Have a little fun, make a little noise. Stay safe and #synthesizelove
March 17, 2020 3:06 PM Subscribe
This past Friday, March 13, Korg USA tweeted "Schools, offices, & concerts 🌎wide have been requested to close & with many people self-quarantining & working from 🏡, we wanted to help you occupy your time a little. Now until March 20th, get the iKaossilator App FREE for iOS & Android. Have some fun." Soon after, Moog Music Inc tweeted "A gift to spread positivity, creativity, and expressivity. A moment to slow down, appreciate our innate strength, & experience the uplifting power of sound. The Minimoog Model D iOS app is free for download. Stay open, stay safe, and #synthesizelove" [via NME] Also, check out this Moog documentary, and a demo of the Korg Minipops Series from AnalogAudio1. Bonus: Land of the Rising Sound | A Roland Retrospective.
I downloaded the iKaossilator on Friday and have had lots of fun with it. The Minimoog app doesn't seem to be available for Android so it looks like I'm out of luck there. I really appreciate both companies opening these up for everyone to use.
But the free music app that I have been playing with a ton lately is a mixing/DJing app called Ninja Jamm. It was designed by the guys in Coldcut (the guys behind this treasure ). You're limited to remixing someone else's track, but in classic Coldcut fashion, you can easily remix the tracks into something completely unrecognizable in short order. You have the option to purchase additional tracks, but I'm still having a grand time playing with the dozen or so available for free.
It's not a synth per se like the apps mentioned by filthy light thief, but it's a wonderful way to pass the time.
posted by vverse23 at 3:55 PM on March 17, 2020 [2 favorites]
But the free music app that I have been playing with a ton lately is a mixing/DJing app called Ninja Jamm. It was designed by the guys in Coldcut (the guys behind this treasure ). You're limited to remixing someone else's track, but in classic Coldcut fashion, you can easily remix the tracks into something completely unrecognizable in short order. You have the option to purchase additional tracks, but I'm still having a grand time playing with the dozen or so available for free.
It's not a synth per se like the apps mentioned by filthy light thief, but it's a wonderful way to pass the time.
posted by vverse23 at 3:55 PM on March 17, 2020 [2 favorites]
Great post, thanks!
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 3:57 PM on March 17, 2020
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 3:57 PM on March 17, 2020
Recreate the sounds of the rare 70s optical organ Optigan on #iOS – free this week https://cdm.link/2020/03/70s-optical-organ-optigan/ @optigandotcom
- @cdmblogs
posted by ODiV at 4:05 PM on March 17, 2020 [8 favorites]
- @cdmblogs
posted by ODiV at 4:05 PM on March 17, 2020 [8 favorites]
It's not free, but I highly recommend the Korg Gagdet for Nintendo Switch. We got it for my kid for Christmas this year and it's a lot of fun.
posted by soren_lorensen at 4:48 PM on March 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by soren_lorensen at 4:48 PM on March 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
I just downloaded iOptigan and it's SO MUCH FUN. The old play-along music disks are so wonderfully tacky!
posted by moonmilk at 5:05 PM on March 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by moonmilk at 5:05 PM on March 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
Starting immediately, and for the foreseeable future, we're making Voltage Modular Nucleus FREE for everybody. It's a complete modular synthesis package, with 22 modules and over 130 presets, for OSX and Windows.
Stay home, stay safe, make some music, and learn to master modular synthesis. We'll all get through this together
- Cherry Audio
posted by ODiV at 5:11 PM on March 17, 2020 [7 favorites]
Stay home, stay safe, make some music, and learn to master modular synthesis. We'll all get through this together
- Cherry Audio
posted by ODiV at 5:11 PM on March 17, 2020 [7 favorites]
More cheap-but-not-free recommendations: my all time favorite iOS synth apps are Xynthesizr and Nanoloop.
posted by q*ben at 6:06 PM on March 17, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by q*ben at 6:06 PM on March 17, 2020 [3 favorites]
The Moog Model D requires a recent version of MacOS so won't install on older devices that can't take the OS upgrade. Arturia's Mini Moog emulator (paid) is quite good and that runs on my old iPad. iKaossilator is a fun interactive beat generator.
posted by AppleSeed at 8:34 PM on March 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by AppleSeed at 8:34 PM on March 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
I have no idea what I'm doing with the iKaossilator, but it's darn fun!
posted by vespabelle at 9:30 PM on March 17, 2020
posted by vespabelle at 9:30 PM on March 17, 2020
I take it you all know/have/love Bebot, the friendliest of robosynths?
posted by progosk at 1:26 AM on March 18, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by progosk at 1:26 AM on March 18, 2020 [2 favorites]
For those into iOS music making, Eventide have made their Rotary Mod free and reduced prices on their other effects for a limited time. Also, echo the Xynthesizr love.
posted by domdib at 6:52 AM on March 18, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by domdib at 6:52 AM on March 18, 2020 [2 favorites]
Neat! I'm impressed by the iKaosillator. On my phone, the response to very fast repeated taps is a bit disheartening, at least for someone who grew up with synchronous, physical instruments. I wish they had an easy "undo the last two loops but keep the previous stuff on this track" button. But, I'm really impressed with both how good it sounds if you do shit at random and how fine the controls are if you care about the details.
posted by eotvos at 7:54 AM on March 18, 2020
posted by eotvos at 7:54 AM on March 18, 2020
This is the best! Mental health saver in my household.
Saving my mental health, my wife's, not so much. Moog responsibly, friends.
posted by cottoncandybeard at 8:15 AM on March 18, 2020 [3 favorites]
Saving my mental health, my wife's, not so much. Moog responsibly, friends.
posted by cottoncandybeard at 8:15 AM on March 18, 2020 [3 favorites]
Also essential and free in any iOS music maker's toolkit:
Synth One
It's open-source and unimaginably deep. Browsing the presets will occupy a day.
posted by sydnius at 10:47 AM on March 18, 2020 [3 favorites]
Synth One
It's open-source and unimaginably deep. Browsing the presets will occupy a day.
posted by sydnius at 10:47 AM on March 18, 2020 [3 favorites]
A few more iOS freebies that haven't been mentioned yet, from Verge:
* Tenacious Frog’s TF7 Synth (which is free, but offers in-app purchases)
* GarageBand
* Korg Gadget 2 Le
* Launchpad
iOS and Android freebie: "Pitch-processing app Voloco, which I fell in love with after an auto-tuned cat went viral on Twitter. I highly recommend it."
posted by filthy light thief at 11:24 AM on March 18, 2020 [2 favorites]
* Tenacious Frog’s TF7 Synth (which is free, but offers in-app purchases)
* GarageBand
* Korg Gadget 2 Le
* Launchpad
iOS and Android freebie: "Pitch-processing app Voloco, which I fell in love with after an auto-tuned cat went viral on Twitter. I highly recommend it."
posted by filthy light thief at 11:24 AM on March 18, 2020 [2 favorites]
Figure for iOS hasn't been discounted since it's always free, but as a non-musician I prefer it to iKaossilator in terms of being able to noodle around and make something that sounds nice.
posted by juv3nal at 4:04 PM on March 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by juv3nal at 4:04 PM on March 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
I live noodling around with these....but I don’t really understand what I’m doing.
Any guides for like “sequencing and looping for dummies “?
posted by das_2099 at 7:03 PM on March 18, 2020
Any guides for like “sequencing and looping for dummies “?
posted by das_2099 at 7:03 PM on March 18, 2020
@das_2099, maybe you're over-thinking this. It really means what it says, sequencing looping sound tracks.
Build it up from simple to complex: a drum pattern, a low-notes or bass pattern and mid-to-high pattern, then add extra variety and ornamentation.
Kaossilator gives you a timing framework to record bits on while the existing stuff plays. When you recorded some loops, you schedule them on the grid to play as you record more loops.
And once you've stacked everything in there and it's really busy, play with breaking it down to minimal combinations and building the track your again.
posted by k3ninho at 4:00 PM on March 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
Build it up from simple to complex: a drum pattern, a low-notes or bass pattern and mid-to-high pattern, then add extra variety and ornamentation.
Kaossilator gives you a timing framework to record bits on while the existing stuff plays. When you recorded some loops, you schedule them on the grid to play as you record more loops.
And once you've stacked everything in there and it's really busy, play with breaking it down to minimal combinations and building the track your again.
posted by k3ninho at 4:00 PM on March 19, 2020 [1 favorite]
@k3ninho -
It wouldn’t be the first time i overthought something :)
Thanks! I’ll get back to it!
posted by das_2099 at 5:18 PM on March 19, 2020
It wouldn’t be the first time i overthought something :)
Thanks! I’ll get back to it!
posted by das_2099 at 5:18 PM on March 19, 2020
Many thanks to juv3nal for pointing me to Figure. I always knew I liked those Reason guys. This is the best idea factory for music creation I've ever seen.
posted by sydnius at 9:03 AM on March 21, 2020
posted by sydnius at 9:03 AM on March 21, 2020
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posted by emelenjr at 3:51 PM on March 17, 2020