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.
Tried walking in really big shoes - Isao Tomita
Ever since I first heard "Pictures at an Exhibition" as a child, I’ve wanted to make music like Tomita. Some time ago, I started adapting B. Smetana’s symphonic cycle Má vlast (My Fatherland) in the way the ingenious Japanese composer once did — mainly using Mellotron and Moog sounds. And since his work was rooted in the 70s, I’d like to stay true to that spirit with a vintage mix (or, as they call it nowadays, “lo-fi”).
Now I wonder am I on the right track?
Here’s the first of six movements - the others I plan to finish by the end of 2026.
Felsenstein
(
)
Comments
Welcome to the forum. Seems very intriguing and appealing ! I'll make sure to listen as soon as I can find the time. I think this post belongs to the creation category. Maybe a moderator like @wim could help fix that.
Hi Felsenstein,
Tomita was an absolute genius with his music compositions, I have many of his albums but Pictures At An Exhibition - his synthesized version of Mussorgsky’s original piano suite became one of Tomita’s most influential works. It was first released in 1975, in December of that year I got married and we played this album over and over and over.
You certainly have big boots to fill and I for one will definitely look forward to hearing any Tomita material you put out.
There is a great preset bank available for Synthmaster 2 iOS called Nori Ubukata Historic Synth Giants Vol4, it has many Tomita sounds, even the “boo bah” vocal sounds and there are whistles by the handful, bells, harpsichord, operatic female type voices plus many more and all typically Tomita sounding.
Good luck with your project.
Mike
Was enchanted with Tomita's version of Holst's The Planets when I was younger and I'm very impressed with what you have presented to us here. Epic and a real tribute to two musicians of note. Keep going.
Thanks for the feedback! Yes, I wasn't sure what's the best sub forum. I'm sure someone will fix it.
Oh my gosh! I've never heard of Isao Tomita before now, and if his music is anything like the amazing piece of music you made and shared with us, I know I'm going to love it. Well done!
Tomita has some fantastic albums, check out The Planets, play it loud and feel the goose bumps appear all over your body, Tomita is to music like Bruce Lee was to Marshal Arts….a true true master.
Mike
Thanks mate.
Now I know where to start my listening journey.
@Felsenstein
I still have my Tomita LPs (and W Carlos of course) from the 1970s, but sadly nothing to play them on. One day I’ll treat myself to a record deck again. They were astonishing sounds in their day, and threw some fresh light on some well known classical pieces.
Well done (and good luck) with your Má Vlast project. I’ve always dreamed of doing something similar with Bruckner’s 8th Symphony (my favourite) but it’s a bit too monumental for me!
You're going to love it.
I'm glad. ☺️ Now that I finished my latest piece of music, I'm going to dig into Isao's music now.
EDIT: So far, this is a helluva lot more complex than anything I've dared to make thus far, lol. I'm not sure how to compose like this just yet.
Wow @Felsenstein, you've definitely nailed Tomita's sound palette!
And the sounds on that exact album you mentioned is what fascinated me and sparked my interest in synthesized sounds that are out of this world.
Maybe that's why Drambo has become my synthesis buddy for years. Freedom in synthesis so to say.
I just found a nice list of orchestra members in a 1983 "Electronics and Music Maker" magazine 😉
(More at http://tomita.org/interviews.html)
Isao Tomita and the Plasma Symphony Orchestra:
Conductor: lsao Tomita
Assistant conductor: Roland MC-8/ MC 4
Concert Master Moog III
1st violin: Moog III/Moog System 55
2nd violin: Roland System 100
Viola: Synclavier II
Flute, Piccolo: Moog III/Synclavier II
Oboe, English Horn: Prophet 5/Synclavier II
Clarinet, Bass-Clarinet: Prophet 5
Bassoon: Moog III/Yamaha CS 80
Horn Synclavier II/Moog III/Emulator (Mute-Roland GE-810)
Trumpet: Synclavier II/Prophet 5 (Mute-Roland GE-810)
Trombone: Moog III (Mute-Roland GE-810)
Tuba: Moog III
Percussion: Linn LM-1 Drum Computer/Roland Rhythm-Composer TR 808
Timpani: Emulator
Harp: Yamaha CS 80/Roland Jupiter 4
Guitar: Synclavier II
Piano: Yamaha Automatic Piano/Synclavier II
Celesta: Prophet 5/Synclavier II
Whistler: Moog III
Choir: Mellotron/Roland Vocoder Plus VP-330/Yamaha CS 80
E&MM (Electronics and Music Maker) magazine, February 1983
The re-creation and tribute is absolutely on target.
But I do wish you had another composer with more memorable music since Tomika’s choices
would make me chuckle because I knew the Ravel orchestrations of the piano score since every concert band I played with also had a concert version of those themes. Familiarity is so important
to pull in a larger audience,
Watch Disney’s “Fantasia” for concert music that more listeners might recognize. The Rite of Spring
is a personal favorite but not anywhere as famous as the rest since many come from the world of ballet. Prokofiev is also ripe for re-orchestration with your synth tribute: “Romeo and Juliet” comes to mind while “Peter and the Wolf” is a more recognized work. Of course, liking the music is key given the effort to do Tomita and the original composer justice with your results.
Wondering how a piece like Prokofiev's "Danse Of The Knights" would sound with a synth orchestra 🤔
There is a great preset bank available for Synthmaster 2 iOS called Nori Ubukata Historic Synth Giants Vol4, it has many Tomita sounds, even the “boo bah” vocal sounds and there are whistles by the handful, bells, harpsichord, operatic female type voices plus many more and all typically Tomita sounding.
Hey Mike, thanks for the feedback and the info about synthmaster. Have to confess I don't know this thing, yet. I try to stick with as few as possible instruments (Moog, Mellotron and FX), since Tomita himself was also very limited in regards of gear, especially in the beginning. Nevertheless, he did miracles with it. It's pretty hard and costs a lot of time and nerves to work like this but it's important for the outcome to walk right this way - I guess. I had to recreate all patches from scratch that I know mainly from listening to Pictures/Snowflakes. This took ages but it opened the doors to Tomita's universe, it's crucial to focus on all the details he implemented in his adaptions. Not that I would understand even half of it and I got only a glimpse of how he did the mixing, layering, patching. But the more time passes, the more I stick to the "oldschool" stuff, the more I get a feeling for how he did what he did. Would be like cheating for me to use ready to go patches, but I will have a look, though.
Hey, thanks, and yes, was the same for me. Always dreaming to go this direction and technology meanwhile made it possible.
There is plenty of great music I also would love to hear in Tomita-style, but since it's so much work to do it the right way, that it's rather unlikely there will be more than what Tomita did. Except SUNO will be fed properly with every album Tomita did, then this dream is just a mouseclick away. NOT..... 😂
Hey mate, there is no wrong or right way, all you have to do is to listen focused on what Tomita did - and in maximally 10 years you will know how it works, promised! 😁 Tomita himself said a lot about his workflow in interviews and some still can be found on YT. But true, it's actually supercomplex and it takes ages to get just a single minute done. So many layers and there is always the danger to become too playful when using his weirdest sounds. There's a good reason why no one else does this type of music decades later anymore, even the technology makes it so much easier to (re)produce the sounds he used back then. It had its time and now there's no market anymore for new productions of this kind. Barely anyone of the younger generation knows Tomita, let alone would buy any of his albums. It really takes some dedication and nerdiness to stick with this type of sonic universe. It's for us old extincting guys...
Thanks for the flowers, mate!
I guess that's for a lot of us synth nerds, especially the first albums by Tomita have sent sparks to so many minds. Too bad that the era for this kind of music has ended and it's just a silent echo what's left of it. Thus I try at least to continue with another piece in the spirit of the master. But he has set really high standards and no Earthling will ever get there, I'm afraid. No matter how advanced today's technology is, he was an ingenious inventor and had a unique vision.
I don't know what's possible with Drambo, but since I used also just "new-tech" aka Arturia's virtual version of the Moog Modular, it should be possible with almost every synth that is able to substractive/FM synthesis to recreate Tomita's patches. If anyone ever wants this.
Thanks for the feedback! Yes, your last line is the key, it's a matter what you REALLY like when you start doing such a crazy project. I mean, it takes round about two years of your lifetime to get finished (estimated). For me Ma vlast is a cycle that I know from childhood and it is a bit similar to Tomita's choice for "Pictures at an exhibition", it tells stories with pretty recognizable hooks and harmonies. If it wouldn't take so much time and energies to adapt such classical pieces, I would love to do way more adaptions, especially Beethoven, Wagner, Shostakovitch and more would be on my list - unfortunately lifetime is limited. But I get your point, it's really a matter of personal preferences and what triggers us. I wish there would be more ppl on Earth who dare to dive into the Tomita ocean. Tbh I know only one more Tomita-nerd who does adaptions, Paul Shillito. And a Japanese who recreated some pieces of Tomita almost 1:1, but no own adaptions. Alltogether that's surprisingly few dedicated musicians for a planet's population of almost 10 Billions, no?! ^^
Wow Felsenstein,
I’m sorry, I must’ve read your first post wrong, I never realised that was your music we have been listening to, I take my hat off to you, you have great patience, passion and skill to reproduce the mighty Tomita, I’m going to listen to it again, I am astounded.
Easy, I send you some patches for the Arturia Moog and the rest is just a matter of a loooong weekend..... 😂
Thank you!
I'm trying my best and let me assure you, I was often close to give up because it happened so often, that a "simple" sound, I heard in one of Tomita's pieces I wanted to recreate and even after hours it didn't reflect THE spirit Tomita has created with it. Then you ask, why do I do this to myself... Then I remember, what hurdles Tomita had to overcome at that time, how hard HE had to work with all the tape stuff, hiss, humm and broken cables. So, it's rather complaining on high level and at the end it's a fantastic feeling to work with all those crazy sounds and to see, how everything (or most of it) fits together. It took me 3 months to get those 17 minutes done and that is ....goooosh.... just the first out of six pieces. Let's see, where I am in ~1,5 years, maybe in the nuts house....😁
Oh, that's funny indeed. It must be my imperfect English that was misleading you. 😁 For proper listening I suggest a good surround system or at least a strong stereo PA, your neighbors will love it, too! ^^
Felsenstein,
Just had a second listen and I am blown away by your musical achievement, it is absolutely superb, the multi layering, the spacial articulation, the precise use of synthesizers - it’s all there, it’s Tomita down to a T.
You have set the bar high….very high 🎼🏆
Drambo can at least do everything that Tomita's Moog Modular could. I only struggled when I tried to replicate the choir sounds by pure synthesis, until I found out that Isao also used a Mellotron 😂
Lol! It's also for guys like me who are into this sort of strange and wonderful music. You did such an amazing job recreating Tomita's style, so reading this from you means a lot.
I bet back in the 70s, it was even tougher for Tomita to cobble everything together on a reel-to-reel. But he was masterful with his craft! Been listening to him all day as well as reading about him.
And yes, next will be me looking up interviews on Youtube to gain a deeper understanding of Tomita's workflow to see if I can recreate that in something like Cubasis or even FL Studio Mobile! (Then again, I can't use Twin 3 in FLSM, but certainly can in Cubasis!)
Wow your dedication to Tomita is amazing. I visited your YouTube and saw all those Tomita examples, etc.
Listening, I had to smile when I heard that weird bassy vocoder voice type thing like he used somewhere. On Debussy? can't remember.
I have also done some synth orchestration of classical music (a Handel concerto grosso for one) but you've raised the bar too high now. I might have to give up.
I'm not that familiar with Smetana but it worked really well. Looking forward to more.
I understand completely when you say it's a fantastic feeling to work with all those crazy sounds and to see, how everything (or most of it) fits together, I have also replicated many pieces of music from Orchestral to Tangerine Dream, I do it for a challenge and I feel same way as you do, but I have to say….Tomita is one musician who’s music is far too complex (for me) and attempting such a feat would definitely send me 😵💫, all the many fade-in and outs, the stereo swirling phasers, modular synth modulations creating unearthly unique sounds - and no presets!, and everything was recorded perfectly, no clipping anywhere, he was without doubt a genius and for you to carry on in his footsteps….you are definitely filling his boots👌
Synthmaster 2 has dedicated Tomita presets, they sound amazing and authentic, even the Bu-Bah vocoder effect, they’re all in a bank by Nori Ubukata Historic Synth Giants Vol4…..and Cubasis 3 👍 I can’t stop hearing that Bu-Bah sound in my head now lol,
I wouldn’t say it was cheating to use ready to go patches, it all depends how you use them in your projects, only you will know they are ready made presets, they will more than likely sound virtually identical to the listener 😉