ipad control tone apps: ToneTable, TraxPad, Flare Scratch

Time for another app review!

This time around I’m going to be looking at the most promising control tone software for apple’s iOS device line – specifically, the iPad. Since my last review, I’ve come to the conclusion that the iPad is my new favorite DJ tool. I don’t think it’s ready for primetime, week after week rigors of an active working dj – but for a backup solution, nothing even comes close. If you keep an iPad and a couple cables in your gig bag – I’m positive any DJ worth their salt could keep the party moving throughout any gear malfunction.

So, let’s bring it back a notch, I know you saw me mention something about control tones. JUST WHADDAHECK IS A CONTROL TONE ANYHOW!?!??! Well, simply put, a control tone is a static note. When you put that static note into an audio playback device (vinyl on turntable, cd in cdj, control tone app on ipad), a host of tactile manipulations of that static note become available. Each DJ application uses a different control tone though, for instance, Serato Scratch Live uses a 1 kHz control tone. That ‘wikka-wikka’ scratching noise you hear sometimes when a dj cues up a song right before a mix is in reality merely a rhythmic modulation of a particular frequency specific to his/her dj software. The magic really happens after that tone gets sent through the audio interface and the current relative frequency is used to accurately control the speed and direction of the playback of a digital audio file.

ToneTable – made by Inklen

ToneTable, at a glance, is immediately obvious about what it’s primary goal is: to emulate a turntable. Aside from a marginally useful, but interesting chromatic keyboard panel, It really is nothing more than a play/pause button and pitch controls. That is a benefit to the app – it doesn’t do much, but what it does do – it does well and it’s rock solid. It has a few nice features added in like custom colors and a re-sizable platter.  ToneTable aims to be a replacement (or backup) for your DVS control tone setup – and in most every way, it can be just that.

The biggest criticism I have with this app is the method for pitch adjustment.  If you are used to turntables or cdjs, you know that a quick pitch bend can be achieved without looking down at the deck. you can more or less ‘feel’ the beat lock in as you nudge the song forward, or pressure it back down. It’s hard to ask a app like this to have that tactile feel, but their process is all wrong. To open up the pitch bend controls you have to first toggle them on screen, then you have plus and minus buttons (with non-adjustable curve control) to bend up and down the song. They should really be making use of the large, multi-touch screen apple provides with the iPad to give some kind of gesture command with the pitch, such as a 3 or 4 finger drag. Another great feature would be to allow internal song playback from the iPad, in case your computer crashes, it’d be great to have a little playlist inside the app to bring up a few tracks while you restart your machine.

+ Stability for hours and hours

+ Customizable interface

+ Instantly compatible with Serato, Traktor, MixVibes, and almost every DVS DJ software.

- Uninspired pitch controls make mixing less fluid than traditional setups

- No internal song playback

TraxPad made by Physipop

TraxPad is a simple dj application that provides excellent visual feedback and responsive, intuitive controls. You can load an internal playlist, see a track overview, cue to a point in the track, pitch bend and pitch adjust.  The controls are easy to learn and offer a smart degree of control, making great use of the full range of the multi-touch screen. For instance, I found the pitch bend and pitch adjust easy to manipulate without needing to ‘learn’ it. It just feels  natural when you play with it for a few minutes. Sadly, there is no implementation of track BPM, not even the percent of the adjustment.

However, TraxPad fails in in one major way as a control tone application, there is no audio cueing to speak of. that is, you can’t scratch. the only thing you can do is play, pause, and pitch adjust. That might be good enough for someone accustomed to jumping around with a bunch of preloaded cue points via their laptop software, but it really isn’t easy to work with tracks on-the-fly. Another strange decision is the orientation of the playback direction of the track on screen. It’s opposite of the Vinyl/CDJ/DVS ‘upscroll’ of the waveform. This app flips that around and instead the waveform scrolls downward, making cueing a little awkward, even more so because you can’t hear the playback while cueing – you just have to line up waveforms visually. It’s as if you are mixing on turntables that are spinning counter-clockwise.

+ Intuitive multi-touch playback + pitch controls

+ Big use of the full range of the iPad’s screen

+ Track overview

- No BPM adjustment percentage display or BPM sort in the playlist

- No scratching, if using a control tone – you’ll rely heavily on cuepoints

- Only 1 cuepoint

Flare Scratch made by Async

Flare Scratch comes from the same developer that brought us Baby Decks (highlighted in my previous review). Flare scratch drops the 2-deck internal mixing and instead focuses on the scratch dj crowd. simple break records are included, and if you can get past the ugly GUI and ‘alien’ button controls, you actually have a very responsive and fun little scratching time-waster app.

I spoke with the author of the app who merely added the control tone mode on a lark, a sort of easter-egg, but it actually functions quite well. The level of precision you get from cueing with this app is unmatched. I really liked the ability to zoom the platter in for ultra precision.  I can’t really recommend this app for control tone use for a few reasons though. The needle is a huge annoyance. I realize this is a turntable and we are trying to emulate the functions of it – but i found myself constantly inadvertently moving the needle and stopping playback of the control tone. really annoying. I guess I could just flip it around and use the other side to cue with, but what about spinbacks? and It shouldn’t even be there in the first place. The same sort of problem came with the record zoom feature. I would end up toggling it when I didn’t want to and it would throw off my cueing.

All and all – if Async wants to push forward with a control tone app (which they should, since they have the best platter responsiveness of any dj apps) they need to make the screen and interface clean and polished. I don’t like the ‘alien’ look or the minimalistic pitch controls. The buttons should be big and immediately indicative of what function they are mapped to. Here’s an example of what I mean: See that button in the bottom right of the screenshot? there’s no way of knowing what the hell that does without pressing it. what about the other buttons? what sort of arbitrary symbols are those? the whole app could use a professional overhaul.

+ The best platter tracking and precision

+ Upload your own control tone for compatibility with any DJ software

+ Play songs internally from the app

+ app directly interfaces with itunes library for easy access

- Obscured usability due to ugly GUI

- Needs iPad specific layout

Summary:

Looking back on the apps – I really wish there was a combination of all 3 to make the perfect control tone app. If it had the GUI of ToneTable, the pitch controls of TraxPad, and the precision of Flare Scratch – you’d have a serious competitor to CDJs at a fraction of the cost. But I guess it’s hard to complain because none of these apps even approach the cost of cdjs or turntables. For the cost of one set of control vinyls – at the very least you can get a reliable backup solution that take literally no space in your bag. I’d recommend ToneTable to anyone requiring professional control tone manipulation, but any one of these apps could save you if you break a needle or the cdj dies or *roll-eyes* you forget the power cable… again. That’s actually what makes the iPad so convenient for a working DJ – the battery will last for ages so you don’t even need to pack a charger for it.

If you’re a DJ and own an iPad, get a control tone app – notably ToneTable – you won’t regret it.

This entry was written by yeahdef, posted on July 22, 2010 at 12:23 pm, filed under news. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.