Audiobus: Use your music apps together.

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Snakeskin Boots (Tin Pan Alley Mix) - Feat. Tin Pan Rhythm (section)

I am amazed at how good the Tin Pan Rhythm app sounds – how clean and easy to use the interface is, and how helpful it can be to even the most entrenched, method songwriter. This app is guaranteed to pull inspiration out of you and just couldn't be simpler to use. I say this as a stubborn musician with a very singular approach to songwriting that rarely involves writing or noodling out song progressions. I typically just work in my head. But this app makes it so easy and fast to find a progression that inspires, then wipe the slate clean and have another go for your chorus, bridge, etc. Kudos to the Tin Pan team!

To highlight how great it sounds, I decided to stretch things out a bit and record a song using Tin Pan as my "band." The only other sounds you'll hear are my gang vocals, the occasional hand clap/snaps, and a dual guitar solo. Any and all feedback welcome, but I'm sure you'll have a better listening experience (and sense of the app, hopefully) if you focus more on the Tin Pan part and less on the "me" parts ;)

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Comments

  • i like it good job

  • edited July 2015

    Bastard. After my first burst of public enthusiasm about Tin Pan I decided it was actually better to not tell so many folks about it or the whole world and their debt collector would be writing songs left and right. And then to compound matters I decided I would put off actually writing anything with it until they integrated the save mech. we've been promised, but then poof off you go and knock out a quick anthem anyway.

    Not going to give you the full SOTMC review right here, but your piece confirms that this is a good tool. I'm not convinced I'll use it too much as a final music machine, but as a way of writing, especially as regards figuring chords/notes/changes I think it's the best I've come across so far. So damn quick to hear out loud what you think in your head and then (most importantly) change on the fly when you need/want to try different possibilities.

    And now everyone knows :)

  • edited July 2015

    @eustressor Awesome job all around. Great songwriting! It reminds me of two of my favorite bands: The Polyphonic Spree and The Flamming Lips. Congrats!

    There's a lot of serious talent on this forum. :)

  • Great stuff. Love the song, and I'll be getting that app with apologies to @JohnnyGoodyear. Thanks for sharing. O and nice guitar work, along with the vox and handclaps. Great job on the separation of all those vocal parts.

  • @supanorton said:
    Great stuff. Love the song, and I'll be getting that app with apologies to JohnnyGoodyear. Thanks for sharing. O and nice guitar work, along with the vox and handclaps. Great job on the separation of all those vocal parts.

    I think it's a good thing for most folks, and while I don't think you need it by any means, I think you'll run riot with this thing...

  • Wow, that sounds great. Definitely get the Flaming Lips/PS comparison. This makes me want to check out Tin Pan Rhythm as well. Thanks for sharing!

  • @MeatWalrus said:
    i like it good job

    Thank you!

  • @JohnnyGoodyear said:
    Bastard. After my first burst of public enthusiasm about Tin Pan I decided it was actually better to not tell so many folks about it or the whole world and their debt collector would be writing songs left and right. And then to compound matters I decided I would put off actually writing anything with it until they integrated the save mech. we've been promised, but then poof off you go and knock out a quick anthem anyway.

    I am a bastard. A right bastard. The four heavy metal spikes in your forehead kind of bastard who'd nail your bedroom door shut ... I really like Tin Pan just fine without a save button. It's so EASY to create a progression, and you don't have to remember anything the recording itself wouldn't tell you. The "shampoo, export, rinse, repeat" approach appeals to me and is a great way to avoid unnecessary file clutter. I have so many pieces of things saved in so many places, if I couldn't organize the best of 'em in Audioshare, I'd go mad ... Just looking forward to loop recording. Trimming sucks.

    I'm not convinced I'll use it too much as a final music machine, but as a way of writing, especially as regards figuring chords/notes/changes I think it's the best I've come across so far. So damn quick to hear out loud what you think in your head and then (most importantly) change on the fly when you need/want to try different possibilities.

    I use it differently, certainly less thoughtfully, than you describe. I just drop the chords in and then react to them. It feels like more of a call and response process, where the chord selection is just an unplanned starting point. Then try to respond with a musical gut reaction. It pulled a song with very personal weight and meaning out of me that I didn't realize was in there. I think I'm starting to talk like Tori Amos ...

    And now everyone knows :)

    A right bastard, indeed!

  • Nice sound @eustressor. I hear the Flaming Lips on that as well.

    You got me to dust off TinPan, and I really enjoy that app. Running it through AB and Yonac's Steel Guitar has so many possibilities!

  • @funjunkie27 said:
    Nice sound eustressor. I hear the Flaming Lips on that as well.

    You got me to dust off TinPan, and I really enjoy that app. Running it through AB and Yonac's Steel Guitar has so many possibilities!

    Shhhh.

  • Does this do anything not covered by CHORDBOT or the Sessionband apps? Thanks

    Nice song btw.

  • edited July 2015

    @SpookyZoo IMO it's more Session Band Territory than Chordbot. But quicker, better, more flexible and still developing. I have all the Session Bands and they have their place, but the Tin Pan interface, as far as throwing notes/keys up and changing chords, progressions etc is roughly 478 times better/slicker/more creative. No contest. For me.

  • @funjunkie27 said:
    Nice sound eustressor. I hear the Flaming Lips on that as well.

    You got me to dust off TinPan, and I really enjoy that app. Running it through AB and Yonac's Steel Guitar has so many possibilities!

    I was thinking about this some more....what do you mean as regards workflow when it comes to the slide?

  • They just fit well together sound-wise. I did an 8 bar piece in Dm in TinPan and used an acoustic slide along with it, and it was quite lovely....my playing aside.

  • @mkell424 said:
    eustressor Awesome job all around. Great songwriting! It reminds me of two of my favorite bands: The Polyphonic Spree and The Flamming Lips. Congrats!

    Thank you! I have some passing familiarity with The Flaming Lips, but had to look up Polyphonic Spree - missed them completely in the early 00s. First track I was like, "How could ANYone be that happy?" ... Then I heard "It's the Sun" and I got it. Beautiful track. Thanks again :)

    There's a lot of serious talent on this forum. :)

    Indeed. So many people inspire me, the list would be far too long ...

  • @supanorton said:
    Great stuff. Love the song, and I'll be getting that app with apologies to JohnnyGoodyear.

    Hey thank you, Mr. Norton! I highly recommend the app, but don't be so quick to apologize to that no-goodnick JGY ... He called me a bastard!

    Thanks for sharing. O and nice guitar work, along with the vox and handclaps. Great job on the separation of all those vocal parts.

    Thanks again, but any success in separating a total of 9 vocal parts was as much dumb luck as anything. Very careless track mgm't, just kept piling them on without assignment or labels, so sometimes the low harmony's here, sometimes there, etc. ;)

    I will say starting with the low, whispery track helped center subsequent layering, never tried that before.

  • @funjunkie27 said:
    Nice sound eustressor. I hear the Flaming Lips on that as well.

    Thank you! Guess I need to brush up on my Flaming Lips - last I checked they were singing about marmalade and toast, I think?

    You got me to dust off TinPan, and I really enjoy that app. Running it through AB and Yonac's Steel Guitar has so many possibilities!

    I feel ya. I think I had a similar "whoa!" moment when I played guitar along with it. Tin Pan sounds so good, it somehow seems to make your own instrument tracks sound better. I think it's related to the great execution and focus on the accompaniment angle by the dev.

  • As a bastard of long-standing (don't tell me mum) I am all about the low whispery track etc.

  • edited July 2015

    @ eustressor - I don't know them well enough to know if they were singing about breakfast foods, but I recognize their sound.

    Agreed that TinPan complements guitar and strings in general. I switched from Steel Guitar to violin in Thumbjam and hit another whoa moment!

  • Ok, off the fence then, on the supposed golden path, towards these moments ...

  • @JohnnyGoodyear said:
    SpookyZoo IMO it's more Session Band Territory than Chordbot. But quicker, better, more flexible and still developing. I have all the Session Bands and they have their place, but the Tin Pan interface, as far as throwing notes/keys up and changing chords, progressions etc is roughly 478 times better/slicker/more creative. No contest. For me.

    SOLD!

    At least it would have been, had the iOS 8.1 ONLY pop-up not appeared at checkout.
    Quite disappointed, as I was looking forward to improving my workflow 478fold.

  • @SpookyZoo said:

    Double dang.

  • Oh, have I mentioned that this is a good app yet? It is you know. Missing so many things that would amaze the eunuchs balls off, but, so what, sometimes you just have to appreciate what an app can do for you. And what it's good at this app is very good at.

  • Nice work @eustressor - love the song!
    A quick update - the save feature is coming along nicely. It's taking a while because I'm trying to do something a little bit different (much better creative flow than a typical "save/load" - you'll see). Very pleased with how it's turning out - I'll share more soon.
    The other reason it's taking a long time is because sales have been sort of meh, so I've had to go get a real job and stuff. Nothing keeps me plugging away like hearing from people who use the app though, so keep the feedback coming. I'm super committed and really excited for all the stuff we've got planned (as are some eunuchs, apparently).

  • @gil I'm going to be half-full here and say that your lack of take-off with sales is probably half-marketing and half-lack-of-word-of-mouth-because-of-the-one-essential-limitation-we-don't-need-to-keep-talking-about.

    My optimism (as opposed to half-empty) is that those of us who have stumbled upon it/played with it seem to like it/recognize that it's ahead of the field in some important ways creatively. Therefore, and as a pro bono marketing consultant I would actually prefer you get the promotional part right when the app is also a little further along. Yes, I know it's a matter of resources, BUT the best chance to make people swoon/tell their mates is after the first delicious kiss, and this app still has many of those to enjoy yet....

  • @SpookyZoo said:
    Does this do anything not covered by CHORDBOT or the Sessionband apps? Thanks

    Nice song btw.

    Thanks! I'm not familiar with Chordbot, but I would agree with @JohnnyGoodyear that Tin Pan Rhythm is basically a SessionBand killer. Infinitely more customizable, sounds at least as good, terrific user interface and, at 100MB, almost 1/10 the footprint.

    And you can coax a surprising variety of styled accompaniment out of it. I've got a Soundcloud link I'll track down and post of the dev running through several flavors of backing tracks.

  • edited July 2015

    @eustressor agree viz flexibility. Went from writing a country waltz to a piano-only Hungarian Funeral March last night....

  • edited July 2015

    @eustressor said:

    Wow! Nice song. I have TPR, but for some mysterious reason my tracks don't come out sounding 1/478 times as nice! (I'm quite sure that the fault is not Tin Pan's!!!)

    @gil said:

    I've been following the TP forum quietly, and if/when you finish the current "top request" list, this app will be in a whole different category. Good luck with Tin Pan!

  • @JohnnyGoodyear said:
    eustressor agree viz flexibility. Went from writing a country waltz to a piano-only Hungarian Funeral March last night....

    Well there's your SOTMC track. Hungarian Country Funeral Waltz March. You've arrived, my friend.

  • @AndyX said:
    I've been following the TP forum quietly, and if/when you finish the current "top request" list, this app will be in a whole different category. Good luck with Tin Pan!

    Thanks for the kind words. I think this app is most of the way there. Loop recording sans trimming elsewhere is the only hindrance for me.

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