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capabilities and let you do some pretty serious recording and remix work with it. For example, if you have an audio file in your iTunes library on your iPad that you’d like to bring into a Session, a turntable Device called SpinBack lets you play it back into your audio chain, with varispeed, scratching, and cueing up with built-in sync. You can also import .WAV files from your computer into Tabletop using iTunes, or bring them in from any other app that is compliant with the Sonoma Wire Works AudioCopy/AudioPaste protocol. These sounds can be loaded into sample pads on Gridlok and played in real time, processed through effects, and then recorded for reuse elsewhere. Gridlok also understands ReCycle files (WAV files sequenced by a MID file), so it can play phrases with adjustable tempo. A special Device called Recorder M2 can be placed anywhere in the audio chain; it can capture the output of a single Device or be placed between the mixer and Mr. O to capture an entire song. Its recorded audio can be exported to the app’s own sound library for use in other Devices, or exported to SoundCloud on the internet. You can also export entire songs to AudioCopy, iTunes, or SoundCloud from the Session menu. Once you’ve created chunks of audio and saved them as loops, a Device called T101-Triggerator lets you load them in and sequence them to build up entire complex song arrangements. Other features include quantizing, swing and tempo control, and even WIST wireless sync with other iPads over Bluetooth. Oh, and since we are “the magazine for the recording musician”, I should mention that Gridlok is in fact capable of recording and saving audio from external sources, using the iPad’s built-in mic or an audio interface connected to the TRRS headset jack. In my tests, TRRS interfaces worked well but I couldn’t get Tabletop to recognize a dock-connected interface like the Sonoma GuitarJack 2, which is a shame. A future update will add a Device called Magic Mic for direct input of audio like vocals or guitar. Final thoughts Tabletop makes very effective use of iOS’s in-app purchase capability. The basic free app gives you a fair bit of flexibility, with not only the basics (Mr. O, Recorder M2, X2 splitter, Goblin MX8 8-channel mixer, SpinBack, Filtr LP lowpass filter, 3Q eq) but a few quite powerful Devices as well (Gridlok, T101Triggerator, M8RX, RS3). This is more than enough for you to create some really impressive tracks, with keyboard lines, drum patterns, resampled audio, your own recorded input, tracks from iTunes mixed in, etc., and is also more than enough to give you a feel for if the Tabletop paradigm works for you. If it does, then you’re free to add items to suit your tastes. If you’re of a DJ frame of mind you’ll want to grab the XFade
RECORDING September 2012

Fig. 2

crossfading mixer and the Glitchboard, but a more serious keyboard sound designer will want RS4000 and perhaps XOX or the TT-303. And for a dollar or three each, why not throw in a reverb, limiter, or fuzzbox?

The impression I got was of a carefully thought out framework for a growing variety of sound Devices, with more being added all the time. You can quickly become comfortable with the tools provided, spend weeks or months developing cool ways to use them, and be pleasantly surprised by new arrivals as they come out. If you’ve been looking for a music-creation platform for the iPad that starts out fun and gets as serious as you need it to be, get your hands on Tabletop and try it yourself. Price: free; in-app Device purchases range from 99 cents to $9.99 More from: Retronyms, www.retronyms.com

http://www.retronyms.com http://www.mil-media.com http://www.mil-media.com

Recording - September 2012

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