ZOA User Reviews

Top reviews

Great idea but very limited.

Please expand the grid to something more interesting; a 256x256 grid would be ideal. One would wish to explore “GOL Species” but realistically more than 80% of these won’t even fit on the available (limited in size) grid.

Please do update this, it’s such a great idea limited by an arbitrarily small limitation (the grid size).
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Very Cool!

Really enjoyed the app. Great soft music coming out. Also great to use on USB MIDI devices when testing! Very nice!

Amazing

I love using this app to create hypnotic sound scapes to help me relax. I run it through AUM. Ryan’s tutorials on YT are very helpful.

Response from developer

Thanks for the review! Glad you found the tutorials helpful.

Disappointing

….only one channel midi out

Response from developer

Hi thanks for leaving a review. You can set the MIDI channel out for each voice. It is at the bottom of the voice panel. You may have to scroll down for it. Hope this helps!

Very Useful

Really fun and useful midi engine, yet as the cycles progress it has fewer and fewer motes and ends uo just playing two or threenecessitsting a grid reset. not horrid, but having to reset it egery few minutes is irritsting and diminishes this apps usefulness.

i suspect its user error but havent figured out the solution
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Response from developer

Thanks for the review!  Yes, that is the nature of the Game of Life, most initial conditions do eventually settle down to fewer and fewer notes. The grid will automatically reset when it reaches a static state but you will have to reset it manually if it reaches a cyclic state. Hope this helps :)

PRETTY AMAZING APP

This is the app that made me go and buy Aum. Why? Because, I wanted to go beyond the basics and slot it in to other music apps to see what it could do.

For me, ZOA hits on two fronts. Many years ago I had a Roland MC202 and I’d walk around the streets of Oxford with my sister and the MC202 and headphones, composing monophonic soundtracks to the cityscape we’d be walking through. ZOA is a little like that - I find it’s great to put on during odd moments when I’m out and about and want to be a bit creative. Finding a nice sequence that works well is great and then when you load in the other three play heads and you create something that gels, it can become almost magical. The in-built synth voices are very soothing. I use it during study moments while teaching, and get the kids to turn on or off playheads as and when.

The second way I’ve used it is primarily with AUM. I love getting something together in AUM and then routing the playheads to different audio effects/units. It’s so much fun and I feel better about my level of creativity and involvement than just plonking down other people’s audio samples.

Most of what I’d like to see different/ improved doesn’t really involve ZOA directly:
1) New audio for the tutorials on YouTube (current ones are very quiet)
2) I’d love a Windows version, so I could use it in Cubase (yeah, Ryan, I know what you’re going to say!)
3) Never thought I’d ask this, but I’d love more playheads - 8? Would love to try weaving 8 strands together.

Those 3 points are really minor, though. If for some reason you’re reading this because you are wondering about whether to get this app - just do it, you won’t regret it. Don’t write many reviews but I’m writing this one because this app is just so fun to play with. Simplicity in form and function, creative, engaging, immersive. Beautiful!
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Response from developer

Thanks for such a thoughtful review! So cool to hear you use it in your teaching.

Absolutely Stunning!

This is exactly what I’ve been wanting for quite some time, thank you!

Instead of trying to describe the endless possibilities that ZOA offers, I strongly suggest to anyone that is looking for a generative ipad synth to take it for a ride through the Milky Way and beyond… you’ll be glad you did!

Promote!!!
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Response from developer

Thanks for the kind review!

Absolutely fantastic!!

You tried the rest… now GET the best!! This is a must for all composers, experimenters and lovers of all types of electronic musics. After viewing how to set it up via various YouTube clips… I purchased it and after 5 minutes, I was straight down the rabbit-hole of glorious connected sequences and soundscapes… take the plunge… you certainly won’t regret it!
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Response from developer

Thanks for the kind review!

Versatile and interesting

What I love about this is that you can use it to set up a complex and random melody for your next track, or you can set it, forget it, and just chill to the onboard synth playing in the background.

Response from developer

Thanks for the review! I'm glad ZOA can be a source of relaxing music.

Creative Tool

Great tool to find a creative spark. Perfect for generative and/or ambient genre and can be used in other genres. Great developer… try his other stuff too.

Response from developer

Thanks for the review!

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