Comparison

MIDI Scribe vs Loop Breaker

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ€” with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

MIDI Scribe

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MIDI Scribe is a free productivity app for capturing and organizing practice takes from your MIDI-capable musical instrument. Run it while you practice, and it will automatically start new takes after every session break, with a configurable auto-take idle time, as well as support for specific MIDI commands (such as a middle or left piano pedal press) to manually start and end takes. A piano roll is provided to review and scrub individual takes. Star the takes that you want to keep indefinitely, while unstarred takes are cleaned up over time based on a configurable retention policy. All takes can be exported as MIDI files for use in other programs. MIDI Scribe is completely private. Connect your instrument, capture your takes, and keep everything securely on your device . No ads, no analytics, no snooping on your usage, and nothing ever leaves your device unless you export it. MIDI Scribe is completely free and open source for you to enjoy.

About

Loop Breaker

Features
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Loop Breaker is a gamified audio processing environment that periodically forces you to make choices about how your audio loops should change and how your compositions should unfold. This is primarily achieved through a modifier system; every few bars, a new modifier appears in a queue. You must decide which of your loops should be affected by the modifier. If you make no choice, Loop Breaker will decide for you. Change is the only constant. Modifiers include standard audio effects like reverb, delay, chorus, filters, granular delay, auto-pan, and tremolo. Each of these effects has multiple parameters that are set on the fly and include various onset times. Other modifiers effect loop playback: you can change the playback speed, reverse playback direction, time-stretch, re-pitch, move loop brackets via the parts system, and slice loops and then shuffle, arpeggiate, or repeat them. Modifiers stack. Within minutes, your loops will wander down their own paths and recombine to create something previously unimaginable. Loop Breaker also contains a robust probability system for controlling how likely it is that modifier types will appear in the queue and how likely it is that an individual loop will be targeted for modification, should you cede decision-making responsibilities to Loop Breaker. The probability system responds to MIDI CC messages, so you can dynamically change probability settings with MIDI controllers, automation lanes in your DAW, or via modulation sources. Loop Breaker also contains a preset system for saving and recalling modifier stacks. Take your explorations as far as you want, save a new preset, and then recall it later on, even between sessions. Like the pads and probability system, presets also can be controlled via MIDI. Still not enough exploratory madness for you? Record and resample the audio output and then re-apply it to a pad or process it further in your DAW. Loop Breaker works both as a standalone app and as a AUv3 plug-in. Loop Breaker knows that you have a hard drive full of 4-bar loops that you never turned into finished compositions. Loop Breaker wants to help. Loop Breaker wants to make sure you don't get stuck in a loop.

Screenshots

MIDI Scribe4 screens
Loop Breaker4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Loop Breaker at 15.0 against MIDI Scribe's 18.6. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 5 level
MIDI Scribe versus Loop Breaker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMIDI ScribeLoop Breaker
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksโ€”
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS18.615.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size39 MB30 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJames RansonGlowMachine LLC

In-app purchases

None

MIDI Scribe

No in-app purchases

None

Loop Breaker

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is MIDI Scribe free?
MIDI Scribe is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Loop Breaker free?
Loop Breaker is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do MIDI Scribe or Loop Breaker have ads?
Neither MIDI Scribe nor Loop Breaker shows ads.

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