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.
Songwriting app for sketching out ideas in multiple genres
Instead of the many steps it takes to get computer based daws up and running even with a sketchpad or track template setup, I am looking for a smooth mobile solution for getting ideas out quickly and recorded without all the structure initially. I compose and sound engineer in multiple genres including eclectic rock flavored with EDM elements and will mainly be using "in the iPad" sounds vs hardware instruments.
Comments
Hmm. Well the big ones are Gadget, Cubasis, Auria Pro. Gadget might be good for the getting the ideas down with no structure. You can just create multiple scenes/loops with a bunch of layers and move them around later. But it might not provide the "eclectic" rock sounds. I'm sure others will chime in.
Korg Gadget or Voice Memos, probably
I don't mean the latter flippantly; it's still my number one for recording bits and pieces
Heaps of praise for Gadget. Garageband is an underrated app. Garageband is great because you have linear and loop based arrangement options, tonnes of sketch ideas in terms of audio and midi loops, the virtual instruments etc etc. And it probably came free with your Ipad!
Loopy would be my choice.
Otherwise Blocks Wave or GarageBand. But I find Loopy is the easiest to record into, and it's a great way to get initial ideas together.
Music Memos is awesome if you play an instrument: strum a few chords and it magically creates an arrangement that you can then open and edit in GarageBand.
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Apple are missing a huge trick in not making this compatible with IOS instruments, too.
I haven't tried all the possible solutions, but I like Gadget, with most of its extras --- iM1, Module, now iWavestation, etc. It's a big sound palette to work with. If you're not needing to record audio tracks, and you like the "Scene" organization of tracks, it may be the sketchpad for you. It exports Ableton Live projects. It's not perfect. For instance, copying and pasting limitations can make more work. It's a bit of an investment in time and money for the whole thing, and maybe it turns out not to be your cup of tea. Too bad there are no trials on iOS.
GarageBand, OTOH, is free, has linear tracks (audio and MIDI,) is simple, and comes with enough sounds for roughly sketching out ideas. If getting ideas out quickly doesn't require much with regard to sounds and mixing capabilities, GB can do it. Its projects can be opened directly in Logic Pro or GB on a Mac, but otherwise exporting is limited.
They've covered it.
Although it isn't recently updated, I like NanoStudio.
And Roland's SoundCanvas might do it for you also.
NanoStudio by Blip Interactive Ltd
https://appsto.re/gb/JfoYw.i
SOUND Canvas by Roland Corporation
https://appsto.re/gb/S6RX4.i
All of this. If you're not concerned about structure to begin with, I'm not sure there's anything better than Loopy for quick capture and layering of ideas. Make it the Audiobus output and play away. Part of what makes it singularly good for this is the amount of control it gives via the Audiobus sidebar while in other apps.
Garageband is a little slower on the capture side but it does have lots of instruments built-in for zero fuss music making if that's what's you're looking for.
Now for me on the iPhone it's gonna be great that Beatmaker 2 has link cause I can do linear audio and looping with Gadget all tightly Link'd!
Gadget LE
Looper (any)
Infinite Looper (midi)
Blocs Wave
--- other sound sources --
Gadget aint bad, just a pain in the butt to arrange songs in.
I didn't know there was such a thing. Maybe it's limited in sound capability, but it appears to work the same.
To the discussion at large, I think Gadget is great for playing/entering in layered parts via the interface and MIDI, editing those parts quickly, automating parameters, and quickly arranging sections using scenes. And... it sounds good. If you mostly work with audio tracks and not much editing, want to record external sounds, and like to work in a traditional linear fashion, then Gadget isn't the right app for the job. If you do work with just MIDI sequences, internal sounds, and want to be able get in and start making music without any fuss, Gadget is the best I've used.
Awesome amount of responses so quickly. This forum and its participants have a wealth of knowledge. Thank you for so many ideas.
@Bluemoserbike Not certain if most of us have much money, but most certainly plenty of wealth
Garageband for writing and sketching out songs, even if I don't export it and wind up redoing in another app. Usually it just stays in GB though Until I present it to other musicians and we re-record it then.
For my solo electronic masterpieces of outdated Trance styles, gadget
It's worth pointing out that Gadget does have some fairly serious limitations as a songwriting tool: no audio tracks and only supports its own built-in instruments. So it's only good for MIDI only, and as the OP mentioned rock as a genre there really isn't any way to make rock music in Gadget.
The reason Gadget gets a lot of praise is because it's got an excellent workflow, and it is extremely quick to get going in it, but it's definitely geared towards electronica and not acoustic instruments. As a general purpose tool GarageBand is much more versatile, and just as easy to use.
Excellent suggestions so far
I'd add Modstep to that list. Once you're past the initial learning curve, the workflow is even faster than Gadget in my opinion and it supports IAA and AU
For a more traditional DAW style workflow i'd go with Cubasis. Great UI, very good built in synth and effects and a very intuitive workflow
I'd have to recommend GarageBand as well. I'm only recently appreciating how effectively it can be used for composition. Hoping it gets AU effects in January.
Great ideas so far. At this point here are my initial thoughts:
Korg Gadget LE- a cool way to check out this app for free. Basically just similar to full app with less instruments. Interface seems relatively simple but certainly focused with the electronica genre it seems which is not a problem but the lack of vocal tracks would present a challenge.
GarageBand for IPad- I am amazed honestly at some of the new features. Not sure how I wasn't aware of the rather large feature upgrades from previous. I am forever reading this forum and watching iOS apps but missed this one. I use Logic Pro X and Mainstage as the core sounds of my touring rig plugged up to multiple midi controllers and keyboards. The GarageBand interface appears very familiar as almost a less powerful GUI of GarageBand for Mac which is cool. I am going to continue testing this out to learn some more on this and I like the compatible to the Logic X DAW.
I have Cubasis and have had it since first released. Not sure why but I have found this interface more difficult to navigate vs what I have been used to, probably just my issue. My answer for something more complete than GarageBand may just be to learn Cubasis over time.
Either way, one thing that is missing with just using the IPad without controllers is the tactile functionality and feel of controllers. So my next step is getting the presonus Itwo interface up and running with my Novation launch key and my drum pad controller to make these connections the core of any app setup for songwriting. I typically start with piano progressions, build melodies with synth, then vocal melody development then lyrics from there.
Thanks for all the thoughts.
Since you use Logic Pro X, GarageBand seems the logical choice
Group The Loop is great for "from looping to arranging".
Blocs wave is amazing for loop and slicing with arranging orientation too.
Garageband is great if you want to play instruments and mess with similar loopyHd approach.
I haven't gadget but seems it has lots of fans