iMS-20 for iPad

[alexusual]

Oh. My. Yes.

http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2010/ ... nthesizer/

[Syscrusher]

OK then.

[ChrisLody]

Sweet! Shame iPad is priced out of my reach. Maybe one day!

[ugocapeto]

Who actually developed the soft? is it coming from DETUNE?

[DS-10 Dominator]

When I was asked to make one of the demo songs I decided to buy an iPad. The synth is exactly(?) like the MS-20 (VST), and I can tell you, that beast is much harder to tame than DS-10. So what I used in my first track are pretty basic patches actually.

[soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/inalog/no-compromises[/soundcloud]

A bit of comparing with DS-10
- iMS-20 has of course higher quality sound, I really like the sound

- iMS-20 synth panel seems capable of more complex patches
- ...but there are also some strange things like no option to automate/modwheel the MG speed
- ...and the overall patching is harder to understand.

- The iMS-20 step sequencer has patching options
- ... and for notes iMS-20 has no pianorolls, just pitch knobs that can be quantized to semitones and can be controlled by KAOSS PAD

- iMS-20 has only 1 live synth (DS-10 Plus had 4), so that means basically only synth can be modulated by a slow MG. I used to make beautiful drones with 2 slowly modulating synths. Maybe something similar is still possible with complexer patching of one synth... but I doubt it.

- iMS-20 has 6 sampled drum tracks in stead of 8 on DS-10 Plus.

- iMS-20 has fx send outputs from each channel. This way you can change the effects levels per channel, and you're not limited to putting fx only on synths OR drums.
- ... there are a lot of effects, like Saturator, EQ, Chorus, Reverb, Tube Gain....

- A feature I really like: you can make "chained patterns", for example 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - LOOP 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - LOOP, if you start at 1 it will loop 1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4, etc. If you tap the '5' it will go 5,6,7,8,5,6,7,8,etc. I think this will come in very handy for live performance

- iMS-20 offers the option to listen...SHARE AND REMIX. It's easy as one, two three. <3 I hope the community will create a lot of bizarre patches.



I think iMS-20 is really different from DS-10, which makes me love em both .

PS If anyone has an iPad, check out "Mugician" it's a free distortion/delay-shaping synth. You play this with frets. It's so expressive. It beats keyboards and kaoss pads any time.

[WMRhapsodies]

[quote="DS-10 Dominator"][/quote]

I've felt disappointed at first when reading this info...No piano roll and no Eg freq...This are really bad news..Looks like you cannot either change pitch on the drum tracks (am I right?).

I been messing lately with a software emulation of an analog sequencer that looks a bit like this one of the iMS-20. Becames a lot more hard to focus on tonality, particularly if you don't have a very gifted/trained musical ear...which is my case.

But then...Ok, I guess I must not look at it as a DS-10 for iPad because it is not, or not exactly, but as another great musical app. for iPad.

----

Many thanks for the first hand info, and a couple of questions if you don`t mind:

(There was a question about the sequencer but later I realize it had no very much sense)


This one may sound a bit strange but...

-Do you think you can achieve as many variety in sounds as in DS-10?. You said better sound and more complex patches, ok. But anytime I listen at any other virtual analog synthezisers I've hear many (maybe richer) analog-like-synthesizer sounds, but rarely pseudo-acoustic sounds as can be achieved on DS-10 (and this seems to be a more "pure digital" feature of DS10).


---

At this point, by the way, I don't know if go for an iPad or for a keyboard synthesizer like the Miniak or Microkorg...I somewhat feel nostalgic of real keyboards (and never have had a real synthesizer), even if I'm an awful keyboard player...

[Syscrusher]

At this point, by the way, I don't know if go for an iPad or for a keyboard synthesizer like the Miniak or Microkorg...I somewhat feel nostalgic of real keyboards (and never have had a real synthesizer), even if I'm an awful keyboard player...

If you are looking into inexpensive analogue-modeling synths may I humbly recommend you look into the Alesis Micron. I have one of those and it is fantastic. The Microkorg is pretty nifty too but the Micron has full size keys.

[WMRhapsodies]

may I humbly recommend you look into the Alesis Micron

Many thanks for the recommendation, Sys. It happens that the Akai Miniak is an Alesis Micron with some minor better features and under another skin...People seem to do not like this kind of things...and so the Miniak (been slighty better) is right now far cheaper than the "original" Alesis (285 Vs 422 € on a german online store!). "Fabulous" from you is one point more for the Micron/Miniak in my list

[ChrisLody]

If you are looking into inexpensive analogue-modeling synths may I humbly recommend you look into the Alesis Micron. I have one of those and it is fantastic. The Microkorg is pretty nifty too but the Micron has full size keys.

I'm toying with the idea of getting one of these as my microKorg is sadly dying. Plus i really like the idea of a small keyboard with a built in sequencer, i have lots of fun with my lofi pss-480 which has a barely useable sequencer, but still fun

So how do you get on programming the synth and sequencer in the micron? Can't be much more fiddly than the mK i guess.

[Syscrusher]

So how do you get on programming the synth and sequencer in the micron? Can't be much more fiddly than the mK i guess.

Like anything with a small LCD screen there are pages to navigate through but you get used to it fairly quickly. It is arranged in the typical ocs/filter/fx scenario. There are a few different ways to enter sequencer data including step by step from the keyboard. The dials and sliders are all assignable as well.

[soultron]

Wow, looks cool, but I won't likely have an iPad ever. I still have a gen 1 nano.
Glad to see more soft synths hitting the market though.

[WMRhapsodies]

Some cool videos out there:





I'm very glad to see I was wrong about not being able to set notes for the drum tracks.

Korg official product details. Many demo songs there:


http://korg.com/ims20

Specification list (is a only for iPad app, if anyone was wondering):

http://korg.com/Product.aspx?pd=585


------


A personal note again: Yesterday I knew my brothers were planning to buy me an iPad for my 40th anniversary (yep, mates, I'm that old...). I will not allow them-we are a big family and have the tradition on to make an special gift for the 40th anniversarys...but almost anyone of us is having problems because the d... f..... crisis and they have kids and all..., I proposed them instead to buy me the synth (probably the Miniak). The iPad could be my own self-present. If I have to fall into mid-life crisis I want a mid-life crisis with an iPad. Lucky me I'm not interested in sport cars or luxury yachts

[ChrisLody]

Hmmm. Or maybe one of these....not so portable though.

From here:
http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2010/ ... ch-screen/

[WMRhapsodies]

Hmmm. Or maybe one of these....

He he, a few inches more and you could almost make music while sleeping in (or doing more interesting things)...

---

But the interface is pretty awesome in fact (see the youtube video at the same link).

And that drives me at what I realize really bothers me about this iMS-20, and many other musical iPad apps. This MotionCommand thing looks like it really takes advantage of the touchscreen, iMS-20 not even close. I guess all of us were pleasantly surprised when discovered DS10 was way more than an old analog synth emulator. This other features (drummachine/sequencer) makes DS10 a sort of a compact synthesis-only based studio and are implemented in a very simple and friendly way, giving also some visual feedback of the things going on (even if not as much as could be achieved). This feedback has been removed from iMS20 in order to accomplish some analog-vintage-fetishism I do not share at this extend. Or maybe for not to become just too good to be true (as DS10 actually is). Whatever the reason, the fact here is they may have miss the opportunity to trully expand DS10 in the most interesting directions (the synthesis-based studio and visual-feedback thing).

Of course there's still the Kaoss pads in there (and you can play two at a time, instead of alternatively as in DS10)-just because KORG already makes kaoss pads!-. But this 16x3 (!) knob sequencer looks like a damn boring and unfriendly thing (didn´t see any demo yet using it...). Even if I think the kaoss pad are likely not being fully exploted in DS10 as composition or particularly soloing performance tool, iMS-20 looks like it will depend on it way too much.

(There aren't still not trully in deep reviews of iMS-20, but this one seems to point in that same direction:

http://ipaddj.blogspot.com/2010/11/korg ... eview.html

Of course I'll be happy if DS-10 Dominator or anyother one who owns it replies me at this point)

If I take these iMS20 demo songs one at a time, I love them. But after a couple of days listening at them I do not feel as much enthusiastic. And this are made by very skillful people. I'm afraid we will see millions of iMS20 testing videos and many (bit-too-random) techno sessions (one only or a few linked patterns, weird synth modulations and minimal basslines). And that's ok to me. But what I trully love about Ds10 is how it encourages diversity and creativity coming from people with many diverse sensibilities (and skills) building up many different kinds of songs. When you get a so brilliant and appealing product as DS10 is probably due to some delicate balance, and so it may be broken too easily.

-------

Hope this do not boored you people too much, and sorry if my english is not too good sometimes.

[ChrisLody]

I guess all of us were pleasantly surprised when discovered DS10 was way more than an old analog synth emulator. This other features (drummachine/sequencer) makes DS10 a sort of a compact synthesis-only based studio and are implemented in a very simple and friendly way, giving also some visual feedback of the things going on (even if not as much as could be achieved). This feedback has been removed from iMS20 in order to accomplish some analog-vintage-fetishism I do not share at this extend.

Yeah, i agree, it still blows me away how flexible ds10 actually is. Its quite strange that the ipad is clearly umpteen times more powerful than the ds, and yet ds10's architecture seems to be geared more towards building complete songs. Maybe Korgs idea for the iMs-20 would be that it would intergrate into a studio like a hardware synth rather than be used as a standalone app, or maybe it was marketing that drove them towards emulation to grab the vintage fetishists as you say.

If i already owned an ipad i'd buy this in an instant, its much much much cheaper than the vst version for a start! But as it is i find myself waiting for an ipad competitor to make some sort of affordable tablet pc (and smaller than the MotionCommand!) that can run either my existing software or atleast a DAW + plugin type enviroment. That would make me very happy

[Decktonic]

Its quite strange that the ipad is clearly umpteen times more powerful than the ds, and yet ds10's architecture seems to be geared more towards building complete songs. Maybe Korgs idea for the iMs-20 would be that it would intergrate into a studio like a hardware synth rather than be used as a standalone app, or maybe it was marketing that drove them towards emulation to grab the vintage fetishists as you say.

I think your first idea might be correct. I think the DS10 is built with the idea that most chiptune software follows... that you should be able to carry a complete music studio in your pocket. M01 is the same way. KORG's iElectribe kinda tries to be an all-in-one production studio, but from what I've seen of the iMS-20, it seems a lot more like an emulation of a hardware synthesizer, something you might play live with other instruments.

[WMRhapsodies]

I'm not so sure about the iPad app being so different in purpose..If their idea is that of an studio integration there must be some MIDI sync feature there. But who knows, maybe they'r are planning this for an update at some point.

Would be interesting to know how much is detune inc. is involved in this.

[alexusual]

OK, I came back to my iMS20 and found out its REALLY awesome, I am making fat/weird sounds and the patch bay is so much fun!

i still wish there was a step sequencer and more than 16 steps tho

but i'm not going to bitch about it

(will post tune here, in india now, internet sloooooow)

[DS-10 Dominator]

Did you try connecting patterns (like I explained in my DS-10 vs iMS-20 post) to make longer than 16 step loops? Haven't really fiddled with it yet...

Detune and KORG have said they will listen to user suggestions and try to implement them, so get in contact if you have any tips!

I'm sure this isn't the last KORG app will see, and things will get more intuitive...

[Sinqlogue]

I gotta say,

It's quit the impressive app. I will finish up my first track today and post it here. Not very special, but it gives an idea of the sound posibilities.

One thing bugs me the most, and that is that there is no piano roll. It just takes to many time to create that thing thats in your head. I will keep you guys posted.....