Chapter 5: Workflow
Here are a few different types of workflows you’ll want to try out.
There are a few different types of workflows you’ll want to try out, depending on the style of music you want to make, whether you’re working alone or with other musicians, and whether you intend to perform live.
My number one piece of advice
In the last chapter, I went over the basic features iOS offers for getting sound and files moving between apps. The best way to create a solid foundation for building out your workflow is to settle on a host app or DAW that provides the features you need and best enables you to work in the way you prefer to work. I highly recommend spending some time with this spreadsheet (thanks, Bill Sherry), specifically the entries in the “Host” category. This list only includes AUv3 compatible apps, but you really don’t want to start down a path with a host that doesn’t support AUv3 anyway.
Once you’ve found a comfortable host app that allows you to route audio and midi between apps, record tracks, and save sessions with individual app settings intact, you’ll be prepared to move forward in building your own workflow.
Improvisation
Improvising, flying by the seat of your pants, or making it up as you go can be a fun way to come up with new ideas quickly. It can also be your entire workflow. While this approach sometimes means just hitting record and going for it, it more often requires a good amount of work beforehand to find or create the right sounds and presets. Mapping MIDI controllers, setting up automation, getting everything synced up, and making sure it all runs together without one or more apps crashing is a big part of the process. Of course, once you’ve got something recorded, you may still have plenty of work to do before you have a finished track.
Traditionally, improvisation is centered around a specific instrument, but with experimental music it can be applied to many different aspects of performance. Most of the other workflows covered here allow plenty of room for improvising.
Soundscaping and Live-Glitching
Soundscaping is a form of improvisation that is focused less on creating sound and more on manipulating it. For example, an artist may use existing samples or a drone from a synth as the basis for a soundscape and actually create the performance by altering filter and effects app parameters in real-time. Of course, manipulation of both the sound source and the effects can happen simultaneously, especially when more than one artist is involved.
This is the method I have used the most to create music because for me it leads to more organic sounding tracks. I also don’t have a lot of patience for tracking or sequencing, preferring the option of treating my iPads more like instruments than studios. More often than not, I create tracks in real-time while recording in AUM. In my opinion, AUM is hands-down the best host app for live improv style production, without all the complexity of a more traditional DAW to get in the way.
A less common form of soundscaping is an offshoot of field recording that I refer to as live-glitching (although there are probably other names for it). This basically entails using existing ambient or environmental sounds as the source for soundscaping with effects and filters. You can also combine live sounds with other sound sources to create some interesting results.
Multi-Tracking
Multi-tracking generally means working in a DAW with several recorded audio tracks. Whereas improvising tackles a whole recording at once, multi-tracking approaches a track one piece at a time. Improvisation can also play a part in a multi- track workflow, of course. You may improvise certain parts while sequencing others, mix practiced parts with improvised parts, or layer completely improvised parts in a sound-on-sound approach.
Choosing an iOS DAW is a huge topic that I won’t go into in depth here. As I write this, Logic Pro for iPad has just been released and is already creating ripples in the iOS music ecosystem. While it’s a little early perhaps to rely fully on Logic Pro, it will likely set the bar for iOS DAWs as it improves. The main current drawback for long-term iOS music folks is the lack of IAA and Audiobus support, which is not likely to change.
Other popular DAWS include Cubasis 3, MultiTrack DAW, GarageBand, KORG Gadget 2, Beatmaker 3, FL Studio Mobile, and NanoStudio 2. These have widely varying workflows, features, and support for inter-app functionality, so you’ll want to spend some time comparing features if a DAW-centered workflow is the path you want to take.
Linear Sequencing
Sequencing generally refers to the process of creating MIDI data used to drive synths or drum machines, although it can also refer to MIDI controller data used to change effects parameters or trigger audio clips. Sequencing can be performed within a MIDI-enabled DAW such as Cubasis or Gadget, in a groove box style app like BeatHawk or Drambo, or even inside a synth app. The MIDI data can be created by recording notes triggered from a keyboard in real-time, or by drawing notes into a time-line.
In DAWs like Cubasis that support both audio and MIDI tracks, sequencing can be used in a multi-tracking workflow, allowing synths and effects to be changed if desired throughout the production process. There are also a good number of standalone sequencers.
Pattern Sequencing
Similar to linear sequencing, a lot of groove box and MPC-style pad-based apps offer a pattern sequencing workflow. Shorter sequences are created as patterns that can be copy and pasted, looped, sequenced into longer patterns and songs, or triggered on the fly. Pattern sequencing can provide more structure to a live performance than pure improvisation, while still giving the artist flexibility to mix things up a bit. A producer may also create a track by recording a performance while manually triggering patterns.
Live Looping
Live looping has become all the rage, and iOS doesn’t disappoint. Loopy Pro is the clear leader in this space, but there are other options depending on your needs, including Logic Pro, Quantiloop Pro, and AudioKit L7. Check out the “Loop Tool” category in the spreadsheet for more options.
Feel free to leave a comment if this has been useful, or especially if I’ve missed or misrepresented anything.
