Month: January 2012

TC-11 Multi-Touch Synhesizer App Review
TC-11 Multi-Touch Synthesizer Takes Shape

UPDATED REVIEW: 5-2-13

This uniquely designed, and powerful synth continues to see excellent development. Now with Audiobus support, more colorful backgrounds, and variable polyphony up to 11!
TC-11 continues to impress, and should be installed on any sound lovers device.
Stable, beautiful, and deep. This is and always had been a fantastic synthesizer.

There have been loads of exciting new iOS synthesizers, but none have really strayed very far from being designed to mimic their real world counter part. As great as they are, none really take advantage of the iOS multi touch interface quite as ambitiously as TC-11 does.

Bit Shape brings us a remarkable new professional synthesizer with the TC-11, embracing the multi touch environment like few have attempted. Completely programmable, playable, wirelessly usable, and inspiring. With a variety of visual display options it’s also a visual delight. TC-11 also includes configurable accelerometer support.

I could easily go on and on about the tech details, but I’ll spare you the boring spec list and say this, creating, routing, configuring, and general tweaking is unbelievably robust and complex. The options offered are so far outside the box in design that creating a simple patch can be very exciting. Considering the amazing routing options, sound design is limited only by your imagination.

Visit the developer for all the details here

This is serious synth business here. I’ll admit, I was a little perplexed initially with having to reconsider how I’d have to approach this design and make it work for me. Having been mostly used to traditional soft synth designs, it was a little awkward to adjust to. I quickly learned that as I played around with the many settings, jumping through the screens to specific modules, it really wasn’t difficult to grasp.  Everything I wanted (except reverb) was available with many options. It’s all there, just in a different form. It wasn’t long at all before I was making complicated patches and feeling bonded intuitively with the interface.
Soon I was playing TC-11 like a futuristic instrument, sliding, tapping, shaking, and tilting as it responded fluidly to my input, just as I had programmed that patch to behave.

Recently Bit Shape improved TC-11 with some minor fixes, and major features. Most notable in my opinion was the addition of a 10 minute performance recording capability, and audio copy to move that recording to other compatible  iOS music apps. Another improvement I found notable in my experience after the update  was that the interface response to my input feels more seamless, and even a bit faster.

If you are like me and love creative design that is also highly capable while providing a solid quality experience, TC-11 should be on your list. This is a big leap forward in design. A madhouse of sonic possibilities at your touch. A legitimate live performance, or studio (on the go) instrument that challenges and inspires. Crafting a sound programmed to your liking is like sculpting sound and extremely satisfying.

Available in iTunes App Store here
Recommended for those who really appreciate powerful, professional synth capability and intricate complexities with sonic design created for the multi touch iOS platform. Playing a synthesizer without any keys has never felt so right.