Pixelsynth vs LiveBand Studio

Make a sound in seconds—and shape it while it plays. Pixelsynth turns taps, drags, melodies, and chords into a colorful instrument you can understand by watching it. Everything you play lives on one screen. Touch a note and start exploring. FROM THE DEVELOPER OF PIXELBOOP Pixelsynth is a new visual instrument from the maker of Pixelboop. Both apps share a love of playful grids, immediate feedback, and musical ideas that begin with one touch. PLAY FIRST. LEARN BY WATCHING. Sixteen pads invite you to find a melody, hold a chord, or strum across the screen. Notes light up as you play, and every sound control moves in front of you. You can see what each gesture is doing while you hear the result. SHAPE THE SOUND LIVE • Switch waveforms to change the character of your sound. • Sweep the filter from bright and open to soft and focused. • Shape attack, decay, sustain, and release for crisp plucks, swelling notes, and long tails. • Add motion with LFO, repeating echoes with delay, and depth with reverb. Each control is a colorful tank. Touch higher or lower inside it to set the value directly. Values in the upper half stay where you leave them; notes in the lower half drain away after you lift. It feels immediate because the picture and the sound follow the same gesture. MADE TO BE SEEN Created by a Deaf musician, Pixelsynth treats visual feedback as part of the instrument. The entire musical surface is drawn on a 40 by 24 pixel grid—just 960 pixels—so every control stays visible and every change has a visual response. PLAY IT YOUR WAY Open Pixelsynth as a standalone instrument on iPhone or iPad, or load the included AUv3 instrument in a compatible iOS music host. Your host can send MIDI notes and save the instrument state with your project. A compatible host is available separately. FREE TO EXPLORE No account. No in-app purchases. No third-party ads. The instrument works offline. The standalone app may occasionally show developer news or an introduction to Pixelboop, which you can close immediately. Pixelsynth does not track you or collect the music you play. Open it. Touch a note. See where it takes you.

Turn your musical ideas into a band session with LiveBand Studio. Play virtual instruments, record performances, find musicians and bring your friends together in a shared band room. From a quick piano melody to a guitar riff or a drum groove, explore your sound in one music app. PLAY SIX MUSICAL ROLES Choose from vocals, drums, classical guitar, electric guitar, bass and piano. Switch between instruments when inspiration strikes, or build a band with friends and play up to six instruments together. Practice on your own with offline instrument modes, then connect with other musicians for a shared session. PIANO, GUITARS, BASS AND DRUMS Explore an 88-key virtual piano with a range from A0 to C8 and controls for soft, sostenuto and sustain. Try glide mode to move through notes and create new musical phrases. Play classical guitar with nylon-string sound, 19 frets and fingerstyle controls. Explore electric guitar with 24 frets, a pedalboard and an amp, or choose bass to build the foundation of your band's sound. Create rhythms with a virtual drum kit featuring 14 hit zones and multi-touch controls. Add vocals with a dedicated vocal channel, an effect chain and monitoring. Bring melody, rhythm and voice into your music-making routine. CREATE OR JOIN A BAND ROOM Start a private band room and invite your musicians, or join an existing room to play together online. Check your room's lineup, player count and status before opening a session. Keep your bands in one place so you can return to the people you enjoy making music with. Whether you want to try a new arrangement, work on a musical idea or simply enjoy playing with friends, band rooms give your group a shared place to start. FIND MUSICIANS AND BUILD YOUR LINEUP Discover musicians and see which instruments they play. Browse profiles, check their listed languages and send friend requests to connect with potential bandmates. Looking for a guitarist, bassist, drummer, pianist or vocalist? Use musician profiles to explore different musical roles and build connections around the instruments your band needs. RECORD YOUR IDEAS Capture a performance when you find a phrase worth keeping. Use recording and playback controls to revisit what you played, and follow the on-screen musical notation during your session. Set the tempo with the built-in click and BPM controls. Work on a rhythm, explore a melody or develop an instrumental part at a pace that suits your idea. Keep your next musical starting point close at hand. KEEP YOUR MUSIC PROJECTS ORGANIZED Return to locally saved instrument projects from the Projects tab. Filter by instrument and mark favorites to find the sessions you want to revisit. See useful project details such as tempo, key, length and track count. Move between saved drum ideas and guitar performances without losing track of what you were working on. SHOW THE INSTRUMENTS YOU PLAY Personalize your musician profile by selecting your instruments. Choose one role or several, from vocals and classical guitar to drums, electric guitar, bass and piano. Help other musicians understand what you can bring to a band. PRACTICE SOLO OR PLAY WITH FRIENDS Use offline modes for individual instrument practice. When you want to connect, sign in and explore the app's band rooms and musician features. Online features require an internet connection. LiveBand Studio brings virtual instruments, music recording, saved projects and band connections into one place. Use it to explore a new sound, capture a short idea or make time for a session with your friends. Choose your instrument, find your bandmates and start making music with LiveBand Studio. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/