SoundPrism transforms complex music theoretical knowledge into an easy to use musical instrument.
Anyone can create harmonic sound patterns now. SoundPrism Pro - the professional version of SoundPrism - offers MIDI capabilities to musicians and composers who want to use the power of SoundPrism together with hardware audio equipment and digital audio workstations like Apple's Garageband. Here's a demo video displaying the capabilities of SoundPrism Pro.
If you'd like to get a quick glance at some of the main concepts of SoundPrism - demonstrated on an older version of SoundPrism - then check out this video (it's about 5 minutes long). If you prefer to have a look at the features in detail then skip this video and continue reading.
With SoundPrism Pro it is possible to control synthesizer apps that are running in the background on the same device. One of the many apps that officially supports this technology is TempoRubato's NlogSynth Pro for iPad and Nlog MIDI Synth for iPhone and iPod Touch. Many more compatible synthesizer apps are available for the iPad and for the iPhone and iPod touch.
Setting up SoundPrism Pro to work together with NLog is incredibly easy. Just start your iOS device, then close any apps that are running in the background as shown in the video below. After that all you need to do is start NLog and SoundPrism Pro and and optionally disable the internal sound engine of SoundPrism.
Of course it's possible to control multiple apps at the same time with SoundPrism Pro. Here's a video demonstrating how such a setup sounds like and how to configure it.
This feature is only available in SoundPrism Pro
SoundPrism Pro can also be triggered from other Apps or MIDI-Controllers using Core MIDI via WiFi or USB (iPad only). Of course this also means that SoundPrism Pro is background audio capable.
Since SoundPrism can be triggered externally, arpeggiators like StepPolyArp can be used to trigger SoundPrisms sound engine while they're being fed MIDI notes from SoundPrism. Here's a video explaining this in detail.
Finally, it's even possible to turn off SoundPrism Pro's reaction to its own MIDI Notes in this setup so it only plays arpeggiated patterns.
Additional sounds can be activated free of charge in the SoundPrism Store which can be accessed via the menu (please tap the button with the house icon on it to access the menu). We're also adding more sound packs over time which can be purchased and downloaded.
This short demo video shows the trance synth soundpack.
This short demo video shows the guitar sound pack.
To play a chord simply touch the colored field to the right of the menu bar. This area is called chord section. To play a bass tone touch the colored area left of the menu bar. This area is called bass section.
To play an inversion of a chord move the finger to the left or to the right while touching the chord section.
If you touch the chord section by default three tones are played at once. To play only one or two tones at the same time press the apex buttons (1) or (2). For musicians: if you play two tones, SoundPrism is configured to play thirds, if you play 3 notes then SoundPrism will play chords (minor or major ones)
By default tones are played over one octave. To play two octaves at the same time press the two octave button (2). On the iPad you can play three octaves at once, too. Go back to playing one octave by pressing the one octave button (1).
If you want to know the note names of the played pitches, then tap the home button and choose "Preferences". There you can turn on "Display Pitch Names". Also, the name of the row in the middle of the screen is also the name of the key you're currently playing. The first time you'll start SoundPrism it will be set to the key of C major.
To change the key in SoundPrism tap the up or the down button. The whole pitch system is moved and note names of the new key are shown. The note name in the middle indicates the key you're currently playing in. In the picture it is C major.
The video of an older version of SoundPrism demonstrates how to play melodies on SoundPrism and how to move them around different notes and keys as a pattern.
If the hold button is pressed, the sound will not stop once you stop touching the screen. The hold button can be compared to the damper pedal on the piano.
Recording a track with SoundPrism is very straightforward. To record a track you need to first tap the the home button (the button with the house symbol on it). On the iPad you can find the home button on the lower left area of your screen.
Then choose 'Record' in the main menu.
Recording starts immediately. The home button is replaced by a pulsing recording button.
Press the pulsing circle button again to stop and email the recording.
Your track will be compressed so it can be sent via email.
SoundPrism Pro users also have the option to use Sonoma Wireworks' AudioCopy to use recorded tracks in other iOS applications like the amazing NanoStudio on the same device.
Sometimes you just need that extra bit of playing area to express yourself even better. Or you want to hand SoundPrism to a child and want to make sure he or she can't touch any of the buttons. For these occasions we've added a fullscreen mode to SoundPrism and SoundPrism Pro. Entering fullscreen mode is very simple: Go to the Settings app if your iDevice, scroll down to the SoundPrism settings and enable it.
Ever wanted to know why SoundPrism sounds the way it does? It is because SoundPrism can play multiple notes at a time, even if you're just using one finger to play.
With SoundPrism 2.0 we're introducing the keyboard view with wich you can see which keys you would have to press on a piano keyboard to get the same result as in SoundPrism. Just scroll through the modules in the dock until it is visible and play.
The notes on the SoundPrism screen are structured around the well-known pattern of the major scale. SoundPrism opens to a bright green screen which represents the C major scale. If you scroll the SoundPrism interface along the vertical axis the color of the screen will change to indicate a change of pitch, which means that the layout of the notes represent a different major key.
When using Solfege terminology to refer to the notes of the scale regardless of pitch you'll recognize the "do-re-mi" pattern from the famous song from The Sound of Music. This is the basic pattern of playing a major scale in SoundPrism:
The scale naturally extends in both directions:
At first glance it looks like a pattern that will need to be memorized, but it is simpler than it looks. There is actually only a single note in each vertical column of the matrix, and to play the scale from low to high, you simply move through the columns from left to right, playing the dark keys:
There are seven rows on a single SoundPrism screen, and the middle row represents the base note of the scale, so on the chord section the middle row contains four octaves of "C", only three of which are immediately visible:
As already mentioned, you move between the different keys by scrolling vertically. SoundPrism has twelve different screens you can cycle through, corresponding to the twelve different notes in the chromatic scale, and each has its own color. The order of the screens corresponds to the Circle of Fifths. Scrolling upward moves clockwise around the circle of fifths, starting with the key of G, while scrolling downward moves counterclockwise, starting with the key of F.
The different keys are color-coded as follows:
Most of the information on this page was not created by the Audanika team but instead by Dan Brendstrup. He was one of the first users of SoundPrism and came up with this information on his own only days after SoundPrism was released. We couldn't have explained it any better. Therefore we're just repeating it here with his permission.
If you tap the bass section and the chord section at the same horizontal line very relaxed sounding chords are played.
Tapping bass and chord section at distant vertical positions results in a more tense sound.
You can also create tension if you play relaxed Chords and then play other chord and bass combinations that are vertically far away. The first chord you start with be perceived as an anchor and everyting far away from it will create tension. The tension is resolved when going back to the anchor position.
To create a sad musical piece you can stick to the the darker horizontal rows of the chord section (minor). To play a happy one, use the brighter rows (major).
But you don't necessarily have to only play bright rows to play a happy sounding cadence. Instead you can weave minor chords into it. The mood of the cadence is determined by the last chord you play.
The video below demonstrates this in more detail.
A cadence is a well sounding chord sequence. To play a (happy sounding) major cadence, tap or swish horizontally over the bright rows in the order shown below.
To play a (sad sounding) minor cadence, tap or swipe horizontally over the darker rows.
To combine a chord cadence with a melody move the finger slightly to the left or to the right while playing the cadence.
To play an arpeggio put the finger on the chord section and move it to the left or to the right.
To play sixth chords touch the bass section at a certain point and the chord section one bar below that position.
To play seventh chords touch the bass section at a certain point and the chord section one bar above the bass tone's bar.
The pitch class shifter is a new feature only avaiable in SoundPrism Pro. The pitch class shifter is located right of the BassSection. It's usage differs slightly between the iPhone and iPad.
On the iPad the Pitch Class shifter looks like this. It is permanently visible.
Using it is quite simple: if you touch the triangle facing upwards at the pitch class you want to change (e.g. g). The pitch class will be changed by one semitone (e.g. from g to g#).
If you instead touch the triangle facing downward the pitch class will be lowered by one semitone (e.g. from g to gb).
Tapping the active triange again will reset the pitch class to its initial value.
On the iPhone and iPod Touch the Pitch Class shifter looks like this. Scroll through the module section untill the Pitch Class Shifter is visible.
Using it is straightforward as well: Touch the pitch class shifter at the pitch class (e.g. C) you want to change and slide the finger to the right. The pitch class will be changed by one semitone (e.g. from g to g#).
If you instead move your finger to the left the pitch class will be lowered by one semitone (e.g. from g to gb).
To neutralize the change of a pitch class simply tap the pitch class shifter at the shifted pitch class again.
Here's a demonstration of the Pitch Class Shifter with an older version of SoundPrism Pro.
This Feature requires SoundPrism Pro
To activate MIDI just tap on the home button (it has a house symbol on it). Then choose 'Preferences', then 'MIDI'. There you can enable MIDI output by switching it on as shown in the following video:
This feature is only available in SoundPrism Pro
There are two ways to connect SoundPrism Pro to your Mac or hardware synthesizer.
To connect your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to a Mac wirelessly your iDevice needs to be on the same wireless network as your Mac. We also suggest you create a direct (ad-hoc) network on your Mac to reduce latency to a minimum. The video below is a quick walk through all the steps needed to accomplish a wireless connection between SoundPrism Pro and your Mac.
IMPORTANT: MIDI via USB is currently only supported on the iPad
You can also use the Apple Camera Connection Kit and connect it with a USB Midi Interface to your hardware synthesizer. Just plug in the Camera Connection Kit, attach cables to the devices you'd like to use SoundPrism Pro with and you're done. Once you've enabled MIDI in the preferences of SoundPrism it immediately sends MIDI information the the MIDI interface connected to your camera connection kit. To connect SoundPrism to your Mac you'll need MIDI interfaces like the M-AUDIO MIDISPORT 2x2 and M-AUDIO MIDISPORT UNO in a setup like this:
This feature is only available in SoundPrism Pro
There are two ways to connect SoundPrism to your PC or hardware synthesizer.
Using MIDI via WiFi on Windows requires Apple Bonjour. After making sure Bonjour is installed and running (this might require a restart of Windows) you will have to also install rtpMIDI by Tobias Erichsen which offers Core MIDI features for Windows with an interface that looks very similar to the one on Mac OS.
It is highly recommended to use an ad-hoc (direct) wireless connection between your iDevice that SoundPrism Pro is running on and your PC. You might also want to encrypt the connection.
The video below explains the whole setup process in detail.
IMPORTANT: MIDI via USB is currently only supported on the iPad
You also can use the Apple Camera Connection Kit and connect it with a USB Midi Interface to your hardware synthesizer. Just plug in the Camera Connection Kit, attach cables to the devices you'd like to use SoundPrism Pro with and you're done. Once you've enabled MIDI in the preferences of SoundPrism it immediately sends MIDI information the the MIDI interface connected to your camera connection kit. To connect SoundPrism to your PC you'll need MIDI interfaces like the M-AUDIO MIDISPORT 2x2 and M-AUDIO MIDISPORT UNO in a setup like this:
This feature is only available in SoundPrism Pro
Version 1.4 of SoundPrism Pro turns your iOS device into a 3D MIDI controller. Watch the following video for setup instructions. (Please note that since SoundPrism Pro version 2.2 the expression menu is now located within the preferences menu).
The new Humanize feature adds a human element to MIDI output by translating the impact of your fingers on your iOS Device into subtle changes in MIDI Velocity.
This feature is only available in SoundPrism Pro
You can trigger different MIDI channels with SoundPrism Pro at the same time. This comes in very handy when you'd like to have a different instrument for the bass section than for the higher notes in the chord section. The video below shows how to configure different MIDI channels in SoundPrism Pro.
The mission of Audanika is the following:
We want to create musical interfaces that reduce the coding process: We assume that the better a musical interface corresponds to the musical imagination the less coding is required. Less coding means a better musical progress, more time for musical ideas, less practicing, more making music. Our dream is that one day anyone will be able to express their own emotions musically.
We want to create musical interfaces that stimulate the musical imagination: A certain musical imagination can be the origin of a musical idea. Vice versa playing a new musical instrument can extend existing musical imaginations or create new ones. Our instruments shall have interfaces you have never seen before. By using them you are going to encounter completely new musical ideas.
We want to create musical interfaces that motivate to think about musical logic, to improvise and to compose: Active music creation stimulates the linkage of the left and right brain hemisphere. The reason for that is that music creation is both, an intuitive and creative activity on the one hand and a logic thinking process at the other. If a musical instrumentâs interface is logical, it will motivate to think about music. Instead of memorizing patterns you will understand relationships and make better musical decisions.