I can see this thread heating up after a couple of posts from far away... <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->
Honestly, BM2 is the only game in town for making sample-based hip hop.
Nano-studio is more synth oriented (and you can always create similar sounds -with some work- with the sampler in BM2), and Music studio - though it has some really nice new sequencing features - is essentially a GM-type rompler. Music studio has zero sampling capabilities, and nanostudio has no multi-sampling, time stretch, chopping, or other deep sample editing tools like BM2
ha. the question wasn't meant to start a who's better debt, i just wanted to get peoples honest feelings on what really is the best studio app for the ios. (To mainly produce sample based hip hop music only). I have only used BM, as my main studio app, i have tried the others but they never feel right like BM.
For sample based hip hop BM2 is the right tool for the right job. Look at it this way, for serious music production you got two choices. NanoStudio, or BM2. Each one has it's strengths and weaknesses. I use them both and Ns has great synths, better effects, better file transfer and once you port your project to a pc/ Mac version a little more umph with audio quality. However, for sample based music, BM2 has time stretch, beat slice, multiple sample zones, a beautiful interface, and no other program can do what it does. However, the effects leave something to be desired and no matter what you do with the sampler engine, it's not a synth. Eden is a synth. Inho opinion when Intua drops a synth and improves their effects Bm2 will be one step clser to world domination. I have seen no other apps that come close to what either of these can do, and they're fun to make music with. After purchasing fruity loops mobile, I wouldn't spend a dime on music studio 2, nor would I use an idevice for making music if it were my only option. MS2 is not my bag. I don't care for romplers, I like having control over my sound generators, as many buttons and knobs as possible, with automation. After getting burned by fl mobile which is a stripped down reskinned music studio made for trance producers, I did learn one thing...try before you buy. Download music studio lite and give it a whirl. You'll answer you're own question.
I couldn't agree more with sirmcp... Both are good, and both are different... I tend to make my best (mobile) beats with bm2 ... But the fx are a bit lacklusting stilll... So I end up compensating in other creative ways.... The synth isn't yet a proper synth..... But intua is working hard this year to push it in the right direction, so I've been more inclined to bm2 this year. The new virtual midi outputs will help as we use other app synths in conjunction.... But I really feel that audio tracks are really what's missing, that would be a gamechanger that elevates bm2 to a whole different level.
Nano is incredible as well.... I just really feel Matt is taking forever to update the darn thing... No ipad version, no midi advanced parameters... No great audio editing.... But the sound engine is really good, sounths smooth... Yet, smooth isn't always what one wants to achieve.... With NS i never get a bangin' beat... Sounds too smoothed out for me... But eden is a true work of art... A greatly programmed synth module that kicks ass...
Besides NS an BM2 ... Garageband... Great audio engine, great that it has midi tracking as well as audio tracks... But no editing, so it's a deal breaker for me.
Meteor is ok... But not ergonomic or easy to work with, so my creativity always ends up stymied by it.
I agree with you guys about sample based hip hop. Some of the best beats I've made this year have been with beatmaker2. If native instruments would let us use their sounds from imaschine in beat maker that would be crazy.
Music Studio. =poopy gen midi sound engine, no deep editing at all, i dont like using it...its not user friendly at all, no mixer...to mix you gotta go to each and every track...if you want new sounds...you will be paying alot for not so hot sounds. If i didnt pay for this app it would be erased. 2.0 was not a gamechanger for me.
Meteor. =its a Daw with ugly plug ins and now they got plug in instruments? Gotta pay more for those so its not happenin, they are wimpy in comparison to synths i have already...this is a clumsy at best app that is overpriced in my opinion.
Garageband....lol...hopefully a 2.0 awaits us...cuz 1.0 isnt serious at all...no sample edit beyond the casio sampler, no editing midi?, 8 tracks for everything?, it set alot of bars but fell seriously crippled...and stayed that way due to lack of support and updates.
Nanostudio. =very good synth, cool retro effects, and a lacking sampler...Matt hasnt updated in a minute...we'll see where it goes.
Isequence. =if this would ever get some faster trigger times...and some extra tracks i would love it alot more...but for some reason this is my second go to app.
Beatmaker2. =lacking good import and output of files, lacking a synth engine, lacking a granular or formant based sample engine, lacking serious effects and depth of effect control. oh, no audio tracks.
Hiphop go to from above choices.....Beatmaker 2 is far superior to them all...could it be better, I cant wait until it is...
Coupled with other pasteboard apps it is hard to beat...NI Maschine failed....it was a waste of my five bucks!
Hey this is great everyone, Thanks for all the feedback. Hopefully we can keep this topic going as BM advances and other app come out.
I have been overwhelmed with the number of apps coming out and just wanted to have a topic that can discuss studio apps for producing sample (hip hop) based music only.
This is a new frontier and I definitely feel BM is still the first choice. Love to keep hearing everyones opinion on this topic! -Thx
PS. i'll prove Colin wrong! we can be civil <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->
Hi
I may prefer BM2 as best
It is the most straight forward piece of app I found out there.
What makes it best than others I own ( such as MUsicStudio and garageband...) is the fact that it has an advanced sample manipulation and editing (assigning envs to each sample and chop capabilities for ex), in a fantastic interface, and you can assign FX individualy, the last one is vital.
People can be civiliced and polite! <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D -->
cheers
Yeh, I think we can play nice and not be insulting. I thought this might turn into a NS vs BM2 (ala FL XXL vs Reason), slugfest but it's been pretty objective. IMHO opinion this is the closest app to NI Maschine for IOS. I didn't pick up Imaschine because I thought it would be crippled. I'm tired of the big guys releasing lousy Ios apps, taking my $$$ and thinking they can get away with it because they have quality product on a pc or Mac (sampletank I'm keeping an eye on u). Thanx to Imageline and NI, it's going to be harder for them to sell me a damn thing. Having vented my anger, companies like Intua and Blip Interactive will get my coins and endorsements as long as they continue to entertain and amaze. Even if they aren't perfect right now, this type of mobile music making is in it's infancy. I consider it a privilege to be apart of it and look forward to the future with the apps evolving. BTW, for you synth guys check out Arctic Keys, it just came out, it's got great features, sounds good and costs as much as Imaschine but it's worth every penny and then some. Buy it now.
Yeah BM2 has it on lock now, i bought iMaschine, and it sounds GREAT, but how can u do a track with only 4 instruments and no pattern/timeling editing?I know they want you to use the Maschine software, but man...4 tracks...no sequencer patterns/timeline...everybody has THAT... FL is better, but the sounds are ass!. It's like what one has the other doesn't, they always keep out some major feature(sampling. only 4 tracks, no editing, no good presets, etc.) I think i'm gonna use BM2 and Maschine Mikro until the technology/updates gets where it needs to be...
I think big companies didnt want to see the end of their precious 2000.00 hardware era...so they didnt get the proper app designers etc. Now it seems the ipad2 and beyond will kill their market so they are all late at getting in the circle. Most, not all of the companies...are going to get their butts whooped by the fastest growing market ever! I will call these companies lemming companies...they just choose to walk over a cliff and die...lol
I use many tools to make music in my group, reason used to be an integral part in my music creation as did fruity studio... But fruity was more like a bunch of other apps pasted together and it was not good as far as asthetics or workflow in my use of it. Reason is just closed to other things such as plug ins etc etc...so i had to stop using it u til it plays with my alchemy etc. Logic is my go to Daw.
I am looking forward to a day when i can use a few ipod touches, my iphone, and my ipad as sort of a main interface with floating satellites <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->. This is starting to become a reality...and what is spending 250.00 for an additional ipod touch and being able to port over your apps to it and using wist or other technologies being able to hook these joints together thru the air ....oh boy its getting doper everyday.
Once Intua gets better effects and an additional instrument or two, and audio tracks its gonna be a triple threat!
Sound capture+design /music creation/recording mastering. Maybe its just me, but i am excited, i own so many apps everyday is almost like christmas AWeSoME
I agree, linking my iPhone, itouch and iPad with the pc is really what I'm looking forward to. With Ihardware costs and app costs combined, it's cheaper to attain or replace one, than to buy an Akai mpc, a Yamaha Motif, or a new i7 laptop. Not only are they more affordable, they're portable. I'm waiting for an appointment and sketching out basic ideas to sequence back at my studio, u can't beat that. I've played out live with bm2, nano studio and GarageBand, using them as live synths and no longer need a laptop, it's changed my game. That was what opened my eyes, these devices are the future. In five years the processing power is going to be ungodly, while the cost drops...just like the VCR, cd player and DVD player. I'm drooling just thinking about it.
iMaschine has good sounds a sampler and you can sequence with it. No putting songs together. It is easy to grab the wave file and put it into BM2 and Chop or Sequence a Song from your patterns.
i can say beatmaker 2 has the hiphop part on lock. i can understand what some of you are saying when it comes to better synths and sounds, but i just get wav sound files and import them as bmkz and bang them out on the pads, or import them in the keyboard. beatmaker 2 has so many features you just have to explore. as far as exporting and importing im satisfied with the ftp, because my computer can organize the sounds and put them in folders for when i import them into my bm2. it saves me space and i can back up my music in case my ipad decides to erase my songs. i cant say anything bad about bm2, it has been a gateway for me, before bm2 i never made music, and now im using reason 6, i have a midi controller, interface, studio monitors, and i still use my beatmaker2 for ideas and its basically my own mpc 1000, i wont sell my ipad simply because of my bm2. garageband,fl studio, and nano, are like preschool toys to me. i pay homage to bm2 and the creaters of this app. if i for any chance become big and successful i will definetly shout bm2 out to the world. it may sound corney and overrated comment, bm2 has kept me out of trouble and focused on music and like i said it has been a gateway to bigger and better daw and sounds. cant forget the roots either. so thank you intua and the team. when i get a chance i will upload my songs to soundcloud. thank you twice.
You da man! I am not into Hip Hop, but I agree with you. Bm2 is not perfect, but it is the best, and IMHO it is the best by far. Keep it together and keep focused. Live life, don't settle for less......
Beatmaker 2 and a few other apps (thumbjam, samplewiz, sunrizer, alchemy, to name a few) are making me sell my daw. I will use the $ from that to buy another alesis i/o dock and a second ipad2....muwhahahaha then i will plug them into each other. iTS ALIVe!
But then again I have seen the rumor that apple is releasing a macbook touch? I hope its true....cuz i'll run logic and all my thousands of dollars in plugs on it...ooooooh dopeness. A studio in a briefcase!
IMHO its between Beatmaker 2 and Nanostudio, Nano sounds better but is not Ipad native and
Beatmaker can do more with samples/choplab etc. I have both and switch between them equally. iSequence is good too. There is no definitive one yet. I really hope that the OMAC standards will be adopted by all developers.
I think the drum machine in nano is garbage
I dont think either one sounds marginally better or worse than the others
The effects in nano are more advanced in my ears as is the sequencer
It's getting harder and harder to beat Korg Gadget...since module, Bilbao, and Abu dhabi came to town. KORG is doing what I thought they might do...dominating...we have no word at all as to progress to beatmaker3...a dying forum....and coming soon like 6-7 months ago...:(
Is it really coming soon...hahahaha...not hardly Coming soon means different things to different people...but if someone said they were coming to my house soon and showed up like a year later...that's not very soon
This thing isn't a secret war weapon...why is it hidden from radar completely
@micGee$ what if they did was like a secret war weapon though lol.
What if they(intua) were working on something major and had a few tricks up their sleeve. So when they did drop they wiped away a lot of competition? Lol you never know but I'm just thinking optimistic. I mean we can't be fickle with Intua. When they dropped BM2 that was major and though it could use some improvements, it's still one of the best on the app store. With that said I still put faith in them and feel that they will do something major in due time.
The only way I can see adding a synth, become a monster idea for beatmaker, is ... It's a switchable synthesis machine with CPU drain depending on user allotted polyphony, and synthesis method...I.e. (Granular, p.t.f., subtractive, wave, sample, additive, karplus, etc etc) so a synthesizer that can change its oscillators and process is huge! Other than that...blahhhhhh. And said synth needs step sequencing and modulation matrix insano!
Beatmaker 3 can't just be ...hey, here's some better but ok effects and yo...a subtractive synth.... We can already do that with AUDIOBUS and IAA. Or hey, we tidied up the file system finally! Eureka...30 buck please!
I'm not knowledgeable as to what exactly the change is...it could blow my mind...but honestly, it's going to have to...gadget has had a few updates and they have been fairly significant to user request, and quite timely. KORG has great sound quality on an iOS product! Blip interactive is also releasing a new Nanostudio, and that has always been the yardstick by which beatmaker has been measured...
Impc pro almost had it...but then they limited iaa to one bus and they only gave you two effect in insert...they also really dropped the ball when it came to dealing with the limits of ios (ram) by not including streaming samples.
Comments
Colin
Nano-studio is more synth oriented (and you can always create similar sounds -with some work- with the sampler in BM2), and Music studio - though it has some really nice new sequencing features - is essentially a GM-type rompler. Music studio has zero sampling capabilities, and nanostudio has no multi-sampling, time stretch, chopping, or other deep sample editing tools like BM2
Any other opinions would be great.
Nano is incredible as well.... I just really feel Matt is taking forever to update the darn thing... No ipad version, no midi advanced parameters... No great audio editing.... But the sound engine is really good, sounths smooth... Yet, smooth isn't always what one wants to achieve.... With NS i never get a bangin' beat... Sounds too smoothed out for me... But eden is a true work of art... A greatly programmed synth module that kicks ass...
Besides NS an BM2 ... Garageband... Great audio engine, great that it has midi tracking as well as audio tracks... But no editing, so it's a deal breaker for me.
Meteor is ok... But not ergonomic or easy to work with, so my creativity always ends up stymied by it.
Meteor. =its a Daw with ugly plug ins and now they got plug in instruments? Gotta pay more for those so its not happenin, they are wimpy in comparison to synths i have already...this is a clumsy at best app that is overpriced in my opinion.
Garageband....lol...hopefully a 2.0 awaits us...cuz 1.0 isnt serious at all...no sample edit beyond the casio sampler, no editing midi?, 8 tracks for everything?, it set alot of bars but fell seriously crippled...and stayed that way due to lack of support and updates.
Nanostudio. =very good synth, cool retro effects, and a lacking sampler...Matt hasnt updated in a minute...we'll see where it goes.
Isequence. =if this would ever get some faster trigger times...and some extra tracks i would love it alot more...but for some reason this is my second go to app.
Beatmaker2. =lacking good import and output of files, lacking a synth engine, lacking a granular or formant based sample engine, lacking serious effects and depth of effect control. oh, no audio tracks.
Hiphop go to from above choices.....Beatmaker 2 is far superior to them all...could it be better, I cant wait until it is...
Coupled with other pasteboard apps it is hard to beat...NI Maschine failed....it was a waste of my five bucks!
I have been overwhelmed with the number of apps coming out and just wanted to have a topic that can discuss studio apps for producing sample (hip hop) based music only.
This is a new frontier and I definitely feel BM is still the first choice. Love to keep hearing everyones opinion on this topic! -Thx
PS. i'll prove Colin wrong! we can be civil <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->
I may prefer BM2 as best
It is the most straight forward piece of app I found out there.
What makes it best than others I own ( such as MUsicStudio and garageband...) is the fact that it has an advanced sample manipulation and editing (assigning envs to each sample and chop capabilities for ex), in a fantastic interface, and you can assign FX individualy, the last one is vital.
People can be civiliced and polite! <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D -->
cheers
Also, very much looking forward to Virtual Midi in BM2!
I use many tools to make music in my group, reason used to be an integral part in my music creation as did fruity studio... But fruity was more like a bunch of other apps pasted together and it was not good as far as asthetics or workflow in my use of it. Reason is just closed to other things such as plug ins etc etc...so i had to stop using it u til it plays with my alchemy etc. Logic is my go to Daw.
I am looking forward to a day when i can use a few ipod touches, my iphone, and my ipad as sort of a main interface with floating satellites <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->. This is starting to become a reality...and what is spending 250.00 for an additional ipod touch and being able to port over your apps to it and using wist or other technologies being able to hook these joints together thru the air ....oh boy its getting doper everyday.
Once Intua gets better effects and an additional instrument or two, and audio tracks its gonna be a triple threat!
Sound capture+design /music creation/recording mastering. Maybe its just me, but i am excited, i own so many apps everyday is almost like christmas AWeSoME
I have used both to good effect!!!
You da man! I am not into Hip Hop, but I agree with you. Bm2 is not perfect, but it is the best, and IMHO it is the best by far. Keep it together and keep focused. Live life, don't settle for less......
But then again I have seen the rumor that apple is releasing a macbook touch? I hope its true....cuz i'll run logic and all my thousands of dollars in plugs on it...ooooooh dopeness. A studio in a briefcase!
Beatmaker can do more with samples/choplab etc. I have both and switch between them equally. iSequence is good too. There is no definitive one yet. I really hope that the OMAC standards will be adopted by all developers.
I dont think either one sounds marginally better or worse than the others
The effects in nano are more advanced in my ears as is the sequencer
Is it really coming soon...hahahaha...not hardly
Coming soon means different things to different people...but if someone said they were coming to my house soon and showed up like a year later...that's not very soon
This thing isn't a secret war weapon...why is it hidden from radar completely
What if they(intua) were working on something major and had a few tricks up their sleeve. So when they did drop they wiped away a lot of competition? Lol you never know but I'm just thinking optimistic. I mean we can't be fickle with Intua. When they dropped BM2 that was major and though it could use some improvements, it's still one of the best on the app store. With that said I still put faith in them and feel that they will do something major in due time.
It's a switchable synthesis machine with CPU drain depending on user allotted polyphony, and synthesis method...I.e. (Granular, p.t.f., subtractive, wave, sample, additive, karplus, etc etc) so a synthesizer that can change its oscillators and process is huge! Other than that...blahhhhhh. And said synth needs step sequencing and modulation matrix insano!
Beatmaker 3 can't just be ...hey, here's some better but ok effects and yo...a subtractive synth.... We can already do that with AUDIOBUS and IAA. Or hey, we tidied up the file system finally! Eureka...30 buck please!
I'm not knowledgeable as to what exactly the change is...it could blow my mind...but honestly, it's going to have to...gadget has had a few updates and they have been fairly significant to user request, and quite timely. KORG has great sound quality on an iOS product! Blip interactive is also releasing a new Nanostudio, and that has always been the yardstick by which beatmaker has been measured...
At the end of the day though I can't count out Intua just yet.