iPhone, iPad for Wild Performances: Nonstandard Sequencing, Ableton, Gestures
Whatever the platform, you can expect musicians to do weird things and make noise. (It is, after all, our raison d’être .) In this case, while the input controller is an iPad or iPhone, the emphasis remains on running sound from additional gear, whether an inexpensive hardware synth in the form of a Korg monotron or the ubiquitous Ableton Live. From the iOS inbox this week… Top: nonstandard sequencing . Developer Franz Keller’s Radarhead 19 is one of the more unusual creations I’ve seen on iOS, a somewhat inexplicable (in a good way) alternative sequencer. It’s available now on iTunes . Give it a try, after a short while some rather unique situations can emerge! (In the hands of a real musician, or an untrained explorer.) More complicated apps for musical experimentation are in the works now. Interestingly, many control applications use Ableton Live as the sound source. Via Vincent ( something-wicked @ SoundCloud , Denkitribe has an Ableton control rig with two iPhones connected to Live wirelessly and gestural control via his n-forcer app, apparently not yet available but coming soon. Seen here in a demo at the Apple Store Ginza, and previously on ever-vigilant MATRIXSYNTH . Perhaps more practical, Bjorn of Covert Operators and International Feel Recordings add their own custom iPad control layout app for Ableton Live to the various entries competing for your Ableton-controlling attention (including some on the JazzMutant Lemur ). MB Control resembles some of the Lemur layouts, focusing on touch-augmented renditions of standard control schemes for triggering, mixing, and parameter adjustment. I still imagine this will fail to impress some people who enjoy tactile hardware controllers, but it does look practical, and there’s no reason you can’t put an iPad next to a box of physical faders. No other details for now, so I think this qualifies as a “teaser.” Whether we see similar competition from the Android, Chrome, and Linux and Windows camps I think remains dependent on what touch technology new devices use, and whether it works for control. We should know more as the fall and winter stretch on and some of those devices appear.
