Dream Theater keyboardist & Wizdom Music founder Jordan Rudess lets us know about GeoShred – a new iPad music app that features a physical modeling sound synthesis engine and a interface that is tailored to shredding.
GeoShred brings together Wizdom Music’s Geo Synthesizer’s user interface, and moForte’s modeled guitar and effects chain, to deliver expressive physical modeling synthesis. The physical modeling engine lets you control the mechanics of a guitar model – solid or hollow body, nylon or metal strings, pick position, harmonics and more. And the interface gives you direct control over dozens of model parameters and effects.
Here’s a video preview of GeoShred:
Here’s a video tutorial for GeoShred:
GeoShred Features Include:
- Physically modeled guitar sound with highly expressive playing surface
- Modeled feedback, finger vibrato, slides, intelligent pitch and octave rounding
- Extensive editing capabilities and customizable control surface
- Multiple Modeled “pedalboard” effects
- Arpeggiator, auto-interval and guitar style alternate tuning support
- Supports Inter-App Audio, Audiobus and Air Turn
GeoShred is available now for US $14.99 in the App Store.
Was this made by Rob Fielding? (who created Mugician, Geosynth and Cantor)
Yeah, all these apps look and sound the same.
These apps are the best performance midi controller. They are like the poor man’s Linnstrument. I use them for how they play, and they do not sound bad either..
“GeoShred brings together Wizdom Music’s Geo Synthesizer’s user interface, and moForte’s modeled guitar and effects chain”
So the UI is definitely based on Rob’s work, but I do not know if he was directly involved in GeoShred.
Maybe Jordan or Rob can weigh in on this.
The performance surface is indeed based on Rob’s work with extension to support generalized tuning. The underlying Physical Modeling Engine is based on the research of Dr. Julius O. Smith III from Stanford/CCRMA
MoForte SMS’ed me the other day to let me know that I’m in the credits. I haven’t used it yet because I only have a super-old iPad with a broken headphone Jack. 🙂
It’s all good. I welcome this with total enthusiasm. Even if there were no credit written down anywhere, anything I contributed is super-documented on YouTube. I am good friends with Jordan, Kevin, Jesse (ThumbJam), etc. But I don’t do any iOS dev these days.
No. They consulted me a few times on Skype, and probably reused some of the actual code (which I recommended against – fresh code is easier in the end). But this is entirely the work of MoForte, and particularly Julius Orion Smith III – who writes the synthesis books that a lot of synth developers learned from. I can’t f-ing believe that Jordan got JOS3 to do this engine. My opinion is that this app is incredible, and Craig Anderton thinks so. 🙂 Too bad I couldn’t really contribute to this incarnation.
The closest I come to doing app development these days is making MIDI “pedals” for doing quartertone shredding on normal keyboards. (ie: Exotic fully quartertone scales with $20 in Arduino parts and cut-up MIDI cables)
I couldn’t wait and got it and it is indeed great. Thank your for all your previous work. I think you are one of the rare people who understood how to transform a touchscreen into a true performance instrument. Do you have any plans to bring a Mugician/Geosynth type instrument to Windows or VST in the future? I remember seeing a video with Jordan playing with a Mugician like app on a 27 inch touchscreen for a presentation, did you made that one?
Do you have a link to those? That sounds awesome.
Jordan is a talented guy, a really virtuoso who is also is quite musical in his never ending synth solo exploits…. and yet everything I see him do lacks one simple thing……..
TASTE
Obviously this i just my opinion, but everything he does screams out “look at me look at me”
Sometimes subtly and playing one note instead of 74 is not such a bad thing… He’s the Celine Dion of the synth world!!
Midi in and out?
Great to see a genuine physical modelling sound engine coupled to an interesting play surface!
I’m keeping my Telecaster & Fuzz pedals…
I’m keeping my guitars and FX too but what is your point? This is a great app and an instrument in its own right. I would certainly make use of this.
Can’t find the point ? The point is right here in my old guitar…
The mistake some people make is thinking this piece of software or technology needs to sound EXACTLY like a real guitar and if it doesn’t then it’s a waste of time. I have a guitarist friend with that attitude and he hates all of the software amp simulators. He has real valve amps so has a snobbish attitude. Missing the point entirely. New technology has its place in music and it’s up to the artist to use it or not use it. I have real guitars. Would I use this software in place of a real guitar? No. I would use it in the same way Jordan Rudess uses it. He plays real keyboards but also likes the challenge of making a tablet of metal and glass sound like music.
Man you’re taking this way too seriously. I use both analog and software (Positive Grid BIAS Desktop) but i’m not going to play electric guitar with a software, just like i’m not going to play a synthetiser with my Telecaster; it’s counterproductive and a waste of precious time trying to recapture the sound of a real instrument that already sounds amazing. They are obvious reasons why real instruments are still here and beloved…
Despite the negativity here… this is a very well engineered app and the end result is very impressive.
I don’t see much negativity here.
And I also don’t see how this is especially well engineered app either.
I like the note layout, but the synth doesn’t sound good to me. The mention of physical modelling sounds exciting, but the actual sounds in the demo are nothing to write home about.
The overall design and functionality is “well engineered”. The representation of the fretboard, The way you can slide and bend notes,, the auto octave switching and shredding. The way you can edit the layout and function of FX. It”s a very expressive controller and Jordan’s skill at playing a piece of flat glass clearly demonstrates. Now, you can simply ignore all of the design aspects and only listen to the sounds and say… that doesn’t sound great. That doesn’t sound like a real guitar.
Looks like a fun app to play with. Always open for something new.
A little bit of bile rises in my throat as I watch hat they do to the guitar sound. The tone is clinically dead.
The tone is clinically dead eh? Does it state anywhere that this app produces a guitar tone indistinguishable from a real guitar? Some of the arrogant/snobbishness here is just facile. You only seem able to make very simple judgments based on the fact that it doesn’t sound as good as a real guitar. There are musicians out there who can and do make music with anything. Music shouldn’t be about setting limits and dismissing something as crap because it doesn’t sound like a real guitar. I thus conclude that you are in no way shape or form: a musician. There… I said it. I feel good now.
You make a somewhat valid point but at the same time you can’t tell somebody that they’re not a musician just because they think an iPad app sounds shite!
I am almost certain I can. If he wants he can slug it out in court with me but I don’t think he’s a real musician.
Here is an example of a more musical use of geoshred. I hope the author doesn’t mind my sharing. He said it was a two part recording, both GeoShred patches. https://soundcloud.com/flo200/cause-weve-ended-as-lovers
Not terribly clinical or dead to my ears, though I agree it isn’t meant to be an exact guitar reproduction.
Well I purchased. Like it a lot. Has some very unique sounds in its own right. Not just for guitary sounds.
The engine is developed with the Faust audio DSP language : see http://faust.grame.fr