Your Journey With Nanostudio 2 Thus Far?
Just wondering what your journey with NS2 has been like. (Apologies if there is a similar thread out there.)
My journey began in December when I first purchased NS2 and all of the IAPs in it. I was to score a film project for a friend (which didn't pan out). So, as a creature of habit, back to Gadget I went. My plan was to wait for audio tracks to be implemented before I dove back into NS2.
Skip to March when Korg Gadget 2 was released with that fugly "new and improved" GUI. Thanks to royally screwing up the colour palette and causing me eyestrain, I dove into NS2, audio tracks be damned. As I started learning more about how the app works, I started to realise what NS2 is capable of doing. My biggest worry was how to edit audio to match the beat when I exported a long audio file from Beathawk to import into NS2, but that worry was squashed once I saw that the audio editor had a "snap to beat" function.
So as a challenge to actually learn NS2 inside and out after initial exploration, I decided to remake this one Asian EDM pop song I originally created back in 2011. I outsourced the "real instrument" sounds from Beathawk since none of NS2's IAPs had world instruments. The track turned into a 30+ track behemoth production. Everytime I turned around, I discovered shortcuts and alternative ways to do things that overall sped up my workflow. I finally started to gel with NS2 and eventually deleted Gadget off of my iPad.
Since then, I've been creating Bass House for the most part (save for a track that's a combination of Ecuadorian Folk Music and EDM, a Greek EDM track I entered into the USA Songwriting Competition, and a hard rock/EDM/pop song which is another behemoth production).
How about you all? What have your journeys been like with NS2 so far? 
Comments
There is a similar thread:
https://www.blipinteractive.co.uk/community/index.php?p=/discussion/467/what-have-you-learned-in-ns2#latest
Do you want to put your post over there or have this separate thread?
I don’t really think that’s the same sort of thread. That’s more specific to things you’ve learned or “tips and tricks”. Some of the posts there ring similar to the OP here but I’d really like to hear about people’s “journeys” with NS2.
I’d share my own but I’ve been beta testing since before there was a sequencer (or slate)! Not sure how to summarize that.
I bought NS2 on release and loved it straight away. I especially like the sequencer and all the shortcuts for quickly getting around the interface, it's a very well thought-out app.
Once audio tracks arrive I'll evaluate how it compares to Auria, but at the moment I'm perfectly happy to compose and arrange in NS2 and mix in Auria, best of both worlds for me. The main reason I would like audio tracks in NS2 in fact is so I can record scratch vocals while writing, so that I can stay in NS2 for longer while fine-tuning the arrangement.
For me one of the best things about NS2 is writing drum parts: the combination of Slate and the sequencer make it my favourite app for creating beats.
My NS2 journey just began, and I can’t wait to learn so much. I need to keep an open mind to the workflow changes and how I’m so used to freezing midi to turn into audio. But with sampling into Obsidian, i might not have to ever do that. I need to learn how to sample though, it seems so difficult and time consuming, but i think it just my fear of jumping in an trying it.
Hello, my journey started 3 days ago and so far so good! I used to be 100% hardware sampler and got tired of limitations (spent the last few year going from a mpc1000, OP-1 and a Digitakt never really finding the sweet spot as it felt there was always something missing).
Never really got into full fledged DAW apart from ableton as there was just too much going on, also not big on computers as I work on one every day... and never realised there was something in between! This is it.
Not sure if 3sleeves is on this forum but thanks so much for introducing this amazing app!
I haven’t tried importing my own samples to Obsidian yet but loving Slate! As others on another post suggested, I slice in reslice and import into Slate. Found out there are choke groups so I’m complete.
This community seems also very helpful so glad to be part of it.
Cheers
Sorry for my late replies everybody.
@SlapHappy It's funny you mentioned that thread, because this was originally going to be an answer for that thread, and it just didn't really fit. It's been more of a journey, and "learning to adapt my workflow" was simply a small part of it.
My thread is more for people's continuing backstories with NS2 which may or may not include what they've learned, and they can post again in this thread if, say, they won an award, landed a major gig like "one of my beats was selected for Dua Lipa's latest single" or "I'm scoring a film", etc.
@Will Well, betatesting is what one would call a "top secret" sort of journey.
@richardyot Slate is so flexible. I love the FX groups and how I can automate the filters in a clip rather than relying on track automation. Once NS2 gains audio tracks, I imagine I'll mostly have no further use for Auria (save for if I land a band recording gig). I just completed the FabFilter AU bundle so I can have all my mastering tools available to me without having to constantly bounce out mixes to Auria. I can tell when something in a mix isn't working once I master it, and mixing and mastering sort of go hand-in-hand when I'm creating my own tracks.
One other thing - NS2 works naturally with my Bluetooth headphones, whereas with Auria I have to jury-rig the Bluetooth audio connection through Audiobus.
@Tones4Christ Well, this is why we have this forum mate.
If you need help learning to sample in Obsidian, there are many tutorials on Youtube if you search for "nanostudio 2 obsidian sampling" as well as the "help" section in the app. If you still have issues, if you didn't already, definitely start a thread about those issues and we'll help you get on your feet. 
@le_filou That's an awesome journey so far. Seems 3sleeves hasn't been active here since late May, but I'm glad he introduced you to NS2.
Seems to be the sweet spot for many, myself included. I'm looking forward to seeing more from you as your journey progresses. Have fun mate. 
my yourney, like @will and few other guys here, started somewhere in january 2015 if i good remember... It was a RIDE ! Exciting, amazing, i learned a hell lot stuff "behind"about music apps developement and had great opportunity to get insight into how Matt thinks. Learned to see things which i didn't saw beefore as user, i can't say enough thanks for this opportunity.
And i get some really great friends !! I'm thankfull for all things we pass through together and looking forward for new experiences, thanks guys !
@Will @dendy That's awesome.
I myself am hoping my NS2 journey heads into betatesting territory myself as I have my own insights into GUI, audiotracks, and all that (given I'd test it on my iPod with the small screen).
Meantime, an update to my journey. I just finished remaking an old track from my MTV Music Generator days which will serve as the titular intro track to my very first iOS-produced album! Not sure when the album will be released, but if memory serves, there are 7-8 out of 12 songs produced so far including "The Xperience", "San Juanito", "Insomniac", and "Bouzouki".
I bought an iPad to use for a writing project I had in mind. I've used Ableton Live and FL Studio on the PC for years. When my wife ran across a used iMac for a good price, I started looking at it, and most of the music software I had before was available on it, so I made the switch there. Earlier this year, I heard about Synth One and picked it up. I wasn't expecting much, but it rocked my world. I started looking into the iPad for music production and couldn't believe that this tablet I'd had lying around could be a full-on production tool. I've since gone all in on it! When I first started, I was eyeing Cubasis, but one day, I saw Jacob Haq showing off Obsidian. So, I picked up NS2. It is wonderful! Other DAW's have gone on sale lately, and I picked them up too. Gadget 2, Cubasis 2 and Auria Pro all left me disappointed in one way or another. NS2 really shines for me. I still can't believe how good it is. Even on its own without Audiobus or AUM and a blue million AUv3's and IAA apps, it would turn a desert island into a tropical paradise.
Nicely said!
For me, NS1 made it worth owning an iPhone & iPad. NS2 all the more so. However I have been struggling with my iPad Pro 2018’s lack of audio jack. A lot. Hopefully a new hub (3rd one) will solve the issues and allow me to love the iPad Pro. So far I feel Blip Interactive apps are far better than Apple Hardware, but I still have hope that NS2 & iPad Pro will be a great combination for my island in the desert.
Yeah you can pry my 2017 13” IPad Pro out of my cold dead hands. Audio jack FTW!
My NS2 Journey, by Audiogus, Age 44... well, more of a short trip to the corner store but an outing nonetheless. Brace yourself dear reader, etc awaits!
I was happy as a (crashy) clam using BM3 for about a year or so (the longest I had committed to just one host app on iOS, as I was a major floater before that) when I started to hear the rumbles on the AB forum. Pics and text from another forum were being posted of some forthcoming Nanostudio 2. Turns out that I had NS1 but never used it, mainly because I am an idiot but thats another story. Anyway. I was excited by the screenshots and the feature list and six months later got to see why. I got NS2 on hour one with a direct link, before it even showed up in the Canadian store (I think) and loved it immediately. NS2 is dreamy in so many ways. The automation, nice, the track building, being able to slice and merge clips and retain automation, the nesting of tracks in tracks, the unique routing, the midi lanes. The cool midi cc/macro stuff that makes KRFT so fun etc. Lots of beauty and fun here. I got a good month into it and started using BM3 more and more to make kits for slate. Very cool combo.
Eventually I got sucked back into BM3 as I am very much a sample/audio guy. But I will be back to NS2 in a big way once audio tracks / audio editing are in (boy I hope there is good audio track editing!).
This story brought to you by Audiogus who really wants good audio track editing on iOS.
“Yeah you can pry my 2017 13” IPad Pro out of my cold dead hands. Audio jack FTW!”
I assumed you’d be buried with it.
How else will we be able to finish all those great ideas that NS2 enables if we don’t get to compose post mortum. Good headphone will be a must of course, and a solar powered electrical socket, but I have plans for all of that.
😊👨🏻🔬📱⚰️
I’ve always known that Nanostudio 2 was the best workflow for me on iOS, but I’d had this crazy bout of writers block that kept me from writing anything to completion. The stock sounds and IAP are great, but I felt like all my desktop based virtual instruments were going to waste. Thus began the long journey of doing simple 3 to 5 octave samples of some of my favorite virtual instruments and presets. A few weeks later, and I had a bunch of synth, guitars, and my entire battery 4 collection into obsidian and slate. Now I’m inspired and able to push out tracks anywhere I want to be, instead of locking myself in the studio. I can do the tracks as is because the sounds are great, but I can also easily throw them back into my desktop daw and work with the same libraries full versions, or swap them out and mix/master there.
Just waiting on audio tracks now, but still Nanostudio’s workflow is inspirational.
I am really just curious: what will you do with Audio Tracks that you can’t do with Audio Clips in Slate? I’m probably missing something obvious. If it is just the linear layout of Audio Tracks against the linear layout of sequenced MIDI parts, I can understand the appeal of the visual to help organize one’s thoughts. I ask because I have been asking myself lately what if anything I plan to do with Audio Tracks. I can currently bounce AU parts to Audio Clips, so other than perhaps a smoother workflow, what am I hoping for?
Being able to chop audio up on the timeline without having to save it as separate wav files. Possibly timestretching if timestretching will be implemented into NS2's audio tracks.
However, I've "survived" in NS2 without audio tracks thus far. In fact, I plan to post a new song called "Deadline" to the Creations section tomorrow that proves you don't need audio tracks in order to create a vocal track in NS2. I imagine I probably won't use audio tracks all that much once they are implemented as I like the way Slate works to be fair.
It really does come down to the implementation and I don’t want to get my hopes up too much. Now I even want to forget the passing comments that I heard about it! It is kind of a gradient of possibilities right now. I don’t even want to speculate on what the minimum feature set might be but given how awesome the rest of the app is, how can it not be awesome? Yah, impossible to keep my hopes in check but no specific strategies yet beyond hopes and dreams. For me the ultimate is a bunch of what I can do in Samplitude though but there is no way that is happening.... (?) (damn I can’t help but keep hope alive!)
😊😊 We all seem to have slightly different desires for new features, but I do agree that whatever it is, it will be quite nicely done. Matt’s perfectionism has resulted in a really nice app and I can only see it getting better.
Even if audio tracks just means track freezing happens at the same time, that would be a huge win. Given that it is to be an IAP though...
oh boy... the imagination races...
-(clip faders? (with curve control?) (clip waveform visual adapts to faders?)
-(individual clip pan/EQ/sends?)
-(reverse?)
-(pitch shift? timestretch?) (linear speed change? (ala tape style, no anti aliasing)
-(toggle-able half height, merged stereo waveform display?)
-('strip silence' feature for slicing clips up?)
-(scrub (or slide/nudge) audio within a clip?)
-(object grouping / ungrouping?)
One can only imagine the possibilities.
But that's for after the iPhone version.
Bloody hell! I never thought I'd add Gadget back into my workflow, but they just released a stellar update. Not only are the arcade gadgets "Otorii" and "Ebina" available for purchase, but they also adapted Korg Electribe Wave as a gadget! The latter is the most exciting.
So now, the Korg infrastructure is on my iPad Mini, and the plan is to use Gadget to craft loops for Slate in creation of a track that is half EDM and half fakebit!
Yeah I had zero interest in EW as a groovebox (just not my thing) but as a synth I really love it, so many wonderful textures, especially in the IAP packs. Really great for creating evolving atmospheric sounds.
Are the Gadget synths deeper than they seemed to me? I got it earlier this year, but they didn't click with me much. One of them has this pignose bass sound I like though... I got NS2 at around the same time, and Obsidian was a sleeper hit, I thought. I tried to recreate a little bass line I finally managed to record/sequence in Gadget in NS2, but never got quite the same vibe with it. I've got the Gadget audio version saved in AudioShare, so I plan to use it in NS2. I'm going to wait for iPadOS 13 to roll out before I make that a project. I like the whole idea of the iPad as an all-in-one production center, but it makes you really have to think of roundabout ways to get things done sometimes. It sounds like this next update will alleviate a lot of these kinds of problems. I see plenty of people using the betas, but I'm waiting for the go live version. Wonk, wonk, wonk, right? Anyways, I'm willing to give Gadget another shot if I can use its sounds elsewhere.
With the right workflow I can do anything I want. Only 2 apps have nailed workflow for me - NS2 and Caustic. To me those two apps come the closest to having a hardware setup (as I once did). As great as Gadget, BM3, Cubasis, Auria and all the rest are, none of them have the workflow that clicks with me and motivates me to make music. With all the money I put into those apps I kept trying to use them to justify the investment. But I wasn't having any fun! I wish I could put them on eBay! YMMV
I feel the same way. I have all those too. NS2 has got it down pat. I like BM3 too though. I wasted my munny on all the rest. Twin2 sounds sweet, but you have to dig through AP to get to it. I had Caustic on my LG V20. I liked it there, but I got myself tangled up in this Apple thing, you know...
Oh, also, I've got a blue million plug-ins and a coupla three DAW's on my desktops and been in this stuff for about ten years and interested in it for longer than that. I am truly excited by what's going on on the iPad right now. I got one for myself summer of last year just to write on. I found out later how versatile it is. I barely touch desktop anymore. I keep MP3's playing on one of them like a radio, but that's about it.
NS2 doesn’t have all the features in the world.
It does have some of the best CPU economy, workflow, synth shaping, and overall playability available anywhere.
I don’t talk about things in terms of journeys, but NS2 was realeased while I was actually on a trip to Europe. Made several things in that trip. It’s so easy to make patterns, chain them, and edit them. And the sound you can get is really something.
Rather desperate for the iPhone version, to be honest.
Sweet how that worked out.
I'm desperate for an iPhone version too to be honest. It's one of the main reasons I purchased an iPad Mini, because I became tired of waiting for the portability I needed. (I can hold it in one hand without touching the screen, lol.). Plus, this iPad Mini has quite the impressively long battery life. Cheers. 
I just got NanoStudio 2 about 5 days ago and I love it. I got 5 other DAWS and NanoStudio 2 is by far the best one.
My opinion is that most of the Gadget synths are basically preset boxes which do the one or two things they do spectacularly well but they don’t really go outside their bread and butter sound. The bigger ones that are gadgetized from separate apps might be much deeper, I haven’t bought them so I don’t know.
But automating the knobs is very expressive and super simple, that’s my favourite feature in Gadget.