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Comments
I don't quite get it. We've kind of established that there's no limitation. So what did audio modelling do to not compete with itself?
I bought the SWAM trumpet to hear the difference but... didn't. Even most of the settings seem available in Geoswam, just buried in unintuitive menus.
No idea. The exact reason wasn’t explained, just that it was about licensing. Maybe it’s related to hardware devices from 3rd parties using the SWAM instruments.
Ha! Had never noticed it. Thanks!
I’ve made some additions (e.g. Bos’s Salome, Bleass’s synths…). Tried to specify which support AUv3 and to note which may have disappeared from the App Store.
Sounds like the page about controllers has disappeared.
Here’s my own list (favourites in bold; I don’t currently own those in parentheses):
Standalone iPadOS (IAA)
AUv3
Synths/Samplers
MIDI FX/Controllers
All MPE synths available as AUv3 plugins?
Except ROLI Noise, maybe. It plays ok but you might be missing out on a few controls.
tl;dr Focus on a couple of Naada instruments within GeoShred and branch out from that later on.
(Disclaimer: I’m a bit of an MPE nerd. And a GeoShred fan. I’ve interacted with Pat Scandalis from the moForte team about GS and even got some IAP freebies.)
I’d like to say that any MPE synth pairs well with GeoShred, including desktop and hardware ones. However, that’s probably not accurate, as the MPE scene is fragmented.
As @uncledave said, some implementations are incomplete. And there’s a world of subtleties in terms of which controls make the most sense with which synths. Honestly, I have a very different experience as I play the same MPE synth with different hardware controllers (Intuitive Instruments Exquis, ROLI Lightpad M, Artiphon Orba 2 and Instrument 1, Eigenharp Pico, Sensel Morph…). And without going too far in the details (it could be quite involved a discussion), playing on a touchscreen is quite different from using a controller based around physical pressure. On some synths, that doesn’t matter much. On others, designed for hardware MPE controllers, the difference is significant.
Thankfully, it’s not too much of an issue on iPadOS: most MPE synths work well with GeoShred.
Part of what I like about GS’s MPE implementation is the “control method” (IIRC, that’s the way Scandalis named it). When you hit a pad, it does what it needs to do to articulate a note. I’m not clear on the details. What I did notice is that I prefer GeoSWAM over the other implementations of the same instruments (in ROLI Noise and in SWAM Instruments AUv3 plugins).
As has been discussed here, Audio Modeling expressly blocks MIDI channel 1 as a kludgy way to prevent use of non-MPE controllers. Lele Parravicini’s been adamant about this. It’s also useful to know that they’ve artificially blocked several features of their first-party AUv3 plugins so as to coax people into buying their desktop plugins. So, while GeoSWAM instruments do sound great, it’s important to know that they’ve been developed in a specific contexts (years before AM started releasing its own AUv3).
The Naada engine is quite different. It comes from the moForte team and it has none of the limitations there are with GeoSWAM instruments. They also benefitted from years of experience in that team and have been updated since their release. (Useful to know: Scandalis and other members of the moForte team were part of the Stanford team which created Yamaha’s original synths using Physical Modelling. Jordan Rudess’s input has also benefitted the team, both as an expert player of MPE synths and as the creator of a guitar-based controller app, before GeoShred came out.) The sound designer behind (most) Naada instruments also has a different approach from Audio Modeling’s. More aligned with performance and with providing diverse experiences with these sounds. And, of course, because Naada instruments were exclusively designed for use with GeoShred, they’re the best pairing possible. Some of these Naada are duophonic (two notes at the same time) while SWAM Instruments are all monophonic (single note at a time). Not to mention that those Naada collections are “better bang for the buck” than GeoSwam collections or, obviously, SWAM Instruments bundles.
Speaking of price: one piece of advice about those Naada sounds… It might make sense to buy individual instruments (despite the fact that those don’t count towards the price of the collections). I’ve bought a couple of them based on specific needs (the duduk, for instance; my ex is Armenian). Something I’ve enjoyed about the Nadaswaram is that it has a wider range than others and it can sound like some other instruments while being quite unique.
Soooo…
My main suggestion is to start with a Naada instrument or two. And play your heart out.
You might have heard about doing as much as you can with a single synth. It’s very valuable advice… that few people heed. As a result, many of us suffer from Gear Acquisition Syndrome (GAS).
Now, if you enjoy playing with those sounds, there’s a few others you might like. Mostly unknown in this scene is Respiro, a Physical Modelling synth (like those Naada and GeoSWAM instruments) designed for windcontrollers. It has a mode for MPE controllers. Unlike SWAM and Naada instruments, Respiro patches are about acoustic instruments which don’t exist. Some of them are really far out. An issue, there, is that most patches require a license to the desktop version. Still, the base app is free and it comes with a few sounds which will probably open your ears.
(I’ve mentioned Physical Modelling a couple of times, already. GeoShred itself is based on this, originally for guitar sounds and similar instruments. It’s also Audio Modeling’s specialty, and they’ve even evolved their synth engine to make less use of samples. What #PhysMod is about is an emulation of the physical characteristics of an acoustic or even an electronic instrument. It’s quite special and it pairs well with MPE, because performance gestures can have a meaningful impact on the sound. With other synthesis techniques, or with sampling, it’s usually more… disconnected. On a subtractive synth, for instance, pressing deeper into a key may impact things like volume and filter, in the same way across the whole range. On a PhysMod synth, it can create a slightly different effect on each note or based on what came before. Something similar can be said about gliding from one note to another, something which almost never works so well with samplers.)
So, apart from PhysMod, what would pair well with GeoShred? People tend to enjoy “Vintage/Analog” subtractive synths, and some of them do work pretty well with GeoShred. It’s not really my style so I don’t have much of an opinion as to which is best.
There aren’t many free choices. A distinctive one is Tom Burns’s Spectrum, which is based on some famous Eurorack modules by Mutable Instruments. (Eurorack is a hardware modular system where you patch cables between modules. It’s quite special.)
Speaking of modulars… Drambo’s a very interesting software modular for iPadOS (and macOS). It does support MPE. Haven’t run across incredible MPE patches, yet. It could be an interesting way to learn about synthesis, though.
Among my most recent favourites are Tomofon and Bleass Voices. Very different from one another… or from just about anything else out there. Tomofon has advantages of both samplers and wavetable synths. Its MPE support is more than decent. Bleass Voices is an audio effect instead of a synth. With its MPE support, it allows you to play chords with your voice (or another audio input). I find it exceedingly fun.
Isn’t Shoom IAA only? @Enkerli
WoodSynth is an MPE synth and has samples and wavetables.
And WoodTroller is an MPE controller / keyboard.
best,
Woodman
http://www.woodmansimmaculatemaplesyrupstudio.be
Good point. Added it to the Wiki. (In my own list, I did have it in the AUv3 section because I initially didn’t split between AUv3 and IAA/Standalone. Made several changes to my list anyway.)
Right. It’s in both lists.
Yep! It’s in my list. Since there was a separate Wiki page for controllers, I didn’t add it there.
After updating the Wiki and posting my list, I thought about making a spreadsheet… and then something closer to a small database.
Want to add some data about “the desktop situation”, as it’s often useful to use the same plugins on iPad and other devices. There are some AUv3 plugins which are available on the Mac App Store under the same license and which work on a few desktop DAWs. There are plugins which are available as VST3 and AU and can share patches with AUv3 versions. And there are more complicated situations, such as Respiro which is mainly a desktop plugin with a player version available as AUv3.
Other useful data would include something to distinguish active development from what sounds like abandonware (we have plenty of those on iPadOS). And maybe something about the extent of the MPE implementation.
At that point, it becomes a bit of a project. There aren’t that many MPE plugins and apps available on iPadOS. What would take time would be testing them out. (And, of course, there are some that I have yet to buy.)
Then, there could be something about MIDI 2.0 support. So far, apart from WoodTroller & WoodSynth @woodman (and Korg Gadget), there isn’t much MIDI 2.0 support on iPadOS.
Not sure if/when I’ll do this. I do feel it could be worth the effort as MPE is increasingly useful and MIDI 2.0 is starting to appear in a few products.
Xequence 2 is prominently missing as one of the few apps on iOS capable of recording AND actually precisely editing MPE ☝️
Multitrackstudio can do it as well, or?
You're right, sorry for the oversight. Post corrected.
Woodsynth is pretty incredible
@Enkerli : if you want to test/review WoodSynth / WoodTroller, I can always send you a promo code or put you on the Testflight list.
Woodman
Thanks! I own both since you've added some MIDI-CI features. I do test them, on occasion. Have yet to wrap my head around them.
@Enkerli : ah great, well all feedback and questions welcome !
Woodman
Added to the Wiki.
The SWAM and Naada modeled instruments available in GeoShred are unmatched and very reasonably priced compared to desktop. Since price is an issue, consider buying only what you need when you need it for now. I started with the GeoTenorSaxes and that was a great starting point for me.
Thank you! 🍻
@Enkerli I'll toss into the list Bleass Megalit and Bleass Alpha for synths, Sand for a standalone MPE capable sequencer and plugin host, and Atom piano roll 2 as an MPE piano roll sequencer auv3.
Already in the wiki
The wiki is more about instruments. I’ll still add them to my own list. (I use Atom^2 quite a bit and tried Sand on occasion.)