Post
by Ryanmf » Mon Jan 23, 2012 8:41 pm
iMaschine (which sucks) and the iMPC2000 app (or whatever the hell they're going to call it) have features sort of like that, but neither are true DAWs. Garageband has iTunes sync as well, but it's not really a pro DAW either. Mw, I hadn't seen that Motu app; I don't see myself ever using DP personally, but thanks for bringing it up.
I don't (yet) have any reason to believe that this will come to pass, but here's an idea that I think would be awesome: an open source project file format. Imagine making some part of a song in Beatmaker, or Nanostudio, or whatever you use, in a hypothetical future scenario wherein the developer of that app has built in the ability to export stems/samples/automation/mix data as a Bitwig project file. Imagine taking that new Aurex app to record a practice session, doing some preliminary mixing/panning/etc on the ride home (this presumes you live in a city where using an iPad on public transit doesn't get you jacked) and being able to perform a similar export to immediately continue assembling your rough demo in Bitwig when you're back at your workstation.
As far as in-studio/performance control is concerned, the MIDI editing in Griid and the instrument control interface elements in Touchable are both very cool, but those are obviously developed by third parties. They're also dependent on Live's API, a feature we have no reason to believe will exist in Bitwig (but I hope something like it is implemented at some point in the future).
I've been pretty vocal about my gripes with some aspects of touchscreen DAW control. I think faders are useful sometimes, and sometimes a hardware fader—even a bad one—is a significantly better option. I think touch keys and drumpads are generally moronic, although sometimes the adaptability of a touchscreen can provide interesting opportunities for innovative melodic input (see: Soundprism Pro, Geo Synthesizer, and the newly released Orphion). I think knobs/encoders under glass are a scourge upon the earth.
However, there are some opportunities for touch input I would love to see any DAW or third-party developer explore, and haven't yet. I think drawing animation curves would be incredible. I think mirroring clip waveforms for sample editing/slicing (maybe even subtractive/granular waveform manipulation) would be useful at least, and could have some interesting creative potential. And I'm still waiting to see input methods for general parameter control that are less a mimicry of physical controls (see: encoders under glass) and more appropriate for the inherent benefits of a touchscreen and the tools available in iOS specifically (gestures, accelerometer/gyro input, adaptable interface design, etc). In the meanwhile I'm trying to get my Obj-C skills up to snuff in the event that I may beat them to it.
And there's no real mobile version...
