I have had Scape for close to seven years now, and am still generating my own pieces (140 and counting). Don't be fooled by the price point and abstract nature; if you're looking for vastly expansive soundscape and ambience generation at your fingertips, with the opportunity to save and manage your ideas, this is your ideal creation space. There's really nothing else like it on the App Store.
However…Scape has one potentially major caveat, and it isn't the lack of a proper export function. There have been no updates in any form in over half a decade, and sooner or later it will no longer be supported by future iOS versions. Moreover, I believe that as Scape is both Opal Limited's most ambitious app and is over a decade old, it should be updated to reflect its potential in some way. I mean, Trope just received a symmetry update five months ago, and its existence predates this app.
I don't know who checks these reviews (if anyone), but in sum: Opal Limited has here a unique and innovative work of beauty. Please don't let it gather dust and fade quietly away.
Thanks, but...no.
It was a great app when it worked on my older iPad 2. With the updates, it's no longer compatible. I really enjoyed the app, too.
no app development
that’s the thorn.
Outstanding!
With plenty to play with, this ambient music app has lots of flexibility. New elements are introduced as one gets used to working with the program, keeping overwhelm at a minimum, fascination at a maximum. In some ways, the best to come out of the Eno-Chilvers partnership to date. We'll done!
Audiobus it!
Audiobus please.
It's Alive!
Popular music is about feeling anticipation and then finally getting what is expected. Ambient music (at least with the droning and floating varieties) releases that idea. Nature sounds can be pleasing because, although their are certain signatures to each sound, it's never the same way twice so your mind gives up "expecting". With Scape you choose the elements and the background and then let it live! It's not about giving you a million options (although Scape has plenty), It's about choosing things and then sitting back and seeing (hearing) what they do.
This app also adds new elements as you continue to play with it; I can't believe new elements are popping up even a year after I bought it!
Think of this as a living, breathing ambient album (animal)!
Interactive ambient sculpture
Most Excellent! as an interactive work as well as an ambient release by eno/ chilvers
Almost a Perfect App
This is an enthralling app that has engaged my creativity. Usually, an app will fall by the wayside or even be deleted. Only a very few apps continue to hold my attention. Scape has grabbed hold like no other app has. The wish list for most apps is huge since they need lots of help improving their concepts or fixing bugs. Scape only has a few:
1. Naming playlists.
2. Editing existing playlists by adding and rearranging scapes.
3. Combining moods.
4. Make Scapes extensible so I can make it my own with new moods, backgrounds, and elements that use my own sounds and rules.
Well done Brian and Peter! Well done indeed.
Soundscape times
I purchased this based on my good times with Bloom. Great follow-up? Spent hours just building and tweaking. It relaxes me. I'd ask for a few more sounds along the minimalistic lines but that's it. Perhaps some ambient space themes. But what do I know. The interface is simplistic which forces me not to complicate but rather immerse and enjoy?
A little stale...
Same bank of cheesy new age sounds that have been around since late 80s... and graphics to match. If that's what you're looking for, then you'll love this.
Almost no control over the evolution of the 'scape' and documentation is completely absent.
Overall, the music and visuals seem to be stuck in another decade.. kinda like that person you know who looked in the mirror 25 years ago and said, "ahh...there's my look" and never moved on.
I know this is a little harsh. Obviously a ton of work and thought went into it. But, if I were an artist on the receiving end of such a review, I'd find it helpful.
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