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Audio

Best Music Apps for OS X Mac and Windows PC

From a simple 10 band equalizer made for Spotify to a volume booster to full-on audiophile applications touting bit-perfect audio output.

May 15, 2013 TD Staff Leave a Comment

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GarageBand

Apple

Cost: $4.99

Rating: 4+

Requirements:  iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation), iPod touch (5th generation) and iPad. Requires iOS 5.1 or later. This app is optimized for iPhone 5

 

The GarageBand app for iOS is a mobile recording studio on your iOS device. With GarageBand, you can enjoy some of the features of the original GarageBand with a mobile twist. Use smart instruments for aided playing capability or choose from a range of touch instruments that you can control with the device’s touch screen. GarageBand also allows you to record up to an eight track song to share by uploading it to the cloud. Choose from a variety of pianos, organs, string instruments, percussion instruments and more, all at the command of your finger. You can even use the app to jam with several friends over a WiFi or Bluetooth connection. The app also offers users the ability to plug in a physical guitar and take advantage of a handful of different pedals, stompboxes and featured tube amps and other amplifier hardware.

 

Features:

  • Play dozens of musical instruments on the innovative Multi-Touch keyboard
  • Tap out beats with acoustic and electronic drum kits
  • Recreate legendary guitar rigs with 9 amps and 10 stompbox effects
  • Record your voice using the built-in microphone, and apply fun sound effects
  • Use the Sampler to create an instrument from sounds you record, then play them on a keyboard
  • Conduct an entire string orchestra with just one finger using Smart Strings
  • Tap chords to instantly create keyboard grooves with the Smart Keyboard
  • Strum chords on acoustic and electric Smart Guitars, or trigger fingerpicking patterns for popular chords
  • Groove with a variety of Smart Basses, using upright, electric, and synth sounds
  • Create and use custom chords for any Smart Instrument
  • Drag drum instruments onto a grid to create your own beats with Smart Drums
  • Use your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch to play or record live over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth with up to three of your friend
  • Tempo, key, time signature, and chords automatically sync to the bandleader
  • Jam with any Touch Instrument or live instruments like electric guitar or voice
  • Tap Record at any time to capture your band’s best moments
  • The bandleader automatically collects everyone’s recordings so they can be mixed as a song and shared
  • Arrange and mix your song with up to eight tracks using Touch Instruments, audio recordings, and loops
  • Use the Note Editor to adjust or fine-tune any Touch Instrument recording
  • Trim and place musical regions exactly where you want them to play
  • Use the Mixer to fine-tune each track’s volume —solo or mute any track or adjust pan, reverb, and echo
  • Choose from over 250 professionally prerecorded loops as a backing band to your song
  • Combine recordings to free up additional tracks using Track Merge
  • Keep your GarageBand songs up to date across all your iOS devices with iCloud
  • Create custom ringtones and alerts for your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
  • Share your songs directly to Facebook, YouTube, and SoundCloud
  • Email songs right from GarageBand (AAC)
  • Export your song and add it to the iTunes library on your Mac or PC (AAC or AIFF uncompressed)
  • Send a multitrack project to your Mac and open it in GarageBand or Logic Pro to continue refining your song
  • Send GarageBand songs directly to iMovie for iOS to add a custom soundtrack for your video

GarageBand cont…

GarageBand cont…

GarageBand cont…

GarageBand cont…

Sylo Synthesizer

Wooji Juice Ltd

Cost: Free

Rating: 4+

Requirements:  iPad. Requires iOS 3.2 or later

 

The Sylo Synthesizer app allows you to create, tweak and filter your own synth leads. Using either pre-loaded sounds or sound you find yourself using the iPad’s onboard microphone, the Sylo Synthesizer is a compact mobile synth with endless possibilities. The app also supports MIDI so you can control sounds from other compatible devices as well. With comparable FX options, a variety of speed and sound filters as well as the MIDI feature, the Sylo Synthesizer app presents itself as a simple synthesizer mobile app.

 

Features

  • Speed up or slow down a recorded sound to use as an instrument
  •   With a regular wavetable synthesiser, higher-pitched notes are also faster, like chipmunks, and lower-pitched notes are also slower, as though they are moving through treacle
  •   But enable Sylo’s “Sync Speed” feature, and lower or higher-pitched notes still play back at the same speed, keeping them in sync with each other
  •   Fiddle with the speed control even while you’re playing notes: Slow, stop or even rewind the sound in the middle of notes — without changing the pitch
  •   FX units: Frequency modulation, ring modulation, echo/delay, distortion, and a low-pass filter with resonance control
  • Sylo Synthesiser also supports Core MIDI: play music from another device via MIDI.

Sylo Synthesizer cont…

Korg iMS-20

Korg Inc.

Cost: $32.99

Rating: 4+

Requirements:  iPad. Requires iOS 4.2 or later

The Korg iMS-20 is an analog recreation for your mobile device. This powerful mobile app is a fully functionable, controllable Korg MS-20 analog synthesizer with built-in analog drum machine and dual Kaossilator pads for even more options for sound control and preferences. This iPad-dedicated app features a part drum machine with 14 customizable effects. You can record and share your synth settings and post them on SoundCloud and a seven channel mixer. Synth leads can be defined via a 16-stepper which is based on Korg SQ-10.

Features:

Components:

  • MS-20 monophonic synthesizer : 1 unit
  • Analog sequencer : 1 unit
  • 6-part drum machine : 1 unit
  • Mixer : 1 unit
  • Song/Pattern composer : 1 unit

MS-20 monophonic synthesizer:

  • Analog modeling synthesizer (MS-20 modeled by “CMT” Component Modeling Technology)
  • 2VCO / 2VCF / 1VCA / 2EG / Patch Panel
  • Additional functions : Modulation Key/Tempo Sync
  • Insert effect (selectable from 14 effect types as below)

Analog sequencer:

  • 16-step analog sequencer
  • Control notes, volume, pan, parameters, and voltages via knobs
  • Configurable steps (1-16) and sequence mode (6 types)
  • Trigger out per channel or step position

6-part drum machine:

  • 6-part/16-step drum machine
  • Create sounds by sampling a single note from a built-in MS-20
  • Controllable notes, volume and pan by knobs
  • Configurable steps (1-16) and sequence mode (6 types) per a part

Mixer:

  • 7-channel mixer
  • Double needle meter indicates VU level
  • Master effect (selectable from 14 effect types as below)

Song/Pattern composer:

  • Compose a song or select a pattern, built-in mixer
  • 16 patterns and 256 bars per a song
  • Tempo setting (20-300 BPM) and Swing function

Effect type:

• 14 types : Short Delay, BPM Sync Delay, Reverb 1, Reverb 2, Chorus/Flanger, Equalizer, Compressor, Tube Simulator (Valve Force), Low-Pass Filter, High-Pass Filter, Band-Pass Filter, Talking Modulator, Decimator, Grain Shifter

Controllers:

  • Keyboard : Variable width (22, 26, or 29 keys)
  • Kaoss Pad : 2 units
  • - Performance pad : Key/Scale (31 types) settings - Parameter control pad : X-Y axis parameter settings

Other:

  • Audio export function (Bouncing a song or pattern, and Real-time recording a performance: 16-bit/44.1 kHz stereo WAV format)
  • Publish and share songs online with the SoundCloud audio platform
  • Various template patterns by music genre are included
  • Various template sounds by sound category are included

Korg iMS-20 Cont…

Korg iMS-20 Cont…

Korg iMS-20 Cont…

Korg iMS-20 Cont…

DM1

Fingerlab

Cost: $19.99

Rating: 4+

Requirements: iPad. Requires iOS 5.1 or later

The DM1 mobile app recreates the feel of a vintage drum pad. With 64 preset drum kits and a robust list of options, the DM1 is a powerful mobile app. This app features a customizable step sequencer for loops and recordable drum pads for quick reference drum samples. DM1 also boasts a touch-controlled mixer for control over individual drum samples, loops, and full control over drum kit EQ. The FX pads let you modulate any imported samples with effects such as Overdrive, Reverb, Delay, Phaser, Formant, Texturizer, Robotizer, Filter, Dalek filter and Compressor. One of the easiest functions of the app is its song composer feature; you can drag and drop beats and samples onto a timeline to orchestrate songs at the swipe of the finger.

Features:

  • Retina Display
  • Graphic design by Jonas Eriksson
  • Smart ergonomy for fast creativity and fun
  • 86 vintage and produced drum kits, mastered at in-house Fingerlab Sound Studios
  • Step Sequencer with multi-touch matrix
  • Mixer page with pitch, length and level rotary controls, pan controls, and custom drum kit per channel
  • Automation Panel for a precise and intuitive control of any Mixer parameter over time
  • FX per track
  • FX automation
  • Samples Import
  • 9 Big Drum pads, quantized recording and pitch-bend ribbon
  • Duo FX Trackpads for real-time sonic destruction and multi
  • Time signature
  • 16 or 32 Steps per patterns
  • The Randomizer tool
  • Extra fast drum kit loading
  • Playable pattern selection for extra creativity
  • Mode song with intuitive editing
  • High-quality export to SoundCloud, Facebook, email, iTunes shared folder or AudioCopy
  • Audio background mode
  • WIST synchronisation technology by Korg for syncing 2 iPads/iPhones together
  • Midi IN, Plug’n'Play with Camera Connection Kit

DM1 Cont…

DM1 Cont…

dm1_5

DM1 Cont…

DM1 Cont…

Sythe Synthesizer

Robert Wallhead

Cost: Free

Rating: 4.3

Requirements: Android 2.2 and up

Sythe is a dynamic wavetable synthesizer driven off mixable Sine and Saw sources.

Generate sound on a pad or a 3-octave keyboard grid grid, layer Sine and Saw harmonics and modulate it all with an AM LFO.

Sythe Synthesizer Cont…

Sythe Synthesizer Cont…

Sythe Synthesizer Cont…

Sythe Synthesizer Cont…

Nanoloop

Oliver Wittchow

Cost: $2.63

Rating: 4.8

Requirements: Android 1.6 and up

Nanoloop is a complete sequencer/synthesizer/sampler package with a clear, minimalistic graphical interface.

Features:

  • Six channels, each can be synth or sampler
  • Load samples from SD-card
  • Sample via microphone
  • Re-sample, export samples
  • FM-, noise- and filtered wave synthesizer
  • Fast and easy to use stepsequencer
  • 8 patterns and 2 instruments per channel
  • Song editor with loop function
  • Send and receive projects via e-mail
  • Files compatible with the iPhone version (via iTunes only)
  • Export songs to device’s music library (Ogg Vorbis format)

Nanoloop Cont…

Nanoloop Cont…

Nanoloop Cont…

RD3-Groovebox

mikrosonic

Cost: $2.99

Rating: 4.4

Requirements: Android 2.1 and up

 

The RD3 Groovebox app recreates an analog synthesizer and analog drum machine. This app lets you modulate samples, loops and create your own beats and synthlines on your Android device. With the the SPC mixer app, you can instantly integrate saved content into the apps own mixer for play back and mixing of unique content.

 

Features:

  • Virtual analog synthesizer
  • Three types of waveforms
  • Reminiscent of the legendary 303 synthesizer
  • High-quality or regular filter modes
  • Drum machine with 8 drum kits: 808, 909, 606, CR-78, Linn, KR55, RZ1, DMX
  • Real-time step sequencer
  • Four bars with 16 steps per instrument
  • Three play modes: Solo, loop or random
  • Multi-touch control
  • Audio loop export feature
  • Session save capability
  • Cut/copy/paste pattern
  • App2SD

RD3-Groovebox Cont…

I have received a few requests for apps for Macs and PCs. On occasion a Mac or PC app has made it into a mobile app article, but to date we’ve covered mostly mobile apps. So I went in search of.

I can get lost for days-on-end doing research online. One search leads to one thing, then another and so-on. While it doesn’t bode well for deadlines — it’s like therapy for me.

As I was cruising around the Web looking for some Mac and PC apps that have been put through the paces for this article, I “stumbled upon” a blog written by two of my old consumer electronics friends, Brent Butterworth and Geoff Morrison. They have been bench testing high-end audio equipment for many years and more importantly listening and judging with discerning ears. To this I tip my hat to them and their blog .

In this roundup you’ll see a couple of products aren’t exactly an “apps,” but do fit the audiophile category of making music sound better on your PC.  And chances are, that if you are an audiophile you’re not adverse to tweaking code for the greater cause of better sound.

In doing these articles for well over a year now, I have one complaint. The search for specific category apps for iOS within iTunes is horrendous and the search for Android apps within Google Play is only slightly better. The search for Mac apps on Mac App Store is actually better and the search on the Windows Store is non-existent. The best way to find these specific apps is the good ol’ fashioned Google Search.

As always, if you have an app that you have found to be indispensable or just plain fun in your AV life, please share in the comments below.

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