Review: Elastic Drums for iOS

Elastic Drums for iOS has received plaudits since its release, so we were curious to find out if it really is as good as it sounds. Plus, 5 randomly selected comments will get a copy of Elastic Drums!  

 

SPECIAL OFFER: 5 randomly selected comments in this article will receive a FREE copy of Elastic Drums for iOS each!! (Comment below before Friday 11 September 11.59pm PST)

iOS is a perfect platform for certain types of music application. Self-contained sequencing and synthesis apps in particular work really well on touch screens: so it is that beatboxes were one of the first kinds of music app to appear on the platform, and they have only got better as iOS has matured. Elastic Drums works on iPhones and iPads and requires a dual core model (so an iPhone 4S, iPad 2 or higher) and as always the faster your device, the smoother your experience will be. It has six synth channels with ten different percussion synth engines and 12 parameters for each synth engine. It’s a drum synth, but a particularly powerful one. 

The beats sound crisp, authentic and heavy and by virtue of being synthesized rather than sampled, they can be bent and twisted with ease.

The graphics aren’t particularly slick though that doesn’t affect the workflow. Some people prefer a more stripped back approach and ultimately it’s more about what an instrument sounds like than what it looks like that matters. It could arguably use a little more differentiation between screen elements and this could be achieved graphically, even if only to lighten the heavy grey that dominates. 

Elastic Drums main screen.

Elastic Drums main screen.

The instrument section also contains the sequencer and here you tap notes into the grid, dragging up or down as you do so to set the velocity of a note. Move between any of the six channels using the buttons to the right and you can swap out any sound via the sound selection menus at the bottom left hand corner. For any sound, the central area contains controls to tweak the sound generator and these take the form of global and synth specific parameters. It’s possible to automate almost any of the controls in this section by hitting the ‘autom’ button and then moving a knob, after which the movement is repeated as the sequence plays back. Randomizers are available as well as good selection of presets of course. 

Elastic Drums FX screen.

Elastic Drums FX screen.

Elastic Drums Mixer.

Elastic Drums Mixer.

In the arrange section you can chain together multiple patterns and there are tools including copy, paste and delete for you to manage longer sequences. There’s a mixer here too with volume, pan, mute and solo and FX sends. The Master Effects tab contains an X/Y pad that is great fun to play with and lets you punch in and manipulate multiple types of effect. In the main Effects section, four effects slots are available, each with a good selection of effects including some weird stuff, and automation is possible here too using the large X/Y pad. The app can handle MIDI input and output via hardware or a network and has a configurable audio buffer,  recording of patterns or songs to audio and export to Soundcloud, email or Audioshare. A Jam section also lets you play more organically by triggering patterns, effects, freeze and other performance parameters with simple taps. 

Elastic Drums Jam screen.

Elastic Drums Jam screen.

Elastic Drums’ workmanlike appearance is slightly misleading. It’s actually a really powerful and cool-sounding application that works very well on the iOS platform. The beats sound crisp, authentic and heavy and by virtue of being synthesized rather than sampled, they can be bent and twisted with ease. The effects are also great, and automation of effects as well as synth engines makes the whole thing incredibly flexible. Check out the audio demos to hear the ways in which Elastic Drums might surpass your expectations. 

Price: $11.99

Pros: Sounds awesome. Really flexible. Automation throughout. Heavy sounding effects. Work with patterns and songs. Good integration with other iOS technologies. Jam feature is fun and practical. 

Cons: Graphically could be a little more varied.

Web: http://mominstruments.com/elasticdrums/

App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/app/elastic-drums/id817419955?mt=8

SPECIAL OFFER: 5 randomly selected comments in this article will receive a FREE copy of Elastic Drums for iOS each!! (Comment below before Friday 11 September 11.59pm PST)

Hollin Jones was classically trained as a piano player but found the lure of blues and jazz too much to resist. Graduating from bands to composition then production, he relishes the chance to play anything with keys. A sometime lecturer in videographics, music production and photography post production, Hollin has been a freelance w... Read More

Discussion

jimijames
Sounds like it could be a fun app. Thanks for the review, Hollin!
Dominick
I much prefer creating my own drums to just using sampled ones.
This sounds kind of Reaktor-esque.
dwood10
Random Comment..
Ryan99
It's seems like a good app to add to my Ipad!
MitchGtz
Looks like fun, I think I may check that out. Thanks for the review!
onlee
another random comment...
SugaMouth
Looks interesting, I really like the idea of spending a bus journey diving deep into something like this.
SugaMouth
Looks v interesting. I can imagine bus journeys flying by....
blahblah
It's raining IOS drum apps at the minute.
Copilco
Pretty interesting! But single track export seems to be missing, am I right? Would facilitate my workflow...
Copilco
And what about Dropbox Export? Would also be quite handy.

Want to join the discussion?

Create an account or login to get started!