Akai Professional has released SynthStation (App Store link), a $9.99 music production app for iPhone and iPod touch:
Transform your iPhone into a music production studio. SynthStation transforms your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad into a portable music production studio for mobile music creation. SynthStation gives you three powerful synthesizers for creating and modifying sonic textures used for melodies, chords, and bass lines. Built around Akai Professional’s history in synthesis and drawing on the newest MINIAK synth, SynthStation sounds great and offers wide-ranging sonic flexibility with its virtual analog synthesis.
From the moment you start SynthStation, you’ll know your way around. It is jam-packed with tools to help you create music with the convenience of your touch screen and each section works the way you work. With SynthStation, you can create and save sequences and complete songs. The app contains three different three-oscillator synths and a range of drum kits you can sequence and mix right in the SynthStation. For creating melodic and accompaniment parts, the SynthStation contains an arpeggiator with preset patterns, built-in effects and filters, and an XY touch control interface for expressive control of key parameters.
Features:
- Three virtual-analog synthesizers, each with three oscillators.
- Range of drum kits and sequencer.
- Create melodic and accompaniment parts using arpeggiator with preset patterns.
- Unlimited creativity with effects and filters.
i can't help but wonder about the audio "quality" of these ipad/iphone apps … you definitely can't tell by a video but they all seem to sound poor to me
Yeah, at $9,99 you should expect to get the same sound quality as any pro hardware or software synth.
its the best DAW in the world
I don't understand the idea behind all these companies preoducing
apps for the iPad for like $10.00, but are turning their heads away from
the PCs and Macs. Like the Korg Electibe…would LOVE to have the
virtual version for my PC studio, why won't Korg make one ?
I don't understand why the whole iPad thing is being concentrated on,
it seems more of a novelty type thing than a serious music production tool.
I wonder what the CPU hit is on the iPad while using these apps.
I have a 3.0 Dual Core PC with 4 GB ram with the Presonus FP10
audio interface and I get some CPU hits at 40+% if I have too much
running, I just don't think that iPad could hold up to a serious project
so AFAIC it's merely a toy…or something to fiddle around on.
Like you said a toy, the real Electribe price is soo much higher and theyre hoping to get random people interested in them just from playing with the app.
I wonder if the Lemur people are going to make something….
The iPad provides a mass-produced platform that's a good format for these types of apps.
I'd like to see these on Mac/PC's, too, but there they'd be competing against all the drum machines and samples you've already got.
The advantage of the iPad is that you can spend $10 and turn it into a hardware drum machine.
The big gap is the lack of ability to sync this with other iPad instruments.
Ahhh…so it's not even a toy, but more like
a sales gimick….
You get 16Bit 44 Khz at least in Apps which mixdown to wav
The iPad has more power than most hardware groove boxes and many synths and can become an instrument synced by wifi midi. It is also a great control surface with touchosc etc. I also use it for guitar tab etc, not to mention browsing music sites whilst watching the world cup. I use cubase,pc, mixing desk.etc, but the pad has a place in my studio…..I have no doubt this is the first om many of this type of app….look out for official live and cubase apps soon (not to mention the inevitable GarageBand)
Are you saying that you can sync iElectribe with other instruments via WiFi?
What can you sync it to?
Calling these things toys compared to “real” pc or mac applications is to miss the point. Music software buyers are an incredibly small niche market. This isn’t aimed at us. It’s aimed at growing the market by acting as a cheap, entry-level, gateway drug for the millions of people that like music, and would like to be able to participate. $1 or $2 is the magic price point for this space. Personally, I think it’s great that companies can produce these ipad apps with insanely low development and distribution costs, since we enthusiasts get the benefit. The more practice, imagination or talent you have, the more you’ll get out of a toy. It’s always been thus.
i would say the main goal for these companies is to make money big time, with little funds. hire a couple cocoa programmers and then wait for the money to flow into your pockets…
btw this demo video blows!!!
So…why do PC/Mac DAWs cost $99+? I know I know….BECAUSE PEOPLE PAY IT. Ugh.
Believe me, this is not going to replace your PC/Mac DAW. It's just something you can keep in your pocket and play with when inspiration strikes and you're not near your computer.
Saving in this app is pretty screwed up. You only can save a small number of "songs" and you can't create a new patch without overwriting a preset. Otherwise, it's probably my favorite music app on the iPhone/Touch
Things like this are the future
Been playing around with it for a while on my Touch, the synth part is brilliant, but it keeps crashing it, saying "memory low"……which is a tad dissapointing, hopefully an update will fix this.
I’m pretty impressed with it but don’t understand akai’s claim of being at the forefront of synth manufacturers… The truth is they now own alesis, and the synth engine if anything is based on the micron. I like the app, but would much rather have seen akai make a midi sequencer and drum sampler… The technology is there and they could make a killing with a 16 track mpc for iPad.
Akai MPC Fly:
http://www.freshlikethis.com/music/akai-mpc-fly-ipad-2-controller/
Akai sythstation keeps saying low memory and never makes any sound once it loads up
Don’t work