Developers Jesper Nordin and Jonatan Liljedahl have released a new app, Gestrument, that translates gestures into MIDI.
Gestrument lets you improvise or compose within the scales and rhythms you choose. You can use parameters like pulse density, scale morphing, rhythm randomness or pitch fluctuation to define how gestures are translated into notes. You can play on up to eight instruments at once – all with different individual settings.
Here’s a demo of Gestrument in action:
Features:
- Play and compose music with the swipe of your finger
- An intuitive tool for composers in all genres
- Generate music within defined scales and rhythms
- Improvise freely within a fully controlled musical framework
- Use the internal GM sound bank or your favorite MIDI synthesizer
- Use Gestrument to control other iOS apps or external MIDI programs through a MIDI interface or Network MIDI
- Create and save your own presets and share with your friends or download new presets from www.gestrument.com.
Gestrument is $7.99 in the App Store.
If you’ve used Gestrument, let us know what you think of it.
Such an interesting app, but I really wish more developers would
a. State the sync options more plainly, I had to go from their demo, to the app store to the dev site to find that its Midi Sync OUT only.
b. Support midi Sync IN….paticularly for apps whos whole point is to intergreat with external gear, I dont want to re-arrange all my studio hardware just because the Ipad app wants to be the master , ive seen very good solid midi sync on the ipad these days, it CAN be done, I just wish it could be utilised more.
Thanks for your comment. We will try to be clearer with this info. Of course we would like to have MIDI sync in as well, but we are working on a very small budget and we just wanted to get the app out. Things like record and MIDI sync in is on our priority list and will hopefully be added soon. All the best /Jesper Nordin
Thanks very much for replying, this type of communication is what really makes be glad to play my small part in giving you finances to take your product forward.
After the years of buying hardware from BIG companies that then refuse to even fix critical issues, its a breath of fresh air to start working in IOS where the deveopers are so much closer related to the musicians that they build products for 🙂
all the very best with the app 🙂
Thanks!
For me this is a completely new world and therefore all comments like these are really helpful. Being a classical contemporary composer this was just my own composition method for many years (programmed by myself in Max/MSP using a Wacom tablet as input) before I got some money to be able to work with Jonatan Liljedahl (kymatica.com) who has done some great apps before (BitWiz and AudioShare for instance). But we are both occupied with being composers mostly, so we will try to develop and update Gestrument as much as and fast as possible. Please continue to give us suggestions for things that you find missing!
/Jesper
Hmmm… seems like the kind of ramomized way of working I like. Think I have to chack this one out.
“(programmed by myself in Max/MSP using a Wacom tablet as input)”
Is this somewhere to be bought?
That is, not MAX/MSP, but the program you made:)
Gestrument is like a breed between SoundPrism Pro and Alchemy mobile.
Great app with a huge potential. I played around with it this evening and I like is a lot. It reminds me a little bit of an early app called iHolophone.
Great experience to make this app’s acquaintance. 🙂
No – I wouldn’t want to give that patch to my worst enemy;-) No, it’s pretty stable and functioning, but it’s messy as hell since I always came up with new things to implement… Some of them will make their way into the app and some won’t. Thanks for all the positive feedback! /Jesper
I sent a longer message, but MIDI CCs per finger touch would be killer.
We have talked about CC’s and will try to include it somehow – not sure how yet, but it will definitely come one way or the other. Thanks for the feedback!
Wouldn’t it be nice to have more scales readily available at your fingertips – e.g. similar to the instrument buttons on the bottom ?
Great app! !’m really considering of getting an ipad because of this app,
as I am searching for a creative arpeggiator for my synths/samplers, especially
with a changeable scales & couldn’t find any until now.
Can I save my own scales?
How many scales are already available?
I would also love to see an option for instant scale-change.
The scales are completely abandoned in the sequencer/midi/synthesizer world.
Can’t understand why. It would be such an important tool.