Animoog Review

I’m always on the lookout for new ways to make music with my iPad and Moog Music has thankfully brought us Animoog, a new app that proves itself to be a unique addition to any musician’s digital toolbox. If the name Moog means anything to you, then it’s nearly impossible to think of a reason for you to stay away from Animoog. Robert Moog, founder of Moog Music, is undoubtedly one of the most important figures in the development of electronic music. The synthesizers he invented are of monumental importance in the history of audio synthesis, and now you can carry these sounds around with you on your iPad. However, Animoog isn’t simply a dry collection of samples from legendary instruments. It’s a robust, flexible audio synthesis package with a comfortable, useful interface.

There’s a good selection of preset sounds to use, but if you’re into rolling your own patches, it’s really pretty easy to do so. You can combine up to eight different synth sounds, and then apply filters and envelopes to them in a straightforward way. Some of these parameters can also be toyed around with on-the-fly by sliding your finger up and down the key of the note you’ve triggered. Add that to the X/Y table and various knobs for controlling delay, distortion, and other options, and you’ve got one of the most tactile music creation experiences on the App Store.

While an audio synthesis veteran will salivate at the options in Animoog, there’s no doubt that it could scare a newcomer off. Novice musicians will probably need to dig up the user manual from the Moog Music website and they might need to educate themselves on the fundamentals of the different processes at play in this application as well.

On the other hand, the app’s keyboard happens to be very user-friendly. You can create a custom scale to keep you from playing out of key, and this combined with the app’s intuitive recording controls makes improvising an absolute delight.

The rich, complex sounds you can get out of Animoog make it a great new piece of software to install on your iPad. It’s definitely worth the 99 cents it’s selling for at the moment, and I highly recommend that you get it now before its price jumps up to $29.99, the cost Moog Music has said will be its normal rate. Its depth may keep less experienced users away, but it’s rewarding once you understand it. At the very least, it's a fantastic value for a dollar.