Developer Oliver Wittchow has released Nanoloop Lite (App Store link) – a free version of his Game Boy style music sequencer.

Nanoloop was originally developed for Game Boy (first release in 1999) and is a popular platform for mobile music creation. The new iPhone version presented here follows the same basic structure and design concept but otherwise it is an entirely new program. It does not simulate the Game Boy’s sound or other functions but has been fully optimised for the iPhone’s capabilities.

Lite Version Limitations:

• Projects can not be saved or sent, only the current status is kept in memory. The current project can be exported to the full version (if installed on the same device).
• Sample memory is limited to five files.

Otherwise, the lite version is fully functional and shares all features of the full version:

• Straight, minimalistic graphical interface
• Pattern-based stepsequencer
• 6 channels, each can be synth or sampler
• Song editor with loop function
• Synth with envelope, filter, lfo etc
• Sample on the fly
• Re-sampling

Synth

The simple but powerful synthesizer allows to create a great bandwidth of sounds, including beats, noises, basses and pads. Available synthesis types are:

• rectangular wave with filter
• FM
• LFSR noise generator

Each synth channel is two-voice polyphonic and an additional stereo effect can be applied.

Sampler

• Samples of 1 sec length (44 kHz, mono) can not just be used in a drum-machine style, but also be pitched and played as notes.
• Samples can be recorded via microphone (iPhone only), headset microphone (iPhone, iPod touch 2nd gen only) and from nanoloop’s own sound output.