MIDI Bagpipes Control Surface vs Aether Synth

This app is a Irish/Scottish Bagpipes fingering based MIDI control surface for the iPad that can be used to play your hardware MIDI synthesizer/sampler modules or other MIDI apps. The chanter fingerings are based on either those used for the Irish Uilleann or Scottish Highland bagpipes. The app doesn't produce any sound on its own, it is designed for playing hardware and software VST-style MIDI synthesizers via a CoreMIDI compatible interface connected to the dock connector or virtual MIDI instruments like Roland Sound Canvas for iOS, Universal Piper, or Sonosaurus ThumbJam running on your iPad. The app supports sending data on two independent MIDI channels, one for the chanter and the other for the drones. IMPORTANT: Since this app requires as many as 9 fingers on the screen at the same time, before playing, disable "Multitasking Gestures" on your iPad (in the iPad Settings app, under the General section, turn the Multitasking Gestures switch to the off position). Choose between Uilleann and Highland chanter fingerings using the selector below the drone puck. Touch the '?' on the upper left corner for the on-screen help labels. For Uilleann fingerings, you can choose whether the back-D note plays when the Back-D switch is touched (Open mode) or released (Closed mode). Closed mode matches the real Uilleann chanter. Touch the drone puck to start/stop the drones. For the Highland pipes, you'll want to set the drone transposition two semitones higher than the chanter Using Uilleann Chanter Fingering To play the chanter, touch the three holes of the left side of the chanter starting with the tips of your left index, middle, and ring fingers. Next, touch the four holes on the right side of the chanter with the tips of your right index, middle, ring, and little fingers. Touch the green "Octave" bar on the left side with your left little finger to play the notes one octave higher. Optional finger vibrato may be done by touching holes below the main closed holes used for a note. Using Highland Chanter Fingering Touch the bar at the bottom of the screen with your left thumb. It represents the hole on the back of the chanter for the highest note and must be covered for other lower notes to play. The app uses chanter fingerings based on those for the Highland pipes. Next, touch the left half of the chanter starting with the tips of your left index, middle, and ring fingers. Finally, touch the right half of the chanter with the tips of your right index, middle, ring, and little fingers. Touch the blue "Back-D" bar at the bottom left center with your left thumb to play the second octave "Back-D" selectable on either a press or release. (Uilleann chanter mode only) Touch the red "Stop" bar at the bottom right center with your right thumb to stop the chanter sound for staccato techniques. (Uilleann chanter mode only) Touch the purple "Bend" bar on the lower right with your right little finger to bend the pitch or play finger vibrato. (Uilleann chanter mode only) You may select the MIDI channel, attack velocity and volume for the chanter and drones independently using the sliders at the top of the screen. The entire range may be transposed up or down up to one octaves (zero transpose is "C") in semitone increments using the chanter and drone transpose sliders. Use the "Transmit MIDI Port" switch to choose between "Omni" sending MIDI data to all CoreMIDI apps or "Virtual Port" sending to a named CoreMIDI virtual output port. When the "Virtual Port option is selected, MIDIPIpes will show up as an input option in apps that support virtual ports like Universal Piper, and Sonosaurus ThumbJam. "Omni" mode is selected by default. All MIDI settings are saved when the app quits and restored the next time it is run. Touch the 'Shhh' icon at the lower left to quiet any "stuck" notes if they occur. Be sure to visit the AppCordions.com website for MIDI setup information and demo videos!

Aether Synth is an AUv3 synthesizer, sequencer and sampler for iPhone Duo, iPhone and iPad, built for creating expressive sounds that move. Start with a sound, combine two sounds into something new, introduce motion, build a pattern, capture a sample, or simply play. Aether brings synthesis, sequencing, sampling and performance together in one instrument designed to keep ideas moving. CREATE YOUR OWN SOUND Build rich synth patches for pads, basses, leads, textures, atmospheres and evolving sounds. Aether is designed to make sound creation immediate. Shape a patch directly, explore presets for inspiration, or use Random Sound to discover combinations you might not have reached manually. The result can become a finished sound or the starting point for something completely different. DUAL — TWO SOUNDS BECOME ONE Dual lets you combine two independent sounds into a new composite instrument. Choose a sound for A. Choose another for B. Blend between them and shape the result. The two sides can complement each other, contrast with each other, or create something that neither patch produces alone. Save your favorite Blends and return to them later. MAKE SOUNDS MOVE Aether is built around motion as part of the instrument. Use Motion and Random Motion to animate sound over time and create patches that evolve rather than remain static. Movement can be subtle and organic or become a major rhythmic part of the sound. This makes Aether especially suited to evolving pads, shifting textures, rhythmic sounds and patches that respond like performances rather than snapshots. SEQUENCE IDEAS Turn sounds into patterns with Aether's built-in sequencer. Create melodic and rhythmic phrases, experiment with different rates and musical feels, and develop ideas without leaving the instrument. The arpeggiator provides another immediate way to transform held notes and chords into movement, while tempo synchronization keeps rhythmic material locked to the music. SAMPLING Capture and work with audio directly inside Aether. Use sampling alongside synthesis to bring recorded material into the same creative environment as your patches, patterns and performances. A sample can become part of a larger musical idea instead of living in a separate workflow. PERFORM Aether is designed to be played. Use the keyboard and performance controls to shape sounds in real time, then connect a MIDI controller when you want a more traditional playing experience. Velocity, sustain and expressive controls allow patches to respond dynamically instead of behaving like static presets. DISCOVER INSTEAD OF SEARCHING Sometimes you know exactly what sound you want. Sometimes you don't. Random Sound and Random Motion make exploration part of the workflow. Generate a new direction, keep what works, reshape it, combine it with another sound in Dual, and continue from there. The goal is not randomness for its own sake. It is getting from a blank idea to something musically useful quickly. STANDALONE OR AUV3 Use Aether as a standalone instrument on iPhone and iPad, or load it as an AUv3 instrument inside compatible hosts and DAWs. That means the same sound-design environment can work as an instrument on its own or become part of a larger mobile production setup. BUILT FOR MUSICIANS Aether brings together: • Synthesizer sound design • Dual layered instruments and saved Blends • Motion and evolving sound • Random Sound and Random Motion • Preset exploration • Sequencing • Arpeggiation • Sampling • Performance controls • MIDI • Standalone operation • AUv3 plugin support Whether you're designing an evolving ambient texture, building a bass or lead, creating a rhythmic patch, experimenting with layered sounds, or starting a new musical idea from scratch, Aether is designed to keep the distance between inspiration and sound as short as possible. Create a sound. Make it move. Turn it into music.