Music Icon Disappeared From Iphone +picture
Fast-forward to today, then, and those long-lost aboriginal ‘70s signature — some ability say abominable — sounds of the Optigan are accessible for all to acquaintance and comedy in iOptigan, 45 years afterwards the aboriginal Optigan aboriginal saw the ablaze of day. Indeed, iOptigan absolutely recreates the lo-fi, cutting complete that larboard so abundant to be adapted all those years ago. All of which rather begs the question: why? Well, today the loop-based archetype of the Optigan absolutely seems added adapted than ever.
Fortunately for those affectionate few, Pea Hicks has maintained the world’s premiere website about all things Optigan (Optigan.com) for 20-plus years. In accession to documenting the history of the instrument, he has additionally brought it aback to the approaching by accouterment sample libraries of Optigan sounds, authoritative a alternation of all-new discs for the aboriginal accouterments (in accord with Robert Becker), and now, with the abetment and ability of Stefan Stenzel, there is iOptigan!
Stefan Stenzel is bigger accepted as CTO of Waldorf Music, so iOptigan was accomplished as a ancillary activity of sorts. Saying that, he had already accumulated some austere acquaintance of iOS app development during his day job with Waldorf’s Nave, its aboriginal synthesizer app for Apple’s all-conquering iPad in June 2013, as able-bodied as masterfully brief its long-running Attack basic boom and bang bendable synth that took the VST apple by storm aback in aboriginal 2001 to iOS in 2015. Upon account about the Optigan in 2016, he anticipation it was a absolute iOS about-face candidate. Californian business with Waldorf led to Stefan Stenzel affair Pea Hicks and the rest, as they say, is history.
Happily, iOptigan is an accurate amusement of the altered user interface and playback characteristics of the Optigan. Clashing a archetypal sampling keyboard that triggers samples from the alpha anniversary time a key is played, the Optigan’s disc is in connected rotation, consistent in its keys and buttons artlessly gating the assorted complete loops on and off, wherever they appear to be in the one-bar cycle. Anyone absent to activate a bend on the beat has to watch a aflame metronome ablaze and hit the appropriate button at absolutely the appropriate point in time. iOptigan emulates this and all added Optigan quirks perfectly, so an iPad can now serve as a acting for the Optigan’s left-hand ascendancy console while an alien MIDI ambassador abundantly handles right-hand keyboard duties. At a pinch, it is additionally accessible to comedy the keys via an onscreen keyboard.
iOptigan can be purchased and directly downloaded from the App Store for $4.99 USD.
Note that iOptigan comes complete with 25 of the 40 aboriginal Optigan disc titles; the actual 15 are accessible as In-App purchases, either alone (priced at $0.99 USD apiece) or as the accessible Complete Disc Pak (priced at $5.99 USD).
Visit the world’s premiere website about all things Optigan.
About Pea HicksSan Diego-based composer/producer Pea Hicks has been the babysitter of all things Optigan for the accomplished 20-plus years. In accession to captivation a ample annal of Optigan abstracts and ephemera, he additionally plays in the band Optiganally Yours, featuring the Optigan and accompanying instruments in arbitrary aboriginal pop songs.
