Fugue Machine : MIDI Sequencer 4+

Stunning Results with Hardware (updated)

Fugue Machine may very well be the finest, most inspiring music tool on my iPad when it comes to using the iPad to drive external hardware. I haven't used it much to sequence other apps on the iPad, but if you're looking to do something amazing with your outbound hardware synths, this is The One. The latest MIDI implementation is as flexible as you'd want it to be and rock solid (whether it's receiving clock or transmitting it). I'm sending out each track to a variety of MIDI channels, over USB out to a sync box, which passes on MIDI and/or CV/Gate to a 70s analog synth, a modular Eurorack setup, and to a popular keyboard controller. It would take a load of hardware to both handle the sequences and the interfacing, and I'm not really sure anything like this app could be assembled anyway. This is one of the few apps that make me want to buy another iPad, install nothing but Fugue Machine on it, and put it away in a bank vault, "just in case". It's made my collection of 40 years of hardware even more capable of incredible music. 5 stars! (April 3, 2017 Update - Keeps getting better! New system for Pattern Backup and Export works flawlessly... 6 stars!)

Amazing tool - have some requests

This is providing me a lot of wonderful music making during the quarantine lock-down and I am having so much fun sending the note data of the sounds to my synths. My requests for future updates would be for a way to go from pattern A to pattern B in a way that let’s the first pattern complete. So that you you can go from pattern to pattern on your phone without cuts to the flow. It would also be cool if there was a Swing feature available for the rhythm. Lastly it would be cool if you could unlock a single tape-head from the octave changes. Love this app tremendously. I’m trying to use it in a way that I can perform live with a drummer. The human I am quarantined with haha

iPhone functionality is gross

Can’t communicate with GarageBand, but yet it shows up as an AUv3 option. When clicking on it, it just migrates to fugue… can’t change sounds, only pitch… I saw a video of someone using this on an iPad and they were able to have this app communicate with a few different ones and from there, change sounds/instruments… if this is not an option for iPhone then why make this available for iPhone?? It’s not even an option to copy the MIDI into GarageBand! Seriously, if you can’t fix these issues then for iPhone this should be a free app. I paid full price but got maybe 5% of the app. Not cool man… and this app is even advertised as an “additional extension” within GarageBand. So to be fair, I’m equally disappointed in Apple about this. This app looked so useful 😔 I guess it serves me right for paying for something and expecting to get what I paid for 😞

Developer Response ,

GarageBand does not support AUV3 midi plugins, so in the setup you’ve described, you’re using Inter-App Audio, which is audio only. Also, everything Fugue Machine does on iPad can be done on iPhone, and it’s a universal application.

If you’d like Fugue Machine to control GarageBand synths with MIDI, open Fugue Machine standalone and route its MIDI to GarageBand via Settings. With this approach, you can also record Fugue Machine’s MIDI into GarageBand’s timeline.

The Fugue Machine AUv3 MIDI plugin, which is included in Fugue Machine standalone, is supported by other AUv3 MIDI Host applications, like Logic Pro for iPad, AUM, Audiobus, and more.

Feel free to reach out at alexander@alexandernaut.com for more help.