Our Top 5 iOS Music Production Apps
We have recently been taking a look at what is available to musicians on iOS and have settled on our top five apps. Preference has been to run these on the iPad Pro 12.9 as the old eyes would struggle with the iPhone these days. Although we do use several guitar tuners on the iPhone so it does have it’s uses.
Now this is not a definitive list, just our own personal preferences and in no particular order. If you have come across something you want to share or perhaps you have your own list of top apps please let us know on the forum.
KORG GADGET
This is quite an amazing value for money app from KORG and whilst we don’t use everything it contains the flexibility and choice makes it stand out from the crowd. In particular we like ‘Helsinki’ which is a polyphonic ambient synth. Rosario a guitar effect processor which gives us 30 different presets faithfully modelled using 19 different amps ranging from vintage to modern high-gain, 12 different cabinets and 24 different effects pedals and the Salzburg Premium Acoustic Piano.
KORG iWAVESTATION
Whilst KORG GADGET does contain a “wavestation” type synth we prefer the standalone iWAVESTATION. This completely reproduces the original Wavestation that was released back in 1990 and of course adds a load of new stuff for 2018. Whilst it is great on the iPad it really is about time KORG released this version for the Mac desktop. There is the original Wavestation software of course and you can also buy the ‘KORG Collection’ which includes it but on the desktop it still uses the old interface and this seems quite clunky in comparison to the iOS version.
CUBASIS 2
Interesting one this. The ONLY way we can currently get any access at all to Cubase is via the iOS app. The desktop version simply will not run on our iMac. Have tried everything and even Steinberg can’t figure it out. Still on the upside, Cubasis 2 is very easy to use and you can get your ideas down quickly. The only problem of course is not being able to transfer those ideas to the Mac. Hopefully Steinberg will solve our particular issues soon and then I can use both.
GARAGEBAND
We have been using GarageBand on the mac for years and it’s a very quick and easy DAW software to work with. It has some great instruments included and an uncluttered interface. It is also incredibly cheap to buy. Definitely worth a look.
ARTURIA iPROPHET SYNTHESISER
We are big fans of Arturia and this recreation of the famous Sequential Circuits Prophet VS is just perfect for us. It’s great for bass and leads but it’s those full rich pads that always grab our attention. At £9.99 it is worth every penny of the asking price.
So there you go, our top five iOS apps. Let us know if you use any of these and what you think of them and also if you have any suggestions.
