Ipad OT type app?

The Lounge Other Gear
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Does one exist? Something with a similar layout as the hardware? Seems like the recent Ipads could easily handle the processing demands. And touchscreen would lend itself pretty well to the OT physical controls with only a few knobs and the sequencer trigs. Seems like a doable thing… Obviously there’d be a lot of stuff missing (physical inputs/outputs, physical controls etc), but would be easy to set up a midi controller for that side of it. Wish I could write code/programs! Super portable OT kind of app would be real handy and fun for times when using the real thing isn’t practical…

On a side note. I’ve been blown away by the possibilities/sounds coming from my Ipad this time round. I barely used my first one for music but I’ve dug way deeper thus time and getting a lot of sounds etc now that are more interesting/sound better than my hardware. Pain in the arse sometimes but it’s such a powerful portable scratch pad/sound bank. Wish I’d taken it more seriously before…

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That would be cool! I’ve been making music on iPads since version 1.
Its quite frustrating. There are many wonderful apps that sound fantastic.
MIDI is always problematic, and many things are hit and miss when it comes
to integrating the iPad in the studio, esp. getting it to sync properly.
I’m not saying it isn’t possible, but it’s nothing compared to the stability
and performance of Electron gear!!
Still, the iPad is a great sound source and also great controller. And a great addition to anyone’s rig!
If you haven’t tried yet, I would recommend Samplr, it’s no way near the OT,
but gives you touch control of samples that is totally unique and creative,
used it in a live gig once, it was fun! Oe first and best apps out there!

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I’m finding that the iPad is great for applications that generate sound and music with a different perspective both on how you create it, and what comes out of it, than more traditional instruments and gear.

Any app that’s trying one way or another to replicate the tactile experience of hardware, only reminds me how superior the Human Machine Interface paradigm is. Many of them are great, but as a tool for composition and song writing, they’re usually tedious.

Apps that generate sounds in new ways, but for the purpose of still using them in music that makes at least some kind of sense, there’e just a truckload of treasures. As fodder for the Octatrack, the iPad is outstanding. I’m dabbling with Samplr and iDensity, and the stuff that comes out of those apps, sampled into the Octatrack, opens up entirely new possibilities.

Ironically, the iPad also challenges hardware of the more mediocre kind. Because the tactile hardware experience only has any real value when it’s implemented well. The new Electribes, for example, they’re solid in many ways. But if you look at what they are, the way they sound, the way you work with them, and just compare them to a well executed app on the iPad that does the same thing - a complete production environment in a mobile package - then the case for the Tribe falls short. They’re just not that good to make a case for why hardware would be better. Provided that you have an iPad, for the cost of a few bucks, you get sound quality and interface that matches that of many decent hardware outings.

But instruments well executed, such as Elektron’s instruments and Korg’s Volca’s, and the Tempest and so on - the iPad experience only goes to prove that there’s no replacing a solid piece of hardware instrument. I’d never ever replace the Octatrack with any app. Nor would I be able to get the results from the Octatrack that I can get with Samplr.

Match their strengths, let them work together, the sum becomes greater than each part. That’s how we reach world peace, though it’s easier to get peace between an iPad and an Octatrack than between nations at war. Except if you go to gearslutz, where the fight must go on until the beast rises from the sea and the seventh angel has sounded the horn.

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I got Samplr a couple of weeks ago but haven’t had much time on it yet. Need to fill it with my own samples and dig in :wink: Vaguely remember being bummed on the lack of extended midi functionality in it tho, but I need to look again at it properly. Yeah Ipad is great. I seem to remember syncing my original one to Daw pretty solidly on one of the few occasions I used it seriously, midi sync was OK if I recall correctly, maybe I was just lucky tho :wink: still need to pick up some kind of midi interface for my recent Ipad, sold my last one when I sold the Ipad. Looking forward to being able to sync to OT for midi sequencing and sampling when I get setup :slight_smile: yeah if someone can nail an Ios OT clone I’d be pretty happy. Hopefully someone will get on it. Seems like ios is very forward thinking in terms of instruments or things that make sequences/patterns, but a bit of a gap there for something like an OT or an ableton clone. The only ios Daws I’m aware of seem very ‘standard’, like auria, cubasis, beatmaker etc. Or kind of hemmed in/limited like the Maschine and mpc ios versions. Someone needs to get busy with coding and nail something like OT/Push 2 :wink:

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Haha, yeah world peace through gear marriage! Yeah I wasn’t suggesting something on Ipad could replace OT, just thinking that with the current CPU power of Ipad there seems to be nothing stopping someone from mimicking the OT layout and work flow for something that’s easy to just pick up and jam ideas/songs together on around the house or travelling etc. re your mention of Electribe as an example of something challengable by ios, I love the OT audio/midi in/out options and hands on vibe of creating on it, but besides those factors I don’t really see much different between OT and Electribe in terms of the argument you mention for ios being able to challenge certain types of hardware. Sure it would never feel as hands on or instant, but most of the ‘vibe’ from OT comes from its code and layout and what that allows you to do. Which in theory is transferrable to iOS. It’s not like an analog synth/box/effect etc which would be audibly degraded in attempting to port it…

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Sure it would never feel as hands on or instant, but most of the ‘vibe’ from OT comes from its code and layout and what that allows you to do. Which in theory is transferrable to iOS. It’s not like an analog synth/box/effect etc which would be audibly degraded in attempting to port it…[/quote]
I agree with you on every single word. Which is why the iPad is interesting as a manipulator of existing sound - samples - or abstract sounds - granular type stuff.
So in terms of power and what you can do, I’d imagine the iPad is capable of beating the crap out of OT. Dress it up with hardware to match, and you’d have killer stuff.
Which only goes to prove that Elektron’s instruments are something more than just the power their boxes contain. Akai has been dabbling with hardware interfaces to create an MPC experience on the iPad, and failed miserably.
But there’s something interesting there, like with Ableton’s positioning of Push2. They’re hiding the computers as much as they can. We want Push2 to do the music on its own. It can’t, it doesn’t, but we’d like it to (some of us anyway - enough for Ableton to make movies where computers don’t show).

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Before I got my Octatrack, I used the excellent app Grain Science to cover my sample mangling needs (as well as Samplr). You can get pretty wild with it. Also have a look at Mitosynth from the same developer. Even if you don’t use either app as an OT replacement (if anything, they compliment each other well), still very much worth the money.

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The Octatrack UI is so idiosyncratic that I don’t think the iPad musician community would be all that enthused about a UI that attempts to replicate the Octatrack experience. I enjoy playing with my Octatrack, but I could see an iPad muso with zero previous experience being turned off by the unusual UI.

There are a lot of great apps on iPad for sample manipulation, processing, etc. that complement the Octatrack nicely, though. Samplr of course has been mentioned. Others:

Sector - http://kymatica.com/Software/Sector - “Slice and sequence your loops with a matrix of markov-chain connections. Introduce order with the probability-based coin-flipping pattern sequencer. Bend time with warp functions for glitches and modulations. Tweak and trigger in real time performance. Get anything between rigid control and random chaos.”

Borderlands Granular - http://www.borderlands-granular.com/app/ - Granular synth with a lovely, playable interface.

AnalogKit - Quite a few modular synths for IOS but this one may be the most accessible yet. http://www.musicappblog.com/analogkit-review/

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I think maybe my original post was easily misunderstood. I’m not really looking for something that totally covers the OT on Ipad. No way that you could really compare the two interfaces. OT obviously beats it hands down for tactility and purpose built functionality. Just wondered if there was anything in the ballpark for me to mess around on. I just think the layout would work well on Ipad. The step sequencer along bottom of screen, info in centre, knobs scattered around etc. Besides the korg electribe app there doesn’t seem to be anything around. And the korg apps are pretty unambitious. Seems like there’s an app begging to be made that takes advantage of the cpu in today’s Ipad and explores that area more. I think someone could make some good money if they nailed something like that…

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Mitosynth is on my list of apps to check. Looks great. Hadn’t heard of Grain Science, will check it out. Thanks for the heads up.

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How about iMaschine 2?

You can use your own samples and… loops (if you will keep the same tempo).

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Never tried Maschine but thought it was more of a straight ‘track recorder’ as opposed to step sequencer? Will check it out.

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Yeah OT workflow/UI isn’t really going to gel with the ‘casual’ musician. But I think there’s plenty of OT aspects that would. And tbh the OT work flow and UI could be improved with some tweaks/small features added. So to me it’s kinda begging for someone to fill this gap in the ios market now that the CPU is up to it…I guess someone will do it eventually. Keen to see what Beatmaker 3 brings. Guessing they won’t break their own mould too much tho…
Thanks for the app list. I’ll check em out :slight_smile:

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Sugarbytes’ Egoist

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Boom! From the quick trailer vid I just checked out this looks like the kind of thing I was looking for. Thanks!

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Boom! From the quick trailer vid I just checked out this looks like the kind of thing I was looking for. Thanks! [/quote]
I really with the OT had the randomization features this app does. Been a minute since I played with it, but it’s one of the better ones in iOS. Most everything from Sugar Bytes is great, and pairs well with Elektron gear IMO.

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Music IO is great app as it allows you to route midi and audio through your ipads USB, much better than headphone output.

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Borderlands Granular is a very cool app. It really helps me to make those organic tokyo style atmospheres.

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Borderlands, Sektor and Egoist as mentioned here are totally awesome apps and definitely show what an amazing gadget the iPad can be.
I have iMaschine and must say I don’t like it that much.
I replaced my old Push for Push 2 and (maybe the subject of a different thread ;-)) I must say its absolutely fabulous! Mapping it to Analog Rytm is so much fun and brings a different workflow to the table.

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Yeah OT workflow/UI isn’t really going to gel with the ‘casual’ musician. But I think there’s plenty of OT aspects that would. And tbh the OT work flow and UI could be improved with some tweaks/small features added. So to me it’s kinda begging for someone to fill this gap in the ios market now that the CPU is up to it…I guess someone will do it eventually. Keen to see what Beatmaker 3 brings. Guessing they won’t break their own mould too much tho…
Thanks for the app list. I’ll check em out :slight_smile: [/quote]
Well, there are are non-casual/serious musicians who have been frustrated by the OT UI. Little things like:

  1. Thru Machine - by default it is set to not pass data from any input. You must select an input or you will continue to get silence.

  2. Recording Trigs - they default to listening to ALL inputs, You have to select one input or recording trig sample won’t happen.

  3. Lots of button combos to memorize - eg. the one to pull up the track trig display - without that display a lot of us would be screwed because it shows sample trigs, recording trigs, etc. for all the tracks.

  4. Sample slicing takes 8-10 steps whereas on an app like Yellofier or Egoist - you just load the sample and it’s auto-sliced and auto-trigger assigned.

BTW, I forgot about Egoist - that is indeed the closest thing I found to the OT experience w.r.t. sample slicing and triggering, minus the annoyances like the above.

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