Impaktor is an amazing new app for iOS.  The video shows the app being used on an iPhone, but it’s also available for the iPad and iPod Touch.  Impaktor allows you to turn any flat surface into a percussion instrument. What’s surprising is how well it actually works.

It comes with over 90 presets and latency is a non-issue.  It has a 6 track recorder and some nice modulation parameters.  The Auto-Quantize feature makes you sound a lot better than you probably are.  It also supports audio copy/paste and allows you to export WAV files.

At $5, this app is an absolute steal.  Be sure to check out Impaktor when you can!

Need a quality virtual synth for the iPad?  Look no further.  Yonac has you covered.  Introducing Magellan, which boasts six oscillators, dual filters, a step sequencer, arpeggiators, and more.

This comprehensive synth is capable of producing some great sounds.  Effects include: Reverb, Stereo Delay, Phaser, Flanger, Distortion, Chorus, Bitcrusher, and an Expander.  Extensive MIDI and exporting capabilities make Magellan extremely accessible.

Playing complex chord progressions on the iPad is not always the easiest task.  In many cases it’s nearly impossible.  However, the on-board Chord Maker allows you to create chord progressions that can then be triggered with one finger.  You can your save progression presets so they can be accessed at a later date as well.

If you’re looking for a new synth to add to your arsenal, then Magellan is definitely worth looking into.

Chordion is a virtual synthesizer for the iPad.  What makes it unique is its layout – you can easily play chords with one hand and lead with the other.  Being able to trigger chords with one finger makes playing a breeze.

The sounds are decent and there’s also some effects like Delay and Wah.   There are some Polyphony and Envelope parameters as well.

Chordion is a cool music-making app, but it’s missing some key features like audio copy/paste.  Furthermore, the layout of this app would make it a great MIDI controller – we’d love to see the developers add MIDI-Out capabilities.

For $1.99, it’s hard to say anything bad about this app, but hopefully future updates will bring some welcomed additions.

The user interface is inviting and friendly, laying almost everything out in the open.  You don’t have to sift through endless pages in search of hidden menus, which is a considerable problem for many iOS music apps.

It also has a sequencer and although it’s rather clunky, it does have some nice features to it.

Overall, the synth sounds pretty good.  The presets are decent and can easily be tweaked to suit your needs.  The only problem with the presets is that the volume levels are sometimes inconsistent, which can be rather annoying.

For $5, this is a cool app with some nice features.  It’s a few steps away from running with the ‘big boys’, but it’s still a nice app worth checking out.

Bass Drop is a music creation app aimed at producing dirty basslines on the iPad.  It has a “Dubstep made easy” type of feel.  People with little musical experience (if any at all) can still produce some really cool results.

It revolves around a keyboard and sampler with some loops and effects you can throw in to spice things up.  It’s assignable sampler pads can be used to trigger and latch bass variations, loops, effects and more.  It’s also worth mentioning that there are over 300 wobble bass variations to keep things fresh and interesting.

Bass Drop is a neat app but it’s lacking some essential features to be considered a serious music making app.  For one, there is no record function.  Without the ability to record and export your creations, you can’t do much more than fiddling around.  While this is still fun, it doesn’t exactly suit professional music makers looking to use of their iPad.

For $2 though, we still consider this app well worth the money!

Glitch Machine is a unique sound generator for your iPad.  It makes use of a waveform display and  programmable code (RPN), which can be altered via the calculator layout.  RPN code-lovers will probably feel like their eating chocolate sundaes in Heaven while playing with this app.  The rest of us, however, will be stuck pressing random buttons until we create a sound we like.

It’s worth noting that there’s a certain amount of ambiguity that stems from more obscure forms of sound creation. Often times you’re left scratching your head trying to create something decent, but other times, that lack of know-how makes you rely on your creative prowess more, which can take you some unexpected places.

In regards to Glitch Machine, this is as much of a strength as it is a weakness.  Many people will find the idea of entering in code to create sound uninspiring.  Others will love it.

Either way, the app is capable of creating some cool quirky sounds even if you don’t know what you’re doing.

For a few dollars, Glitch Machine, is an app worth looking at.

The TC-11 is a multi-touch synthesizer for the iPad.  It takes an unconventional approach to sound creation and delivers some interesting results.  Sound is expressed by touch relationships (distance, angle, timing). Simply touch, slide, and drag your fingers across the screen.  It also makes use of the gyroscope and accelerometer built into your iPad.  Things like tilting or shaking your iPad can have a unique effect on your sound as well.

The strength of the TC-11 is its complex routing options – which are fully programmable.  The possibilities seem endless.  You can set up any number of effects, filters, and mods to respond to your touch or movement in a specific way.  The result is a very expressive sound.

It comes with 64 patches, which isn’t exactly a truck load, but you can create an unlimited number of patches yourself.  It’s also easy to share them.

The TC-11 is capable of producing some extremely interesting sounds, but also carries a hefty price tag ($30).  If you’re an electronic producer that likes to take sound creation to new places, then this could just be the app you’re looking for.

SampleWiz is a unique sampling app for the iPad.  It offers three different sampling modes:

Classic – sample playback will speed up or slow down according to change in pitch.

Granular – adjust the grain size and speed while the range of notes maintain the same speed.

Modern – adjust formant and time to preserve the speed of a sample despite changes in pitch

Recording samples is extremely easy. The setup and workflow of SampleWiz makes multisampling a breeze too.  You can record samples through the built in mic or even import your own via iTunes file sharing.

The app also comes with a collection of synth sounds from Jordan Rudess’ personal collection.

Having trouble learning the app?  The onboard help screen breaks it all down for you.

If you’re looking for innovative methods of sampling and sound creation, then SampleWiz has what you’re looking for.  Be sure to check it out.

Arpeggionome is an app specifically designed for music production on the iPad (no iPhone or iPod Touch versions).  As its name implies, it focuses purely on the nature of arpeggios and creating complex note progressions.

Arpeggionome revolves around an X / Y grid that can be used to specify pattern notes (X) and pattern speed (Y).  Manage up to 480 notes per second!

Choose a preset or create an arpeggio from scratch using parameters such as – Key & Scale, Octave Range, Control Range, and more.  You can also save your presets and patterns so they can be used at a later time.

Arpeggionome is a cool app with some decent sounds, but we would like to see a wider selection of presets and more features.  Some quality updates could really elevate this app to new heights.

If you’re looking for an iOS synth that focuses on arpeggios, then Arpeggionome is definitely what you’re looking for.

SynthTronica is a unique, spectral synthesizer for the iPad.  It comes with 90+ presets (including vocal/vocoder effects) and the ability to create your own.  It’s formant synthesis allows the filters to use time-varying  formants that can be edited and viewed in spectral form.

Manipulate as many as 11 filters at once by using the Dynamic Multi-touch filter.  Numerous lay outs give you added flexibility to accommodate different playing styles and preferences.

Sharing a mix is easy.  SynthTronica allows you to export your creations as 16-bit and 24-bit WAV or AIFF files.  It also supports Audio Copy/Paste, which is important.

It’s hard not to like this app, but the downside is that it doesn’t have MIDI support and there’s only 92 presets in the core library.

Nonetheless this is still a quality app you can get some functional use out of.  SynthTronica is still offered for the introductory price of $5, be sure to check it out.