Pocket-sized multitrack recording studio
March 12, 2010 1:28 PM Subscribe
Entertaining video tutorial [Youtube, 10 min] of an iPhone app called Everyday Looper, a four-track audio recorder and mixer. (bonus track)
Chorus:
They got the beat, they got the beat
They got the beat, yeah
They got the beat
They've got it, they've got it
They've got it
They got the beat, oh
They've got it, they've got it
They've got it they got the beat
posted by blue_beetle at 2:15 PM on March 12, 2010
They got the beat, they got the beat
They got the beat, yeah
They got the beat
They've got it, they've got it
They've got it
They got the beat, oh
They've got it, they've got it
They've got it they got the beat
posted by blue_beetle at 2:15 PM on March 12, 2010
CRUSH THE LIMITS OF THE AWESOMENESS
you can sing, touch, play
5 euro on ebay!
i love this guy
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 2:16 PM on March 12, 2010 [2 favorites]
you can sing, touch, play
5 euro on ebay!
i love this guy
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 2:16 PM on March 12, 2010 [2 favorites]
I just favorited the FUCK out of this post.
posted by shmegegge at 2:21 PM on March 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by shmegegge at 2:21 PM on March 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
I was just talking about this with a fellow musician friend the other day - we both agreed these iPhone music apps are neat toys, but the primary thing that's interesting about them is they run on a phone. Take away the novelty of that and you're left with just a not-very-capable tool.
posted by DecemberBoy at 2:32 PM on March 12, 2010
posted by DecemberBoy at 2:32 PM on March 12, 2010
I guess, though, that they could open up this sort of thing to the wider masses who aren't interested enough to learn how to use real gear, but are interested enough to dick around with something on their phone. That's a worthwhile thing.
posted by DecemberBoy at 2:33 PM on March 12, 2010
posted by DecemberBoy at 2:33 PM on March 12, 2010
Take away the novelty of that and you're left with just a not-very-capable tool.
If you like to loop, it's not like Ableton Live has a touchable interface, though — so it's interesting to see what that kind of interface a music app designer can create with a touchscreen. (Are there apps similar to this for the Windows tablets?)
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:35 PM on March 12, 2010
If you like to loop, it's not like Ableton Live has a touchable interface, though — so it's interesting to see what that kind of interface a music app designer can create with a touchscreen. (Are there apps similar to this for the Windows tablets?)
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:35 PM on March 12, 2010
I mean, even if you hooked up Live to a touchscreen, it wouldn't quite be the same thing, IMO. More powerful in many ways, but the interface would be constrained to mouse-centric actions.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:37 PM on March 12, 2010
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:37 PM on March 12, 2010
Not true - there are lots of ableton interfaces (some homebrew): APC-40, LOOPLEX, Launchpad, Vestax Controller, and this thing
posted by bashos_frog at 2:51 PM on March 12, 2010
posted by bashos_frog at 2:51 PM on March 12, 2010
The real use of something like this is as a sketchpad. It is useful to be able to put ideas together on the move without carrying specialised gear. It's like cameras in phones. They aren't great cameras, generally, but their ubiquity means that they take a lot of great pictures...and a lot of shitty ones, obviously.
posted by howfar at 2:54 PM on March 12, 2010
posted by howfar at 2:54 PM on March 12, 2010
Yeah, I know about MIDI pads, but they're not really touchscreens, are they? If I remember right, you're basically mapping the equivalent of a single mouse click to an Ableton widget, not really setting up multitouch controls the way this looper does it.
Functionally, Live is much more powerful, no question. Just saying that the interface is a bit more unique. If Live were ported over to the iPad, I imagine the added controls could make for some interesting stuff.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:59 PM on March 12, 2010
Functionally, Live is much more powerful, no question. Just saying that the interface is a bit more unique. If Live were ported over to the iPad, I imagine the added controls could make for some interesting stuff.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:59 PM on March 12, 2010
If you like to loop, it's not like Ableton Live has a touchable interface, though — so it's interesting to see what that kind of interface a music app designer can create with a touchscreen.
True, the interface is novel, but there are all kinds of crazy custom interfaces for Ableton especially and popular software apps generally, as in the links above. The Midibox community (here) are pretty heavily focused on making custom Ableton controllers these days.
posted by DecemberBoy at 2:59 PM on March 12, 2010
True, the interface is novel, but there are all kinds of crazy custom interfaces for Ableton especially and popular software apps generally, as in the links above. The Midibox community (here) are pretty heavily focused on making custom Ableton controllers these days.
posted by DecemberBoy at 2:59 PM on March 12, 2010
That last link of yours is kind of what I'm describing, actually.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:00 PM on March 12, 2010
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:00 PM on March 12, 2010
I'm thinking of starting a band devoted to just gadget-based music. I've got a Kaossilator, and Stylophone Beatbox, Beatmaker (and a bunch of other audio apps) on the iPhone, and I'm gonna soon be getting one of these, I think.
You can have a lot of musical fun with sub-$100 toys these days. Any NY mefites wanna jam?
On preview: What howfar said. I'm having a lot of fun noodling out tunes on the bus with the Kaossilator. When I get better at this, and do something decent, I can go deeper at home, with the wife's Roland and my old Macbook Pro.
posted by bashos_frog at 3:01 PM on March 12, 2010
You can have a lot of musical fun with sub-$100 toys these days. Any NY mefites wanna jam?
On preview: What howfar said. I'm having a lot of fun noodling out tunes on the bus with the Kaossilator. When I get better at this, and do something decent, I can go deeper at home, with the wife's Roland and my old Macbook Pro.
posted by bashos_frog at 3:01 PM on March 12, 2010
Not trying to knock this by any means - I think it's cool. It's just, I'm not sure of the utility of these things for Real Music Making.
posted by DecemberBoy at 3:01 PM on March 12, 2010
posted by DecemberBoy at 3:01 PM on March 12, 2010
Ah... REAL music. I'm on a diet, mostly, so I only get the fake stuff.
posted by bashos_frog at 3:04 PM on March 12, 2010
posted by bashos_frog at 3:04 PM on March 12, 2010
I'm not sure of the utility of these things for Real Music Making.
Whatever you can get away with, I should think.
posted by GameDesignerBen at 3:05 PM on March 12, 2010 [2 favorites]
Whatever you can get away with, I should think.
posted by GameDesignerBen at 3:05 PM on March 12, 2010 [2 favorites]
The touch UI they designed for this app is pretty impressive. You might dismiss it as a serious tool, but it's serious software. A real mic and a real DAC and it would kick a lot of ass I think.
posted by GuyZero at 3:08 PM on March 12, 2010
posted by GuyZero at 3:08 PM on March 12, 2010
I rather enjoy Mixtkl and Bebot on my iPod Touch. I don't have a head set with a mic yet, but when I get one, I will be getting a bunch more of these useless toys.
Oh wait, not useless, I meant fun.
posted by Splunge at 3:46 PM on March 12, 2010
Oh wait, not useless, I meant fun.
posted by Splunge at 3:46 PM on March 12, 2010
I want friends like this guy.
Personally, I am a big fan of musical gadgets like this.
Maybe someday I'll be able to make Real Music.
See Also: Controlling Ableton/max/Logic with your iPhone via Touch OSC.
posted by synthedelic at 3:48 PM on March 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
Personally, I am a big fan of musical gadgets like this.
Maybe someday I'll be able to make Real Music.
See Also: Controlling Ableton/max/Logic with your iPhone via Touch OSC.
posted by synthedelic at 3:48 PM on March 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
Take away the novelty of that and you're left with just a not-very-capable tool.
Jordan Rudess uses Bebot on an iPhone (probably an iPod Touch, actually) in concert.
The iPad, with all its additional screen space, is going to be great for iPhone music apps. The multi-touch screen is one hell of an interface.
posted by LordSludge at 4:25 PM on March 12, 2010 [3 favorites]
Jordan Rudess uses Bebot on an iPhone (probably an iPod Touch, actually) in concert.
The iPad, with all its additional screen space, is going to be great for iPhone music apps. The multi-touch screen is one hell of an interface.
posted by LordSludge at 4:25 PM on March 12, 2010 [3 favorites]
Teenage me would've gone apeshit for something like this.
posted by spilon at 5:02 PM on March 12, 2010
posted by spilon at 5:02 PM on March 12, 2010
I'm a professional musician, and I like the music, like the guy, like the software. Thanks for posting this!
posted by ericbop at 6:15 PM on March 12, 2010
posted by ericbop at 6:15 PM on March 12, 2010
Can we gift this app to flapjax at midnite? 'Cause I want to.
posted by humannaire at 6:15 PM on March 12, 2010
posted by humannaire at 6:15 PM on March 12, 2010
A real mic and a real DAC and it would kick a lot of ass I think.
See, that's the main thing. If someone would come out with a thingy you could plug into the iPhone's port that bypasses the internal DAC (which is pretty bad, being designed for phone conversations and lossy-compressed music) and outputs balanced XLR or even just a 1/4" unbalanced line out, that would be AWESOME. Someone should get on that, actually, it'll make a lot of money. That's all I meant by "Real Music Making" - integrating it into an actual studio.
posted by DecemberBoy at 6:19 PM on March 12, 2010
See, that's the main thing. If someone would come out with a thingy you could plug into the iPhone's port that bypasses the internal DAC (which is pretty bad, being designed for phone conversations and lossy-compressed music) and outputs balanced XLR or even just a 1/4" unbalanced line out, that would be AWESOME. Someone should get on that, actually, it'll make a lot of money. That's all I meant by "Real Music Making" - integrating it into an actual studio.
posted by DecemberBoy at 6:19 PM on March 12, 2010
Actually now that I think of it, there were boxes for the iPod that would output the raw digital stream via S/PDIF, which you could then run into any DAC (presumably your expensive-ass audiophile DAC or what have you). It'd be a pretty small leap from that to what I'm envisioning.
posted by DecemberBoy at 6:22 PM on March 12, 2010
posted by DecemberBoy at 6:22 PM on March 12, 2010
This Lemur touch controller for Live looks awesome. Check out the multi-touch around 1:57.
posted by bashos_frog at 6:27 PM on March 12, 2010
posted by bashos_frog at 6:27 PM on March 12, 2010
> these iPhone music apps are neat toys, but the primary thing that's interesting about them is they run on a phone. Take away the novelty of that and you're left with just a not-very-capable tool.
Is spending five bucks for a toy you can carry on your phone better or worse than several grand on pro-grade hardware you can't take out of the apartment on a whim?
I've bought a couple music toys for my iPhone and I think they're fantastic. I'm learning about sequencing and basic multitracking techniques, all for about eight bucks total investment. The patch cable for the DI box for the soundboard for the A/D converter for the laptop with the Serious Pro Software costs more than that. And the music I'd be making, either way, would be as worthwhile to listen to.
Toys can be great things.
posted by ardgedee at 6:48 PM on March 12, 2010 [5 favorites]
Is spending five bucks for a toy you can carry on your phone better or worse than several grand on pro-grade hardware you can't take out of the apartment on a whim?
I've bought a couple music toys for my iPhone and I think they're fantastic. I'm learning about sequencing and basic multitracking techniques, all for about eight bucks total investment. The patch cable for the DI box for the soundboard for the A/D converter for the laptop with the Serious Pro Software costs more than that. And the music I'd be making, either way, would be as worthwhile to listen to.
Toys can be great things.
posted by ardgedee at 6:48 PM on March 12, 2010 [5 favorites]
Pepsi Bloop
posted by DU at 6:52 PM on March 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by DU at 6:52 PM on March 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
ardgedee, that's pretty incredible when you think of it that way.
posted by LordSludge at 6:58 PM on March 12, 2010
posted by LordSludge at 6:58 PM on March 12, 2010
Absolutely seconding what ardgedee said - this is a $5 piece of software that can be used to quickly sketch out music absolutely anywhere. I bought it after seeing this post, and it works handily with just the ear buds/mic on the iPhone. It's a little like the melodica of recording software, but you can do a lot with a melodica.
posted by OverlappingElvis at 7:20 PM on March 12, 2010
posted by OverlappingElvis at 7:20 PM on March 12, 2010
I've been learning how to use a sequencer lately and this thing makes me wish I had an iPhone.
posted by Pope Guilty at 12:22 AM on March 13, 2010
posted by Pope Guilty at 12:22 AM on March 13, 2010
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posted by bashos_frog at 1:58 PM on March 12, 2010 [1 favorite]