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Drop Forge by Brandon Huey (Released)
https://apps.apple.com/app/id6761695678
Drop Forge is a drum synthesizer built for Apple Pencil. Strike the 12-pad grid with six continuous dimensions of
expression at 240Hz — force, tilt, roll, azimuth, and position — and hear every hit respond differently. Finger
multi-touch works simultaneously for players without a Pencil.
The synthesis engine generates every sound in real-time from mathematical models of analog drum circuits. Four
exciter types and three filter types combine into voices ranging from tight 808 kicks to chaotic FM metalwork to
resonant bell tones. No samples are used anywhere in the instrument.
SYNTHESIS
- 4 exciters: Pulse, Noise, FM Burst, Tri-Sine (909 VCO)
- 3 filters: Comb (808), Bandpass, Lowpass
- 25+ parameters per voice
- 20 factory kits, 240 voice presets
EXPRESSION
- Apple Pencil force, tilt, azimuth, roll, and XY position
- Flick gestures: pitch bend, filter sweep, choke
- Draw amplitude envelopes directly on each pad
- All pencil data recorded per sequencer step
SEQUENCER
- 12-track step sequencer with real-time recording
- Per-step parameter locks
- Fill mode, mutes, flams, FX trigs
- 20 factory beat patterns
EFFECTS
- Reverb (Dattorro plate), Delay (tape-style)
- Per-pad send routing
- Tunable comb filter per pad
AUv3 PLUGIN
- Full-UI instrument plugin for AUM, Logic Pro, and Ableton Live
- Host tempo and transport sync
- Runs on Apple Silicon Macs via Designed for iPad
MIDI
- Note input (GM drum map) from controllers and DAWs
- 6-axis pencil CC output at 240Hz
- Clock sync with external gear
16 scene slots for full state recall. Custom kit save and load. 48kHz audio at 2.7ms latency.
Details:
Universal: Yes
Minimum OS version: 18.0
Comments
UI looks kind of fun and the pencil gestures are a novel take. I wonder how it sounds?
More info: https://aftertone.co/drop-forge/
The Pencil’s potential as a MIDI controller is so under explored, very interesting to see this.
this looks incredible, even without the Pencil aspect
two very cool drum synths dropped today...
(Both developers have another app named Lattice too, even stranger)
I noticed that too! Funny
Would it not be a bit weird with just one pencil though?
I might be wrong - haven’t purchased it - but I don’t think the idea is for the pencil to be the equivalent of a drum stick? I just assumed it was imagined to be used by recording to the sequencer and adding beats using the pencil at each pass as required - then the pencil specific performance controls are recorded.
Once again, an app released without the developer making a video demo or any good audio examples unfortunately.
This does look very interesting, great website, these guys are obviously bigbrains with a taste for the avant garde. Their Lattice app sounds so cool. No info about at all though anywhere, no reviews, nothing comes up on Google searches, weird…
Maybe you’re right - they could really make that a little clearer in their blurb 😁
Yeah, they really need a video introduction showing someone using a pencil to interact with the app to show what it can do.
Found an insta page for one of the devs, definitely intriguing, good music there:
https://www.instagram.com/lostoscillator
Nice find, funny to read the original name for the app was „Controlled Substance“
Buggy as hell and missing a lot of claimed functionality. Not sure whether the desktop version is different, but the iOS version doesn't seem to give you access to the '25 adjustable parameters' which the manual says are available for the synth engine. Pencil flick gestures not working. XY control not working. I could go on... Email sent to devs.
Has massive potential, but very disappointing in the current state.
Sort of my experience too. Do not know if you use a pencil, but using fingers it is very slow and sluggy too.
Missing synth controls is criminal. Can't even tune a kick lol!
that really sucks. thanks for mentioning this, I was on the verge of buying it.
on paper, it seems amazing.
I feel like the missing synth engine must be an oversight, because honestly, what is the point of this otherwise? If you can't even change a drum's pitch, it's worse than a rompler. Still unacceptable to release something in this state, imo, but hopefully they'll make things right and fix this and the many other bugs/missing functionality.
Hope this is just a teething issue and it's sorted out quickly. The funky UI and unique approach with the Pencil led me to assume this wouldn't be amateur hour
this sort of rhythmic, p-lockable drum synth is my absolute favourite thing. I am sitting here with my finger hovering on the Buy button for if/when this lives up to its app description
Same, these devs are definitely not DSP amateurs, sounds brilliant, has some good functionality. But they certainly should have tested this release better before dropping it. Hopefully lack of access to the synth engine is just an oversight lol, but it’s hard to imagine something that important would have been overlooked. Fingers crossed, and hope they learn some lessons from this shambles.
Just bought it…because it was showing at half the price it was yesterday for some reason…and, yeah, what a mess (but with great potential). How does something get released with such fundamental flaws? Even the most obvious pencil function - gentle tap for low velocity, firmer tap for higher velocity - doesn’t work; for an app built to specifically utilize the pencil’s sensors! Plus, as you say, no synth engine access which…how do you not notice that in your release candidate?
It’s almost as if they hadn’t tested it on an actual iPad.
Thanks for contacting them with bug reports @Gavinski. I’ll contact them as well but won’t, at this stage, itemize the bugs encountered as I’m sure you’ve found and reported everything. Hopefully they’ll get on top of things very quickly, it could be really good if it delivers the functionality it’s supposed to have.
I reported the bugs to hell and back, pretty much, yes 😂. I hope lessons are learned. The $5 price today was what made me grab this too btw. But yeah... this surely wins sloppiest release of the year award.
Looks like it has been taken off the App Store. Original link doesn‘t work and search won‘t bring the app up
I was planning on taking a gamble and buying it at half price
an AI made app from a dev nobody's heard of, that looks exactly the same as ten other apps released the past two weeks, not tested properly? No way, couldn't believe it if unless you showed me.
The app description clearly wants you to use a pencil on the screen like a drum stick. Oversight or not it's a terrible look and not something you should do, it's a suggestion made by something that has never touched anything in its life, let alone the screens we make music on.
Fuck these parasites of programs. These apps are going to drive sales away from actual devs. If they get them to work.
I was wondering about AI too given the layout, which indeed looked suspiciously familiar from other recent apps (the colors, layout, shapes of toggles, and well the sluggishness also.) I wonder if there is going to be clear giveaways soon for apps, like specific layout choices, just like it is easy to spot AI writing? (Makes me value idiosyncratic app designers so much more!)
This was a very fast refund for me.
I was thinking exactly the same thing yesterday. It will be easy to tell in many cases, and ppl will get tired of identikit generic UIs. Ppl should vote with their feet as needed!
Likewise, I’ve been thinking that about a lot of recent releases too. The saddest part of it, as with all generative AI, is that there will be false positives unfortunately - apps which have been genuinely and lovingly made without AI which are instead assumed to have been vibe coded. It’s that suspicion which AI’s existence introduces into our minds which is so terribly sad for human creativity.
Anyway, who knows whether this one was produced via AI or not? Certainly the condition it was released in was highly unusual.
I heard back from the developer - I expect you have too @Gavinski? The weird thing is that he didn’t seem to recognize the faults I happened to mention or have experienced them himself (I didn’t go into detail as @Gavinski had already contacted him). He was incredibly apologetic and polite and not at all combative, but didn’t understand what I meant by the synth engine parameters not being available and just said that the Pencil gestures should work. He said he was considering pulling the app completely - and clearly has now - and just releasing it for desktop. For an app whose usp is the Pencil interactivity, I’m not sure how the desktop version has much value?
All very unusual and a real shame, it could have been really good if it delivered what it promised (which wasn’t anything that couldn’t have been achieved).
@Robin2 wow, I assumed pulling the app would be temporary. If that's permanent, and they're not planning to fix it, that's a shameful stain on this dev and they should be avoided like the plague unless they do something major to make amends. I have had no reply btw, neither to email or insta message, crazy.
He didn't understand what you said about the synth controls being missing? That's absolutely wild, I don't even know what to say...
Well, he said, “I’ll be honest, I will most likely be pulling this app entirely from the app store and re-positioning it as an AUv3-only plugin for Logic, Ableton, etc.”. Does that mean it’s permanent - who knows!?
He also advised getting a refund - fine for those like me who have the option of Right of Withdrawal but if you don’t?
Yeah, I wasn’t really sure how to answer the synth controls thing! He said you could manipulate basic envelopes and comb filter per pad etc. and save them as a new kit. I just said that there was no way to select a type of impulse and adjust its parameters as the manual suggested there was. Not really sure how to explain something that should be so obvious.
And the response to the Pencil gestures not working was strange too - he pointed out that my device didn’t support the Pencil Pro so barrel roll wouldn’t work (which is correct) but the others should. How can he not realize that the sensors are being detected - live mode shows that - but not applied to the sounds generated as they’re meant to be? Even force > velocity doesn’t work. Very, very odd.
Hopefully he’ll reply to you too given your more in depth reporting of bugs. It’ll be really interesting to hear what response you get.
Been pulled now from the store for now!
Yep, which is good if it's temporary, but from what Robin said it sounds like that's permanent. What a shoddy move, unbelievable...
Guess I need to request a $9.99 refund. You’d almost think that would happen automatically once an app is pulled so quickly. Hopefully Apple doesn’t give me grief on a request.