Neo-soul new iPad app

[dazzjazz]

Hi everyone,

 

Gospel musicians have released a free version of their NeoSoul electric piano virtual instrument. When you load it it says "ad-supported but so far I have seen any ads, which is a good thing!

 

I had a chance to quickly try it out at sound check last night. My rig:

 

KeyB Duo using iPad3 and iRig MIDI interface into QSC K10.

 

It sounds pretty good to me, but I was getting a noticeable latency that was a deal breaker for me. I'm not sure what the cause is. It's spec'd at Ipad3 and higher. Perhaps it's the fault of the iRig interface or their host driver app.

 

Pity, I was hoping for a little Rhodes or Wurly every now and then!

Anyone got an iPad4 wanna check it out and report?

 

Darren

[Dana.]

Nuthin' but

[hoggernick]

Just tried it. My opinions:

 

- sounds are great

- lots of variables to play with, like key off samples,EQ, vibrato

- like dazzjazz said, the latency is a deal breaker

- no audiobus support

- I don't think my ipad2 is an issue. It has onscreen CPU meter, and it stays fairly low while playing.

- polyphony seemed fine, at least 16 notes, probably more. Much better than GarageBand.

 

I'm not looking for free or ad supported in an app like this. Want it to get a job done - solid EP from an ipad. I probably wouldn't flinch at $10 for this app if the latency issue weren't there.

[AnotherScott]

like dazzjazz said, the latency is a deal breaker

Out of curiosity, what interface are you using?

 

Also, to maximize performance, it probably makes sense to make sure no other apps are running, and try putting it in airplane mode (no wifi/3G connectivity).

[hoggernick]

Good points anotherscott. I used an iConnectMidi, but I didn't kill all other apps or put it into airplane mode. That interface has seemed to be about as fast as anything else I've got (CCK, Alesis iodock), so I don't think it hurt matters. I should do a reboot though, kill all apps, and airplane mode just to give it every chance to work out.

[kanker.]

Airplane mode is one of the reasons I can't wait for electric piano apps like this to come to the iPhone. That way I can use my phone as a sound module and not worry about the wife calling to bug me about running to the store after the gig at the same time.

 

Joking aside, the more stuff like this that comes out, the more attractive the iPad becomes to me if the GUIs can't be made to work on the iPhone. In spite of the fact that I write books about Logic, I'm just not confident using a DAW on a gig. For some reason, iOS just feels more stable. 99% of the time, if an app crashes in iOS, it seems to be at startup. I would assume Airplane mode and killing extra apps would free some otherwise active resources that would help the app run smoother.

[kanker.]

One other thing I'll add - while it's really nice that Jamal is offering the app free with in app purchases as a way to increase the power/versatility of the app, it also kinda highlights one of the real shortcomings of the iTunes App store - this isn't a game, it isn't a productivity app. Because of the nature of the app, screenshots are virtually meaningless - it just shows that the GUI is nice. Apple really needs to allow audio apps to have audio files or (perhaps even for apps in general) video trailers/previews attached to the app's store entry so that the devs don't have to resort to a freebie to entice you to check it out. You shouldn't have to search for a bunch of extra info, it should all be inline. It isn't like they don't do that for music or videos/TV shows/movies.....

[midinut]

I still want Mainstage on the iPad. Surely it will happen at some point.

[Tonysounds]

I'll expose my stupidity again: Can someone explain airplane mode to me?

[davinwv]

I'll expose my stupidity again: Can someone explain airplane mode to me?

 

Airplane mode turns off all wireless radios (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, Cellular, etc.) on your mobile device. When flying, it allows you to use your device in an unconnected state, rather than powering the whole thing down and being forced to read or interact with other humans.

[AnotherScott]

I'll expose my stupidity again: Can someone explain airplane mode to me?

It turns off all wifi and 3G/4G connectivity (so you have no internet connection), named because some airlines (used to?) insist that, even during the periods of the flight when you are permitted to use electronic devices, you can't use devices that send wireless communication data, on the theory that that could conceivably interfere with the plane's electronics. These days, there are flights that, themselves, offer onboard wifi, so I think the idea is outdated, but the name persists.

[Tonysounds]

Thanks!!! I figured as much.

[dazzjazz]

Hopefully the guy from Gospel Musicians will chime in here. I tried the app again with a different controller, just case that was the culprit (unlikely I know). Same result. The latency is so bad that, when mixed with the controllers own sound, it actually sounds as a slap back delay. I wasn't in airplane mode but I did have just NeoSoul Keys and the iRig MIDI driver app open.

 

What a bummer! The sound of the instruments is great, especially when you dial in some key noises and other artifacts. One day....

[burningbusch]

There is an update available. Check your App Store. I'm using the Apple camera connection kit. It seems to provide the lowest latency of the connectors that I have.

 

Busch.

[Gospel Musicians]

Hey Guys....Let me chime in here....

 

First I wanted to thank everyone for downloading the app and trying it out. I'll try to address some things

 

Firstly, remember it's only version 1.1. One thing about development is that you can't really come out with the super finished version just yet as it adds a whole a lot of technical nightmares to throw the kitchen sink in the first version. iK, Korg, and others can do it, because they have completed their first phase of app development which is discovery. After that all the other new apps will be fine.

 

Also, as stated on the description and now I can confer, that we are the first app developer to offer real-time streaming of sample data using the Apple Lossless format. This technology is so new that it would definitely be considered "bleeding edge." So much so that we were the unofficial bug testers for it and were able to aid in tweaking this thing.

 

With that said....Here is what's on the list for version 1.2

1. AudioBus

2. Virtual MIDI

3. Latency slider (to be used with caution as reducing latency also increases processor significantly)

4. Adding ability to select MIDI channels

5. Enable/Disable Background Audio

6. A better Stage EP (Cleaned up some more)

 

Futures:

1. iPhone app (GUI is already done)

2. Version 2 is going to be absolutely amazing...so much so that I almost can't even believe that it will be possible .

 

Now one word of warning for iPad 2 folks. The iPad 2 will work, but with caution. In order to offer this disk/ram streaming and all of the mechanical effects....all that comes at a cost of the processor, so the iPad 2 and 3 have to be used with caution and much planning. Bottom line: you can't just go crazy with all of the effects on and play like there is no tomorrow.

 

Please check out this video: http://youtu.be/GyMOz6zycMY, specifically at time 19:46

 

Also, after doing some extensive research, the iPad 3 can have slightly inferior performance to even that of the iPad 2 in certain situations. The processor is essentially the same A5 processor but with quad core graphics to power the retina display. The problem is that the speed improvement to the processor is pretty much cancelled out because the processor has to drive 4 times more pixels. See this bench score comparison:

 

http://gm-image-files.s3.amazonaws.com/Misc/GeekBench.png

 

 

 

So basically, if you have an iPad 3, don't expect it to be better than an iPad 2 or for it to be close to an iPad 4. The iPad 4 is still optimal. Yes, yes an iPad 2/3 will work and can perform fine. All of our video examples were done on an iPad 2, but with caution as with any DAW loading a bunch of effects. It kind of gives us a sneaky suspicion why Apple completely removed the iPad 3 from the store and kept the older iPad 2.

 

We may consider a "Lite" mode that doesn't load all of the mechanical FX and just gives you the Sustain and release.

 

 

 

 

[Gospel Musicians]

Once again...Thank you guys so much for your support and trying the app out. We really appreciate you guys working with us and being patient as we update the app to where it should be!

[Joe Muscara]

What about iPad mini performance?

 

I have an iPad 1 so I can't use it at all, and my next purchase will likely be an iPad mini.

[Matthiola]

Tried it on my iPad mini with all other apps closed, experienced latency and serious dropouts. But maybe I play too many notes

By the way, I have the Neo Soul Suitcase for Motif and it's simply magical. The experience is so close to the real deal (I owned several Rhodes piano's).

[AnotherScott]

What about iPad mini performance?

An iPad Mini has the same processor and the same RAM as an iPad 2. For all intents and purposes, it is an iPad 2 with a smaller screen. So that should tell you what to expect.

 

[AnotherScott]

we are the first app developer to offer real-time streaming of sample data using the Apple Lossless format.

I don't know about the format, but I think yours is the second app to offer real-time streaming of sample data at all. The CMP Grand Piano is the only other streaming sample app I'm aware of. (I don't know if they use the Apple Lossless format, though)

 

Latency slider (to be used with caution as reducing latency also increases processor significantly)

Can you describe what will happen when you overdo this setting? More to the point, might there be a way someone could trade off polyphony for lower latency?

[hoggernick]

Re: gospelmusicians - Thanks for the detailed update. A "lite" mode sounds like a great idea to me. The pedal noise and exaggerated release and key down thumps aren't a big deal at all to me. I'm in it for low latency, at least 12 notes polyphony, and at least 6 velocity layers of your great barky samples.

 

Ipad mini also seems pretty interesting. It's small enough to set on the top of many synths.

[Gospel Musicians]

Cool...We can do a Lite version with just the sustain and release samples without all the extra mechanical stuff. We can still add the effects as the effects can be turned off.

 

We can simply just have a button that says Light and it will remove all the other effects from RAM.

[Joe Muscara]

What about iPad mini performance?

An iPad Mini has the same processor and the same RAM as an iPad 2. For all intents and purposes, it is an iPad 2 with a smaller screen. So that should tell you what to expect.

Scott, thanks for this info. I have been putting off buying an iPad mini partially because I own the iPad 1st gen and partially I don't know why. This might be the reason. I will wait until the iPad mini has the same processor as the iPad 4.

 

(However, to pit some nits, there are some features of the iPad mini that are the same as the iPad 4, such as the cameras and cellular/wireless tech. Also, while it's not a Retina display, it does have a higher pixel density than the iPad 2. So, it's the same as the iPad 2 as far as processor and performance, which is what you meant to say, but it's the same as the iPad 4 as far as most other features.)

[AnotherScott]

. Also, while it's not a Retina display, it does have a higher pixel density than the iPad 2.

It has the same number of pixels as an iPad 2, over a smaller area, so yeah, that yields higher pixel density, but a mixed blessing because it just means everything is smaller. that's different from the retina display on the 3/4 where text is the same size as the 2, but sharper.