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Author Archives: Michael Tyson

Loopy update, now fully accessible via VoiceOver!

By Michael Tyson | Published: May 12, 2013

“Loopy HD. Double-tap to open.”

Loopy’s now VoiceOver-accessible for blind users!

Here’s what else is new:

  • Added “Toggle Reverse” MIDI Action
  • Revised behaviour of “Toggle record, then record next track”, “Toggle record, mute, then record next track” and “Mute and unmute next muted track” controller functions
  • Auto-select tracks when recording while using MIDI/Bluetooth controllers
  • Added “Simultaneous Recording” setting
  • Re-record action now cancels in-progress recordings
  • Accuracy improvements in MIDI sync
  • Reduced loop boundary crossfade duration
  • Assorted bug fixes

Please note: As of this version, Loopy’s no longer iOS 4 compatible. If you are one of those users still on iOS 4, I recommend you back up the existing version of Loopy prior to updating, by right-clicking Loopy in your apps list in iTunes, and clicking “Show in Finder”, then copying that file somewhere safe.

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Loopy HD 1.4 and Loopy 2.5 Bring Reverse and Decay; Loopy HD on 50% sale

By Michael Tyson | Published: April 1, 2013

Effects Update

Loopy News!

I’m happy to announce Loopy HD 1.4 and Loopy 2.5 – a significant update that brings the features most frequently requested by users: Reverse and decay.

Also – Loopy HD is 50% off!

You can access the new effects via the track menu, which can now be rotated to access the new menu items.

Reverse will play the track back in the reverse direction – you’ll see the position indicator move in the opposite direction. You can still do everything you usually can with reversed tracks, including position offsetting, overdubbing and merging.

Decay works while you are overdubbing a track: While it’s enabled, it will eat away at your track audio as you overdub new audio on top of it, fading away old layers as you make new ones.

There’s also a change to the way you finish track recordings: Now, when you punch out, Loopy will count out to the next cycle. That means you can tap the track at any time, and it’ll automatically end on the next cycle. To punch out immediately, tap twice. The first tap begins the count-out, and the second tap ends straight away.

New actions that can be triggered via MIDI or Bluetooth:

  • Toggle fading
  • Mute and play next muted track
  • Toggle record, mute, then start recording next track

More changes:

  • New tracks recorded that are multiples of the clock now always start at 12 o’clock
  • Audio engine tweak to now have sample-level latency compensation accuracy
  • Fixed bug with count-in quantize slider resetting
  • Fixed timing problem with blank loops from saved/autosaved sessions
  • Fixed an issue with recognizing MIDI note controls
  • Fixed some problems with re-record feature
  • Redesigned tutorial system
  • Make panel display selector always move in one direction when tapped on iPad

Loopy HD and Loopy are available on the App Store right now.

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Searching iOS header files with Xcode

By Michael Tyson | Published: April 1, 2013

I’m often having to grep through various iOS frameworks in search of error codes that appear (“What the bloody hell does -10867 mean?”). This can be a bit annoying – especially while working with Core Audio – so I put together an Alfred workflow that does it for me.

Here it is – type “hs” (short for “header search”) then the text you want to search for, and it’ll give you matching results. Hit enter to open that file:line combination in Sublime Text, or edit the action script to work with the editor of your choice.

Search Xcode Header Files.alfredworkflow

Screen Shot 2013 04 01 at 11 54 24

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Encrypting and decrypting text with Alfred 2

By Michael Tyson | Published: March 25, 2013

Here’s a couple of Alfred 2 workflows that implement encryption and decryption via AES256, useful for doing things like sharing passwords.

Select some text (or copy it to the clipboard), and hit the encryption hotkey, and you’ll be prompted for a password; the encrypted contents will be copied to the clipboard.

Then when the recipient has the encrypted text, select or copy it, hit the decryption hotkey, and the original password will be requested. Then, the original text will be displayed and copied to the clipboard.

Encrypt.alfredworkflow

Decrypt.alfredworkflow

Screen Shot 2013 03 25 at 12 51 50

Screen Shot 2013 03 25 at 12 52 14

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The Amazing Audio Engine is here, and it’s open source and Audiobus-ready

By Michael Tyson | Published: March 19, 2013

Taae

I’m very pleased to announce that The Amazing Audio Engine has pulled into the station. It’s been a long time in the making, and there have been one or two minor distractions along the way, but I’m proud of the result:

A sophisticated and feature-packed but very developer-friendly audio engine, bringing you the very best iOS audio has to offer. We’re talking audio units, block or object-based creation and processing, filter chains, recording and monitoring anything, multichannel input support, brilliant lock-free synchronization and rich Audiobus support.

You’ll find The Engine, a bunch of documentation and the brand-new community forum at theamazingaudioengine.com

It’s also open source. And it’s ready for Audiobus.

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Thirteen Months of Audiobus

By Michael Tyson | Published: December 9, 2012

Tomorrow, Monday December 10, my friend and partner-in-crime Sebastian Dittmann and I are launching a project over twelve months in the making: Audiobus. We’re very proud of what we’ve managed to do, and we both firmly believe that Audiobus is going to fundamentally alter the way people create music on the iPad and iPhone.

You can find out more about Audiobus itself at audiob.us, but I wanted to take a moment to breathe, look back, and explain why the hell I’ve been so quiet over the last year. Read More »

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Loopy and Loopy HD, now with Bluetooth pedal/keyboard support, iPhone 5

By Michael Tyson | Published: October 1, 2012

Loopy HD 1.3 and Loopy 2.4 just hit the App Store.

Loopy hd 1.3 loopy 2.4

The main new stuff is support for Bluetooth pedals like the AirTurn and Cicada (as well as any Bluetooth keyboard). This uses the same system as the MIDI control, so you can do all the same stuff. It’s pretty neat.

Also, iPhone 5 support, which introduces — you guessed it — another row of loops. How could I resist?

There’s also some dramatically improved clock code in there, which offers new behaviour when using the x/÷/+/- clock length controls to give you new options for putting interesting rhythms against each other, and better support for non-4/4 time signatures.

There’s a bunch of other relatively minor improvements in there. Here’s a summary of all that’s new:

  • Added support for Bluetooth pedals like the AirTurn and Cicada, and Bluetooth keyboards
  • Added iPhone 5 support
  • Enhanced support for alternative time signatures
  • Improved clock length manipulation, with more flexible behaviour for “+” and “-” buttons
  • Rearranged Settings screen for easier understanding
  • Added “Cancel pending actions” MIDI action
  • Keep MIDI device connections over multiple sessions
  • Ask for a session name when saving for the first time
  • Assorted bug fixes and optimisations
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Updates, updates for everybody: Loopy HD 1.2 and Loopy 2.3

By Michael Tyson | Published: July 28, 2012

Loopy hd 1 2

The update has landed!

Loopy’s now slicker and meatier than ever, with a brand-spanking new audio engine — with some nifty new audio processing smarts and just ~6-7ms latency, which sounds absolutely fantastic — greatly improved punch in/out controls, multi-channel audio interface support, and a colossal amount of other improvements.

You can read more about the update here, grab Loopy HD (for the iPad and iPhone) or Loopy (for the iPhone) right now on the App Store, and talk about it on the forum.

You can also check out the new introductory tutorial — there’ll be more soon.

Many thanks to the testing team for their hard work making sure the new update is house-trained.

Happy looping!

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