Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Modstep and NanoStudio

I'm right now deep in overtime mode at work, which is actually not too bad, as I'm working reasonable hours (by my standards), and I get paid OT every hour I work over, which is very nice.

As I'm now logging 10hr days on average, I've decided to not work through lunch as I usually do, and spend some time NOT doing work in the hopes that the hour off work would clear some of the cobwebs upstairs. How well that works, I've no idea.

I've been working on some pieces in Symphony Pro, but not getting any kick to really pull stuff through. The mind again wanders to thoughts of electronic music, and checked out some online reviews of what's good to get.

Just before bed, I discovered Modstep, which had quite a few rave reviews. I should have checked it out further, but just pressed buy. During lunch today, I was going through the manual and app and I found it rather difficult to use. For readers of this post, keep in mind my primary tool is Finale with Logic for sequencing, not step sequencers or DAWs like Ableton/Reason.

I wish there was a tutorial to make up a song, but whatever. I'm sure it'll arrive someday.

I then took a closer look at other music making apps, and one very popular choice is Nanostudio. From the reviews, it ticked all of my boxes: a subtractive synth to play with (called Eden), and many samples to load into the pads. There is also a sequencer that I'm more familiar with that appears very well thought out for use with a tablet.

It seems really fun so far, though I haven't done more than play with the various presets for Eden and fool around with the pad instrument. I've never explored this side of music, can't wait to come up with something!

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