Both of these apps are incredible! The multi-touch interface of the iPad just makes it all come together, even for me – someone who has no idea what he is doing. First check out this jam from Saturday morning using Rebirth from Propellerhead:
Although I find the sounds of Rebirth to be more historically relevant / important (Roland TB-303 x2, TR-808 and TR-909), the Korg iMS-20, which is an emulation of an analog synth called, not surprisingly, MS-20, is a little easier to nuts with. Plus, the super-slick Soundcloud integration has me thinking about upgrading to a premium account. Uh-oh…
Minisynth from Yonac Software is an extremely powerful synth for iPad – it was one of the first ones I picked up. The interface is beautiful and easy to use and the keys are nice and big. Since I installed this bad boy, I’ve been thrilled with the quality of sound manipulation available – it’s phull on PHAT.
Now Apple is getting ready to add midi to the iPad, which means that we’ll be able to control the powerful music machines, like Minisynth with a standard midi controller keyboard – thus eliminating the need for a PC or laptop in performance. The next version of Minisyth will interface with the iPad’s new midi capabilities.
To demonstrate just how far you can take this, Yonac has released the following video showing the next version of Minisynth, jamming with the next version of iOS for the iPad. The performance also benefits from another Yonac app, Minidrums, which I have not yet tried.
But in this video, my heart has been stolen. So many years ago, when I was just at the earliest moments of my music education, I came across Pink Floyd’s A Saucerful of Secrets, the title track from their second album. The song is a cacophonous arrangement of sound effects and rhythms through it’s first half, but resolves into a beautiful progression played by the late Rick Wright on Hammond. The juxtaposition enhances the effect, but even on its own, the progression is a haunting thing of epic beauty. That finale of the Floyd’s early masterpiece forms the basis of the synth jam you see below. I have also attached a video of the original, as performed by Gilmour, Mason, Waters and Wright at Pompeii in 1970. Watch them in whatever order you see fit.
I’m posting this more for my benefit, as Kurt takes you through how to build a song with ReBirth for iPad. I’d messed with the iPhone version, but it’s too damn small. This looks beautiful and I can’t wait to start messing.
How much do love @peff? I kinda wish he would do a similar review for the Korg iMS-20, which I picked up yesterday. It also sounds pretty hot and has huge versatility. Hopefully I’ll be posting jams (complete with resonator slide guitar parts?!?) from both of these killer apps soon.
