Ribbons : Touch Instrument Reviews

Ribbons rules!

salamanderlabs

Best polyphonic ribbon controller ever...cool voices...excellent editing...so great...

This app shouldn't cost more than a few dollars. There's not much to it, it's really just a glorified Theremin. There's nothing revolutionary going on here like the description leads you to believe. Very disappointed with this app and I wish I could get my money back.

Excellent app!

DebraGalactica

I really love this app, it's intuitive and easy to get started making a wide range of rich textures. It also has a depth that is especially pleasing to me as a long time synthesis artist and software engineer. The interface is one of my favorite features, it's easy to play and the number of ways one can add expressions to the performance is remarkable and inspiring. I love it! Highly recommended!

Good stuff!

aelliotr

Expressive, easy-to-use instrument that sounds and looks great. What's not to like? I'm sure my band will be using this for recording and live performance.

My new "secret weapon"

JLJ3

I have been searching for an app like this for a year and half. 3 minutes in and I'm in love. For people that are out off by the price, rest assured that if you want to quickly and easily create spaced out, retro sounding sci-fi tones, this is easily the best $8 you could ever spend.

Love the bendiness

Ambricourt Priest

Any chance of MIDI Out some day? :)

It's a niche product, but a good one

HouseOfHomuth

I've felt conflicted about how I feel regarding Ondes. I didn't buy it immediately, but definitely kept my eye on it from Day One. Even now that I own it, I'm not exactly sure how to use it in my music. But if you watch some of the demos and like what you see and hear, I feel like it is a 5-star app with a unique interface and resulting sound. The "slider" interface is very attractive looking, but it's not really an "innovation" for this app. ThumbJam, Bebot, Figure, SynthX, and on and on have all used some variation of this control scheme, which works great on an iPad. Unfortunately, MIDI out control is not in the works at this time, but perhaps in the future. So the usefulness of Ondes will mostly depend on its unique internal sounds. I will say that the presets don't offer a huge array of variety, but there is a synthesis engine within your app, which is what differs it from something like ThumbJam, which is sample-based. So you make your own sounds. Really liked the slider controls and variation of "snap to" as you cross over note lines. You can have a meandering almost sci-fi sounding pitch, or snappier transitions that land on the exact note. It's a beautifully put-together app with some unique sounds, and I value it as much for its originality as the end "usefulness". I would not want this as my primary instrument app, but as an add-on for unique leads and cool atmospheric stuff, it's great.

Good Update with MIDI

polarpaul

Having different scales and being able to adjust the touches to snap to a scale or slide between notes while controlling volume and pitch wheel of another midi app is great. There are good instructions on how to use these new features as well as their limitations. Having most of the screen to control your playing is nice and it's easy to navigate to different octaves on the keyboard. Using Ondes with a couple of synths or effects in Audiobus enables you to get creative with sonic textures. You can saves presets which include Ondes settings and midi connections.

Couldn't be happier

JFQuackenbush

This is my favorite instrument app by far. The only competition it has in quality are Animoog, tc, and Orphion, and really anyone interested in using the iPad as a musical instrument should have all off them. I like them all, but find myself drawn more and more to the sound and simplicity of ondes as well as the intuitive controls over the excellent sounding filters and effects. This is what a mature ipad musical app should be and with the new update, swarm oscillators and midi functionality this is the yardstick of quality going forward.