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Show HN: We're releasing SoundBrush, an app that lets you draw music

155 pointsby jayrhynasalmost 12 years ago

31 comments

rohallalmost 12 years ago
I use a lot (actually way too many) music creation apps. This looks really nice, but there are a few things that made me turn away after only a minute:<p>1) In order to use any instruments other than piano I need to like or share. I haven&#x27;t even had a chance to build a song. As a user, I&#x27;m not comfortable enough to recommend your app to friends or endorse it.<p>2) There doesn&#x27;t seem to be much available in terms of drums &#x2F; bass. I might be missing something.<p>3) This is more of a nice to have, but customizing sounds through effects or parameters would be amazing and add to the diversity of sounds.<p>I really do love the interface. I think with a few changes you could be on to something great!
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nsxwolfalmost 12 years ago
I am not musical. This app has not changed this. Everything I draw sounds like crap.
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scrumperalmost 12 years ago
The &#x27;music&#x27; category is one of the very few places left in the app store where you can actually charge a reasonable price for your work and still get traction. It&#x27;s a shame to see something like this show up as a free app, especially with such granular IAPs as separate &#x27;synth pads&#x27; and &#x27;synth leads&#x27;. It smells a bit of the worst parts of free-to-play.<p>Also, you&#x27;re risking a future rejection by requiring the camera when the app doesn&#x27;t use it. Apple has a long history of pulling apps which request specific features that they don&#x27;t use.<p>The interface is nice, an appealing take on the piano roll.
hawkharrisalmost 12 years ago
I like the interface, and the marketing website &#x2F; video did a great job of explaining the product.
everyonealmost 12 years ago
No offense. This looks nice for casual user and whatnot..<p>But I was expecting something actually <i>interesting</i> like being able to draw waveforms like oramics. <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Oramics" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Oramics</a>
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davidjadealmost 12 years ago
Nice app. I find the overall color of UI elements to be a little too dark. Right now with a little room light reflections on my iPad I find it hard to see some parts of the UI.<p>The biggest issue I have is, unless it supports CoreMIDI that leaves anything I create trapped in the app and makes it much less interesting and useful to me as a music creation tool. It also rules out using it in conjunction with all the other music apps out there. I would really encourage looking into this and it is something I would probably pay for to enable.<p>Also I don&#x27;t (and won&#x27;t) use Facebook so that rules out any sharing, etc... for me. I&#x27;m not opposed to sharing features at all, I just won&#x27;t use Facebook to do so.<p>edit: a word
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mikenonalmost 12 years ago
Had fun playing with it. Trying to play <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;i.imgur.com&#x2F;ArXK5rW.png" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;i.imgur.com&#x2F;ArXK5rW.png</a> didn&#x27;t go so well, it exited after one or two notes.
darkmightyalmost 12 years ago
I haven&#x27;t tried your app, but from the video it seems you have those discrete notes. Have you though about having a sort of continuous time&#x2F;frequency domain? I guess you could do that with an Inverse Wavelet transform or Inverse Short Time FT with logarithmic frequency scaling. I&#x27;m assuming your sounds are synthesized, not recorded.<p>Another idea - how about making a part of the app sort of &quot;real time&quot; (or short delay), like an instrument? Seems it would take the intuitiveness and freshness of gesturing to a whole new level.
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incisionalmost 12 years ago
Reminds me of SoundBow [0].<p>0: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.binaura.net&#x2F;stc&#x2F;wrx&#x2F;soundbow&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.binaura.net&#x2F;stc&#x2F;wrx&#x2F;soundbow&#x2F;</a>
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nairteashopalmost 12 years ago
Just downloaded it - beautiful app! I also love the intro video - slick and professional, but gets straight to the point and gives an excellent overview of how the app works.
adaml_623almost 12 years ago
Looks quite good.<p>Can you tell us how long it took to develop and challenges or technologies used.<p>(I know this sounds like a job interview question but I&#x27;m actually quite curious :-)
Torrentsalmost 12 years ago
It looks awesome, however I&#x27;m very hesitant to download free apps at this point. I would rather buy something for $5 or $10, because then I have more confidence I&#x27;m not going to have popups or have to endorse or recommend it for rewards or something.<p>I still don&#x27;t mind in-app-purchases. Free always sets off warning bells though.
arc_of_descentalmost 12 years ago
I&#x27;ve recently started to compose music, and nothing beats the simple notation software like TuxGuitar. I don&#x27;t even attempt to use any other complicated software. Note I&#x27;m only talking about composing, not effects and mixing.<p>But a very impressive looking software and very cool introduction video. And a good composition too!
undowarealmost 12 years ago
Looks really cool. Too bad SoundBrush is already the name of Roland&#x27;s app for their &#x27;GS&#x27; MIDI extension. <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Roland_GS" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Roland_GS</a><p>(Not that most people would notice.)
Tloewaldalmost 12 years ago
This looks promising. It would be nice if you could constrain single strokes to only play single notes simultaneously — as it is you often get very discordant hits when a line gets steep.<p>I also wish you could draw strokes when zoomed out.<p>My daughter loves playing with the app.
rwhitmanalmost 12 years ago
Ok so its a piano roll sequencer with nice chrome and a locked set of mildly acceptable instruments. Sorry but this just isn&#x27;t overly exciting to me in its current state.<p>Unlock all the instruments, add MIDI and charge for it. Then we&#x27;re talking
codereflectionalmost 12 years ago
Lovely execution. This is the type of app that I feel Bret Victor is talking about, allowing you to explorer and create in new ways with immediate feedback.<p>The disappointing part is seeing that this is an iPad only app.
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no_gravityalmost 12 years ago
Impressive interface!<p>What I would love: When tapping a note for the second time would make it disappear. Currently, when Im trying stuff, I constantly switch between the piano set and the eraser. Thats pretty tiresome.
DonnyValmost 12 years ago
Unfortunately you need a fairly new Android phone to be able to pull something like this off. I wish Android didn&#x27;t take so long to fix the audio latency issue.
oracardoalmost 12 years ago
Slick UI and cool concept. One comment on the website: the &quot;share &amp; discover&quot; section is jumbled on Chrome
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abecedariusalmost 12 years ago
It&#x27;s a shame it won&#x27;t install on my iPad 1 -- the required camera seems like more of a frill.
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gdonellialmost 12 years ago
The video is awesome! Looks like the app is free? What&#x27;s the $$$ plan?
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d0malmost 12 years ago
Probably one of the best video introduction I&#x27;ve seen in a while!
timthimmaiahalmost 12 years ago
Been playing with this for 10 mins now...awesome concept. Instant fan!
smailialmost 12 years ago
Very cool, love the fusion of music creation and touch gestures!
daniel_levinealmost 12 years ago
Would love to see Dropbox integration for backup and sharing :)
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lfulleralmost 12 years ago
Really cool app. Are you planning to add an iPhone version?
tagabekalmost 12 years ago
This is a really neat idea. Great app, and great execution!
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fuddlealmost 12 years ago
Its amazing what a good video can do to sell an app.
woahalmost 12 years ago
HHmm reminds me of fruity loops
mixwhitalmost 12 years ago
very nice. now if it could only export notated music...