Mobile music devices/software: posted...

And yeah, when I say Mobile, I'm thinking Android, iOS, the upcoming Win8 tablets, etc. etc.

Since mobile music seems to be one of the "in" things these days, and a lot of people are loving working with music software on their various i-devices and androids....I wonder if it would be apropos to add a "mobile music" category to the community forums. Who knows, it might bring in some traffic from some of the younger crowds?

Anyway, to get things started, well, I use Android. I also have an iPod 4 courtesy of my mother in-law who got an iPhone and gave me her iPod. So I kinda use both when I'm out and around, haha.

I'll describe the main limitation of Android as a music platform, and throw some names of what I consider to be pretty "decent" apps. (mostly drum machine/sequencer type apps)

So, as we all know, Android is not the best music platform for any serious kind of music creation. (though, debatably, neither is an iPod or iPad, depending on how you swing on the PC vs. Mobile stuff) And the main issue with Android is latency. Now, in all fairness, Google seems to -finally- be thinking about correcting this issue by creating provisions within the developer kits to give access to a new "fast mixer" or something along those lines to speed up things on the audio end.

It's an improvement with Jellybean, for sure, but it's got a very long ways to go. One nice thing, is that the more recent versions of Android do allow for midi over USB. I was using Caustic, which was updated yesterday with a new USB Midi feature, and it works "decently" (as in, it is able to process data sent from my little korg microkey 25, and the velocity/keys seemed to work fine) Also, audio over USB is currently doable with android devices.

That said, there is still a lot of room for improvement. The app market for android is quite sparse when it comes to what I would consider decent or quality music apps. Right now, Caustic 2 by SingleCellSoftware is one of the big ones, and it is pretty fun to work with. www.singlecellsoftware.com/caustic

But when it comes to actual software instruments, well, there is much to be desired. It seems like some of the better synths are being made by Nick Copeland. They are all emulations of old analog synths, and he doesn't offer any free versions. :(

There are a few good drum machines though.

RD3 looks pretty good as does Audioid.
G-Stomper is another one that looks decent. (and yeah, I've got the demo versions of most, as I'm a cheapskate. :P)

The other issue, is that the midi over USB on android is relatively new, so older synth apps won't support it until devs add the capability in. (assuming they even decide to add it in)

There are a couple "thinking outside the box" style apps, though. Theremin-likes, and procedural-generation using colliding dots type of synths. There are also grid-based Tenori-On clones.... But I'm more interested in "useable" or "traditional" methods of creating music. :P

Another decent looking app is SPC Music Sketchpad 2. It is kinda like an MPC where you can import your own samples and use the pads to create some loops and whatnot. Another similar app that might be worth checking out is Supreme MPA.

Now, in all fairness, I think that Google is more interested in marketing Android to the standard (all purpose) user, and doesn't really care about the niche music/art/creativity market. (although there are a number of drawing/art/sketch apps that are quite nice on Android)

Mac/iOS has always been kinda creativity-centric, and I think they were pretty smart with how they designed iOS and its processes. I think when Android was designed, well, linux-based is good, and I'm all for it...but the problem is that apps are run a layer that is the java virtual machine....and this is where most of the problems with latency comes into play, I think. I remember there were some fairly in-depth discussions about it over on KVR's forum in the mobile device section.

From what I've read and heard, I think indie app and plug-in developers are chomping at the bit to get some good audio/music-based apps out there....but until the latency issue is solved, or a solid workaround is implemented, developers pretty much have their hands tied. :/

The latency and issue with multiple makes of hardware devices and the known latency issues are also what keep the big name companies at bay. IK Multimedia was considering developing hardware accesories for Android, and they said initial tests were promising, but I think as they got further in, they realized the latency and JVM layer would just play havoc with any development. :/

I'm mostly talking about Android because that's just what I use. The iPod kinda took a back seat ever since I got my tablet. The games are great, and the browser options and ability to view flash-based media is a plus for me, and my keyboard dock acts as a second battery which charges the tablet, PLUS it features a standard powered USB port, which operates in USB Host Mode (i.e. can power my little midi controller) However, I couldn't charge my wife's iPad2 from the USB port, hah!

But yeah, there's a lot happening in the tablet/phone/iPod world, and I think it would be good to have a way to have discussions and keep track of various developments in that area of technology. As well as having a dedicated place to answer and field questions, suggestions, etc. etc.

Thoughts?