I’ve had the honor and pleasure of beta testing this app so i’ve actually been using it since last summer (2024) and there is just too much to say about it. It is unlike anything else i have ever used, absolutely incredible, inspiring, and very powerful. Flexibility like nothing else. There are so many ways you can use this sequencer! When i first got it i set out to create a whole new live hardware set from scratch, with Fugue Machine Rubato(iPad) as the ONLY SEQUENCER, sequencing all synths and drums! Yes, i had a drum machine, but i did not use its built in sequencer. With the 8 playheads, it was more than enough to accomplish this goal. 2 poly synths, 1 mono synth for bass, and a drum machine, plus fx sends. I put it to the test by creating and performing a 1 hour set for a festival gig that year. It was so fun to perform this way. Fugue Machine Rubato was completely up for the task and easily filled the role of master sequencer for a full hardware setup. Not only did it perform very smoothly, but with all of it’s features it was very easy to manipulate sequences in realtime (and then some more, and then some more) and in ways that i had never known were possible. So many parameters to tweak live, and automate! you can really just keep going and going when improvising! Months after that set i wrote new material with FMR and performed the synth parts in a duo project for another live set, giving it yet another test. i really felt locked in with the app at this point. I’m so excited that finally everyone can experience this and I look forward to what people create with it! Let the creativitiy flow!

For my use case of writing deterministic, evolving generative pieces this is the best tool I’ve found. Most other things I’ve found use randomness as the primary method of producing variation; I’m not critical of that but it’s not for me. I tried things like orca, Midinous (nodal doesn’t seem to work anymore), others, but didn’t get on with them. With far I seem to be unable to produce anything I don’t like so far. With other tools I often get frustrated with the ui, the limitations, and the results. The ui in fmr is amazing, some really next-level concepts that I think will be copied as other devs see how well they work; it appears to have nearly bottomless complexity if you want it but can be dead simple if you want that too, and I haven’t yet thought “I wish it could do …” (except for sending of midi cc, hope that gets added). I was on the fence due to the price but when the sale came I decided to give it a shot. I would not hesitate to buy it at full price now that I know what it does. Can’t recommend it enough

Any video of this software will quickly demonstrate that its output can be captivating. The interface is excellent and feels only a little cramped on iPhone. However, it lacks support for batch operations or other quality of life features which might ease an otherwise tedious and repetitive workflow. Documentation is good but incomplete, and interface elements such as menus can be idiosyncratic; the learning process remains mostly intuitive. MIDI support is robust, and routing works well in Cubasis. The app is overall elegant, flexible and stable.

I was a big fan of the original fugue machine, but I hesitated on buying rubato due to cost and a lack of need. I’m glad I revisited that decision however as this app is incredible!! It’s so deep and such a cool way to approach sequencing. You could easily write a whole piece using just a single instance of this app! Also the fact that this was also released as a universal app makes it worth the added cost imo. I just hope at some point they release an auv2 wrapper so I can also use this in Reaper.