THE BASICS

Tune in to your creativity

Use Medly to turn your inspiration into music.

Medly

Music-Making for Everyone

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Listen up

Sounds, they’re everywhere right? But listen carefully, really carefully and you might just hear even more than you expected. Wind blowing through the trees, the crunch of sand as you walk barefoot along a beach, even the constant buzz of city life… once you tune in to the world around you there’s inspiration everywhere. And with Medly, whatever you’ve been influenced by can easily be translated into an epic track thanks to its easy-to-use library of sounds, loops and effects.

A music studio in the palm of your hand

Thanks to its intuitive touch operation, the app is beginner-heaven, instantly creating smooth rhythms and melodies without the need for any special skills on your part. It’s a music studio you can get down to business with anywhere, anytime: all you need is your iPhone or iPad.

Medly splits your track into sections that you can move, delete, copy or link together to make loops.

Kick-start things by sampling the sounds and patterns housed under Starter Templates. There’s a funky collection of presets available to experiment with like Looping Around, Gallop or Underground and if you want more, there are other sound sources to choose from via in-app purchases. It’s the perfect launchpad to discover your music-making rhythm.

Dial up the emotion

Generally, songs are composed of three elements. First, there’s the melody, the glue that holds the song together through different elements like vocals or guitar solos. Next, there’s the harmony, which is composed of chords working in tandem to accompany the melody. Finally, there’s the rhythm that creates the tempo which acts as the foundation for the song.

The melody in particular takes centre stage. It conveys the real emotion of the song to the listener and it’s where you, as the artist, can truly express yourself.

Tap on the sequencer screen while searching for the sound echoing in your mind.

Even before you have a clear outline of the melody in your head, you can begin tapping it out with Medly. Because the app is based on the musical theory of the pentatonic scales, even if you tap randomly, the app will produce a consistent melody.

On the sequencer screen, you can add and delete notes by tapping on each square. Get creative and try arranging the notes as you go, and then make fine adjustments to bring it closer to your ideal melody.

Tap out a rhythm

Try tapping out a rhythm that matches the tone of your melody to give your song its heartbeat.

Icons such as a bass drum and hi-hat are displayed on the left side of the sequencer screen. Tap on each note to hear how it sounds and form your rhythm. To make production smoother, you can copy a rhythm similar to what you’re looking for from Medly’s sample patterns and then arrange it.

Record vocals and narration

Now, it’s time for the all-important lyrics. The app has a nifty built-in microphone so you can record your voice. But you don’t necessarily have to belt out any high notes; you can add narration or read a poem to convey your message instead. No matter what you do, using your voice will seal your song with a personal expression of who you are.

Record easily with the built-in microphone.

Finally, on the Mixer screen, you can adjust the volume and sound phase of each section of your song and add effects like Echo or Reverb to achieve that optimal balance. Then, if you want to, share your tunes via platforms like SoundCloud.

Everyone can create; try making some music and listen as your creative heart sings.