Audiobus: Use your music apps together.
What is Audiobus? — Audiobus is an award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you use your other music apps together. Chain effects on your favourite synth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app like GarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface output for each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive a synth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDI keyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear. And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.
Download on the App StoreAudiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.
Opinions on skeuomorphic music apps?
So I was writing a blog post about skeuomorphism in music apps (http://www.futuresonic.io/blog/skeuomorphism-and-ios-audio-apps) and I found it to be a really interesting topic. Personally, I'm not really a fan of skeuomorphic design, but it definitely has its place. Was wondering what everyone else's opinion is on skeuomorphism. Do you like skeuomorphic apps? And if so, why?
Comments
I think I am somewhere between. I like look of most skeuomorphic apps but some don't do it well. They try to make them too three dimensional, Bassalicious is an example. I also like the simple interfaces like Mood but even this sometimes goes to far as in all the Flora Creative effects apps. I think that Audio Damage does a very nice job of blending the two and that is the design style I like best.
Just my thoughts.
IMO Skeuomorphism works better for virtual versions of actual hardware. Like iMonopoly, iSEM, iMini, Model 15. I personally do not like the aesthetic of Kauldron, which doesn't emulate an actual box. However I like Zeeon which doesn't emulate an actual box either. Probably it's the rendering.
So I think skeuomorphism can work once done well.
For me personally it really does depend on what kind of app it is.
If it's en 'emulation / simulation' of classic gear the skeuomorphism adds to feel of the app.
Another parallel topic here could be 'knobs vs sliders' on a touch-screen.
In practice both controllers are used to adjust a value so in practice the knobs & sliders could be omitted and the user would just tap-n-drag on the value to change it and there would be no practical need to even have knobs or slider on the screen for other than design purposes.
At the extreme compare a 'spreadsheet with labels' to an 'UX with knobs, sliders and buttons'.
Both methods would obviously get the 'job done'.
One problem with knob & sliders is that in order to cram in a lot of parameters on the screen the size suffers.
While I do love Zeeon the text & controllers are (for me with somewhat degraded vision) too small to use comfortably on an Air 2. I would prefer size adjustable text-labels and value fields in favour of knobs & buttons.
One thing that is also sometimes 'forgotten' is the usability when it comes to size of the objects on the screen.
I do get that in order for the app to be 'universal' it has to scale down to the smallest supported device and that limits the UI design quite a bit...
Another area area where many apps fail is the colour-schemes/themes that can in the long run strain the eyes.
Classic examples are black back-ground and bright colours without any kind of contrast control, I often end up using the iOS features to invert the screen colours but that messes up other things...
I'm not a huge fan of the 'ultra-flat' design the seems to be highly popular at the moment.
Of the music apps I have on my iPad Cubasis and GarageBand are the two that are most easy on the eyes, closely followed by Gadget even though it's a bit 'Fisher Price' at times...
^ yes.. middle ground for the win.
Completely flat is not my taste, but I can do without wood grain and fake rust stains. Nobody was ever hurt by a subtle dropshadow as an affordance of clickability however.
One good side effect of the flat trend is that it has put more emphasis on typography in UI design.
Ahh yes, Mr. Brambos. Your work is another example of the perfect balance of simplicity, art, usability and style.
Thank you for that.
The Grammy goes to Brambos!
Yeah, I agree that if an app is an emulation of hardware then a skeuomorphic design makes perfect sense. But in some cases I feel like skeuomorphism can make apps unnecessarily complex. It's not iOS but I think Waves' Butch Vig Vocals is a perfect example of this...
Why would anyone do this? Why?
This is practically an obstruction and probably why I never use this plug-in. I think the need for skeuomorphic design is fading now that most people are pretty comfortable with computers and devices. Ableton avoided this pretty early with their native plug-ins, but I feel like it caused a lot of us to underestimate their power because they looked so plain. But now that screens and surfaces are the norm, there’s less of a need for psychology. We need function more than anything. Good design can naturally bring function without making a plug-in scream “HULK SMASH.”
That’s the question. The big problem with this one is that it goes way beyond skeuomorphism; it doesn’t even try to mimic a physical real world UI, as surely no hardware product designer would ever design a device like this. I can almost hear Jules Verne rolling his eyes about this one
It depends ... the case which pointed @ph8aerror is insane .. very bad .. but in case it is not mess, then i have nothing agains skeuomorphic .. in many cases it adds feel of hw and nice placebo effect that it sounds better, more like HW :-D :-D
but if modern flat design is done properly, then i don't miss skeuomorphism
..
simply.. it depeneds.. every case is different .. lot more important than if UI is flat modern or skeuomorphic is if UI is user friendly, straigtforward, easy to understand and work with it.
which can be in bot cases, with flath modern but also with skeuomorphic UI ..
maybe - for more complexx APPs like DAW's i prefer modern flat design, also for FX's i prefer modern flat design, for synths i little bit more prefer skeuomorphic design - exactly because of placebo effect "it sounds better"
Korg Gadget is an example of how it can be done well and mixed in where necessary imho
Wow never seen this plugin, but if the sound is super I would love using that interface
On a touch screen, though. Hell no with a mouse
Not into it and yet I wouldn’t have iVCS3 look any other way... I guess it depends on the emulation as above.
Must be just me, but I like the look of the BVV plugin. Then again I’d happily live on the Disney Nautilus
I wouldnt be too sure about that. Have you seen this vibrato fx pedal?
https://reverb-res.cloudinary.com/image/upload/v1456331513/ccvoc59hfppwoy0wzle7.jpg
Its powered by a candle btw
Just in case HG Wells and Jules Verne want to cut a record?
My opinion has long been completely on a case by case basis when it comes to skeuomorphic GUI's because they're not all created equal and can actually harm the piece of software rather than help.
Plugins & apps based off an old technology of course are the best candidates. This J37 tape saturation plug would just not be as cool or intuitive if it was a flat designed marvel of minimalism.
My favorite dev as far as GUI goes is Fab Filter because they've mastered this very unique marriage of skeuomorphic & flat design. The knobs are there for those who prefer knobs and there's also the frequency plane layout where different nodes can be selected and manipulated.
Apple kind of went medieval on skeuomorphism during the 2012-2013 iOS updates virtually eliminating it from their own GUI designs but over the past few years it seems most devs especially in music production apps/plugins, whether iOS or not, have taken it on a case by case basis as well.
When it's appropriate then of course use some skeuomorphic design. Hopefully most devs are still open to using it as a useful tool and don't see it as totally passe...
It has zero appeal for me in music apps.
Reminds me of the built in Logic synths. Just looking at Ultrabeat makes my eyes hurt.
In most cases, I don’t care for skeuomorphic GUIs as people tend to overdo them. I do love how it’s implemented in Xewton’s Music Studio and Korg’s Gadget, but more often than not, it comes across as gimmicky. Take iMono/Poly as an example taken too far.
What is that crud near the logo supposed to be? Dust? Donut frosting? Something else
That looks like a big metallic turd. Other than the most hardcore steampunk enthisiast music producers, who’d pay good money for that?
Bingo
How about coffee cup stains and cigarette burns.
The word "skeuomorphic" doesn't tell me much because in most cases, app UIs realize a fictitious device that has no physical counterpart anyway.
I prefer to rate a user interface by classic features like easy handling, logically consistent placement of controls, clear display of values, low chance of accidentally changing the wrong value and compatibility with fat fingers.
Or a drop shadow in the wrong place.
Because it's fun.
A very interesting point about Music Studio. When FL Studio migrated from the Music Studio design to the new non-realistic flat look, it lost some appeal for me. It has a lot more capability in some areas, but somehow I use it less because of how it looks. It feels less like "playing" an instrument - I guess many of us have visual preconceptions about how instruments look, and for me a completely flat design keyboard, as in FLSM, just ain't right...
Double plus: “zero appeal”
It’s irritating, but I put up with it if I want what the app has to offer.
Even when it’s an app I use, the irritation remains...
I can’t help wondering, isn’t a detailed skeumorphic GUI (people in the know please clear up my ignorance) a drain on processing resources? Does it add to the footprint?
I think it is helpful for someone transitioning from a real piece of hardware to a virtual version, but other than that it is unnecessary and distracting. 3D graphic technology and video game trends are probably responsible for its overuse in UI designs, same as 3D effects are overused in film.
Remember that real devices are typically designed with physical limitations and constraints that are not present in the virtual realm, so there is no reason to copy real world designs other than familiarity. And too many lighting effects over-complicate what your brain is trying to sort out, making it consider irrelevant details of the UI at the expense of what is important.
A lot indeed. When I tested how many m15 istances I could run fine it was 7 without GUI, 3/4 with just one of those open