz

Dunno if it been mentioned but air drop and Ableton cloud arent the only way to get your sets off of your device and into the desktop, if you are a Windows user just share the set to the files app and then to Google drive or you local Nas if you have one, no arbitrary file limits and the sets open fine in Ableton.. I've tried it and it works..

First impressions from me are that it's an okay start, and I agree with all the other comments regarding lack of detailed note editing etc and lack of controller support, I would have liked to have seen at the minimum tight support for all of Abletons novation controllers and some generic midi keyboards out the gate.. it's a bit of a head scratcher that it wasn't a priority imho, but hey it's 5 quid, there's not much to grumble about at that price and hopefully it'll grow in depth and versatility..

Telstar5

@BroCoast said:

@McD said:
I tend to buy all these groove box types of apps and never get past the learning curve or I don’t like the sounds. Reason Compact was the exception so far…

But I watched the video and made something that felt like I had made a lot of decisions… I’m pleasantly surprised and recommend this to old timers that never used any beatbox types of hardware units.

I couldn’t output the results but I used my “iPad screen capture” trick to import the resulting video into Koala and save the “sample” out to AudioShare.

I pulled the AudioShare file into Staffpad and added some more instruments to get a hybrid approach. I like it as a way to get me out of the 90’s and yet I go right back with Staffpad:

I intend to Rap over the softer sections when I’m in a quiet and private place. I will rap using my 71 year old OF (Old Fart) Voice.

Love it!

@McD : UP with “old farts” rapping ! I’m 70 now so you’ve got me by a year . I was 51 at the time of this video

“When I’m 64 “.. which was six years ago. Less glamorous but much more recent

Telstar5

@McD : Love the track, especially that keyboard flourish !

Telstar5

UP with old farts rapping! > @BroCoast said:

@McD said:
I tend to buy all these groove box types of apps and never get past the learning curve or I don’t like the sounds. Reason Compact was the exception so far…

But I watched the video and made something that felt like I had made a lot of decisions… I’m pleasantly surprised and recommend this to old timers that never used any beatbox types of hardware units.

I couldn’t output the results but I used my “iPad screen capture” trick to import the resulting video into Koala and save the “sample” out to AudioShare.

I pulled the AudioShare file into Staffpad and added some more instruments to get a hybrid approach. I like it as a way to get me out of the 90’s and yet I go right back with Staffpad:

I intend to Rap over the softer sections when I’m in a quiet and private place. I will rap using my 71 year old OF (Old Fart) Voice.

Love it!

cokomairena

@dougdi said:

@cokomairena said:
BUG: Is GATE mode broken on the drumrack? it always play the whole sample for me

Try shortening the release time, I thought the same.

Thanks!

cabo

the McD one reminds me of a 90s crossover thing that's also got some rap in it, especially the beginning of the melody line at 0:11 but can't remember the title of the song .. this will follow me for a while

db909

For those of you using this as a standalone groovebox, how are you doing arrangements? Screen recording? Chopping it into a clip launcher?

Tarekith

@cyberheater said:
Hi folks. Just to confirm. This also works for Live Intro.

Yep!

galmandsværk

@Jumpercollins said:
Ableton Note into Koala.

Nice hack - and fun and creative app. But are there any rumours about future export without a tail? Beta testers?
I realize that they want me to use it with Ableton Live, but I work in a 100% iPad environment and would love to be able to make this work with other apps, like Loopy Pro, in a more smooth collaboration.

Strizbiz

So still finding the ins and outs of this app and discovering news things, today I found out that if you long press on the track scene number you can duplicate all the tracks at once instead of one at a time like I’ve been doing the last couple of days lol. Also when you long press on clips you can drag them to other scenes. And you can also rearrange scenes when you drag them up and down.

anickt

If you want to make suggestions that will be seen directly by Ableton…

cokomairena

@anickt said:
If you want to make suggestions that will be seen directly by Ableton…

NICE!

echoopera

Really enjoying the heck out of this app right now.