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Groovebox or simple DAW (?) apps with best/fastest workflow?
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For purely synth&drums-based songs. Thanks!
Not a kind of music-making I’ve ever tried before, otherwise I might not need to ask.
Comments
Op1 was my fastest groovebox — after some learning curve.
For me, groovebox for experimentation, but DAW if I need to finish the track. 👍
Korg Gadget is incredibly fast and beautifully implemented.
For me it’s Drambo. I keep gravitating towards it. Synth, bass, and drum jams come pouring out almost instantly.
When it comes to drums and synth-based instrumentals, what kind of genre(s) are you looking to produce?
I’ll attempt to make a variety. Breakcore-ish, ambient, lofi, experimental, sorta industrial …
Will see when I get there?
Oh, forgot to say - would prefer the ability to import (my own) samples if possible. Not essential, but strongly preferred.
Ah, in this case I'd highly recommend FL Studio Mobile and/or Nanostudio 2. Both have IAP sound packs you can use in their respective samplers (DirectWave in FLSM, and Obsidian's sampler section in NS2). Both have top quality buillt-in effects and synths.
Koala is incredibly fast and fun. Try that.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pure-acid/id1481283602
and
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/groove-rider-gr-16/id1318750537
Gadget
Zenbeats
+1 for NanoStudio2 : as well as its Obsidian(synth)’s sampler section, it also has the Slate instrument which is dedicated to playing your samples.
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1 when it come to a standalone groovebox instruments i’ll take GrooveRider any day
2 when it comes to a Groovebox type of daw i’ll take Drambo
3 when it comes to the fastest work flow in a DAW i’ll take NanoStudio 2 over any other daw on ios,
4 and when it comes to the best sampler with the fastest work flow for sampling and making sample based beats i’ll definitely take Koala Sampler and with that Aum for mixing and mastering my koala projects and also if i want to add some auv3 instruments to the mix
Another shout out to Koala and Beatmaker 3 - working with samples is fastest way to work and these apps are faster than most desktop daws in what they do well. Recording ideas in Koala is the most immediate thing ever. NanoStudio is fantastic - really hope both Beatmaker and NanoStudio aren’t at the end of life stage. Koala is alive and kicking.
Koala is definitely the ultimate groovebox type app but lacks a synthesiser. It can definitely sample your AUv3 synths in AUM. Not sure if that's the swiftest option though. 🤔 Eh, get Koala anyway.😂
Well, there are workarounds.
Ooo I'm intrigued. 🙂
BM3 can do that too. Usage of single waveforms.
Gadget and Drambo are my go-to's but for the styles you like, I would also recommend checking out Groove Rider GR-16, there are a lot of factory patterns included that cover these styles and show how they can be done.
It also has sample import and an efficient slicer that lets you slide a loop onto 16 pads on a single track (i.e. up to 16 loops on 16 x 16 pads if you need them). GR-16 also has a few "standard", multi-sampled instruments built in and it works well for playing your stuff live, plus it has great sync options: Both Ableton LINK and a rock solid MIDI Clock implementation to pair it with hardware grooveboxes are supported.
If in doubt, rank each suggestion on a scale of 1-5 on the following departments: Ease of use, Has presets, Has Instruments (Synth+Drums), Sampling capability
That considered, my top 3 options would be BM3, Drambo and GR-16
Now if you don't mind an older app that still rocks, for me that would be TriqTraq
Maybe my rank numbers are randomly generated. But they stand more or less on those numbers
Oh... gonna mention Nanoloop too. For such a long time it was the only app on my old phone that couldn't have too many apps
8 channels, and each can be either sampler, FM, PWM or Noise
Zenbeats , Drambo and definitely check GR-16
On iOS, for me it was Koala. And my voice.
For me I always seem to have to finish everything in Cubasis. But I’m old as well as old school. My latest tracks have been Beathawk ( great app) then finished in Cubasis. Going to incorporate iMPC2 into my workflow in 2023 and I’m still plodding on with Audio Evolution but I always gravitate back to Cubasis?? No idea why.
Based entirely on the OP, I would say Grooverider is #1.
“Purely synth and drum-based songs”
To be honest, I’ll probably end up doing the same in the end. Will try other ways, but I have always used a traditional DAW, so it’ll be a learning process.. at best.
If your mindset hovers somewhere in-between a DAW and a groove-box then Zenbeats is worth checking out. It has both clip-launcher and timeline workflows, and it has drum sequencer tracks and a built-in sampler. It's free to try. Features are limited in the free version, but should be enough to get an idea of what it's about.
Can't go wrong with GR-16 either. It's a fantastic way to quickly build up ideas that you can then flesh out in a DAW if you feel like it. For a time I was putting out a track a week for WeeklyBeats. I tried lots of workflows and the most productive was to belt out ideas until I ran out of inspiration, then render them to audio and arrange / mix in a DAW.
If Zenbeats was around back then, I think it would have taken the top spot though.
Gadget