Master FX to deliver real-time audio effects for iPad

Master FX to deliver real-time audio effects for iPad

15th Nov 2013

Blend in pre-recorded audio with live effects

Developers iMusicAlbum have this week released a new effects processor for iPad, titled Master FX.

Primarily intended for use with guitar, vocals and synths, the low-latency, real-time effects unit also supports Audiobus, and can therefore be used within a variety of other musical applications.

Users will be able to meddle with up to six effects at once, form a built-in range that includes a 3-Band parametric equaliser, chorus, flanger, pitch modulation, delay, reverb and compression.

Check out the video to see the app in action and - if you're tempted - you can find out more from Master FX on the App Store.

Master FX App

Evolve an idea

Start with an idea (any idea at all!) and write it down somewhere. Then try to find one way to evolve that idea into something more. Repeat with the new idea, then again, and again.

In other words take an idea and just run away with it. And see where it may lead you. As long that you are sticking the same subject of course. Going off course is just going to confuse yourself, and any one else that is trying to follow what you are doing. If you need help with this idea I would say google it, or do a search the internet for examples, and my favorite go on YouTube to find example.

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Why Musicians Are Being Warned About Upgrading To Apple’s iOS 7

Why Musicians Are Being Warned About Upgrading To Apple's iOS 7

By Eliot Van Buskirk of Evolver.fm.

Apple’s iOS platform is widely considered by musicians (at least the ones who care about such things) to be the superior mobile platform for music creation, because Android isn’t up to the task.

However, as millions of iOS users the world over keep checking iTunes and their devices for Wednesday’s iOS 7 upgrade to appear, audio app developer Audiobus warns those who make music on iOS to avoid iOS 7 like the plague, due to “a wide variety of bugs that are causing performance problems, crashes and other problems in a large number of music apps.”

Audiobus, which makes a really neat app for routing audio between music apps (so you can play keyboards in one app, add effects in another, and record the result in yet another, as one example), issued an email to all of its users warning them not to install iOS 7.

Audiobus’ Michael Tyson then took to the forums to hint at what these problems might be, although he was barred by Apple’s NDA, agreeing with which was a requirement for testing iOS 7 early, from going into detail about these problems. But apparently, it’s not just an issue with Audiobus’ ability to route audio, but rather systemic issues that will affect some audio apps even when used on their own.

“This is not a warning specific to Audiobus,” wrote developer Sebastian Dittmann. “Most importantly: We’re just urging musicians to wait for the point release (iOS 7.0.1+). iOS 7 is shiny and new and it might be great for anything not related to music production right from the start.”

If you enjoy making, DJing, producing, writing, or adding effects to music with an iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch — or even rely on one for on-stage performance — Audiobus’ warning appears to be the real deal. As Dittmann mentions, this does not mean iOS 7 will have issues for people who don’t make music with iOS.

Update: Audiobus developer Sebastian Dittmann responded with a bit more detail on what’s going on here. The short story: The most serious bug appears to happen when someone calls you, or another audio event happens, as you’re recording. Also, if you use an older iOS device for music creation, the upgrade will slow down your machine to the point that some audio apps won’t work as well.

First of all: We’re trying to not to make a big story out of this, because we don’t want to hurt Apple or annoy them. But we felt like telling users about this because we feel responsible for iOS musicians who want the shiny new OS but don’t know how to downgrade and restore from a backup should they run into problems.

There are a few issues with iOS 7 right now, first of all the lower general performance on older devices (which of course impacts the performance and usablity of audio apps as well). Then there are changes in the OS that require some apps to update the SDKs they’re using (Audiobus and some other third party SDKs). Many developers are really on top of things, but some apps might not have been updated yet. Having said that, we consider Audiobus to be ready for iOS 7 even or especially since now 300 apps are compatible with it.

As with any new OS release there might be problems that we haven’t encountered yet. There have been changes in UI, CoreAudio, network and App Store related components. We’re still investigating some bugs regarding USB audio interfaces but we’re still in the process of nailing them down before we can be more specific.

There’s another bug that we’re considering severe enough to actually make that statement earlier which appears whenever a phone call or another audio event interrupts an existing audio recording session.

While Apple has given users an easy way to download older versions of apps just recently, there’s still no easy way to downgrade to older versions of the operating system. Until that happens, we’re felt obligated to issue a warning.

I’m sure Apple is doing everything they can to fix bugs as fast as possible and I trust they’ll fix all the things I’ve mentioned above in the next point releases.

Another update: Our friends at Create Digital Music agree: People who make music with iOS should not install iOS 7. Yet.

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Focus on the really difficult parts

Magnify the really difficult parts of what it is you're trying to do. If you look at them close enough can you see ways to make them easier or to get past them?

This is one of those creative ideas where you may have to take some time to do. Cause you may have to look really close to what you have and really narrow down, or even research for solutions to whatever the problem may be.

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Write about being stuck

Write about what you think is keeping you from getting in the flow and what it feels like. Writing down your reasons for being out of the flow is an easy way to find potential ways to get in it.

Basically, write it out everything that is keeping you from moving from point A to point B in your project. And maybe while your writing it out the solution may come to after all that so give it try to see what happens.

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Heyku post 4

This night I can't remember what the date was but in the first line" football game." I was watching a preseason football game( I don't remember who was playing), but that was what I was watching at the time. Second line: "2:30 a.m. working on music" this was the time when I was most likely copyrighting music at that time. The third line "trying to be creative best" I was trying to be creative at my best at the time.

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Bargain Alert: Arpeggionome for iPhone Is Free Today

The great thing about app developers trying to become popular in the iTunes App Store by dropping their prices is that those price drops are real. If your timing is right, you can save a bundle on music apps –and the developer doesn’t mind, because in the process, you’re just making their app more popular, so that they can then switch the price back to where it was and capitalize on the sudden surge in popularity that came from the price drop.

Today, Arpeggionome for iPhone is free in iTunes (we’ve seen it cost $3-$5 in the past). This app lets you make music on a grid, sort of like Monome. For more information on why you might want it, check out our exclusive interview with its creator, who rode this thing all the way from a Music Hack Day to #8 in the music app section of the iTunes App Store. (The “pro” iPad version still costs $15 today.)

Here’s Arpeggionome for iPhone controlling the Animoog app:

Bargain Alert: Arpeggionome for iPhone is free.

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Amazing 33 1/3 album series is now avaliable in Apple iBooks

This is a great article that I had found on Evolver.fm. Read and enjoy.

June 18, 2013 at 11:48 amby Eliot Van Buskirk
Amazing 33 1/3 Album Series Is Now Available as Apple iBooks

If you’ve ever read a book in Continuum’s excellent 33 1/3 series about an album that changed your life, you know why we would argue that they are exactly what music needs. It’s all about context, and if your love for (or interest in) a particular album knows no bounds, these “deep dives,” to use the parlance of our times, are well worth reading.

In our interview with the series’ founder David Barker, we learned that there was no plan to make app versions of these much-beloved books. Now, at least, they’re for sale in the iBook store, so in a sense, they have arrived on iOS.

Bonus: From today, June 18, until July 2, every book in the series will cost $5. Prices will increase after that.

If reading’s not your style, twenty-five of the eighty-six 33 1/3 books are also available in audiobook form (thanks, Michael), so you can listen on your PodTrain or ExerWheel instead of seeing with your EyePods.

Here’s the complete list (the below links go to the publisher, but you can find them on iTunes). Surely, there’s something here you like (also, see the interview):

1 Dusty in Memphis- Dusty Springfield 1969 Warren Zanes
2 Forever Changes -Love 1967 Andrew Hultkrans
3 Harvest -Neil Young 1972 Sam Inglis
4 The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society -The Kinks 1968 Andy Miller
5 Meat Is Murder- The Smiths 1985 Joe Pernice
6 The Piper at the Gates of Dawn- Pink Floyd 1967 John Cavanagh
7 ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits -ABBA 1992 Elisabeth Vincentelli
8 Electric Ladyland -The Jimi Hendrix Experience 1968 John Perry
9 Unknown Pleasures- Joy Division 1979 Chris Ott
10 Sign “☮” the Times - Prince 1987 Michaelangelo Matos
11 The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground 1967 Joe Harvard
12 Let It Be -The Beatles 1970 Steve Matteo
13 Live at the Apollo -James Brown 1963 Douglas Wolk
14 Aqualung-Jethro Tull 1971 Allan Moore
15 OK Computer-Radiohead 1997 Dai Griffiths
16 Let It Be -The Replacements 1984 Colin Meloy
17 Led Zeppelin IV -Led Zeppelin 1971 Erik Davis
18 Exile on Main St. -The Rolling Stones 1972 Bill Janovitz
19 Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys 1966 Jim Fusilli
20 Ramones- Ramones 1976 Nicholas Rombes
21 Armed Forces -Elvis Costello 1979 Franklin Bruno
22 Murmur- R.E.M. 1983 J. Niimi
23 Grace - Jeff Buckley 1994 Daphne Brooks
24 Endtroducing….. -DJ Shadow 1996 Eliot Wilder
25 Kick Out the Jams - MC5 1969 Don McLeese
26 Low - David Bowie 1977 Hugo Wilcken
27 Born in the U.S.A. -Bruce Springsteen 1984 Geoffrey Himes
28 Music from Big Pink -The Band 1968 John Niven
29 In the Aeroplane over the Sea- Neutral Milk Hotel 1998 Kim Cooper
30 Paul’s Boutique -Beastie Boys 1989 Dan Le Roy
31 Doolittle - Pixies 1989 Ben Sisario
32 There’s a Riot Goin’ On -Sly and the Family Stone 1971 Miles Marshall Lewis
33 The Stone Roses -The Stone Roses 1989 Alex Green
34 In Utero-Nirvana 1993 Gillian G. Gaar
35 Highway 61 Revisited -Bob Dylan 1965 Mark Polizzotti
36 Loveless -My Bloody Valentine 1991 Mike McGonigal
37 The Who Sell Out -The Who 1967 John Dougan
38 Bee Thousand - Guided by Voices 1994 Marc Woodworth
39 Daydream Nation -Sonic Youth 1988 Matthew Stearns
40 Court and Spark -Joni Mitchell 1974 Sean Nelson
41 Use Your Illusion I and II -Guns N’ Roses 1991 Eric Weisbard
42 Songs in the Key of Life-Stevie Wonder 1976 Zeth Lundy
43 The Notorious Byrd Brothers -The Byrds 1968 Ric Menck
44 Trout Mask Replica -Captain Beefheart 1969 Kevin Courrier
45 Double Nickels on the Dime -Minutemen 1984 Michael T. Fournier
46 Aja -Steely Dan 1977 Don Breithaupt
47 People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm - A Tribe Called Quest 1990 Shawn Taylor
48 Rid of Me -PJ Harvey 1993 Kate Schatz
49 Achtung Baby -U2 1991 Stephen Catanzarite
50 If You’re Feeling Sinister - Belle & Sebastian 1996 Scott Plagenhoef
51 Pink Moon -Nick Drake 1972 Amanda Petrusich
52 Let’s Talk About Love -Celine Dion 1997 Carl Wilson
53 Swordfishtrombones -Tom Waits 1983 David Smay
54 20 Jazz Funk Greats - Throbbing Gristle 1979 Drew Daniel
55 Horses -Patti Smith 1975 Philip Shaw
56 Master of Reality -Black Sabbath 1971 John Darnielle
57 Reign in Blood - Slayer 1986 D.X. Ferris
58 Shoot Out the Lights -Richard and Linda Thompson 1982 Hayden Childs
59 Gentlemen -The Afghan Whigs 1993 Bob Gendron
60 Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash -The Pogues 1985 Jeffery T. Roesgen
61 The Gilded Palace of Sin - The Flying Burrito Brothers 1969 Bob Proehl
62 Pink Flag -Wire 1977 Wilson Neate
63 XO - Elliott Smith 1998 Mathew Lemay
64 Illmatic -Nas 1994 Matthew Gasteier
65 Radio City - Big Star 1974 Bruce Eaton
66 One Step Beyond… - Madness 1979 Terry Edwards
67 Another Green World - Brian Eno 1975 Geeta Dayal
68 Zaireeka The Flaming Lips- 1997 Mark Richardson
69 69 Love Songs -The Magnetic Fields 1999 LD Beghtol
70 Facing Future - Israel Kamakawiwo’ole 1993 Dan Kois
71 It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back -Public Enemy 1988 Christopher R. Weingarten
72 Wowee Zowee -Pavement 1995 Bryan Charles
73 Highway to Hell- AC/DC 1979 Joe Bonomo
74 Song Cycle -Van Dyke Parks 1968 Richard Henderson
75 Spiderland - Slint 1991 Scott Tennent
76 Kid A - Radiohead 2000 Marvin Lin
77 Tusk - Fleetwood Mac 1979 Rob Trucks
78 Pretty Hate Machine Nine Inch Nails 1989 Daphne Carr
79 Chocolate and Cheese Ween 1994 Hank Shteamer
80 American Recordings Johnny Cash 1994 Tony Tost
81 Some Girls The Rolling Stones 1978 Cyrus Patell
82 You’re Living All Over Me Dinosaur Jr. 1987 Nick Attfield
83 Marquee Moon Television 1977 Bryan Waterman
84 Amazing Grace Aretha Franklin 1972 Aaron Cohen
85 Dummy Portishead 1994 RJ Wheaton
86 Fear of Music Talking Heads 1979 Jonathan Lethem

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Slash has a music app

Slash Has A Music App

Cool music apps

Tabletop Puts a Studio’s Worth of Music Gear on the iPad | Evolver.fm

Cool music apps

Tabletop Puts a Studio’s Worth of Music Gear on the iPad | Evolver.fm