The ShadowMusic Web Community

I thought it was worth posting about an App that is available on Ipad. It's called Echo Pad and its made by Holderness media. It's been around since January and has had 14 free updates since then. It's latest update has added multitap delays and while its not THE SOUND yet it has the potential in the future to become something very useful for Shadow style music on an Ipad. At the moment it has 4 heads that you can't alter but having contacted the developer He has replied saying that in one of the forthcoming updates individual control of heads is to be added. I've asked about having 6 heads and the ability to use it in mono as the multitap delay is currently stereo and He has said that all this is possible. It also already has wow and flutter. If you have an Ipad already its well worth checking out as it is only £1.99. I've swapped a few emails with the developer Christopher Rice and He has been surprised by the interest in multitap delays and genuinely seems open to ideas for future updates.

I would be interested to hear if anyone else has used it since the 5th of August update and what they think of it.

Roger Dyke has kindly recorded some examples of Echo pad using his guitar with his Ipad mini.

https://soundcloud.com/dyker124/echo-pad-example-m4a Atlantis

https://soundcloud.com/dyker124/echo-pad-peace-pipe-m4a Peace Pipe

Will it work with any of the proprietary hardware add-ons which allow jack input to (and output from) the iPad?

JN

It definitely works with Line 6 Sonic Port and Apogee Jam but I think it should work with any IOS interface.

Will download that and give it a try, sounds like just the ticket

I have given Echo Pad a quick try out and can get it to produce a very credible 'Wonderful Land' and 'Atlantis' on my iPad Mini using a iRig guitar interface (Maplin approx. £30). My problem will be that I have absolutely no idea how to program multi-tap echoes. I can feel a learning phase coming up. Just for information, I have been using my iPad Mini for recording (into App Multitrack DAW)for several months now via my MagicStomp. Very easy to use with excellent results. There is definitely a future in this.

Best regards

This raises an interesting question about the future uses of the iPad in music. I already believe that this is a VERY big future and I have for some time been using the iPad (with JamUp Pro) as my modelling and effects processing for live gigs. At the moment, I run my guitar into the iPad via my Quad GT, so as to be able to use EFTP, though JamUp Pro does have a good multi-tap delay of its own and for most non-Shads material I bypass the Quad and just use JamUp.

The question raised is one of interaction between apps. I don't have the technical knowledge to know whether this is possible, but I do wonder if, one day, we will be able to have, say, a dedicated amp modelling app and separate effects apps that can work together on one iPad. If that kind of integration ever does become a possibility, I can see hardware effects disappearing as they simply cannot compete in price over digital apps which can produce identical effects. It also makes me think, sadly, that the long awaited and still yet to be commercially produced echo unit of Charlie Hall's is going to miss the boat as the digital wave comes rolling on.

The dedicated effects apps are starting to roll out, in the last couple of weeks reverb Apps AD480 and AUFX space have been released. At this point you can combine apps via the Audiobus App but I think when IOS7 comes out later this year we are going to see an even easier workflow for music Apps. Even at this point you could via Audiobus have jamup as an input running through echo pad and then outputting through a reverb app.

Things are evolving even more quickly than I thought!

Ive added a couple of sound files to the first post, there recorded by Roger Dyke on His Ipad Mini using Echo Pad.

Offered my help in the event they would add emu's we use.

Piet