7 New GrooveMaker Packs for the iPad Now Available
August 16, 2010
Club, Techno, Trance, Electro, Rock, Reggae and Reggaeton
In celebration of GrooveMaker for the iPhone app one-year anniversary, IK Multimedia is proud to release seven more new GrooveMaker packs for the iPad. Debuted in April 2010, GrooveMaker for the iPad now comprises a total of 12 style–based versions including Free, Hip Hop, House, Progressive-Tech House, D’n'B, Club, Techno, Trance, Electro, Rock, Reggae and Reggaeton covering all genres of dance music. This also means that all the packs for the iPhone are now optimised for the iPad.
GrooveMaker for the new iPad offers the same smart features and streamlined workflow as theiPhone/iPod version for making music with loops, but also takes advantage of the new larger multi-touch surface to provide enhanced operation with an integrated, advanced controller.
Pricing, Versions and Availability
7 new GrooveMaker packs for the iPad:
- Club
- Techno
- Trance
- Electro
- Rock Ace
- Reggae
- Reggaeton
GrooveMaker Club contains over 189 loops and is only $6.99/€5.49 from the iTunes App Store.
GrooveMaker Techno, Trance, Electro, Rock Ace, Reggae and Reggaeton contain over 250 loops each and are only $9.99/€7.99 from the iTunes App Store.
Alchemy Preset Design Competition – Win $300!
August 16, 2010
New sound design talent is always welcome at Camel Audio, and to encourage this they’re offering the chance for as-yet undiscovered sound designers to win up to $300 by submitting a bank of ten presets.
Camel Audio writes:
How to Enter
Create a bank of 10 of your best presets and ensure they adhere to the sound design guidelines, then upload the bank to Camel Audio the user library. Please pay particular attention to make sure that any samples you include were created by yourself, without using any copyright material. Entries must be in by 31st August 2010 at the very latest.
Anyone sending in presets which meet our high standards will receive payment at our usual rate of $30 for each preset (or $60 worth of Camel Audio software) and the winning entry will receive guaranteed payment for all 10 presets ($300 or $600 worth of software).
We will only accept submissions with exactly 10 presets, we will not accept multiple submissions and we will reject any submissions which do not meet our guidelines. Sound designers who have created a signature Sound Library (biomechanoid, Luftrum, Junkie XL…) are not eligible to enter. Winners must sign a sound design agreement clarifying that no copyright material has been used in the creation of the sounds, and assigning the right to distribute the presets to Camel Audio. Presets selected may at Camel Audios discretion be included in the factory sounds for Alchemy or other Sound Libraries.
Check out the sound design tutorial videos (or the ones on YouTube if you don’t own Alchemy). Also, take a look at the manual, and if that doesn’t answer your question swap tips and tricks on our KVR Audio support forum or in the official preset competition thread.
Good luck!
R&B Swagga released by Big Fish Audio
August 16, 2010
What’s the most important thing you can put into your R&B tracks? Swagga! This unmistakable attitude has been infused into Big Fish Audio’s R&B Swagga. 38 construction kits give you 5.8 GB (2.4 WAV) of drums, bass, guitars, synth, strings, rhodes, organ, harp, moog, piano, flutes and more, all with the smooth, sexy, and confident attitude you want in your music. Some tracks have it, and some don’t, but make sure your tracks have that Swagga.
- .81 GB of total content (2.48 GB of 24-bit WAV files)
- 881 Acidized WAVs
- 881 Apple Loops
- 576 REX2 Files
- 38 Construction kits
- Also included are the Drum Tracks and the Drum Hits to create your own Drumloops!
This product is compatible with:
- Acid
- Adobe Audition
- Akai MPC4000
- Battery
- Cubase
- Digital Performer
- Drumcore
- FL Studio
- GarageBand
- Live
- Logic
- Nuendo
- ProTools
- Reaper
- Reason
- Record
- RMX
- SampleTank
- Sonar
- Studio One
Away in a Manger (alternative tune): Mastering Christmas Carols on the Piano and Keyboard
August 16, 2010
Click on any of the music scores to view/print higher resolution versions
View a range of Christmas Carols Music Books
How to play Away in a Manger on the piano or keyboard. Note that this is an alternative (some might say the original) version of the melody. The British version of Away in a Manger is also available.
View a range of Christmas Carols Music Books at Amazon.
Introduction
Like Silent Night and We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Away in a Manger is in 3/4 (Waltz) time.
It’s written here in F major, which is a comfortable key for most people to sing it in.
Main Melody
The melody is quite different to the alternative version. There’s more variation here, though there is a hint of repetition between the two halves.
Here’s the complete melody written out on the treble clef stave, as you’d play it with the right hand:
Listen to the melody (MIDI file, should play directly in your browser. Alternatively, iTunes or Quicktime will play it).
Those notes are:
- – C | C Bb A | A G F | F E D | C C | C D C | C G E | D C F | A C | C Bb A |
A G F | F E D | C C | Bb A G | A G F | G D E | F
Single Note Bass Line
Here’s how to add a single bass note to each bar to add a little harmony. In fact, it only uses three different notes — C, F and Bb.
Melody and Accompaniment
The final version features the playing of chords in the right hand, with the melody note as the highest, plus two bass notes an octave apart in the left hand.
Note that the lowest one or two notes in each right hand bar are held for the duration (three beats) while the melody notes are played. This can either be done by physically holding the notes down (if comfortable), using the sustain pedal, or a combination. See what sounds the best — generally sustaining a whole bar when there are only a few melody notes in each will still give a pleasing sound without fear of notes running too much into one another.
I hope you find this guide useful for helping you to play Away in a Manger.
View a range of Christmas Carols Music Books
Series Index: Mastering Christmas Carols on the Piano and Keyboard
Away in a Manger: Mastering Christmas Carols on the Piano and Keyboard
August 13, 2010
Click on any of the music scores to view/print higher resolution versions
View a range of Christmas Carols Music Books
How to play Away in a Manger on the piano or keyboard. Note that this is the English version of the melody. Here is a well-known alternative tune for Away in a Manger.
View a range of Christmas Carols Music Books at Amazon.
Introduction
Like Silent Night and We Wish You a Merry Christmas, Away in a Manger is in 3/4 (Waltz) time.
It’s written here in F major, which is a comfortable key for most people to sing it in.
Main Melody
With the exception of the last couple of notes, which are swapped, almost exactly the same melody is repeated twice in each verse. However, the accompaniment chords do vary very slightly.
Here’s the complete melody written out on the treble clef stave, as you’d play it with the right hand:
Listen to the melody (MIDI file, should play directly in your browser. Alternatively, iTunes or Quicktime will play it).
Those notes are:
- – C | F F G A | F F A Bb | C C D | Bb G A | Bb Bb C |
A A F A | G D F | E C | F F G A | F F A Bb | C C D |
Bb G A | B B C | A A F A | G D E | F -
Single Note Bass Line
Here’s how to add a single bass note to each bar to add a little harmony. In fact, it only uses three different notes — C, F and G.
Chords Only
If you simply want to play appropriate chords so you can sing or have another instrument playing the melody, here are very simple ones. Note that in bar 8 the chord is a G major in first inversion (this is significant because it requires you to play a B natural not a B flat). It doesn’t sound bad if you play a G minor chord here, but I prefer this version. [Find out more about major and minor chords here]
Melody and Accompaniment
The final version features the playing of chords in the right hand, with the melody note as the highest, plus two bass notes an octave apart in the left hand.
Note that the lowest one or two notes in each right hand bar are held for the duration (three beats) while the melody notes are played. This can either be done by physically holding the notes down (if comfortable), using the sustain pedal, or a combination. See what sounds the best — generally sustaining a whole bar when there are only a few melody notes in each will still give a pleasing sound without fear of notes running too much into one another.
I hope you find this guide useful for helping you to play Away in a Manger.
View a range of Christmas Carols Music Books
Series Index: Mastering Christmas Carols on the Piano and Keyboard
unrealBook: Music manuscript display app for iPad
August 3, 2010
After I finished yesterday’s 22 iPad Music Creation Apps feature, I stumbled across Aron Nelson’s blog and found his unrealBook for iPad app.
It’s the sort of app I’ve been thinking of for quite some time, but until now the only way to execute such a thing was to use a laptop / notebook — a bit unwieldy, even on the lighter models — or put up with the smaller screen of a PDA or iPhone.
With the iPad comes a much larger screen in a thinner body. Assuming you find something satisfactory to prop it up with, it becomes a great storage and display device for printed music manuscript and chord / lyric sheets.
It works with PDF files, so if you can get your music collection scanned in / saved in that format, you’re away. Fully alphabetised and indexed, it’s ready to go wherever you need to get hold of your music.
Version 1.2 includes text annotation, drawing with multiple pens, wireless methods (email, dropbox, URL download), hiding of toolbars, go menu enhancements, more responsive page turning, better zoom and more.
It’s worth noting other music display apps are available for the iPad.
You might also consider Sheet Music Mobile, forScore and Music Reader for iPad.
Has Susan Boyle bought a grand piano?
August 3, 2010
We’re not much into celebrity gossip at Piano & Synth Magazine, particularly when the source is a British tabloid paper, but then again we are quite interested in who gets their hands on a grand piano.
So…
The Sun is reporting that singer Susan Boyle, despite being on a £300-per-week allowance, has splashed out on a grand piano:
“Recent purchases include a grand piano, a top iPhone – worth £600 – and some new furniture from Edinburgh’s finest department store, Jenners, for her gaff in Blackburn, West Lothian.”
What amused me straight away is that journalist Gordon Smart obviously has no clue how much a grand piano costs. Note that he swoons at “a top iPhone worth £600″, yet an acoustic grand is likely to cost at least 20 times that.
If true, that’s quite some spend.
22 iPad Music Creation Apps
August 2, 2010
The iPad is a beautiful device for all kinds of music-making and synthesiser goodness. Here’s our selection of iPad-ready music creation and learning apps that we think you’ll like (and if you’re a Mac user who likes these, why not peruse our 35 piano, synth and sound apps from the Mac App Store too?):
Click on the title to go to the iTunes Store for more information.
ThumbJam – $6.99
Over 30 high-quality multi-sampled real instruments and hundreds of musical scales allow you to play a range of styles.
It’s endorsed by Jordan Rudess, and comes with two of his signature sounds.
TouchOSC – $4.99
For sending Open Sound Control (OSC) messages to other devices via Wi-Fi. Includes touch controls for faders, rotary controls, toggle buttons, XY pads, multi-faders, multi-toggles, LEDs and labels, with full multi-touch of up to five controls at once.
miniSynth PRO – $9.99
Grab hold of analog synthesis on your iPad with this completely revamped version of the original iPhone synth.
Fully-featured, professional grade virtual analog synth incorporating an improved version of the zero-latency “push-pull” Yonac keyboard algorithm.
A huge range of specs include dual subtractive / FM virtual-analogue polyphonic / monophonic synthesis, fully configurable FM filter or modulation based tone shaping, 16-bit quality stereo output, dual syncable oscillators, six optimised custom waveforms per oscillator, adjustable dual keyboards, BPM-based arpeggiator module, and so much more.
Korg iElectribe – $19.99
A faithful virtual recreation of Korg’s ELECTRIBE-R sound engine, featuring analog synth modelling, PCM samples, virtual valve force tube modelling, patterns and effects.
Pianist Pro – $9.99
The original iPhone piano now arrives in a pro version for the iPad, featuring full recording and overdub, standard MIDI output, MIDI to OSC, multiple instruments, pitch bend, modulation and swell pedal, arpeggiator and a drum machine.
Pocket Organ C3B3 – $2.99
Optimised for the larger iPad screen, play a simulation of the Hammond Organ using a virtual tonewheel system controlled by nine drawbars as per the real thing. Features include scrollable keyboard, transposition, rotary speaker effect, harmonic percussion effect, reverb, overdrive, vibrato, chorus, and glissando via the accelerometer.
SunVox – $4.99
Another iPad app endorsed by Jordan Rudess, SunVox is a small and fast multi-platform pattern-based (tracker) sequencer with modular synths. This means you can use it across different operating systems.
Features include a modular interface, optimised synth algorithms, Wi-Fi import and export, including WAV samples, various generators and a sampler, DC blocking filter, effects including delay, distortion and echo, a three-band equaliser, low-, high-, band-pass and notch filters, flanger, LFO, loop, reverb, a vocal filter and vibrato.
bleep!BOX – $9.99
A combination drum machine and synthesiser box with sounds generated in real time (not from samples).
Features include real-time processing, audio copying, classic x0x drum emulation, analog style 2-Osc synths, 10 parts, 50+ parameters, ringmod, FM, PhaseMod, Sync, Distortion, global delay FX, eight waveforms, tempo, swing, pattern length, saving of patches and patterns, step sequencing and recording, automation, song mode, and recording songs and patterns to WAV files.
Ellatron HD – $5.99
Experience a virtual Mellotron synth on your iPad, featuring 27 voices, 16 banks of programmable chord buttons, ‘fat keys’ for better playability, save and restore of voice settings, and ready to take on the road. Jordan Rudess say’s “it’s pretty cool”.
Looptastic HD – $14.99
Create remixes and electronic compositions simply by dragging and dropping loops, using the built-in DJ mixer and adding effects with the touch pad.
Features include over 900 samples plus the ability to record your own, a dozen real time effects with X-Y touch pad, including Bit Crusher, Multimode Fingering, flanger, delay and glitchy repeater, time stretching, triple-zone mixer, scratch strip for triggering samples part-way through, importing of a range of audio sample file types, export in 16-bit AIFF, and sharing via SoundCloud.
GrooveMaker Hip-Hop for iPad – $9.99
The application for creating non-stop electronic, dance and hip-hop tracks in real-time.
Features include instantaneous control of eight stereo loop tracks, play, mix and randomise loops on the fly, combine studio-quality loops, manipulate loops in real time, arrange grooves with drag and drop, save and recall tracks and upload WAV files via Wi-Fi.
Nota HD – $5.99
Designed for pianists of all levels, Nota HD features piano chord and scale browser, piano and staff note locator, note quiz and reference library with over 100 symbols.
Raindrops for iPad – $1.99
Play music simply by touching the screen, either solo or over the Internet.
Synth – $0.99
Simply titled “Synth”, this cheaper app offers over 40 instruments, mod and pitch bend wheels, adjustable delay and distortion plus a built in sampler.
Bebot – Robot Synth – $1.99
Feature packed polyphonic musical synth with a unique multitouch control method — an onscreen animated robot character who moves and sings while you play.
Four synth modes, analog-sounding filters, versatile delay/loops, overdrive distortion, programmable scales, and full touchscreen control.
Music Studio – $14.99
A complete music production environment featuring dynamically configurable 85-key keyboard, 74 studio-recorded instruments, low-latency, high polyphony, real time effects, 128-track sequencer, note editing, quantising, transposition, repeat, move, velocity and so on, Wi-Fi transfer, MIDI import/export.
iSequence for iPad – $14.99
Music creation studio featuring eight-track sequencer, flexible mixer with DSP, real-time recording and control, 160 instruments, pattern editing, sampler, and wi-fi file sharing.
Electrify – $14.99
A virtual sample groovebox for iPad, designed to combine the best features of existing hardware grooveboxes and the ease of use of software applications.
Features include an eight-track sequencer with individual track lengths, two chainable effect buses with 8 effects, direct access to track parameters, step sequencer, pattern matrix, seven parameters editable per step, professional sample library, import of samples, sample editing, copy and paste to other iPad apps.
Mellotronics M3000 for iPad – $11.99
The only moxMatrix – $4.99
Turns iPad into a canvas for rhythm and melody, featuring a multicoloured, multitouch pulsating groovebox.
Features include tone matrix interface, loop creation, sampler, alternative scales, pattern storage and jam mode.
olsynth – $6.99
Classic monophonic synth with a clean and simple interface. Settings include dual oscillator with four waveforms, fine tune, modulation, filter, envelope volume and filter, and arpeggio.
TuneLab Piano Tuner
– $299.99
A highly specialised app designed for professional piano tuners. It can be calibrated to an accuracy of 0.02 cents, stores hundreds of tuning files for individual pianos, plus historical temperaments for period music, automatic note switching, plus a range of displays to aid in tuning.
Mac user? Don’t miss our 35 Piano, Synth and Sound Apps from the Mac App Store feature.
