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Nov.24
2009

DroneStation! Git Some!

Apple finally saw fit to approve DroneStation, and it is now available in the iTunes store. (Direct link.)

For the unlikely reader that doesn't know what DroneStation is, this post has all the gory details, and a video also too. Short version: 2-osc subtractive synth with an unique (which is, I think, a better word choice than "experimental") multi-touch control method. Requires iPhone/Touch OS 3 or greater. It _should_ work on 1st gens, although it might run a bit slow. (This won't affect the audio, but the graphics might be poky to update.)

Anyhow, let me know whatcha think. This is obviously far more sophisticated than Plinkton, and once I get the next one up, I'm going to re-write Plinkton using what I've learned about the iPhone audio and graphics systems with these other two.

EDIT: In honor of today's momentous release, here's Yet Another Tattoo Example. This time, it's a simple Dubstep beat, with DroneStation doing the honors on the bass. There is an instance of Eos as a send off the Tattoo 2-buss, and DroneStation has an instance of Liquid on it to stereo-fy it.

Tattoo Dubsteppy (with DroneStation...) by Chris Randall

Comments:

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Hey it's great. Working perfectly on my 1st gen iPhone.
Only complaint I can find is that the sliders on the settings side are bit too sensitive, but that turned out to be a non-issue when realized you can slide diagonally.

posted November 24, 2009 by dan s

First impressions are good. I like the interface. My only complaint is that the pitch and volume controls crackle when you use sine oscillators, which makes it not so nice for doing deep sub bass stuff.

posted November 24, 2009 by jngpng

I tried to buy it & got an error message:

"This App is incompatible with this iPod touch
this app requires a microphone"

its a 1st gen iPod Touch with latest OS

posted November 24, 2009 by subbasshead

Don't know what to tell you there. Same issue some people had with Plinkton. However, I'm not setting the flag that says the mic is required, nor am I turning on the inputs.

I'll write Apple (again) about this, but don't get your hopes up.

-CR

posted November 24, 2009 by Chris Randall

Sold! Two bucks well spent. Sounds great and is a lot of fun. Selecting Sine or Square for both oscs, playing a really low note, cranking resonance all the way up and cutoff all the way down is lots of fun through a subwoofer.

posted November 24, 2009 by chrisrnps

@subbasshead: After doing some reading, I've discovered that what that error message really means is "you've got a 1st Gen iPod Touch, and this app was built for 2nd Gen and greater devices, so go pound sand, nubsauce." But Apple, for some reason, doesn't actually come out and say that. Nor do they mention that the error is actually only with the 3.1.2 firmware update.

I didn't build specifically for 2nd gen and greater. I built for all iDevices. Essentially, it's a firmware bug that only affects 1st gen iPods running 3.1.2 with programs that use the CoreAudio kit. Typical Apple bullshit, in other words.

-CR

posted November 24, 2009 by Chris Randall

Ok, I've had a chance to try out DroneStation, albeit through some crappy headphones I have at work. I can coax some really nice sounds out of it. I'm definitely loving the X-Y response and I managed get a sort of stutter/gating effect off the pitch side by holding a finger right on the edge and then tapping the higher volume side towards the middle. I had to keep wiggling the edgemost finger (like vibrato on guitar) to get the touchscreen to detect it after lifting my tapping finger, though.

One question though...I hear a really high pitched whistling/warbling sound when both the cutoff and the resonance are all the way up. Happens with every waveform combo. Is that intentional or a bug? I had to stop playing it at work cause some coworkers heard it through my headphones.

posted November 24, 2009 by spittingangels

Very cool.

Hope you don't mind a few feature requests and comments:

1 - How about a mode to allow for playing the keys righty? Holding it upside down is much easier, but then the notes are upside down by default. A way to invert that would be nice.

2 - Presets (that saved both synth settings and notes) could be really helpful for using Dronestation in a live setting.

3 - The LFO rate should zero/stop further away from the notes. Right now they're so close that I inadvertently end up hitting a note when trying to zero cut the LFO.

4 - Something like this with fully retriggerable ADSR envelopes would be beyond amazing and certainly worth $5. I really dig your pitch control method (what should we call that) and would like to see more of it.

posted November 24, 2009 by Funkybot

Spittingangels, it sounds like you were hearing the filter starting to self oscillate. If that's the case, I have no doubt that it's intended.

posted November 24, 2009 by Funkybot

I thought about self-oscillation which is why I asked.

It sounds good when even a little cutoff is employed but sounds really out of place when both settings are maxed. Especially when using two sine waveforms, which is how I first noticed it. And it's abrupt when resonance goes from 0.8 to 0.9, there's no scaling in of the new high pitch sound.

posted November 24, 2009 by spittingangels

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