Will iPod, iphone apps make Roland/yamaha/ products obsolete

Thanks, dbijoux!

Hey Artemiy...

I have the iPod 8gig that used to be my wife's but no longer or at least til I get an ipad.

I was making(building) my music on the MV88 then I started fiddling with Beatmaker and thought, who ever is making music, has an iPod or phone, and does not have one of these, must be out of their minds or are really uninformed..

I mean what you can do with it is amazing.. I know you say one day making a full song, but I think if you have already a DAW , one of these and a decent keyboard, it's really all you need... Some people told me that it isn't for making anything too serious compared to MV or MPC but since they don't have the understanding to comprehend how to use it is why they say that.. They think it as a toy or those cheap apps that are free that have a little beat pad that are not to be taken seriously.. so this to them stays under the radar.. But the fact is, the end result will be exactly the same here as in any other beat machine since it is your waves that you are sequencing.. And this is just now, once BM2 comes everything I complained about it will be addressed so it will be able to fully compete or surpass the ability of my MV... You're right about hoping they don't hinder the work-flow, but I dont think that will be the case, since they really seem to understand how the process works and how 'easier' is what people are looking for.

what I currently do with MV is I create the idea there and pass it all to Cubase digitally (if you are using analog cables, STOP) and arrange fully and mix there.. Same with BM but It's a bit easier on BM cus I don't have to make record passes to lay out all the tracks.. All I have to do is mute all tracks except the one I want to export,, then export all tracks individually then import them into cubase and make it happen in that domain... If I have a track that has a longer tail end, just so It doesn't cut off too short, then i export it with an extra measure length so i have space to end it and not just get the sound cut off at the end... It kills the need for cables or plugging in and out..

The move I'm going for now is selling the MV88 and getting an i Pad, but am wondering if buying now will be too soon as they might be a newer one around the corner.. I need some educating on this.. But I do see my future in this area as it makes life in production a lot less painful... So I guess I will slowly end up at apple although so far with Windows i have no problem at all and am getting the exact results..

You work in a similar way to me, Septimo. I create beats, phrases, effects and other stuff with various gear, and then take it as samples into GarageBand's audio tracks where I build my arrangement and spice it all up.

Up until recently my main gear to provide the source material were V-Synth, Fantom-G and NI MASSIVE, however powerful apps like BeatMaker, Argon and Jasuto are joining them now quite seriously.

My debut with these works will be this week - I am releasing Beats and Motions for Fantom-G, and they feature about 5 beats made with BeatMaker (out of my own chopped loops), and about 15 basslines made with Argon and Jasuto. This is only 10% of all materials but in the future, with more software of this class, I think up to a half of my sound materials can come from my iPod.

For me it's quite amazing because almost none of these sounds are being created in my home. Rather, I create them in different environments like in the forest, park or one of the cafes - whenever I have some time and some ideas floating in my mind. This is quite amazing. I would never do this with a laptop as I'd never carry it around with me 100% of the time like with the iPod.

Synthesizers have been around for well over 30 years, but the piano isn't obsolete and extinct is it?

Things tend to balance themselves out. I definitely think that all these new music apps have their strengths and major weaknesses. Obviously, there's not a ton of power to them. Its not like you can run and install omnisphere or Kontakt into your ipad and have much success.

Lets face it. There is no force feedback or sensitivity on these devices, so that takes an element out of the playing. Sure there are ways around it (Bebot demonstrated that), but its still not the same.

I definitely feel and agree with the previous post that multitouch is where these devices are going to make the biggest impact. Look at Bebot or Morphwiz. Its like having a scaled down Haken Continuum in your hand. You've now got a $3-5000 piece of hardware in a 10 dollar app. That's where the big deal is. The multitouch allows for a lot of these odd alternate controllers to grab a new market.

And lets face it. Half of this is all related to cost and profit. Does anyone honestly expect to up and sell their original Prophet V or Oberheim just to go to an ipad? Not at all. BUT, what this is going to do is take things a step further than what VSTs have done. If you couldn't find/afford/maintain a vintage synth, lots of us went to VSTs. Cheaper, easier and less maintenance. But guess what now. Now, these VSTs are going to be further downgraded to the point that they're a 10 dollar app in the app store that every tom, dick and harry on the street can afford and play with. Its a complete new market to sell to. The average everyday consumer can now play their own VSTs without having to worry about a keyboard or midi interface or anything.

The other place I forsee these devices changing things is general interface. TouchOSC allows for a lemur like interface over wifi. Omnisphere has an app that lets you control it over wifi as well. You can have your ipad acting as a master controller that's spitting out midi signals for patch changes, or putting up sheet music on screen. I think in a professional rig, this will most likely be where this shows up.

And for those who are saying that Roland won't partner up with apple: Take a look at Korg's electribe app for the ipad. I think Roland might be able to come up with some similar designs.

I think Roland might be able to come up with some similar designs.

Why would they want to?

I haven't even heard many(any) good things about the Electribe App. Not to mention electribes suck. What Korg's goal in diversifying is, I'm not sure; maybe they are simply looking for greater brand awareness. It's ironic that they are known for their analog machines, yet push towards gen-z toymaker.

Going back to Roland following Korg's lead, Rebirth is already out and according to Artemiy it sucks. Of course it sucks, 909's are only coveted in the real world. Rebirth was cool for a minute, but that's only because DAW solutions weren't up to speed/ubiquity yet.

You do bring up some good points tho motorhead. It's all about the interface and $10 apps. Maybe it's unfortunate, but I just don't see Roland dedicating R&D to Apple's product. Certainly there will be a number of developers making some money from it, but the big three? Wouldn't that be almost like shooting themselves in the foot?

Given their position, wouldn't it be more reasonable to simply watch on as multitouch interfaces make or break the way?

On that note, it's a sad day when interfaces become more interesting to talk about than the music. Maybe this will feather in a new generation of sound when we can all be octopeds, but that's a different topic all-together.

ps. +1 for mentioning TouchOSC. There are people already controlling Ableton with that and osculator + python.

I haven't even heard many(any) good things about the Electribe App. Not to mention electribes suck.

it's a sad day when interfaces become more interesting to talk about than the music.

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