fernandraynaud
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1865
Registered: 7-25-2009
Location: San Francisco, California
Member Is Offline
Mood: m'Oudy
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iPhone (and iPad, iPod) owners
There are some marvelous apps for the iPhone/iPad, everybody knows that. There are even little drum machines. If anybody finds anything useful, let us
know. Here are my favorites.
If you don't need special 18th century temperaments, the tuner you will love, and (i betcha) use all the time in the studio, on stage, everywhere, is
Pano Tuner. $0.99. It works better than all the fancy tuners I have, and used to have. It is so fast and responsive you can literally use it to
practice intonation.
There are many audio recorders from multitrack down to mono. None of them are too exciting, they seem badly designed, but maybe I missed something. A
very useful simple little recorder for memos, musical ideas, etc, is ISW Recorder from Tapparatus. It is intuitive, opens fast, allows quick edits in
a rough waveform view, it saves and emails your recordings and is free. The $0.99 version has import export etc.
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katakofka
Oud Junkie
Posts: 811
Registered: 1-24-2008
Location: Cleveland
Member Is Offline
Mood: Gypsy
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I liked this one too....Metronome and tuner..really efficient
http://www2.gibson.com/Community/Gibson-App.aspx
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fernandraynaud
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1865
Registered: 7-25-2009
Location: San Francisco, California
Member Is Offline
Mood: m'Oudy
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I tried the Gibson. Lots of stuff. Try the Pano. All it does is chromatic tuner. Most responsive one I've ever seen. Well worth the $0.99.
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adamgood
Oud Junkie
Posts: 499
Registered: 6-27-2005
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Member Is Offline
Mood: 2.7 koma flat
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Just a quick mention for Android phone users, the one tuner I've been happy with is called:
gStrings
http://cohortor.org/gstrings
It works really well with the phone's mic on my HTC Hero.
Adam
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fernandraynaud
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1865
Registered: 7-25-2009
Location: San Francisco, California
Member Is Offline
Mood: m'Oudy
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iPhone/iPad/iPod 24 track ProTools clone.
Another gem for iPhone and iPad (and many iPod) owners. Don't waste money on a dedicated recorder. Multitrack DAW is a $10 8 stereo track digital
recorder (that can be expanded to 24 stereo tracks for $15 more). This is basically a simple ProTools rig, something that used to cost many thousands.
Remember when a 16 minute reel of 24 track tape used to fetch $150? My last 24 track tape deck cost $25,000. This is perfect to jot down compositions,
ideas, to record a single track live, or to develop a demo of a complex composition.
The Apple bud-mic earpieces work quite well for musical "note-taking", in spite of bass roll-off, and you get mono tracks instead of stereo tracks. On
various models, the headset connector gives different frequency response. But even the 3Gs iPhone records an oud decently, with enough signal down at
65 Hz that you can boost it back up with EQ on your "big DAW".
![iPhoneHeadsetInputResponse[1].png - 39kB](https://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/files.php?pid=76248&aid=16274)
There are third party stereo microphones and line-level i/o for the iPad/iPhone/iPod, for those who want to make studio-level recordings, though I
have not tried them. The Dock connector apparently has excellent response stereo line level in and out on specific pins.
There's a big thread on the HarmonicDog.com forum, with tons of ideas by people working on connecting instrument pickups and multiple mics to the app
at top fidelity. But as it is, using only the most basic setup, this makes an amazingly functional 8 track pocket recorder. Most people who, like me,
use it as a musical sketchpad, won't care about the mono headset mic, the rolled-off bass, or even get the extra 16 tracks. If you want to use it for
producing CD quality recording there are lots of ways to get there, and you'll want the full 24 tracks.
Since you are able to multitrack, i.e. you hear previous tracks play in sync while you add another track, you could sketch or record complete projects
in Multitrack DAW. HarmonicDog's web site includes some impressive pieces that users have recorded/mixed entirely in this program. The mixer (for now)
has no reverb, and no automation, so you might do tracking in the field on MultiTrack DAW and then export the project to your laptop to continue with
EQ and effects with e.g. ProTools, or Cubase/Nuendo or Sonar or (best value) Reaper.
I've tried many of the recorders for the iPhone, and most are written by kids who think music is made by assembling ready-made color-coded loops. This
is the one professional mini-DAW that works well and is intuitive to anyone who's ever used a multitrack tape recorder or a full-featured DAW. There
are all the expected non-destructive copy/move/trim operations, automated punch-in/out, cycle recording, and 30 levels of undo! Whether you work on 24
tracks or just one, this is the ticket.
For import-export it turns the iPhone into a web server that gives you access to all projects and tracks -- you connect to it using a browser like
Internet Explorer or Safari. There are many other options, like the capability to upload material from your PC/Mac (e.g. other tracks or backing loops
to use), and the ability to mix a project down and e-mail the mix as an .ogg or .mp3. The default format is CD quality linear 16 bit 44.1k PCM .WAV.
Amazing.
The developer is responsive, and the requested features, like a metronome, are added regularly, without destroying the clean and simple user interface
that makes this program usable with only the built-in help. The app is surprisingly snappy and multi-threaded, and only gets sluggish when mixing down
to a compressed format. WiFi transfers are not lightning-fast either. OK, it's NOT a quad core CPU in a water-cooled tower.
If you have the hardware, and don't have e.g. a Zoom or Portastudio, you should mosey over to the Apple apps store and buy it; you'll see what it
does. If all you use it for is recording your practice, you're still going to like it. If you don't ever need editing capability, just a simple single
track "notepad", the $0.99 ISW Recorder from Tapparatus might suffice, but what I've found is that the best ideas often come 15 minutes into an
improv, and if you can't visually cut and reposition regions, it's a pain.
On the photo I have a Saz on track 1, a Voice on track 2, an Oud on track 3. I wanted to hear how this combination sounds. The photo shows recording
an intro to the Oud track. I could have done it on another track instead. To add another track, I'd click on the "+". Very simple.
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fernandraynaud
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1865
Registered: 7-25-2009
Location: San Francisco, California
Member Is Offline
Mood: m'Oudy
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This is worth seeing, though comments are in Japanese, but it shows the user using MultiTrackDAW as his main Digital Audio Workstation on an iPad,
with an iPhone used as a guitar effects device with some clever wiring and adapters between them, so the guitar he plays is processed by the iPhone
app and is recorded on the iPad.
The issue, BTW, is using the Camera Kit USB port on the iPad to connect the Roland USB port to which a guitar or mic
could be connected. The dumb part is that Apple changed their dock connector on the new iPad and iPhone 4, leaving out the analog ins, so everybody is
scrambling to find a way to connect mixers, inputs etc, and the Camera kit USB port is the clever answer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JT7dIHBwGaQ&feature=related
For people looking for a better mic, the Belkin TuneTalk (F8Z082) is a stereo mic unit that works with MultiTrackDAW, plugs into the dock port, offers
line in, and should offer reasonable frequency response etc. They are available for about $20 on e-bay! The biggest problem I understand is that they
have a very low level and the built-in preamp is relatively noisy. The just released Blue Mikey 2 at $80 is the preferred unit at this time. It too
offers line in.
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Greg
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Thread Pruned
5-17-2011 at 05:50 AM |
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