IPhone app – finishing it up!
I'm in the final stretch for the 1.0 version of my iphone drum machine / synthesizer app. I've settled on the final configuration as far as the synthesis capabilities. Doing 10 voices of 2 osc synths proved to be too much for the iphone's CPU to handle (BTW, I've seen info putting the Iphone 3G's cpu at 400 mhz, not the 666 mhz I originally thought). So, I settled for 4 2-osc "powerhouse" synths, 3 specialized bassdrum / FM synths, 1 specialized snare drum / clap synth, and 2 specialized hi-hat generators (modelled after oldschool 808 machines). Overall this gives you tons of possibilities and should enable people to make pretty decent electronic songs on their IPhone. There are no samples in this bad boy - everything is synthesized in realtime.
Realtime control is another thing that sets this app apart from other iphone apps. There is a performance page which lets you loop/remix portions of your tune using multitouch. Dual touchpads and mute / solo control is planned for this page. Another thing that would be awesome is an arpeggiator, but I dunno if that will make it into version 1.0. There is also a 'motion' page that will allow you to draw automation envelopes for one parameter for each part.
These features address what I see as the major shortcomings of the current crop of iphone music apps. Either they are simple 'instruments' which people will most likely use once or twice and then stop using. Or, they are mostly sample based which stifles creativity. Or they don't offer enough options or automation abilities to make an interesting sounding song. Another shortcoming is poor interface choices. Piano roll on a touchscreen = tedious. Iphone apps (or more generally, touch UI's) need to be based around taps and swipes. For taps, buttons need to be big enough to hit easily (I've found the 'magic size' to be about 80 pixels x 80 pixels.). Doing a piano roll on a 320 x 480 screen means that you will be trying to tap on stuff that's 10-20 pixels wide which is highly frustrating and a bane to good workflow.
My goal is to finish all the major pages and functionality this weekend and start implementing the final UI. Hopefully I'll be able to start posting some audio and video next week.