Audio Technology looks at what's been happening in tablet music-making apps. Getting tips from every direction to help you build your on-the-go touch arsenal. Mentioning 'tablets' to Grandma used to mean it was time to crack open the old pill box. But computing tablets, with their touchscreens -- combined with a relatively small screen size, and less power - have required levels of innovation to distil the essence of any given application so even a granny can operate and get into it. The spinoff for musicians, of this broad-level adoption, is a burgeoning range of audio applications for recording, sequencing and playing music. As I write this, the Apple iPad is still dominant so far as manufacturing numbers go. Google's Android operating system installed on third party tablet devices by the likes of Samsung, Asus etc will eventually offer similar applications and operability, but currently (in order to support different tablets from all of Apple's competitors) the audio latency is too large, resulting in the inability to play in real time. Needless to say, this ongoing AT wrap up will cover applications on non-Apple tablets in future issues as and when other tablet developers get their act together. But for now, here's a look at some of the best recorders/sequencers, as well as what's been piqueing interest in instruments/ synths, sound utilities and controllers.
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