When it comes to getting negative feedback from readers, nothing seems to match our posts about these five topics:
- iPad music software;
- Microtonal music;
- Keytars;
- AutoTune; and
- Anything to do with Jordan Rudess.
Developer Rob Fielding’s latest Pythagoras software synth demo features a triumvirate of the things that many Synthtopia readers love to hate: iPads, microtonal music & keytars.
The keytar issue is compounded by the fact that Fielding’s instrument is actually an iPad-tar.
And the iPad music software issue is compounded by the fact that Jordan Rudess contributed ideas that were incorporated into Fielding’s last software synth, Mugician.
Nevertheless, we actually think that this microtonal ipad keytar synth jam is something that you’ll like – and an interesting teaser for Fielding’s upcoming Pythagoras synth.
Check it out and let us know if you’re ready for microtonal iPad keytar synth jams………
via rrr00bb:
Being able to make the keysize larger in combination with octave rounding makes it easier to play without having to stare too closely at it. And I got echos working in Pythagoras too.
some of us are still interested in the ipad
arrange the notes in a pentagram and then we'll talk
This video really needs Jordan Rudess in it! 😀
just joking… I'm pretty intrigued by microtonal stuff! And this app seems really interesting!
No no, you're absolutely right. 🙂 However, things can only get better because it actually can't get worse.
I like it, Rob is finally taking the step required to make the iPad stage worthy!
Microtonal music? Still? You can't fuck with the Greeks
If there is any actual "problem" with this field of technology, its simply that it too easily confers an illusion of proficiency and importance on the proceedings. I scorned the Tenori-on until Ryuichi Sakamoto humanized it with a piano accompaniment. THEN it came alive as a tool.
As a synth guy, I'm intrigued by new twists in sound, but I feel emotionally unsatisfied by a lot of the noodling of the last few years. No one has really stood out as, say, an iPad soloist the way a good guitarist can manage. You SHOULD listen with an open mind, but music loses something when you have to contort your listening to suit the medium past a certain point. It makes it harder to engage as a personal expression and becomes a study in clever circuit design.
Its one thing to "democratize" music with easier access to sound making and another to dilute it with seductive approaches that don't require enough actual "woodshedding" to give it the emotional weight it deserves. However, I'm always ready to change my mind. I'm just waiting for the field to develop a real voice.
Words to live by.
That's fair – but the "real voice" is going to be someone who jumps in, tries new technologies out and figures out how to make interesting music with them.
Positive feedback for the iPad software coverage. I check this site exclusively for the iPad music articles. Keep up the great work!
Thanks for the feedback!
Glad you like the iPad music articles and hope that we can tempt you over to the hardware side, too, at some point!
who doesn't like keytars?!? Why not? The Roland Ax7 has been on my wishlist for quite a while now. So sexy mmmmmm (:
The reason I visit this site is because of its iPad software coverage.
Hahah, what a nice reply. Unfortunately the iPad is chock full of temptations to the dark side with its realistic simulations of analog (and digital) gear with multi-touchable buttons and knobs, and its tantalizingly almost-programmable GarageBand synthesizers which even have tiny little icons depicting a Minimoog, some kind of modular synth, and a Nord lead! The iPad's virtual synth keyboard even has pixelated wood-grain end panels. Turn back before it is too late!
I was promised Jordan Rudess. And pie.