BeatMaker 3 4+

The app has a beautiful UX, but is buggy to the point it’s unusable.

For instance, it seems that project tempo isn’t saved with a project: when loading a recorded project (session), the tempo of the previously loaded project remains. It’s very frustrating when you have to tune the tempo each time you load another project.

Other bugs include occasional crashes while using inter-app audio, problems with export of the song (the end of the song is sometimes being rendered at the beginning) etc. Issues like when the track is switched to audio unit, but the original sample remains and is impossible to remove it (one has to go to sample editor and cut the sample out).

There are also some usability problems, like the lack of reordering of tracks. One had to stick with the order of tracks as they have been created. Also, the audio tracks are always below the MIDI tracks, grouped together. Insert effects are great, but the reordering should be in a form of drag and drop (perhaps a Reorder button and a list of names in the popup?). Currently each effect has the Up/Down action, which is frustrating. Also, the effect could be added only as the last one - imagine the frustration of getting it to the top with this system.

It’s a great app, but very buggy. Question to the author: is there a plan to address these bugs soon? Otherwise I’ll probably stop using it and return it to the app store. Thanks for answer!

I’m giving 4 stars because I see the intention is good, however the implementation must be better. This app has a great potential.

A variety of very frustrating issues plague Beatmaker 3, which is a real pity. Most of its implementation is very good but, if you’re thinking of recording audio, watch out. On three different iPads, two of them Pro models, and using a variety of audio inputs (from the built-in mic to some relatively high end USB mics from Rode and a Fasttrack audio interface that works great with other apps) Beatmaker make a huge amount of noise and background crackle. More annoyingly still, for some reason it seems to override the ipad’s own physical volume controls, producing sudden howlingly loud noises. And, on top of that, it’s almost impossible to get a useably strong audio input into a track, no matter how much fiddling is done with the very few audio settings that are included. Really, this app isn’t up to recording external audio and isn’t a patch (excuse the pun) on the implementation of external audio that Garageband, Cubase and any of a dozen other ios apps do capably and without fuss. Of course, what adds to the irritation is the silence from Beatmaker ‘support’. Sure, things don’t always work all the time, and updates to even good software can mess things up. But this is the kind of thing that should, and will, warn off new customers. Save your money.

After spending too much precious time I’m moving on. Parts that play back from the start of a piece inconsistently dropout unexpectedly. Export a mix and half the parts are gone. They played back sometimes. I could handle the crashes as I save all the time but this ridiculous straw is the last. Stay away unless you have patience and don’t care about what you’re working on.
It’s a toy and nothing more in my experience.