 humatic - htools - TouchDAW |
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Basic concepts TouchDAW offers two layers of functionality: DAW control plus some general purpose MIDI tools. In principle these two are independent from each other and can be used completely separate, with each layer connecting to separate target applications, eventually even on separate computers. Very likely though, you will mostly use them in parallel, talking to the same program - for example to record MIDI in the controlled DAW, to interact with one of its synthesizers using MIDI generated by the phone's accelerometer, to do some live remixing or whatever else may come to mind. DAW control: The first functional layer is the DAW controller, putting much of the functionality of a 5 - 1500 Euro piece of mono-functional hardware onto your phone. This is also the screen that the app will start up with. It emulates a standard hardware control surface for common digital audio workstations and gives you control over a large set of parameters in the controlled software. In particular you get full control over the DAW's mixer (track volume, panorama, automation, solo and mute settings), effects, equalizers, virtual instruments and bus assignments. Additionally you will be able to save projects, perform undo's and redo's etc. What exactly is accessible depends on the controlled DAW to some degree although basic functionality should work across products. TouchDAW 1.1 has dedicated support for Steinberg Cubase & Nuendo, Ableton Live, Apple Logic, Avid Pro Tools and Cakewalk Sonar, that is: it knows how these products combine controls to achieve certain things, use the displays etc., which is of some importance given TouchDAW only can show one channel at a time and has very little screen space available for monitoring what's going on inside the DAW. |
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More indepth support for other products may be added to future versions of the app depending on demand, but it may nevertheless be worth trying if an unsupported DAW works with one of the currently available presets. Reaper for example, far as its Mackie implementation is going, does more or less work with TouchDAW set to Logic mode.
MIDI utilities: A second functional layer is available with the integrated general purpose MIDI controllers. TouchDAW 1.0 includes a multitouch keyboard with pitch and controller support, a MIDI mixer, multitouch launchpads and configurable xy controller pads that also can map a phone's sensors to MIDI controllers. Both these layers are independent from each other and use separate MIDI connections. What is particularlly important to understand is that DAW control essentially uses a "closed circuit", bidirectional MIDI connection between the phone and the DAW. No other MIDI source should interfere with the communication between the two and you will want to keep control data away from your "musical" data flow alike. |
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Performance, battery use etc.: TouchDAW can potentially generate a lot of traffic over WIFI and as it is dealing with music you will want it to be fast and responsive. Keep in mind that on a smartphone there are a lot of other things happening next to the app currently running in front. For best performance you should consider turning off things that are not currently needed. Don't let the phone download email or check your friends' facebook status when you are performing on stage or recording. MIDI communication over RTP requires a constant uninterrupted WIFI connection. A lot of phones shut down WIFI when going into energy saving mode and thus will break the connection. You may need to let TouchDAW disable sleep mode and have your charger at hand when using the app for longer periods. |
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| humatic - htools |
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