Tag Archives: iTunes visualizer

Animoog 2.2.5 Released, Animoog in Tidbits and Other news

Dear Animoog lovers, some excellent news today!

Animoog 2.2.5 Released

With the new development team in place, less than three week after the major bug fix update, version 2.2.4, a few hours ago version 2.2.5 has been released on the App Store. Here are the official changes:

  • Mapped controls now respond to MIDI when Animoog is in the background
  • Fixed MIDI input and output port selection sometimes tacitly picking another one
  • External pitch bend now behaves linearly across the pitch bend range
  • Pitch bend strip is more usable by reducing the sensitivity in the middle
  • Stability improvements of the 4-track recorder
  • The recording length of the basic recorder has been doubled
  • Invalid timbre files are marked and don’t cause crashes anymore
  • New installations now by default map CC64 to the Hold switch
  • Version number is now shown at the bottom of configuration screen
  • Improvement of in-app store layout
  • Overall stability improvements

There’s also a little nice surprise the official changelog won’t tell you, look in the in-app store, scroll down and you’ll find that the ‘BASE Pack’, an expansion pack containing 25 presets and 40 timbres, is now not only available for in-app purchase, but it’s also free to everybody! Thanks Moog!

Animoog featured in Tidbits

Animoog.org readers have seen my first videos made with the iTunes visualizer for my album of Animoog solos. I ended up writing an article for the popular Tidbits magazine on the use of the iTunes visualizer to create live visual performances. This article successfully exposes Animoog to the tens of thousands Tidbits readers. More people discovering our beloved musical instrument Animoog can’t do harm! From the article:

« To demonstrate some of what you can do, I’ve created a few sample videos based on music I improvised with the award-winning Animoog app for iPad ($29.99). Music made on mobile devices is quickly growing in popularity with tons of innovative musical instruments disguised as apps being available for iOS »

Here’s the third video I recorded live in the context of this article. It’s for the ‘don’t June’ track. It’s voluntarily less diverse than the previous two videos since I used it to showcase a specific technique with the iTunes visualizer.

Animoog for iPhone 1.1.7 Released

The smaller but very capable version of Animoog also got an update, Animoog for iPhone version 1.1.7 has been released. This is the first update since November 2014 and brings major bug fixes and new features, here’s the official changelog.

  • Stable support for iOS 8
  • Stable support for 64-bit devices
  • Revised timbres panel with categories (touch-hold timbre in category for preview)
  • Added ‘hold’ switch to keyboard for iPhone 5 and later
  • New installations now by default map CC64 to the Hold switch for iPhone 5 and later
  • Audiobus input slot compatibility fixes
  • Pitch bend range can now be selected in MIDI settings
  • Pitch bend strip is more usable by reducing the sensitivity in the middle
  • External pitch bend now behaves linearly across the pitch bend range
  • Pitch and mod strips now light up with incoming MIDI
  • MIDI CC mapping can be edited through the dialog after double-tapping a control
  • Mapped controls now respond to MIDI when Animoog is in the background
  • Virtual Animoog MIDI ports are now always available even if no port is explicitly selected
  • Fixed MIDI input and output port selection sometimes tacitly picking another one
  • Preset menu doesn’t cover minimized keyboard anymore
  • Improved IAA instrument compatibility (IAA transport panel will be done for a future release)
  • Use with any buffer size from 128 to 4096 (256 being the intended size for all supported devices)
  • Fixes for restore purchase functionality
  • Improved in-app store layout and interaction
  • iTunes File Sharing access to timbres, presets and projects
  • Removed import/export preset from setup panel since iTunes File Sharing should cover all needs
  • Added timbre category list under ‘random preset’ to enable/disable categories to randomize timbres from
  • Page selector can now be latched by tapping without dragging the menu
  • All drop-down menus now support latched operation
  • Invalid timbre files are marked and don’t cause crashes anymore
  • Keyboard scale selection now doesn’t misbehave after selecting the whole tone scale
  • Resuming after interruptions from Siri now reactivates audio
  • Proper handling of large amounts of MIDI expression data, coming from alternative controllers
  • Page selection widget now appears below the active page title for easier visibility
  • Added store entry to the page menu
  • Proper launch screen across all iPad and iPhone devices
  • Version number is now shown at the bottom of configuration screen
  • Overall stability improvements

Moog Music is now employee-owned

I can’t tell how this will affect Animoog’s future, but this is a major change for the creators and developers of Animoog. Earlier this month, Moog Music became an employee-owned company.

Satri’s Animoog solo ‘And back to space’ video

Please allow this entry focusing on what I do on Animoog

Satri’s And back to space video

I’m happy to present to you my second video for the ‘Unanimoog, escape inside the music [Unmastered]’ album. It’s for the 45th track named ‘And back to space’ which is a solo improvised with the Animoog app. Playing a single Animoog preset in solo is just like playing a raw violin solo: a single instrument played live without loops, sequencing or external effects. Because of the expansive frequency content and harmonic complexity of Moog’s Animoog iPad app, along with the heavy presence of stereo ping-pong in the preset, please wear high end headphones to fully enjoy the track. All of this work is licensed as Creative Commons CC-BY.

Liked the track? My latest album contains 47 such Animoog solos, leveraging numerous different presets. Learn more about it here and listen to it.

The whole video is made from a single run of the iTunes visualizer. Anyone with a Mac or Windows computer and the free iTunes software can make similar videos live, that’s several hundred millions people! The entry for my first and similar video for the ‘Curious explorer’ track details the iTunes visualizer shortcuts, even the hidden ones, and tells you how to make the best out of it. I’m also working on a longer article which would provide even more details.

Enjoy! Alex / Satri

‘Curious explorer’ Animoog solo video with iTunes visualizer

This entry is about what might well be the very first Animoog app solo video. The video itself is made with iTunes’s built-in visualizer

Satri’s Curious explorer video

I’m happy to present to you my first video for my ‘Unanimoog, escape inside the music [Unmastered]’ album. It’s for its fifth track named ‘Curious explorer’ which is a solo improvised on the Animoog app with the ‘Daemian 1 – Phatty Saw’ preset. Playing a single Animoog preset in solo is just like playing a raw violin solo: a single instrument played live without loops, sequencing or external effects. Because of the expansive frequency content and harmonic complexity of Moog’s Animoog iPad app, along with the heavy presence of stereo ping-pong in the Phatty Saw preset, please wear high end headphones to fully enjoy the track. All of this work is licensed as Creative Commons CC-BY.

Liked the track? My latest album contains 47 such Animoog solos, leveraging numerous different presets. Learn more about it here and listen to it.

The whole video is made from a single run of the iTunes visualizer. Anyone with a Mac or Windows computer and the free iTunes software can make similar videos live, that’s several hundred millions people! I recorded the video with Quicktime, which can record a screencast. I however had to change the screen resolution of my old mac to the lowest possible (1280 x 720 pixels) to reduce the stuttering during recording. The simple montage was made in iMovie using one of its default themes. The following instructions tell you how to play and fully enjoy the iTunes visualizer yourself, at the full resolution of your screen and, of course, no stuttering since you’ll be playing it live. It’s a much nicer experience than what is shown on the video. I only played with the iTunes visualizer for less than an hour, I suspect someone’s skills after more practice means great fun.

iTunes visualizer

I found undocumented keyboard controls in this 2008 lifehacker article. Once you know and use the various controls in harmony with the music that you hear, you play the role of a VJ. Let me tell you about the basics of controlling the iTunes visualiser:

  • There are three main visual components, (A) the cores, which are the moving spheres, (B) the rays, which flow out of the cores, and (C) the nebula clouds, which fill the whole screen and changes the ambiance
  • There are 20 modes for you to enjoy, you incrementally cycle from one mode to the next with the ‘M key’. Take the time to explore the various modes since they’re what alter the visualizations most
  • You can modify the movement of the visual components by freezing the rays (F key) and by locking or releasing the camera rotation (L key)
  • The nebula clouds (N key) should not be underestimated, they radically change the ambiance and can also be toggled on/off rhythmically. Pressing the ‘E key’ will enhance the nebula clouds, making them more prominent
  • The ‘A key’ and ‘S key’ will add or subtract rays to the visualizer, usually, I prefer when there’s more
  • The ‘+ key’ and the ‘- key’ are equally important since they increase or decrease the brightness of the of the rays
  • Finally, you can change the color palettes (P key) which obviously impact the general feel of the animation
  • Once you understand the basics, the most artistic and technically challenging part begins: controlling it live over a great song! A difficult part of the performance to me is making certain changes of modes (M key) and freezing (F key) along with the rotation (L key) generate something beautiful and in sync with the music. That makes the most significant difference
  • Keeping the rotation enabled (L key)  mean you can get closer to the cores. Once very close to a core you may want to freeze and stop the rotation since the effects are often superb
  • Try also toggling freezing and rotation rhythmically, you can achieve something nice this way

The iTunes visualizer keyboard controls that I’m aware of, for iTunes version 12.1.0.50:

iTunes visualizer keyboard shortcuts

KeyEffectDescription
MChange modeIncrement to the next visualizer 'mode', out of a total of 20 modes
FFreeze cores and raysFreezes the movement of the cores and rays, which can still rotate (L key). With freeze and lock rotation enabled, nebula clouds will also freeze
LLock rotationStops and starts the rotation of the camera. If the rays are in the frozen state (F key), only brightness of the rays will change according to the music's loudness
NNebula cloudsEnable nebula clouds that fill the screen with an animated haze. These clouds are not available for all modes (M key)
EEnhance nebula cloudsIf nebula clouds (N key) are enabled, pressing the 'E key' will accentuate them
+ / -Adjust ray brightnessIncrease (+ key) or decrease (- key) brightness of the rays, multiple presses further increase or decrease their intensity
A / SAdd or subtract raysAdd (A key) or subtract (S key) rays to the visualizer
PChange color paletteIncrement to next color palette, out of about 10 different color palettes
ITrack infoDisplays the track cover image, title, artist and album names at the bottom left of the screen
CCycle mode after trackThe visualizer mode increments to next mode when a new track begins. Enabled by default
RResetReset the brightness (+ / - keys) and density of rays (A / S keys) to their default values
?HelpDisplays most of the keyboard shortcuts, but this current table also tells you what the official Help won't
Any other keyAnnoying soundAvoid hitting unpaired keys!

The two improvements I’d like to see to the iTunes visualizer: (a) easy control for the number of cores in the scene, and (b) full control on how close or far we are from the cores.

If I missed any hidden iTunes visualizer keyboard control, please let me know in the comments below! Have fun — Alex / Satri