The Ultimate Feature

[lorhal]

If you find a way to include this in the next version (using iOS 4.2 ) you would blow away the competition (and you know who they are):

Make Multitrack able to utilize other music apps, especially the guitar FX/Amp ones and be able to record with said apps in the background. So you fire up, say, Amplitube, get your sound, switch over to Multitrack and press Record.

I have no idea if iPad/iPhone chip can handle it, but it seems to me that if you're going to use multitasking, that would be a no-brainer.

Good Luck !

[jorgren]

I think that would require the other apps to be written for multitasking in general, and audio transfer in particular. I don't think there's a standard for it yet. Plus, if the other app makers were that clever, they (e.g. Amplitube) would have incorporated copy/paste from the start. So yes, it would be great, but sadly, most other music app writers (especially in the guitar world) seem to be oblivious to the needs of their customers.

[jkevinwolfe]

This is a limit of the iOS. Apps aren't allowed to play together. The only way to get audio between apps right now seems to be with the Intua or Sonoma Wire copy and paste functions.

I haven't been keeping up on iOS developer stuff, but there also might be a possibility of saving audio as part of a QT video to the Camera roll and then importing the audio from it. But thats even more cumbersome. No matter how it's done, the apps can't really talk. And I dont believe there's an API for sound transfer, even with multitasking in iOS4. Audio must be exported as a file or copied to the clipboard to move it.

I really hope someone can correct me if I'm wrong. I'd love to find out there are better possibilities.

[pwnified]

I've been in contact with some other app makers (thumbjam, everyday looper) and we've been in talks about a "rewire" type system that can share music in real time across apps. There are a couple different ways that it might be done. Unfortunately we all got really busy with other features and there hasn't been any conversation on this for months.

The current (unreleased) version multitrack can play back audio in the background and then another app can record at the same time. Then, it's a process of copying the recorded data back into multitrack (other app needs to support copying). This system is in and working and just waiting for MultiTrack DAW release 1.2 which should be soon, hopefully.

It could also be an automatic process where the other app could copy chunks of audio and timestamp them, and place them on the global pasteboard. And then multitrack would paste the data and assemble them according to timestamp. It would work because it doesn't need to be a realtime process (it's equivalent to copy/paste but it happens automatically in the background). At any rate it would require a formal API that other app developers can use. So long story short, it's in the works and a there's good possibility this feature will happen.

[Anorton]

That's exciting! I've already been checking the app store for updates several times a day. Now it will probably be several more.

[lorhal]

Rewire.... Exactly !
That would go a long way in furthering the ultimate goal: a true DAW, with everything (except for gtrs and mics) in the box.
I find it curious that Digidesign and Propellerhead can't be bothered to put something out. It might not be pro quality, but it would introduce potential customers to their high end stuff.

Oh well, their loss is your win!

[jkevinwolfe]

I'm assuming the issue with ProTools is the same thing Apple ran into with iWork and iMovie. They had to create a stripped down version. I love having iWork on my iPad, but if you look at the Apple boards you'll see that users are outraged they can't do everything the Mac version or Office does. They want all or none. Of course, if they had none, they'd be complaining about that too.

The iOS user is more critical and fickle than the desktop OS user for both mac and windows for some reason. I'm sure a hostile user base discourages development. (If you're less likely to please people, then why battle those odds?)

While MT is not GarageBand or ProTools, I'm finding it serves my needs with a little modification of workflow on my part. MT has a nearly unheard of 4 star rating in the App store. I think that's because it started from the ground up, so there weren't any false expectations. Desired improvements have been regular and this community is growing into a very friendly place. All that signals that MT stands a good chance of continuing to be THE DAW app for iOS. I think all developers, no matter how big, would perceive MT as tough competition.

[jamsden]

I've unfortunately stopped using MultiTrack since I got my iPhone4. The mic options just make it pretty useless for direct recording.

However, AmpliTube is quite nice, and the 200Hz rolloff doesn't hurt guitar too much. Makes bass pretty useless though.

I would like to see MultiTrack be able to use AmpliTube and other effects processors as plugins. Apps can use this approach for extensibility without having to work around the Apple restrictions around application integration that something like Rewire (or generic service wiring or mashups) would require.

I hope to see the day when iPhone apps are service consumers and providers and can be wired together into composable, mashup applications. As the iOS platform grows, this will become a must at some point. Web 2.0 makes a mess of this, but general SOA principles could be applied much better if they were not constrained to an HTML container.

[pwnified]

I think there should be some kind of mic for the iPhone 4 fairly soon. Or some kind of usb adapter. It should boost up interest again. Any day now.

[Touchy]

"I think there should be some kind of mic for the iPhone 4 fairly soon. Or some kind of usb adapter. It should boost up interest again. Any day now"

You know something we don't Pwn...? Common spill it!

Cheers
Touchy