Since posting my first impressions of the Apple iPad, I’ve been thinking a lot about its possibilities. Given the din of naysayers and doubters (which does seem like Future Shock), I wanted to post some thoughts on mobile musicmaking:

This DIY interface (YouTube) is impressive, but it just seems like buttons and sliders replicated on a touchscreen. I’d like to see such devices make use of true multi-touch gestures, such as pinch/expand, twist/rotate, 2/3/4-finger swipes and so on to control sound. Instead of yet another controller app (e.g. a bigger version of TouchOSC or an affordable Lemur-clone), I’ve been wanting to use musicmaking apps optimized for the mobile experience—perhaps a basic version of Live (incl. Impulse, Simpler and Analog instruments with a handful of essential midi and audio effects) or Propellerheads Rebirth for writing tracks. Something that could work as a standalone audio sketch pad, with the ability to transfer projects to the desktop version for further work. I started putting together a mock-up using screen grabs from Live before coming to a realization:

Rather than merely porting existing software to mobile versions, it’s important to examine the mental models that dominate the desktop. Most of the more popular audio suites are based on the recording studio-in-a box model, where the signals (midi info, audio from guitar, voice, synth, drums, whatever) are fed through a virtual mixing desk, using inline and outboard effects and processors, to be recorded in loops or longer segments before being placed in an arrangement to mix-down and master. Apple’s Logic Studio, Propellerhead’s Reason, Steinberg’s Cubase Studio and others are variations on this mental model.

Ableton Suite is my weapon-of-choice because of its flexible, on-the-fly, semi-modular approach that can be adapted to varying needs: looseness vs. precision, improvisation vs. control, performance vs. planning. Plugins and updates bring new instruments and effects, and endless routing and importing options make Live an audio ourobouros. Max for Live builds on this, with new resources for generating, shaping and routing signals, but Live’s clips>tracks>session>arrangement>mixdown>master>render model is still a largely traditional structure (albeit for me the best-of-all-possible-worlds for composing, performing and recording). Max is another side of this spectrum, where building blocks can be created, changed and arranged as needed in a virtual instrument/studio.

Most of the mobile musicmaking apps I’ve used so far (BeatMaker, 8Bitone, technoBox) shrink this virtual studio to the smaller screen of the iPhone and iPod Touch. They use virtual buttons and sliders for controls, sometimes spanning multiple screens. Several apps, though, show promise for emerging mental models, including SynthPond and Brian Eno’s Bloom and Trope. SynthPond’s affecters, reactors and orbits lend themselves to non-linear, interactive compositions. I imagine it would be a lot of fun to use on the iPad’s larger screen, esp. with new objects for generating, reacting, processing and moving sounds. Eno’s dynamic, generative pieces work well as apps, because they change and evolve rather than remain fixed to a certain textural arrangement on CD or MP3. These apps are systems for composing and generating music/sounds/spaces/moods and point the way for the possibilities of the iPad and beyond. Artists/composers/developers/companies/organizations that rethink the mental models with which we create and experience music will lead the way on these new and future devices.