I don’t really mind that, amidst all my MoogFest preparation here at home, all my posts have been Moog – related. Quite healthy, really.

I was excited to find news of the forthcoming Moog iPhone/iPad app from Create Digital Music and Matrixsynth today – looks glorious indeed. I know there are a few that may have a rather resistant attitude regarding Moog creating an app, but in my mind, I would expect no less from such a progressive company.  Ingenuity and invention (and reinvention) are certainly traits that Moog seem to embrace – this keeps the ethos of forward-thinking intact. And I think there’s nothing more important when creating than forward movement, an open mind, challenging oneself and yes – invention….Taking these worlds, vintage & cutting edge, and juxtaposing them delicately within your own specific craft.

I didn’t always feel this way; I used to refuse to use computers to compose and used only an old Korg 8 track! But I now realize it’s ever so important and it exposes your creativity to a whole other dimension. I doubt Bob Moog had a ‘traditional’ attitude when the first swoops and swirls of the Moog synthesizer came sparkling to life in his workshop.

Anyway…Onward! Pocket size Moogerfooger, anyone? Dig into the new filtering, effects and sampling app by Moog. Yum.

Above photo: Matrixsynth

Peter Kirn from the wonderfully informative blog Create Digital music has the exclusive scoop:

Photo by Peter Kirn at Create Digital Music

Complete Specifications

Audio input will work via any adapter. You can use the headphone/mic jack directly (though to get audio out, you’ll need to use a 3-prong minijack – more on that as I test my camcorder cable with this and other apps). You can also use third-party devices like the Blue Mikey (good if you need a mic) or IK Multimedia iRIG (good for mono instrument/guitar input). I’m also testing the iRIG.

Via an internal design documentation, I’ve got the details on the internal specs for the app. The goal, says the document: “filtatron allows you to combine several sound sources and apply effects to them in realtime. Sound sources include line or mic input, looping sample playback, and an internal oscillator.”

Audio engine: 16-bit, 44.1 kHz. (Some apps, like RjDj, actually use less, so that’s worth noting.)

Filter: modeled 4-pole resonant filter, which Moog intended to be matched to their analog filters. Lowpass, highpass, cutoff, resonance, self-oscillation at high resonance – you know, the usual.

LFO, Envelope Filter: Routed to filter cutoff. LFO: sine, ramp, sawtooth, square, sample&hold. Crossfade/morph between LFO shapes. Bipolar LFO (sweep up or down). Free-tuned LFOs, sync to tap tempo.

Envelope Follower: Route sound inputs to sweep the filter, with adjustable reaction speed.

Tap tempo, separation, mix.

Amp (overdrive) effect with feedback. Also can self-oscillate.

Delay effect. Delay with its own LFO. Adjustable from a short flange to longer delays.

Pads. X-Y pads controlled by multi-touch control parameters for live performance/tweaking. Assignments:

VCF pad controls filter cutoff and resonance, LFO pad controls LFO Rate and Amount, Delay pad controls delay time and feedback. VCO pad controls oscillator frequency and level (amplitude) – if the VCO “Release” parameter is engaged (ENABLE button on VCO panel, main page), then the VCO x-y pad also controls the VCO volume gate — the VCO is silent when you are not touching the pad and sounds a note on each touch. ENV pad controls envelope follower amount and speed, and AMP pad controls amp drive and feedback.

Sampler: Play included loops, record your own samples, or bring in your own loops using either the AudioCopy/AudioPaste API or an FTP connection. Sampler includes play controls, playback speed (-2x to +2x), and tap-and-drag controls for loop start and stop on the waveform.

Record audio into the sampler dry, or record with effects for resampling capability. Recording is limited only by available storage, but playback is limited to 10MB each (ca. 2 minutes).

Preset recall and storage. Includes a number of presets, allows you to save your own, and provides onboard email sharing of presets.

I say embrace both worlds, digital and analog with all your might! What do you have to lose? What are your thoughts?

Back to it – for now we’ve been having great fun rehearsing with the wonderful new ReacTable & Ellatron applications! More to come…..