Free Music Friday: Think Android music apps aren’t ready for prime-time yet?
Coolout sent word to us about his album, The Rise, which was created using Android music apps.
Coolout calls The Rise ‘the world’s first Android album’.
All sounds were created and vocals recorded through an Android cell phone.
Apps used: Virtual Amp, MusicGrid, Electrum, Jasuto, Ethereal Dialpad, MicDroid, PureData/RJDJ, Solo Lite, Chordbot, VirtualSynthesizer, Brainwave Tuner, Musical Bubbles, Silicon Oxide, Buddhist Instruments, Tone dialer, PP-Electone
next time we celebrate the first album only made in restrooms.
And the video show comes from the new iFart app, where you fart into your iPhone and get different colours of green, depending on..
The sheer amount of this android phone pad apps bullshit makes me sick..
I agree…..what next….first album made on new Dell XP2011 PC…what is the difference between doing that and doing it all on an iPad Android TouchScreen hardware?
While I'm here….I hate the way the general public think Apple invented the touchscreen…. f ing idiots!!!
🙂
For justnormalmusic I have one question. Where's your album? made on anything.
The Rise is basically a proof-of-concept, to show what can be done with Android apps and hardware. Android music apps are often not as feature-rich (for a variety of reasons) as iOS apps, so I wanted to see what I could create given those limitations. For instance, not being able to apply a filter or a simple ASDR envelope to a sample, having everything forced to playback at 22khz, or only using the phone's tiny microphone to record vocals. All those little things add up to create a different sound than using a DAW with tube mics, good pre-amps, and tons of plug-ins (all of which I own). Not to mention the fact that most of the tracks and lyrics where created on the go instead of while hanging out in the studio…so to Angry Bob…that's the difference.
Originally the whole project started as a response to The Gorillaz ipad album The Fall (get it…The Fall/The Rise). I liked that album, but I though it sounded too clean. I figured it would be cool to try and make the opposite sound on the competition's hardware, but as I started to write lyrics The Rise took a whole different meaning. I wanted to put some positive energy out into the world instead of just using music to work through my personal issues (like some of my previous releases). It is what it is. If you dig it…thanks a bunch. If it's not your thing that's cool too.
-c
i thought your album was pretty good. what did you use to sequence all the sounds from your phone?
…but using minimal tech to make your album and raving about it is no different than some guys out there using a 303 and an 808 to make minimal techno surely? I am not knocking your muscial ability here Coolout, merely fed up with the way magazines (including synthtopia) jump on these ipad album next big thing stories.
Respect to you however for using Android and NOT the all amazingly is gonna take over the world iPad 🙂 I DO like reading about the Apple alternatives.
ps I own a Mac and an iPhone so I am not anti Mac!
Thanks man. The majority of the sample editing and sequencing was done using Electrum, but i occasionally used other apps to edit also too. Also…I used Astro a lot for moving stuff around to different folders.
I for one applaud Coolout and his album. Ive been listening to it since yesterday and the impression it left is exactly what he stated… full of positive energy… and heart. My only wish was that the majority of the tracks could have been fleshed out more, although as raw concepts, they each hold their own weight. The title track is by far the best on the track and I challenge any budding producer who thinks they could do better using just an android phone and the same limitations to put their money where their mouth is. Yeah its the first album on an Android phone. Can a brotha just be proud of that?
Congrats Coolout. I hope to hear more of your music.
With nearly any kind of
(continued)
technology available to us today to make music, its nice to see someone simplifying their workflow, making the most out of what they have and concentrating on whats most important… the final result.
Chris Randall posted this link that Eno wrote for EM back in '99 on his blog:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.01/eno.html
Solid read. – aymat
Angry Bob –
Who's raving about this?
Certainly not Coolout or Synthtopia!
Seems like only the haters…….
Aymat –
Interesting comments and excellent link.
Seems like Eno can't open his mouth without saying something that's worth thinking about.
Thanks.
Limitation should be at the essence of creation. As Brian stated, if you have limitless possibilities at your disposal, where do you start? How do you start? Its those very limitations that keep people form making their first step and moving right along in order to complete the task at hand. Strip away the options and you must work within a limited set of guidelines and indirectly forced to create the rules which must be followed in order to achieve your goal.
Despite me not being a huge fan of this genre of hip hop (but that's just my personal taste) I quite enjoyed listening to this album… I find it an interesting experiment. It sure is more of a technological experiment, than a musical one, but still, new instruments have to be explored and I think that's exactly what Coolout did here… and with some interesting results. So this album should be analysed not flamed about.
I also find it really refreshing to see someone work on a mobile platform that isn't iOS.
it's really good album! KISS principle : )
Was mixing, mastering, sequencing, etc ALL done on and Android phone? Sample creation, editing and song sketching seems logical on a phone, but I would assume final mixing/mastering/sweetening/rendering done on a DAW. The album is impressive in its own right, but if it was ALL done on a phone (no desktops/laptops involved at all) then that is REALLY impressive. BTW, what model phone? I'm still deciding on which smartphone to get. 🙂 Thanks for the music man!
"I have no use for theoretic freedom. The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees oneself of the claims that shackle the spirit.”
– Igor Stravinsky
What a pleasure to find smooene who thinks through the issues
I think this is great, both the music and the idea. There's nothing wrong with making music on anything you can, and if you want to share it with others so much the better 🙂
If you think about it, it fits right in with the original hip hop ethos of using what you've got to make your tunes – originally a heap of old records, now the phone in your pocket. I still carry an ancient Palm Tungsten around in my bag for knocking together beats on the bus, often sampling odd noises as I go. It's just a cool thing to do sometimes. I suppose some people will never understand that.
I don't understand the negativity on this.
This is interesting as an album and also it's cool that it explores what you can do with just a phone. It's like tracks where people challenge themselves to make a song with just one synth.
I've been thinking about picking up a $100 android tablet, so i can get some creative juices flowing during transit, and this convinced me.
Also, compared directly to the fall, i like this better, that fall had a few good tracks, but a lot were a bit to experimental/noisy for my taste.
Hey man! well done! It really sounds pretty good and the music is great. (Y)