Is that a moog in your ipod or are you just happy to see me?
October 13, 2009 3:48 PM Subscribe
What are the options for ultra portable electronic music making (e.g. Iphone, PSP, DS, etc) either now or in the near future?
I'm out of touch with music production and have scant time to get serious about it again. I've been selling off audio gear like mad but want to get myself a new toy so I can still get my synth on now and again. Want something ultra portable that I can bring on trips or muck about with just about anywhere.
The quest: Ideally I'd like something with some (say ohh 30%) of the functionality of Ableton Live or Reason. Hell even Rebirth would be ample for my needs.
The twist: Small form factor. Ipod touch would be amazing.
I looked at the kaossilator but still too much "toy" for my needs. The Kord DS-10 is interesting but apparently limited for actually saving tracks and recording. I've seen promising things on the Iphone/Touch, but nothing quite there yet.
Any other devices I'm missing? Is the limitation on the Iphone hardware or is it just that the killer app hasn't arrived yet? Surely the Iphone is still more powerful than my old pnetium running rubberduck, rebirth and other oldskool software synths.
I do have a Dell Mini 9 with OSX and Ableton Live running rather well. The keyboard is a pain, but I'm starting to think this is my only bet. Unfortunately, it's not quite the "play it on the metro" form factor. And battery life is nothing like the above.
Cheers.
I'm out of touch with music production and have scant time to get serious about it again. I've been selling off audio gear like mad but want to get myself a new toy so I can still get my synth on now and again. Want something ultra portable that I can bring on trips or muck about with just about anywhere.
The quest: Ideally I'd like something with some (say ohh 30%) of the functionality of Ableton Live or Reason. Hell even Rebirth would be ample for my needs.
The twist: Small form factor. Ipod touch would be amazing.
I looked at the kaossilator but still too much "toy" for my needs. The Kord DS-10 is interesting but apparently limited for actually saving tracks and recording. I've seen promising things on the Iphone/Touch, but nothing quite there yet.
Any other devices I'm missing? Is the limitation on the Iphone hardware or is it just that the killer app hasn't arrived yet? Surely the Iphone is still more powerful than my old pnetium running rubberduck, rebirth and other oldskool software synths.
I do have a Dell Mini 9 with OSX and Ableton Live running rather well. The keyboard is a pain, but I'm starting to think this is my only bet. Unfortunately, it's not quite the "play it on the metro" form factor. And battery life is nothing like the above.
Cheers.
I don't know the terminology and I'm not a musician, so this could be way off, but I was very impressed with what Jordan Rudess did with BeBot on the iPhone. The fact that the app costs something like $2 or $3 made that much more of a jaw drop.
posted by alms at 5:40 PM on October 13, 2009
posted by alms at 5:40 PM on October 13, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
A lot of the stuff in the post may not be applicable to the DSi though, since (I believe) none of the homebrew cards work on it yet. That said, the DSi version of the Korg DS-10 has significantly expanded capabilities. But the good ol' vanilla DS-10 is damned close to Rebirth, and, if you're inclined, you can significantly increase your song storage by putting multiple, legally-obtained copies of DS-10 on a homebrew card.
Having said all that, the iPhone and the Touch seem to be where all the new beat-making hotness seems to be. I can't make any specific recommendations there, but CDM certainly can.
posted by lekvar at 4:04 PM on October 13, 2009 [2 favorites]