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Useful Studio Recording Apps for iPads

Although recording music on your iPad may not give you the same recording experience you would get in a professional Nashville recording studio, thanks to a number of incredible apps, it definitely can be done. We’ve highlighted some useful studio recording apps for iPads apps that every budding musician should download if they want to experiment with creating some music.

GarageBand is an essential recording tool and an incredibly powerful app. Even though it might not excel in the fine tuning department, and it doesn’t offer much in terms of mixing, it enables users to create music whenever they feel like it. The app comes with an inbuilt pedal selection and extended app. It’s almost too easy transferring music you create to your Mac, and you can also share music with others directly from the app itself. Best of all, GarageBand is free of cost. Garageband-iPad-2

Music Studio is arguably even more powerful than GarageBand. Although it comes at a steep $14.99, it boasts an intuitive and extensive interface. There are a number of different instruments you can use through this app through a virtual keyboard. There are several tune banks that can be purchased for those seeking more options.

 Another great recording app is MultiTrack DAW. The fantastic thing about this app is that it allows users to record four different tracks simultaneously, and up to 24 tracks in total if you are willing to pay for an upgrade. Single tracks can be recorded in stereo, and two tracks in mono. This powerful app offers an easy-to-use interface and an incredible amount of control over the final sound. MultiTrack DAW can be purchased for $9.99.

AmpliTube may cost $19.99, but it is perhaps the most versatile digital audio workstation out there. It has an incredible array of virtual pedals and amps that could almost make you forget that you’re working on a tablet computer.

There are several other useful studio recording apps for iPads, but this list of apps should be sufficient to give you the opportunity to create some great tunes without having to leave your home! What apps do you use to record music on your iPad? Let us know in the comments section!

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I Tunes Considers High-Def Downloads, will the average consumer care?

Michael Ide, from itproportal.com ,  says that “new reports suggest that Apple may soon replace low bit-rate music tracks with upgraded, higher quality ones. This move could likely be the result of Apple’s licensing agreement with the leading record labels in the music industry. Earlier, Business Week reported that the agreement between the two sides was now on the verge of being finalised, and also that upon being fully implemented it will allow Apple to go through a user’s entire iTunes collection and mirror it”…. read entire article here

While I am in full support of Apple making the effort to maintain the sonic quality that we as Producers spend so much time perfecting, I wonder if the average consumer would go for the idea. In the eyes of the mass consumer, is a high fidelity recording worth the extra space it will take up on hard drives and Ipods? Let us know your thoughts!

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Yourmuzik.net

Our friend Randy Brunson drops by to share the news on his new digital download widget available at yourmuzik.net

In 2007, I had just spent 3 years developing a piece of property in Spring Hill , Tennessee. Until then,……..thats what I did. Building and Development. But music was always a passion.  Coincidentally, by developing where I did, all the new friends I made were in the music business. My longtime friend and business partner, Jim Heaton, was involved at the time building a Nashville based spa business, with partners that were/are in the music business as well. His immediate partner is a great singer/songwriter, and her sister was well on her way to becoming a celebrity with Dancing With The Stars, and eventually a recording contract of her own.

Jim and I have always had our own passion for performing, but an equal passion for the creation of something that would outlast us. Our idea at the time was, in the aftermath of the collapse of Napster,   that someone needed to give independent artists a platform to perform and expose their talents at an affordable cost to them, to  build a facebook for musicians, and a digital download widget that would give independent artists, (as well as established) the ability to directly sell their music to the public digitally, but “RETAIN MOST OF THE MONEY”.

So came the birth of the initial concept for Yourmusik.net.   In 2009, we created a venue for independent artists to perform at  my farm in the Spring Hill, Tennessee area. Billed as “Howling at the Moon”, it was an instant success with over 20 acts, and 350 people attending an afternoon event that lasted for several hours into the night. We initially had hoped to launch Yourmusik.net at the second party, given this summer, but unfortunately had too many problems with the programming of the download widget.  We had another great day managing to bring in “Younger than Yesterday, Former Members of the BYRDS” as a headliner.  Three years later, thousands of dollars poorer, and beat up on by every software programmer that could get their hooks into us, we are finally at a crossroads with a piece of programming that actually works, and does just what we set out for, gives over 80% of the  proceeds of the sale of music back directly to the artist.

I say crossroads, because I feel even after all this, we still have a long way to go to establish everything we set out for.  The rest of our concept is to create a website that gives musicians a resource to turn to other musicians for camaraderie and support, and to the site itself for the least expensive resource for recording, equipment, vocal and instrument lessons, videos, and on line practice and recording, to name just a few things.

What I will say, is that we are proud to present the Yourmusik Download Widget to  independent artists of all genres, and are working constantly to improve the
speed and performance of this programming. We have built in all the necessary reporting/accounting details so that each artist can monitor the results of their sales with this widget.  We  are essentially licensing the use of this widget directly to each artist who would like to use it, to copy and paste to whatever site they wish, be it Facebook, Myspace, or independent.

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Sonoma Wireworks releases Audio Copy app

Los Altos, CA – September 14, 2010  Sonoma Wire Works’ FourTrack
multitrack audio recorder for the iPhone® and iPod touch® has been
updated to 4.0 adding powerful new features including file import,
AudioCopy, input monitoring, the GuitarJackâ„¢ control panel and
Taylor EQ. FourTrack 4.0 empowers musicians to easily produce high
quality recordings wherever inspiration strikes.

FourTrack 4.0 New Features:

– File Import: Import audio into FourTrack by opening an audio email
attachment or by dragging audio files into FourTrack’s File Sharing
area under Apps in iTunes. Supports wav, mp3 and aiff formats.
FourTrack’s Sessions folder can now be dragged out of iTunes to the
desktop. These features require iOS 4.0 and iTunes 9.2 or above.

– AudioCopy: Copy a track or a mix in FourTrack. Name a copy to
easily identify it in the AudioCopy history list of up to 12 items
which includes audio previews. Paste to another track in FourTrack,
to another song in FourTrack, to any AudioPaste enabled app, and to
apps that support Apple’s general pasteboard.

– Input Monitoring: Use FourTrack’s settings tool to enable/disable
input monitoring. Input monitoring is enabled when a track is armed
and in either Pause or Record mode. Playback of existing tracks
overrides input monitoring. When input monitoring is on, sliders on
armed tracks are enabled and control the monitor mix.

– GuitarJack Control Panel – Adjust the input settings of the new
GuitarJack audio accessory for compatible iOS devices. Select from
1/4″, stereo 1/8″ or both inputs simultaneously, and adjust input
levels with 60dB of analog gain control. FourTrack remembers
GuitarJack settings. Settings are maintained by the GuitarJack while
powered, and it can be used by most apps that do recording or
playback such as tuners, amp models, and more. When a stereo mode is
selected, tracks will arm in pairs (1&2 or 3&4).

– TaylorEQ – Sonoma Wire Works teamed with Taylor Guitars to create
an input EQ for enhancing the FourTrack recordings of Taylor Guitars
or any acoustic guitar. Select from a range of Taylor body styles in
basic mode, or select the Advanced tab to adjust the 6 band
parametric equalizer manually.

– ARM Optimized Audio Engine – Hand optimized assembly code makes
this the fastest running FourTrack release ever.

– Higher Resolution Graphics: Optimized for the iPhone 4 Retina
Display. 

About FourTrack

The FourTrack multitrack audio recorder is a songwriting and practice
tool for singers, guitar players, piano players and other musicians
who want to capture musical ideas and record songs on their iPhone
and iPod touch (2nd generation and above). Plug in a microphone, arm
a track, record, and repeat. FourTrack works with the iPhone built-in
microphone or a headset mic. WiFi sync allows FourTrack recordings to
be transferred to any desktop computer either by launching RiffWorks
recording software and clicking import, or by downloading the tracks
with a browser, then importing them into any recording software
(DAW). FourTrack is developed by Sonoma Wire Works, makers of
RiffWorksâ„¢ guitar recording software, and by The Retronyms, makers
of Recorder, the top selling voice recorder for the iPhone and iPod
touch. FourTrack is available in the iTunes App store for $9.99.
FourTrack features, guide, images, and videos:
https://www.sonomawireworks.com/fourtrack

About GuitarJack

The GuitarJack audio accessory for compatible iOS devices connects a
wide range of instruments, microphones, and other audio hardware to
the iPod touch® (2nd and 3rd generation), iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G
(in airplane mode) via 1/4 inch instrument and 1/8 inch stereo
mic/line inputs. Addressing the most frequent request from musicians
who use FourTrack, GuitarJack makes both level control and input
monitoring possible when using a GuitarJack enhanced app. GuitarJack
is not compatible with iPhone 4, iPadâ„¢ or iPod touch 4th
generation. GuitarJack is priced at $199 MSRP. GuitarJack features,
guide, images and video: https://www.sonomawireworks.com/guitarjack

About Sonoma Wire Works

Incorporated in 2003 and headquartered in Los Altos, California,
Sonoma Wire Works develops products and services that help musicians
enjoy playing, recording and sharing music. Sonoma Wire Works’
flagship product is RiffWorks guitar recording software with
InstantDrummer, effects, RiffLinkâ„¢ online music collaboration, and
the RiffWorld.com online community. These products have received
multiple awards for performance and innovation, including a NAMM 08
Best in Show Trendsetter Award. FourTrack and InstantDrummerâ„¢
iPhone apps, AudioCopy/AudioPaste technology for the iPhone,
StudioTrackâ„¢ multitrack for the iPad, and the GuitarJack accessory
for compatible iOS devices are also developed by Sonoma. Drum
products by Sonoma include the DrumCore and KitCore plugins and
DrummerPack library, as well as the Discrete Drums multitrack drum
library. https://www.sonomawireworks.com

©2010 Sonoma Wire Works. All rights reserved. GuitarJack, the
GuitarJack logo, RiffWorks, the RW Logo, RiffWorld, RiffCaster,
RiffLink, InstantDrummer, StudioTrack, the StudioTrack Logo, the
FourTrack Logo, DrumCore, KitCore, and Discrete Drums are trademarks
of Sonoma Wire Works. iPod, iPhone and iPad are trademarks of Apple
Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. All other
trademarks are property of their respective owners.

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Sonoma Wireworks teams up with Terence Higgins for DrumCore

Sonoma Wire Works Releases HigginsPack, a New DrummerPack for
DrumCore

–New Orleans funk drum grooves by Terence Higgins of The Dirty Dozen
Brass Band–

Los Altos, CA – August 19, 2010 – Sonoma Wire Works has launched the
HigginsPack DrummerPack for DrumCore. Terence Higgins, drummer for
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, brings DrumCore users unique New Orleans
marching style drum loops, variations, fills and drumkit sounds with
a dash of hip hop, funk, R&B, and soul. Higgins says this DrummerPack
is “guaranteed to add a little grease to your tracks.”

HigginsPack was recorded by the original Submersible Music team, and
was pre-configured by them with metadata for use with the DrumCore
search engine, which will help you find content based on feel
(straight, shuffle, etc.), time signature, tempo and other criteria.
Songwriter-friendly “GrooveSets” group related beats, variations
and fills to serve as a construction kit for song creation. All audio
is 48kHz/24-bit and created in a pro studio using state-of-the-art
digital (ProTools HD3) and analog (Neumann, Neve, etc.) recording
equipment. DrumCore works with all the major audio applications and
supports dragging audio and MIDI directly to tracks in applications
such as ACID® 7, Digital Performer® 6, Live 6 and up, Logic Pro® 8
and up, Pro Tools® 7.4.2 and up, Cubase® 4 and up (32 bit), and
Sonar™ 8 (32 bit).

HigginsPack includes 3.5GB of content including 7 DrumKits (24 pads
each) that match 7 GrooveSets (360 audio loops, 427 audio fills, 97
MIDI loops and 41 MIDI fills).

HigginsPack GrooveSets:

Bourbon Street Strut – A traditional slice of New Orleans march.
Intricate rolled snares with some bouncing toms thrown in for good
measure. 70 – 130 BPM

Dirty Dumpster – A trashy, choppy breakbeat groove with funky snare
work and sloppy hats. Great for Hip Hop. 70 – 120 BPM

Fix The Levee – Funky rhythms played on a poppy kit. Sounds great at
the faster tempos. 70 – 130 BPM

Go Go Grease – Upbeat and swingy, this groove is perfect for multiple
genres including Pop, Hip Hop, and R&B. 70 – 120 BPM

Nolafied – A laid back, funky breakbeat that only “The Big Easy”
could provide. 70 – 130 BPM

Swampburn – Thick and murky Nawlins’ march beats. Snare heavy with
some great tom sections. 70 – 130 BPM

Zigawho – Another funky beat with some great snare variations. Start
and Stop breakdowns and splashy cymbals. 60 – 110 BPM

HigginsPack is priced at $79.99, is available at drumcore.com,
sonomawireworks.com, and will be available via most music software
retailers. Demo tracks and HigginsPack info:
https://drumcore.com/TemplateMain.aspx?contentId=100

Requires DrumCore (2 or above) and 3.5 GB of disc space for
installation.

About Terence Higgins and his Drum Kit:

Born and raised in NOLA, Higgins is well versed in the New Orleans
funk style. He is currently touring with The Dirty Dozen Brass Band,
John Scofield’s Piety Street Band, and Swampgrease. In the past, he
has played with Widespread Panic, Dr. John and Norah Jones to name a
few, appears on dozens of albums, and has just released his solo “In
the Bywater” CD. Terence used the following drum kit to record
HigginsPack: Pearl MRX Masters Series Vintage Sunburst with black
hardware, 22×18 bass drum, 8×8 tom, 10×9 tom, 12×10 tom, 16×14 tom,
14×6.5 snare drum (Steve Ferrone Signature), 13×6.5 snare drum (Joey
Jordison Signature), and a 14×6.5 snare drum (Sensitone).

About DrumCore:

DrumCore gives songwriters and composers access to grooves and
instrument sounds of over a dozen famous drummers and percussionists.
It includes a groove library of both audio loops and MIDI files plus a
VST/AU/RTAS software instrument for Mac and PC. DrumCore is expandable
with add-on DrummerPacks. https://www.drumcore.com

About Sonoma Wire Works:

Incorporated in 2003 and headquartered in Los Altos, California,
Sonoma Wire Works develops products and services that help musicians
enjoy playing, recording and sharing music. Sonoma Wire Works’
flagship product is RiffWorks™ guitar recording software with
InstantDrummer, effects, RiffLink™ online music collaboration, and
the RiffWorld.com online community. These products have received
multiple awards for performance and innovation. FourTrack™ and
InstantDrummer™ iPhone Apps, AudioCopy/AudioPaste technology for
the iPhone, the GuitarJack™ audio input device, and the
StudioTrack™ multitrack for the iPad are also by Sonoma. Drum
products by Sonoma include the DrumCore and KitCore plugins and
DrummerPack library, as well as the Discrete Drums multitrack drum
library. https://www.sonomawireworks.com

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