Review of online sound editors and sequencers

As you know, software for creating audio and processing has long gone beyond the limits of highly specialized products, and continues to meet the needs of ordinary musicians. This review provides descriptions of 8 mainstream audio applications built on various online platforms.

Audiotool

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Audiotool is a promising project by the well-known Flash programmer Andre Michelle , combining the power of Java and the user experience with Flash. The project is designed as a modular system with a sequencer, like Propellerheads Reason. Several different synthesizers and a sampler are available for use. Audiotool allows you to switch instruments with any of the 14 effects provided, as well as compose a circuit from effects, connect effects in parallel or in series, for this the Splitter and Merger tools are provided. A month ago, Audiotool was updated to version 2.0 and now supports recording automation, templates, working with MIDI, importing your samples and much more, in particular, there is an effect processor like KORG Kaoss Pad and a new mixer. For some time now Audiotool has started cooperation with Burn Studios , I hope this will not affect the project's free of charge and timely updates. The review of the old version of Audiotool can be found in Habré, I have studied in some detail all the features of this project.

uJam

uJam is a project that allows you to start creating music in the shortest time possible, like the well-known, in due time, eJay. As in eJay, uJam has a large number of style presets, to which you can add your recording from a microphone. You can change the tempo of the composition, the accompaniment to it, change the pitch (height of the audio fragment) and save the resulting composition on uJam servers, or on the hard disk. uJam does not set goals to create original music from scratch, but on the contrary, allows you to mix custom fragments with the ones provided. In a sense, it looks like a game on a synthesizer with auto accompaniment, even shows chords.

IndabaMusic Mantis

IndabaMusic Mantis is a powerful DAW, made in the form of a Java applet. Allows you to record CD quality sound - 44 Khz / 16 bit, add any of more than 10,000 quality free samples from the Indaba library, process sound with built-in effects, prescribe automation and save the resulting mixes to Indaba servers. The ability to provide access to the mix to several participants at the same time is also available. Working with Mantis is much more than other online editors, similar to working with real DAWs, in particular, Steinberg Cubase, which is the goal of this project. Indaba also holds contests with famous musicians who used Mantis.

Warning: it is not clear why, but Mantis stopped loading on my computer, refers to the inability to load data from the local Java cache, you may also have a similar error, I tried to change browsers and clear the cache, but it did not help. I hope this is a temporary bug.

Aviary roc

Aviary Roc - this is the next project of the masters of the creation of online editors, the company Aviary. Before Roc, Aviary had already created one of the most popular online graphic editors — Phoenix, vector graphics editor — Raven, and many other similar editors. Roc is a sampler that can load wave files and make sequences of them, supports simple editing at the level of changing the volume level and pan. The resulting sequences can be stored on Aviary servers. There is support as well as the usual type of sampler in the spirit of a drum machine, and in the form of a piano roll.

Aviary myna

Aviary Myna is another Aviary project, an audio sequencer made in the form of a standard DAW, has a multitrack mixer, the ability to record from a user's microphone, the ability to import sound files from a hard disk. Added materials can be placed in the main window of the sequencer, impose automation on the panorama or volume, add attenuation to the beginning or end of the sample. Processing of each imported audio fragment with 8 effects is also available. At the end of the work, you can render the resulting material and save it to your hard drive.

Geisha music

Geisha Music is a project that is still in early beta testing, but already available to users. It is a screen divided into four parts: Sampler, Synth, Mixer and Sequencer, their names speak for themselves and do not require comments. The rebirth of the Propellerheads ReBirth once again. Since the project is at the beta stage, many functions have not yet been implemented, but the implemented one already shows signs of a possible development of the project in the form of Audiotool.

Soundation studio

Soundation Studio is an audio editor created by wizards in the creation of sample libraries - PowerFX. It allows you to record sound from a microphone, add samples from the library of samples, process audio fragments with 11 built-in effects, import MIDI files from a hard disk, has a built-in metronome and a simple synthesizer. It features a user-friendly interface in the spirit of Mac OS X and the ability to automate any parameters. Soundation project files can be saved to a hard disk or stored on the site itself. Paying for a professional account, you can save project renders to your hard drive.

Scratch audio

Scratch Audio is a project to create a new DAW technology Microsoft Silverlight, the use of this technology allows you to get rid of delays during playback and recording, long loading and allows you to create a storage of audio fragments on the user's computer. At the moment, Scratch Audio can record sound from a microphone, add from the built-in library of samples, or create sound using drum machines and samples provided by Drums on Demand. Available as the processing of simple effects and change the volume and panorama. The final mix can be saved to Scratch Audio servers or to a hard disk.

Conclusion

Thus, almost all stages of creating a track can already be done right in the browser, Burn’s interest in audiotool only proves the commercial viability of the idea of ​​creating such software. It is possible that in the future such software will be presented by some giant audio consultant, for example, it would be interesting to see an online editor whose projects could be imported into a real DAW. In general, everything is still ahead, this review does not include projects at a very alpha stage, of which there are now a few pieces, projects in closed testing, from which there are only screenshots and descriptions and other very simple editors. The disadvantage of all such projects is the low processing speed due to the use of flash or java machines and, consequently, the limit of simultaneously processed tracks, but I have never rested on this limit.

Links

Audio Silver Lining is the main source of information on this topic.