Strange functions, lovelessly development?
Hi,
I'm new to Beatmaker (though I produce music since many years) and I bought it 2 weeks before the 2.3 update, so I don't know how the "Intua-update-politics" works. I've to say that I'm confused/disappointed HOW (lovelessy) Intua implements new features. I wonder myself if Intua just want to pimp their feature list on the surface - or aren't they aware of what musicans REALLY need? I'm scratching my head... For example:
The new "auto play" feature (sorry I relly can't imagine what Intua did there...):
1. WHY auto play works polyphonic? The current played sample has to CUT the previous sample (monophonic)!! When I listen to longer samples (loops, atmopheres, vocals, etc.) I'm always forced to wait until the previous sample stops playing (sometimes more that 20 seconds)!!! Why does it work like this - I scratch my head.
2. WHY it is possible to listen to a sample just ONE time (for a second time I have to select another sample, let it play..... and then finally I can listen to the previous again)? Sorry, this much more than complicated/strange! It's necessary to be able to jam a bit with the selected sample to get the feeling IF this sample fits to the rest of my song - and this BEFORE I load it!
3. WHY we can't exchange the sample when in browser mode? In every sequencer I know it's possible to choose a sample (in browser) which get immediately exchanged. This is necessary if you like to know how your song sounds with another bassdrum, snare, or whatever!
4. It's not a secret that different sample librarys has been recorded with a different dynamic. So why a sampler (like beatmaker) isn't able to set the volume when "auto play" is active?? This is also a must have.
The new "audio track" feature (sorry but I can't tell it REAL audio tracks):
1. Not possible to record internally audio data? No recording of the drum machine, keyboard sampler...?
2. the editing tools are a joke
3. Audio patterns arn't moveable between audio tracks?
4. So, where is the advantage to a pad in drum maschine?? From my point of view it's exactly the same!
AND: can someone please tell me what the REAL benefit of the "home screen" is?? I completely don't get the idea! It's just a HUUUUGE massive obstacle in terms of workflow!! Is it just for showing us that Intua can create some nice graphics, or because we ALWAYS have to set MIDI settings - immediately. It's unbelievable annoing to enter this screen again and again - just because you want to change the instrument, or whatever. If you have already a few tracks, you're more searcing/scrolling through your tracks - than making music!
1. Effects (creating, delete and editing) belong to the mixer page! and by the way: where are the AUX Sends?
2. MIDI settings could also be done at the instrument itself!
3. It's essential that we can enter an instrument DIRECTLY from the sequencer/mixer screen - the devious route ("home screen") is more of a hindrance than a help!!
It's also annoing when editing a MIDI pattern (in sequencer) that we CAN'T listen to the notes BEFORE we draw them. It's not possible to listen how the steps (which pitch etc) will sound. Always: "trail-and-error"!
So, I really ask myself (because I'm new to Beatmaker): Who is Intua and why they implementate features without thinking? Are the Intua guys musicans or are they more "programmer" who maybe were sitting infront of a MPC 2-3 times?
Sorry I'm confused and disappointed at the same time and I'm dreaming about an IOS DAW which is designed by ideologists... Beatmaker could already be a really great sequencer, but a lot of things behave so strange that I'm unsure if I should wait for 2.4/3.0
What do you think?
I'm new to Beatmaker (though I produce music since many years) and I bought it 2 weeks before the 2.3 update, so I don't know how the "Intua-update-politics" works. I've to say that I'm confused/disappointed HOW (lovelessy) Intua implements new features. I wonder myself if Intua just want to pimp their feature list on the surface - or aren't they aware of what musicans REALLY need? I'm scratching my head... For example:
The new "auto play" feature (sorry I relly can't imagine what Intua did there...):
1. WHY auto play works polyphonic? The current played sample has to CUT the previous sample (monophonic)!! When I listen to longer samples (loops, atmopheres, vocals, etc.) I'm always forced to wait until the previous sample stops playing (sometimes more that 20 seconds)!!! Why does it work like this - I scratch my head.
2. WHY it is possible to listen to a sample just ONE time (for a second time I have to select another sample, let it play..... and then finally I can listen to the previous again)? Sorry, this much more than complicated/strange! It's necessary to be able to jam a bit with the selected sample to get the feeling IF this sample fits to the rest of my song - and this BEFORE I load it!
3. WHY we can't exchange the sample when in browser mode? In every sequencer I know it's possible to choose a sample (in browser) which get immediately exchanged. This is necessary if you like to know how your song sounds with another bassdrum, snare, or whatever!
4. It's not a secret that different sample librarys has been recorded with a different dynamic. So why a sampler (like beatmaker) isn't able to set the volume when "auto play" is active?? This is also a must have.
The new "audio track" feature (sorry but I can't tell it REAL audio tracks):
1. Not possible to record internally audio data? No recording of the drum machine, keyboard sampler...?
2. the editing tools are a joke
3. Audio patterns arn't moveable between audio tracks?
4. So, where is the advantage to a pad in drum maschine?? From my point of view it's exactly the same!
AND: can someone please tell me what the REAL benefit of the "home screen" is?? I completely don't get the idea! It's just a HUUUUGE massive obstacle in terms of workflow!! Is it just for showing us that Intua can create some nice graphics, or because we ALWAYS have to set MIDI settings - immediately. It's unbelievable annoing to enter this screen again and again - just because you want to change the instrument, or whatever. If you have already a few tracks, you're more searcing/scrolling through your tracks - than making music!
1. Effects (creating, delete and editing) belong to the mixer page! and by the way: where are the AUX Sends?
2. MIDI settings could also be done at the instrument itself!
3. It's essential that we can enter an instrument DIRECTLY from the sequencer/mixer screen - the devious route ("home screen") is more of a hindrance than a help!!
It's also annoing when editing a MIDI pattern (in sequencer) that we CAN'T listen to the notes BEFORE we draw them. It's not possible to listen how the steps (which pitch etc) will sound. Always: "trail-and-error"!
So, I really ask myself (because I'm new to Beatmaker): Who is Intua and why they implementate features without thinking? Are the Intua guys musicans or are they more "programmer" who maybe were sitting infront of a MPC 2-3 times?
Sorry I'm confused and disappointed at the same time and I'm dreaming about an IOS DAW which is designed by ideologists... Beatmaker could already be a really great sequencer, but a lot of things behave so strange that I'm unsure if I should wait for 2.4/3.0
What do you think?
Comments
My personal list of trivial annoyances is (trivial annoyances means here ridiculously absurd for users though easy to fix, but still there):
1. The default MIDI channel 1 for new instruments. What? Is channel 1 somehow special, preferred or superiour? No, it isn't. The only thing, that makes sense is 'None'! And nothing else.
2. As mentioned in the post above, prelisten in browsing samples is polyphonic. What? Just incredible, that we are not allowed to decide, when to stop listening to one sample, to check another one.
3. Minor, but annoying as well. I have to change my habbit ONLY in BM, when typing text. What? It's the not unlocking shift/uppercase of BM. I expect here the same behaviour as in other Apps and the system, or did you think I like to adapt for any App?
4. The linear-only behaviour of A, D and R in envelopes in the sample synth. Any halfway instrument like attempt fails completely. This is a point, where I gave up and decided to not use that 'synth' anymore.
5. Some behaviour of sliders, where we get 95% of the area to do nothing, that has an effect, whereas 5% should be enough to fine tune. What? Yes, that's how it is (here i would like to give examples, but I abandonned the synth, where I realized most of those no-gos, so I don't remember any detail).
Anyways, BM is a great big tool, but INTUA please please stay in touch with the people, who use it -the musicians - to keep it best on the place.
P.S: I might sound sarcastic, but actually I wanna improve one of the best Apps for musicians available.
I really believe the audio tracks are about as useful if not less useful than the audio tracks in music studio...its better to leave multitrack production to apps better suited or designed with this in mind.
i believe selecting a rack unit to do vocals thru is an extra unneeded step...? And then, I have to redo all the setting for every fuggin track...ummm i just dont use the feature period.
No resample? This is a nobrainer...why cant i resample to a new pad...it is one of the biggest features you could ever add...and please dont make it a hard thing to do.
I wish the swing...since it doesnt adhere to any hardware standard swing numbers...would allow you to preview...instead of commit, undo 20 times. For example 57% swing on logic,the mpc, the mv8800, or anything else for that matter is something around 22% on beatmaker2.
No groove templates from slices?
Of course the effects are bad....And you cant write user efx chains?
Of course the file system is easy to erase your work...
Beatmaker needs to be aware of where files are stored...as it is very wasting of ipad memory space.
The pan seems to not be completely stereo?
The bus system is very Ummm not the way anything else works
I believe when your app revolves around sampling style music creation there should be a better suite of sample related tools....
These things would be visual envelopes on the waveform?
Crossfading
A great set of filters?
a convolution device with user irs?
Pitch, formant, time...all independent?
A sonogram sample editor to emove noise, or whatever else?
A parametric eq with lp(6,12,24,32,48) slope, bell, shelf,and hp (6,12,24,32,48) slope
Noise gate (in sampler)
A synthesis generator...to generate tones, or drums...to pads
Resample
Soundfont
I can explain what use these features would be...if needed in great detail!
Such as why pitch,time,formant? Super easy...this would allow a single note to be spread across an entire keyboard...and yet keep non elfy...non vadery real tone....thus saving your most precious ipad commodity...space.
2. The CAPSLOCK behavior when naming things is definitely non-standard compared to iOS' usual behavior and should be altered to conform with expected behavior.
3. The Studio "home" interface can get cumbersome if you use a lot of instruments but I've never really found it to be a huge issue.
I don't really have any major complaints about BM2. I'm not sure why it takes so many words for some people on this forum to make feature requests, or why they have to phrase their requests with such a massive sense of entitlement. There are always ways an app can be improved, but for $20, I find BM2 to be more than worth the cost. Show me a better iOS DAW for $20.
Beatmaker2 must be pushed forward as far as intua is willing to go in my opinion. Its not an entitlement at all, but rather, reporting what blocks me from this being the end all for my production...as you all should do the same...but this is also just an opinion. Beatmaker 2 is one of the very best music tools on the ipad...but it also lacks some very basic things, and some more advanced tools that would allow it to be that very "end all". This gap seems small, but on the same note...i am no developer...so i dont have no idea what the inner workings are...i just know that some of the proclaimations of the dev team in here are false...such as the max i/o of ios...intua claims its eight...i know with no doubt 18 simultaneous ins are possible...so, its really just what you want to believe i guess. I do not see how better effects are the proverbial antichrist to some of you folks in here...but more is indeed possible fabfilter's eq is indeed full power and working very well in auria...not only is this eq wicked good...in my opinion it is the absolute best eq there is period. A three band eq is just not going to compete with this eq at all, im sorry but that is just a reality. Copy and pasting every single sample does allow me to use it and then come back to beatmaker2, but i would prefer i didnt have to take these steps whilst in the middle of being creative, as this can sometimes kill the whole entire vibe.
I am really excited about the ipad, and all of these pioneer devs who have dominated a new market making the computer in my studio grow dusty and obsolete...keep dreaming and bringing your dreams to realization and i will utilize that to dream out loud as well. <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->
totally agree, just to clarify I only wanted to point out problematic things in features already present, and which could be easily improved and so work much better, that's why I called them trivial annoyances. <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->
Eehhm, one thing I forgot is, that it would help a lot if the 'save as' dialog (and also the 'last autosave') would use the original file name as default, to massively avoid accidential overwriting of wrong files.
Intua already did a good job. And BM2 is currently the most advanced sequencer on IOS. But the time will come and other companies will release their DAWs - and then if BM2 can't stand the pace (workflow, audio quality), it doesn't look good for them...