Groovebox - Beat Synth Studio

There is no midi learn for assigning knobs and pads and also no ability to trigger patterns from midi keyboard - huge disadvantage for live play. Can’t be controlled from AUM as AU3 or IAA. Pads have too small height for playing on iPad mini, there is no always on screen tempo slider, pitch should be slider as well and while sequencer midi editor itself is fine, chaining and layering these patterns is not. It’s not clearly enough if other pattern will be continuation, layer or alternate version. For live use user experience must be simple and smooth because it’s real time task. In our case all has to be controlled from midi keyboard and/or from screen with large easy to hit controls. App comes with 3 basic synths but it would be better to send midi notes to other app - preferably au3 or midi out buses to use better existing synth sounds. Also because sequencer is already here why not use it as basic arpg with shifting pattern notes based on trigger key or even advanced ones with chord scan like KORG PA styles has. Another use for already finished sequencer should be song mode where you chain and layer patterns and send program/ bank change midi messages on pattern boundaries to switch voices during live play. There is lot of music apps but very few are good and it’s not because author lacks skills to make one but because he doesn’t understand target audience. Today app for live playing must be 1. all in one kitchen sink with good UI or 2. set of audio plugins to run from AUM with simple stand alone integration app. In that case split app to synth plugins and multi effect plugin (not important there are already better ones), sample based drum machine and sequencer. Even if app is all in one it still has to be at least AU3 capable player for DAW/AUM integration. I understand that author wants to make money by selling drum kits and loops. Instead of selling drum kit for 2 USD it would be more attractive for users to make partnerships with already existing subscription services for loops.

Realy nice sounding groovebox with nice synth and samples. Miss there proper midi clock sync! And midi out. That could realy bring this app to other level. Possibility to play with your hadware synth would be very nice!

I like Groovebox because the layout and simplicity of the app makes it so easy to create a good song sketch (for electronic music). Unfortunately, the app is missing features that would make it an amazing and complete sketch tool. For me, the biggest issue is the lack of MIDI out. If I could sketch a song in Groovebox, start with stock sounds - then set each track to a MIDI channel out to hardware or another DAW…this would be my main sketching tool. Other cons? - Very limited piano roll (It can’t be split by a specific note value) - No AU version - No audio channel outputs - Automation is mysterious and limited. (Can’t map to a controller? Is it using CC’s?) - Can’t record audio loops. (Which would be fantastic for developing vocals, adding guitar or something else) It seems like the dev has not intention of adding to this app; so, I’m looking at other apps, but this is good for someone new to music production.

Cool sounds and fun

This is a great app but i sure wish it had song mode. It is easy to use and inspiring for a newbie like me.

I’ve had this for a couple of years. I can’t say enough about how great this app has been for my workflow. It’s easy to use, friendly, straight to the point and effective. And that’s without any purchases yet. The sound quality of the files are amazing and I plan on purchasing a lot of the additional features they also provide. This is not only an intuitive programmable drum machine, it’s also a fully in depth sound designing tool, it has some great features if you know your music theory and you’d like to program some chords to see how they sound as a loop. 10/10 recommended

All the synths in this sound _great_, and between them can cover a lot of different musical styles. Very tweakable and can record all tweaking too! You can get both clean and gritty sounds Bass has that classic 90s Novation Basstation sound. The pre-programmed grooves are OK, I don’t use them much, but the sequencer is pretty easy to program, and it’s also easy to record on the fly. You can leave quantize on or off while recording, so you can do more live-sounding takes as well. Export is dead easy. The reverb is OK, but tends to make everything a bits samey-sounding. No panning, so you will definitely want to export your stems and mix elsewhere. Drums for some reason aren’t very punchy, but the synths make getting this one a no-brainer.

This is imaginatively totally amazing. The functionality is incredible and super user friendly. I’ve spent almost a year using Groovebox. I figured it was time to give an honest opinion. Thank you so much team you are amazing!

I’m really enjoying this app but with my iPad laying horizontal, while scrollling through the synth menus, the envelope page and color are always disappearing. I have to load it again for them to reappear and be careful not to scroll the menu too much otherwise they’re disappearing. Other than that, I totally love the sounds coming out from this app. Hope they fix that with the next update.

Still cannot export clips created in Groovebox directly to Launchpad… why? Sequencer needs some updated features (probability, euclidean, etc). Add a more full featured mixer? Add a sampler or granular device? I still love the workflow, just wish there was more substance than just selling me sound packs.