Dear Matt, - ((NanoSTUDIO 2)) ✌🏼- Not so NANO - (It’s Massive!)
Hi Matt,
@Blip Interactive
First and foremost, I wanna say cheers very much!
“Cheers very much!”
I have come full circle.
My first Love, and one of the first apps I bought on iOS, (iPhone 4) was version 1. - I still have Nanostudio on my iPhone 4.
When I was using NS1 it felt very comfortable and cozy. But over-time I needed real audio tracks, that could start playing at any-time on the time-line. So I bought another app that could. Was not as comfortable, but made it work, and got used to it.
Since then I have purchased many other apps to fill one missing element or another.
I never followed the hype over the years about the release for Nanostudio 2, it was too many people saying it will be released this year, next year, next month etc etc (and they have been saying that for years and months).
Then you made a statement about it, which someone posted on AB forum. When I read that, I knew it was on its way.
So I never had the big buildup I usually get when waiting for a big release.
Honestly, the only time I said to myself, “let it be on my iPad already” was after I pre-ordered, and still it was not a great/long wait.
However, this Nanostudio 2 is EXCELLENT!!!
It feels like coming home.
The environment is (of course) very familiar. Workflow very very smooth (of course).
This app feels like something I would make if I were an app developer. (Not many apps feel that way to ‘ME’)
I’ve heard it said before about various apps “the one I didn’t know I needed” etc, but in this case, it is oh so true. I didn’t know I needed it until I got it..
Full circle!
Truth, Slate is Great!, I would have paid what I paid, for this app, even without Obsidian.
... and Obsidian would be as valuable as an AUv3 also. (That’s not a request).
I’ll leave my requests for later..
Stability, I wish a lot (more) developers would come together and share their coding techniques etc, cos NS2 is solid, and I’m quite enjoying the AU support.. hint hint.
I like to suss out an app first (it’s parts of the fun/process/learning. Then I’ll look at the manual (depending on how it’s written/put together).
Whilst reading the manual (which took some time) in this case, because I’m stopping reading and doing/checking out what was said, then I absorb. I like to do this before sending emails and filling forums with threads etc.. and I don’t like to ask questions on forums, so many reasons, eg; time consuming, people giving wrong answers/information, or I can usually work it out myself etc etc (had first studio in the early 90’s)
Also, I always liked the fact that the word ‘Studio’ are in the apps names.
Anyway Matt, you should have a great big smile on your face with this release.
I Love it!
Well done!
Bless,
King
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Added: I’ll be using some of the info ^ for my 5 star review.
Comments
Good post! I tried many DAW apps but couldn’t find any I liked better than the original NanoStudio, ...until now! Great app!! I’m loving it. Audio Tracks will be nice whenever they come. I’m in no hurry. I hope Matt hets a well-deserved break. There’s plenty in NS2 for me.
Thanks guys! I'll admit I've been fretting a little over the various things people have said are missing (because they're right in general) so it cheers me to hear the flip side too.
Fret not good dev! The amount of pure awesome you just brought into the world... I am speechless. I never thought/imagined this level of creative workflow would be achieved on a touchscreen at this time. Truly amazed.
Oh jeeze. Please don’t feel diminished in any way by the feature requests! We’re talking about hot cocoa and chimichanga dispensers for our Gulfstream IV here.
You have pulled off THE smoothest, most bug free app launch I’ve ever seen on iOS. And NS2 is beautiful!
Just filter the forum for only my posts and implement all of them by the end of the month. Then you can pat yourself on the back and take a nice relaxing weekend off.
Exactly because of this i bit overreacted on some people right after release. Not because i would be biased "fanboy". I'm far away from that, yes, i'm enthusiastic about NS, but i'm also very aware of some things which needs to be polished, and Matt knows that i was abusing him lot about some particular features during beta which are still not there
. 
) man and doesn't need to be protected . That's me, whole life still trying protect somebody 
Reason was I felt really bad for Matt, i saw how extremely hard he worked for last few years, a then some guys reacted (or my perception of theirs reaction was) like "nah, app is shit just because of missing feature XY". Which even in most cases intentionally wasn't there, as a result of lot of discussions.
I simply felt frustrated for Matt, i forget he is adult (old
[ hope everybody got my apologise between lines above
]
I’ll be honest Matt, I haven’t really been using my iPad for music since I bought it last year. I actually haven’t been writing much at all. I was doing “happy hours” where I would write for an hour after work every day just to keep being creative, but everything I used on IOS was just so painful to use. You’ve got to load like 5 different apps and glue them together somehow just to get something workable. So I really just abandoned the iPad and kept writing on my PC with Ableton and Push2 (which is amazing, btw). I had seen your announcement last year and it got my so excited because I just knew it was going to stay true to the NS1 vibe, yet be reborn from your experiences you learned along the way. When you announced that you were delaying, I wasn’t heartbroken...I was excited because you communicated why you wanted to hold off and it totally made sense. I’ve been in a Systems Engineering/Architect role for years as well (30 years) so sometimes, choosing not to do something is as much moving forward as writing code!
Anyways...Fast track to a couple months ago and I could tell you were polishing it off, putting the last coat of paint on her, and then wave good bye as she heads to college.
I can tell you without a doubt, I haven’t been this inspired in a few years. Everything just clicks. My muscle memory from NS1 is kicked back in and I’m super efficient! I’m learning all the creative little shortcuts that you have peppered through out and finally...I just don’t have to think about connecting shit up. I know lots of people on here like to rig up their environment where it feels (To me) that it’s just ready to collapse at any point. I’m not into that, I want my platform to effing run every time right when I want to write something. It took me probably 8 hours of playing to really remember the NS paradigm and then it was like I never left...except everything was fresher.
So, don’t worry about the requests. Every single one of them is inspired by your creation! And we only ask because we know you’ll take our ideas and build something better than we imagined!
Blessings to your family, man. I know it was a huge labor of love.
Also, whoever you beta testers are, thank you for helping Matt out and really working to have this app so solid for us to use. I am just dumb founded that such a tight group could pull off the impossible. Kudos to you all!
Matt’s done a great job. Really, really solid foundation. Impressed. I think on iOS a blizzard of feature requests on something like the ns2 initial release is to be expected. No one as far as I could see was demanding things ‘now’, just making sure that things were acknowledged as on road map. No demo possibility on iOS so when you buy something like a new daw there are going to be surprises, not all nice ones
The lack of aufx and simple au gui automation was the area that bit me hardest. Didn’t see that one coming at all. So obviously there’s some mild panic and blunt ‘for me this just isn’t going to work, is it final design in this area or getting more attention?’ As the refund window is pretty small. Once those kind of feature concerns and requests have all been voiced and acknowledged it’ll calm down and people will just be talking about cool new things they’d like to see, but things that aren’t dealbreakers to them, there’ll be far less passion after any initial disappointments are covered and disusssion turns to pure optimism for future 
it’s more a symptom of Apple store not allowing demos and there being very few videos out there to begin with than a judgment on matt’s work.
Great job so far @Blip Interactive
You are just victim of your success lol. People require more stuff because they know you can provide as you proved it with the release. Ultimately, we won't get mad at you if it takes time to improve your app as it has already raised the bar so high.
Well, to be clear: the main thing freaking me out at the moment in NS2 is the sheer amount of functionality. There is so much in the app that makes me feel stupid because I have no clue what it possibly could do (esp. in Obsidian)... I will spend quite a bit of time there making patches.
And let me say that NS2 has handsdown the best sequencer editor. I felt 100% at home there. GB does it half right, Caustic the other half, NS2 does it completely right.
I don't think NS2 needs more features, it needs to be used and enjoyed.
@Blip Interactive
Please don’t take the requests the wrong way. We are in no way implying that NS2 is lacking out of the gate.
Personally I only need two more features (mini timeline in keyboard view and AU midi recording), both of which you are aware of.
I am very happy with NS2. So much so, it is now the host app used first in my music making process. This is due to two things:
1. Ease of use.
2. Stability.
So Matt, give yourself a pat on the back for all your hard work and relax a bit. People will always discuss how we would like to an app evolve - it’s in our nature. So my advise to yourself and your good helpers on this forum is to relax a bit knowing that all is well and that feature requests are simply suggestions.
At the end of the day, if we didn’t like your app, we would move on and you would get no requests at all, so see it as a good thing and not a negative.
If you celebrate at this time of the year and even if you don’t - I wish you and yours all the best
@Blip Interactive I love this stupid app. Even if you don’t change it, I’ll still love it. Nothing on iOS is as fast, stable, and intuitive as this thing. The only synths I still have are the Moog Model D, Moog Model 15, Korg iWavestation, and Korg PolySix. I would delete them, but they cost money, and also Moog just sounds different than Obsidian. Korg iWAVESTATION has that weird ability to make random beats and patterns, and Korg PolySix has some really pretty patches in it.
I really never record midi, or what have you. Most of the stuff people are asking for is beyond me. The only thing I miss from Nanostudio is the note repeat buttons, but there is the “trigger + hold” setting that works, although I can’t seem to make it change from 16th notes.
Also, I haven’t found the 3 fx busses that were on the original TRG. But I have just been creating sends and routing junk through them.
There isn’t anything I want to do that I haven’t been able to make happen, in app, thus far.
And it hasn’t crashed once. You should win the App Store.
Maybe just set sustain loop locked to 16th would help you ? You know, in audio editor you can switch to grid snapping, and then set loop points based on grid .. so 16th notes loop is quite easy to do
Slate is implemented little bit different way. TRG had 3 buses in mixer. Slate have 4 internal busses -in pad tab, under level / pan / width is "FX bus". None means pad goes straight to output (output's FX chain is last tab) - but you can switch there number 1-4 - which are Slate's internal FX busses. If you tap icon "GO" at right side of bus switch, it takes you directy to bus, where you can activate bus FX's (EQ, COPRESSOR, FILTER, SENDS). By drag'n'drop you can reorder them.
Sends goes to internal slate Reverb and Delay units.
At the end, output from busses is mixed back to main Slate output
More info with screenshots here:
https://www.blipinteractive.co.uk/nanostudio2/user-manual/Slate.html#fx-bus
I’m loving NS2! The workflow is superb! This is a fantastic environment for creating music. I already have lots of complex synth apps, but Obsidian is a very welcomed and very useful synth. There’s a depth there that will take some time to fully understand, but I find it easy enough to get creative and make some cool sounds. I love the combination of synthesis & sample methods. Slate and the Mixer are great! Lots of music making potential in this app. Love it.
Step back a bit, Matt. In some ways, I wish this was called "The NanoStudio 2 Project" because that would drive home the fact that this is just the first of many phases.
Phase one - The core program released with rock solid stability. (done)
Phase two - Identification, ranking, and development of user needs. (current)
Phase Three - Work on advanced developer concepts.
Rinse and repeat...
This is a very deep app (coming from my hobbyist view, anyway) that does and should require a workflow rethink to take advantage of the concepts you presented in phase one. Not everyone will do that, but that's OK. Let them do their thing. They will come back once the various updates start. It's not like your fighting for publicity, lol! I think a lot of the current noise is exactly this. The reason the noise is so deafening is that the release made a HUGE splash in the IOS world, so the response will too. Most developers worry about exactly the opposite!
The rest of the crowd understands all this, and we are happily logging our ideas with one of the most receptive and talented developers on IOS. We know this, and totally behind your well thought out plan. We don't expect this tomorrow. In fact, most of us are overwhelmed with phase one, and happily deep diving in discovery mode (me!).
Matt, you pulled off probably the smoothest and most anticipated launch in IOS history. Makes sense the response would be big too! Don't be hard on yourself - your exactly where you need to be. Turn off the damn computer, grab the kids and wife, and get out and enjoy the holiday season!
Happy Holidays!
Mark
Never thought I would meet another System Engineer in here. I know exactly what you mean which is why I understand a lot of decisions made by developers.
There is more of us
Dear Matt,
@Blip Interactive
After my recent correspondence to you, I hope your feeling like certain bass guitars, “fretless”.
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Showing appreciation is good for motivation!
Being truly appreciative can help you be more creative!
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A brand new car off the show room floor, although it drives perfectly, may need some engine mods, bling and personalisation for various customers.
(They may even require drastic changes, such as: changing a left hand drive to a right hand drive (people do it). )
But before all that, the car is already EXCELLENT!
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The tracks I am doing in it, are still only for testing various aspects/levels of the app.
However, these are some of the sweetest sounding tests song I have. Quickly developing into real potentials.. quickly!
That’s the speed and flow, of NanoStudio, .. (2).
(I’m having to restrain myself, in order to master the app) it’s so sweet!
Piano roll - criss-biscuit.
I always look forward to going back into NS2, not to solve a puzzle or reproduce some bug, but to work/absorb the app.
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I am in the “getting used to it” stage. Remembering where things are, and how to get to various pages/screens. So making serious music will come after that. (soon..)
Nothing worse than trying do find something, checking the manual, going online, etc etc, when your in the midst of a serious creation.
Learn as you go along - “yes”, - but for me, I just want to be “going along”, with the smoothness this app provides. (I’m taking the exam first, with this one).
It’s a rare app that holds me in this type of focus, and meticulousness.
And a “comfortable” feeling when using it.
And a “confident” feeling when using it.
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As always when a big one (app) comes along, a few other apps get deleted. One was 2.5GB, another is on my-Pad talking up over 6GB, so not little apps, a few more to go (including Nanostudio 1).
NS1 = 32bit, but on my system as a reminder to extract projects (midi files and mixdown stuff). I have them backed up on pc etc, but it’s a reminder.
I’ll hopefully keep 3 DAWs (which includes this baby, “of course”), and a jammer/mixing app (for want of a better word(s)). Plus a relatively small amount of AUs.
It’s so nice when an app comes along and helps you to focus on what you need, more than what you want. (app wise).
Nanostudio 2 is such an app.
———-
It’s worth slowing down a little, and really seeing what this is.
Even when you think you know, take another look, from another angle.
“It is another significant point in iOS music making history, as was v1”.
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Matt, for me (as a customer/power user) it’s not about the time spent making the app, it’s about the finished product - excellent in this case.
6 years could be anything: 7 minutes a day, 8 hours a week, 9 hours a day, etc, only you know that.
... but, I hope you feel and know whatever time you have spent making NS2, was well spent, and worth it - for me, and for many many .. many! others around the globe.
Respec! ... “Credit where credit is due”.
..
King
@King
Love the ‘fretless’ comment
Hehe @Fruitbat1919,
Yeah this is “the-happy” thread.. (therapy)
Bless,
King
It’s later!
Just linking the threads, as the forum has changed, where everyting (categories) are no longer on one page..
https://www.blipinteractive.co.uk/community/index.php?p=/discussion/261/ns2-after-7-days-bugs-n-features#latest
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King
@King If you select Discussions at the upper left corner you will be brought to Recent Discussions, where everything in on one page. If that is your preferred view. The Categories initial page is to help people post in the correct ...category.
... and.. back in the room!
Cheers for that, I probably would have found it eventually, but when is that..
Cheers!
King
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I must have clicked it accidentally and thought it was a forum change.
By the way, did I tell you guys I Love this app..
Well I do!
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King
Me too! It amazes me how quickly tracks are coming together with this. It's like I barely have to think. Effortless. Hard to describe but the whole process feels almost.... musical...
I'm super glad that you discovered that mysterious "workflow of NS" which was soo many times mentioned all over the forums by many NS1 die-hard fans
So much of it has to do with timing. I was still in my audio chopper zone back then and iOS synths just weren’t there yet for me to get too excited about. All good things in good time.
I agree to every praise for Nanostudio 2 on this forum and Audiobus forum!
For me the stability is the key to success! Last night I had an ten hour session with NS2 without any hassle!
And, it loads every AUv3 app perfect with state saving and also AU Midi apps loads perfect!
Sure, I have a lot of love for many apps out there, Auria Pro and Beatmaker 3 as an example, but just now Nanostudio 2 will join me full time the next couples of week when some hollidays will let me gets some free time to continue explore NS2...
As an extra support I’ve bought several samplepack to NS2 (great as aspected)!
Thanks Matt for your hard work!
Dear Matt,
@Blip Interactive
The Sweet Stuff.
Notepad is great.
Before it was even released and I heard about the M4A format support, I was like, “whaaaaat” Excellent!
My ideas are sublimely easy to get across. Not just composing, but designing and tweaking stuff. (Parameters etc)
Simple makes it simple.
Quality presets and engine.
Also bought the Acoustic packs WoW.
Works well as is, so can imagine the future (which is now) ha!
Have not even totally absorbed it yet. I know my way around very well though.
Just (last week) read the Obsidian manual! I left it till last so to give it full attention. What a brilliant synth/sampler. Brilliant I say!
I worked out most of it, but the manual gives you those extra/hidden bonuses.
This app is Really Appreciated.
The amount of times I’ve left it in the background, for ages, (whilst watching videos, surfing the net, using other app etc) and when I return to it and press play or hit a key, it is exactly as I left it, sweet man, sweet!
It makes my energy even more calm and confident during the process, and if my energy is like that.. well..
At times it has me stopping the transport and shaking my head left to right, in a wow/woah fashion. (this also includes those tiny tiny smiles) but a Massive grin, from within.. And many times without.
Wish it didn’t have to have “2” after the name, somehow it makes it sound lesser than just NanoStudio to me.
Even when saying it in my head it doesn’t have that ring.
To me, and for my sanity, it’s just “NanoStudio”. The one before this was “NanoStudio 1”.
Make sense to me anyway!
Sweet Stuff maaaaan!
Big up your chest, developer (and crew!).
I Love this App!
King
Exact same for me. It's just "NanoStudio". And maybe "NanoStudio Classic"?