Mobile apps that you use for production

I have a set of mobile apps that I use all of the time for various music making tasks. As most of these are very cheap (or even free) I thought it might be a good thing to share.

Polytune: $4.99
I love this tuner

Decibel 10th: Free
dB meter. I doubt it's good for scientific measurements, but comes in very handy when you need an overview of how loud your monitoring is.

Backline Calc: Free
Crazy useful calculator for audio. Like a mini Wolfram Alpha of music.

FiRe: $5.99
Nice little stereo recording software set up for field recording. Has come down in price (I paid a lot more when I first got it)

Chords: Free
Not the best, but it's fast, simple and great for quick reference.

Star Scales Pro: $1.99
Terrible name, clumsy UI and God-awful graphics. Even so, it's a handy app. Still, there has to be something better out there.

What apps are all of you using?

These are for android. Chances are they may not work well on your device, but hey, I'm glad I found something to work.

Guitar Scales : Free

You can see the scale or search for the scale with the notes you are using. I suck at scales so this is cool.

GstringsFree : Free

Cool tuner, easy to use.

I use FiRe also, though I find it crashes a lot.

Ultima2876 said:

I use FiRe also, though I find it crashes a lot.

Mine is really stable, but in fairness, I am still using v.1. As a long time Pro Tools user, I'm like a mouse that needs to make his way across an opening in a wooded area when it comes to updating any piece of software that is currently working fine.

You should try and contact Audiofile. They have always been super responsive when I've emailed them.

I learned a little nugget recently that has really helped with my recording in the field.  I've been using a metronome to get the timing down of certain actions, run cycles, and other effects like flybys. I use Pro Metronome for it's pendulum and flash visual styles and it's been great for rehearsing and practices as well.

I'll post some more later that aren't part of my workflow but are handy tools.  I really like the differetn touch interfaces people are coming up with like Chordion. It's helping open up some new tonal possibilities that I don't really reach for on a keyboard or guitar.

I doubt I'll be doing much recording on my iPad since my h4n is surgically attached to my hip.  Naw, I wish, I just started carrying an army surplus knapsack hip(ster) bag thing with the essentials since I don't really leave the house too much.

I think my son uses Pro Metronome for his piano lessons. Nice tip about using one in field recording, you should elaborate on the Tips and Tricks thread.

I've seen some really interesting 'instruments' for the iPad, but I'd really like to see some controller/plug-in bundles come out.

Oh, and if you don't have a session bag loaded and ready to roll, you're not a producer or an engineer. Contents of everyone's bag could be another thread :D.

I use fl studio mobile, but that was 15$ so its not cheap,

and chromatic tuner, and a couple of free music reading apps

Been a while for this thread.. anyway..

Actions (http://getactionsapp.com). Download the app on your iPad, download/install the 'server' application on your computer and you have a visual shortcut tool.

It set up pretty easy and it's cake to make your own shortcuts. So far I've zero problems using it with Pro Tools. It also gives you the ability to import and/or export shortcut setups.

You can change it's focus to any application, so you could use it for a VI server or, hell, any mundane application.

It's iPad only and works with OSX and Win. Free download.

JHII said:

Been a while for this thread.. anyway..

Actions (http://getactionsapp.com). Download the app on your iPad, download/install the 'server' application on your computer and you have a visual shortcut tool.

It set up pretty easy and it's cake to make your own shortcuts. So far I've zero problems using it with Pro Tools. It also gives you the ability to import and/or export shortcut setups.

You can change it's focus to any application, so you could use it for a VI server or, hell, any mundane application.

It's iPad only and works with OSX and Win. Free download.

Wow, that's pretty sweet. I can think of all kinds of (musical and not) uses for it!

best tuner app I've got is ntrack tuner.

really the best and most accurate i've encountered.

On Apr 09, 2013, Ashton Morris said:

I use fl studio mobile, but that was 15$ so its not cheap,

and chromatic tuner, and a couple of free music reading apps

have you used it for recording audio? i'm looking for a simple looper that can record my keyboard live.

(since i don't have laptop)

Speaking of mobile app tuners, I've been interested in this one: https://www.petersontuners.com/products/istrobosoft/

Problem is, I still really like PolyTune so no real reason to justify an additional software tuner purchase.

On Aug 22, 2015, JHII said:

Speaking of mobile app tuners, I've been interested in this one: https://www.petersontuners.com/products/istrobosoft/

Problem is, I still really like PolyTune so no real reason to justify an additional software tuner purchase.

That one HAS to be snake oil - there's just no way they can be offering an actual strobe-accurate tuner on an iPhone without some kind of dedicated breakout box... for 10 bucks?

I use the polytune app.  It rocks.  I also have a metronome that I use from time to time.