How are you using mobile devices for your music?

There was a long thread over in the Maschine forum about; well, I don't know what it was about, but a lot of discussion around iPads.

It has be wondering how others are using mobile; either as a primary platform or accessory.

For example; I have a few apps on my android phone and iPad. I'll sit and play with Koala on my phone. I like the resampling workflow and will probably end up syncing a folder of samples over to my phone just to play with Koala. I have Drambo and AUM on my iPad. Sometimes I'll just sit and play with Drambo. Sometimes I'll connect the iPad to my audio interface and route my hardware through AUM.

In both cases, I'm just 'playing'. Exploring noise, rhythm, etc. I'm not truly trying to make a track.

I have a lot of accessory apps that I turn my mobile devices into tools. For example, I have an app that will let me send a note in via midi and it sends out whatever chord I want. I use it on an old Android tablet that's connected to my midi interface. Everything else is connected to the interface too (including my network); so everything has that function now. I use the tablet to control my audio interface's mixer. I have an old surface go running ChordieApp. I'll route a euclidean sequencer from drambo into maschine. I could keep going. I love using my mobile devices this way; especially older stuff I'd otherwise retire.

So are you using any? If so, when, what, why and how?

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ShelLuser

Hi there!

Late comment; when I first saw your post I skipped it because... I didn't use mobile at all. Well, that changed a bit but at the same time a small disclaimer needs to go into effect because by no means has this become part of my workflow or my home studio for that matter. To me the whole thing is a bit of a toy, but.. also a really useful toy 🤓

FL Studio mobile.

Some months ago I got reminded about FL Studio and it managed to fill up a major gap in my workflow in providing me with a second DAW which I could easily use in addition to my main DAW (= Ableton Live suite edition). I've been using 2 sequencers from almost ever since I started using Live so when Reason was no longer capable of doing this... I really wanted something else.

So then I learned that FL Studio provides 2 "platforms": their main DAW (available in different versions or 'gradations') and... a mobile version:

Sold separately but I still bought into this. Especially if you keep this into consideration:

See what I mean?

Their mobile version is actually part of the main DAW and as such I can immediately load in everything I've made on the road and add that to my main project(s). Or export the MIDI and use that (or pieces of that).

I don't use this often therefor I don't consider it as part of my workflow. It also doesn't help that this "mobile instrument" constantly crashes as soon as I try to load it when using FL Studio as a VST within Live.

However... it can be lots of fun, and sometimes quite useful to quickly store a melody you just thought off.

nightjar

Such a symbiotic relationship between a mobile device and a "desktop" rig is a natural path that is due for a HUGE evolution now that some mobile devices have reached a tipping point in processing power, storage, and a more "merged" relationship between macOS and iPadOS.

Kubrak

For listening music I use mp3 player. And for storing ideas on the go I use mp3 player. Or paper notepad. It integrates pretty well with my desktop.

Gita Warma

you can try for you Tube to mp3

tribepop

I don’t really use mobile apps for music production anymore. I played around with iMaschine and NanoStudio (I actually wrote an albums worth of songs in there) but haven’t used any in a while. There’s some cool apps that let you use the gyroscope in your phone to control the vibrato or modulation of instruments like ThumbJam. I also use the Chord Ai app to tell me the key and scale of any song.

MrFresh

Mobile production for me has simply been iMaschine and the iPhone (and occasionally using it on my iPad).Everything works perfectly. Just sorry that NI dropped iMaschine expansion additions at Soul Magic (ironically right around the time that Maschine+ hit the scene).

Kubrak

Microsoft Surface Pro 7 (i5) is pretty good tool for making sketches on the go. It is not as strong as M1 iPad, but still OK. And passively cooled. Maschine 2 is quite usable, but one needs Microsoft Pen. It seems to me that MK3 and Surface Pro 7 might be better than Maschine Plus in many scenarios. Definitely, it has more RAM, disc space way stronger CPU and big screen. Still pretty compact.

It also runs Traktor just great. One may prepare playlists and so....

I hope for Apple users that iPads will run MacOS one day. There is no technological reason for having the artificial wall between iPad and Mac worlds. I do not think NI will invest energy in porting its SW specially for iPads....

Digital_Fist

I used to have NanoStudio but one day it disappeared from my phone and doesn't appear to be in the appstore anymore. Very odd.

I got super-excited this weekend about the idea of getting an iPad and using a Z1 with Traktor DJ2 for a mobile setup like my mate has been using for the past decade, but from what I've read on here in the past hour or so it looks like none of it has been supported for years and none of the hardware works with iOS anymore, so that seems to have killed the dream. :(

Kubrak

You may use Z1 with Microsoft Surface Pro and many other Win 2in1. Surface is something like iPad for Win. More or less.

Mike music

I use to use my iPad to make tracks and expand my music knowledge using various music apps and plugins. But since everyone stop updating on some of my favorite music daws I’ve just been using AI apps to get chords. It’s sad that AI has completely taken over music apps on the mobile stores.

[Deleted User]

Metronome app with Tap Knob (to check the tempo of the song);
Guitar Tuner app;
Circle of Fifths app (highly recommend!).

That's all ☺️

Milos

Metronome app for tempo, but for composing, I use Bandlab, but only for demo tracks.

Actual and more professional tracks are composed in Cakewalk (ironically made by the same people who made Bandlab).

irongiant

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/68638#Comment_68638

That's weird. I am/was a heavy user of Nanostudio 1 & 2. Still working on my iPhone and iPad. I didn't find it on the App Store either but the creator's website is: blipinteractive co uk [forum won't let me post links b/c I'm new.]

and there's a link to download it from the App Store there.

I like it a lot!

I also use Model 15 by Moog, Thumbjam, Figure, iKaossilator, Gaget2, Kauldron, Logic Remote, Bloom, Tabs and Guitar Toolkit.

For tuning, I love Tunable.

Maciej Repetowski

I usually put my mobile devices to silent mode when I make music ;)

I do use chords and scales app on my phone, occasionally.

JesterMgee

If by mobile device you mean a mobile sound recorder, then yes, I use several to record and hunt all kinds of sounds which in turn can be made into a wealth of new sounds.

Did you know that the sound of a crow recorded at 192Khz and slowed down to about 300% sounds more terrifying than the roar of a lion. Also, record the chirp of a cricket and then analyse the waveform, they have incredible ability to create such perfect sound waves at such high pitch. [/uselessdumbfacts]

As for apps on a phone etc, not for me thanks. I think tiny phone screens are killing the creativity of human kind enough as it is.

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