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Show HN: Tape It – iOS recording app for musicians

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Re: Show HN: Tape It – iOS recording app for musicians

#41

Post by JanNash »

n_sonic wrote: post #36

Hello! So I was very excited to hear that this app made stereo recordings. I make field recordings to use in my own compositions, so the idea of an app that does this was intriguing (and there seem to be none currently on the app store, unless I'm missing them?) I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong, but it's not recording in stereo? I verified by opening the file in Audacity (sent via AirDrop). I tried holding m…

High quality stereo recording is only available in our premium subscription (20$/year). The subscription comes with a one month free trial, which should give you some time to try it and see if you like it :)

Re: Show HN: Tape It – iOS recording app for musicians

#42

Post by earthnail »

subhro wrote: post #39

I am probably one of the few that use my iPhone more or less like a dumb phone, so pardon my ignorance. Is the iPhone mic able to pick the entire audible spectrum (and then some)? Does this mean companies like Neumann, Shure, Rode should feel someone is coming for their lunch?

Yes, they should. And they are already very worried about it. Only know that with certainty about Shure but I'd be surprised if the other companies weren't thinking in the same direction.

My assumption is that we'll see the same development in the audio recording space as we saw it in the camera space. It's not 1:1 exactly the same - microphones have always been a lot more in the (semi-) professional area than cameras have been, and stage mics etc. aren't going anywhere. But for home recording, be that audio-only or the audio for your video, dedicated microphones (and audio interfaces) will see their market shrink significantly.

Re: Show HN: Tape It – iOS recording app for musicians

#44

Post by lux »

Just downloaded to play with later, but one feature all these apps are missing is an easy import + loop feature. I want to quickly import a clip and loop it seamlessly so I can riff on it. I don't care about overdubbing or having a DAW on my phone, but I want to be able to easily iterate on an idea and struggle to do that on the go with any iOS app I've tried.

Re: Show HN: Tape It – iOS recording app for musicians

#45

Post by JanNash »

nerdite wrote: post #34
JanNash wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks :) Yes, I also think that BPM detection would be amazing and we are likely going to implement it in a future version. Scale detection does also sound like an interesting feature. However, I can't think of many use cases for key detection since (at least for me) it's quite common to just transpose a lick or some chords as necessary (e.g. joining them together with a different lick or melody or chord progression…

Key detection would help me remember what chords I’m using. If it’s in B I’m probably capo 2/A or Capo 4/G for instance.

That's an interesting point. Currently, you could write that down in the Notes of that recording or take a photo of your Capo position for example.

Re: Show HN: Tape It – iOS recording app for musicians

#46

Post by earthnail »

bezieio wrote: post #37

Nice work! I like the option to annotate with photos and notes! Have you guys checked out Spire? It's a free app, but could be paired with their hardware. It's different in that it's a really simple app for multitrack recording and editing, but I've also been using it for a similar function as Tape It. Not to take away from your work though, I will give the app a go :)

Thanks a lot for your nice words :-).

Yeah, we checked out Spire, and I actually have their hardware at home, too - but I rarely ever use it. Spire's sales were significantly below iZotope's expectations, too. I think it's a great attempt, but IMHO they didn't quite get it right - they focused too much on multitracking and sacrificed basic usability.

We're hoping that we don't make that same mistake, but of course only time will tell. And as always, different people have different needs - maybe Spire fits your workflow much better!

It would be fantastic if you could leave another comment once you tried the app - really looking forward to hearing what you think of it!

Re: Show HN: Tape It – iOS recording app for musicians

#47

Post by earthnail »

lux wrote: post #44

Just downloaded to play with later, but one feature all these apps are missing is an easy import + loop feature. I want to quickly import a clip and loop it seamlessly so I can riff on it. I don't care about overdubbing or having a DAW on my phone, but I want to be able to easily iterate on an idea and struggle to do that on the go with any iOS app I've tried.

Thanks so much for your feedback. Import, looping and overdubbing is definitely something we will support in the future. We're just really mindful about not cluttering the UI, so we're taking it one step at a time.

You should try the Capture app by Soundtrap. It basically has exactly that functionality you describe. It's quite limited beyond that, IMHO, but give it a go and let me know what you think.

Re: Show HN: Tape It – iOS recording app for musicians

#48

Post by capableweb »

JanNash wrote: post #19
KuiN wrote: post #12

Can this record the output of other audio/music creation apps (thinking like synths, instruments or AUM) or is it just the microphone?

Currently, it's just recording the via the built in microphone.

I'm sad to hear, was thinking of using it with a headset jack adapter splitter (allows you to plug in a microphone/whatever as source) but seems I'll continue using the built in camera for my recordings instead.

Re: Show HN: Tape It – iOS recording app for musicians

#49

Post by earthnail »

chris_st wrote: post #40
subhro wrote: post #39

I am probably one of the few that use my iPhone more or less like a dumb phone, so pardon my ignorance. Is the iPhone mic able to pick the entire audible spectrum (and then some)? Does this mean companies like Neumann, Shure, Rode should feel someone is coming for their lunch?

Anecdata, but a number of people in the online guitar group I'm in report that their iDevice can't really hear their bass guitar. My iPad Pro can, indeed, hear my bass fairly well, but I don't use it for recording the bass (long story). The microphone is, as I understand it, optimized for voice communication, since its main original job is to be a telephone.

Apple has fairly strong incentives to improve recording quality overall, including just better audio quality for the videos you shoot. Given the form factor of the iPhones, I'm frankly blown away by the sound quality you get from them. The SPL they can handle is absurd.

Admittedly, your comment made me curious - I think I might have to annoy my neighbours with some bass playing this evening. In my experience, recording with my iPhone Xs, the bass frequencies of my synth are picked up extremely well.

If the bass is indeed lacking, maybe we can recover some of it algorithmically. I'm not thinking about EQing, more like having a fantastic paper idea for some good academic work :-).

Re: Show HN: Tape It – iOS recording app for musicians

#50

Post by lux »

earthnail wrote: post #47
lux wrote: post #44

Just downloaded to play with later, but one feature all these apps are missing is an easy import + loop feature. I want to quickly import a clip and loop it seamlessly so I can riff on it. I don't care about overdubbing or having a DAW on my phone, but I want to be able to easily iterate on an idea and struggle to do that on the go with any iOS app I've tried.

Thanks so much for your feedback. Import, looping and overdubbing is definitely something we will support in the future. We're just really mindful about not cluttering the UI, so we're taking it one step at a time. You should try the Capture app by Soundtrap. It basically has exactly that functionality you describe. It's quite limited beyond that, IMHO, but give it a go and let me know what you think.

Awesome to hear! And thanks for the suggestion too, will try that today as well.

Looping for my use case can be as simple as a toggle button (even in a hamburger menu somewhere :). I also know the challenges of looping mp3s seamlessly and am only thinking of wavs.

Cheers!

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