Hokusai Audio Editor 4+

Very good, but lacks a specific feature and exhibits other minor issues!

I really love this app. It’s like a virtual recording studio! It also works as a great sampler for vocals and instruments that have already been recorded (by using one device to record from another device)! You just have to angle the recording device properly for a recording to sound good on playback. However, I really hope that a future update includes a pitch correction feature that makes it possible to change the vocal formant, and not the timbre, when changing the pitch of voices. This app should have the optional ability to separate the timbre from the pitch. In other words, there should be a feature that is able to maintain instead of sounding like Darth Vader when lowering the pitch, and like Chipmunks when raising the pitch, the timbre should stay the same throughout the range of pitches.

As far as the minor issue is concerned, the app crashes after so many hours of work, and then when I re-open the app, it takes awhile for all of my files to re-appear. Hopefully this issue can be resolved in a future update, and that the additional feature can be added.

Otherwise, this app is a must-have for all!

POINTLESS

Unless I’m missing something, all these wave editing apps are useless on your phones or iPads, as there is no way to get your edited sound files back into your devices without the use of iTunes, which is a Windows program. I’ve purchased two or three of these apps now at significant cost, only to find that once I’ve edited material, there’s no way to get them back into my music library. I write my own songs and backing tracks and import them into my iPad via iTunes or iMazing, but after editing and saving to dropbox I am now unable to get them back onto my device for use. Am I right? If I am, then why purchase them? I long for days now past, when companies produced products without the need for secrecy or subterfuge, products that were so well done and worked so well for the purchaser that the corporations were insured a bright profitable future because they built great products. This is capitalism at its best-
The Hokusai team contacted me to tell me that I can do anything I want with the files except what I want. The program is fine as far as it goes but I stand by my point: for anyone who wants to edit performance music on their iPads or iPhones they are useless. If you can’t get your edited files back into your device without a Windows computer and iTunes, tell me what the programs are good for? Not blaming Hokusai . . blaming Apple-

Developer Response ,

Hello! When you have finished editing your audio in Hokusai, you can use the Share command to send audio in standard formats (.wav or .m4a) to other apps you have installed, to other devices (e.g. via AirDrop), save to cloud services, share with friends, and so on. After that, you can do whatever you want with them; we don’t restrict what you do with them in any way. Unfortunately the Apple Music Library does not support adding new songs from other apps at this time — this is a limitation of the Apple Music Library, and not something app developers have control over. You could send feedback to Apple about this at: https://www.apple.com/feedback/ or alternatively you could use something else to store and play back music, for example, a “document” storage/viewing app (many of them also play music). If you need assistance with any of the features I’ve mentioned, please get in touch via the Contact Customer Support link inside the app in the Tools menu. Thanks!

The only app I’ve ever paid money for!

I’ve been in the music business for 50 years and I have produced major label quality CDs and worked internationally. I’ve been told that I have good years and know how to create unique sounds. I especially love to record out of doors and capture the sounds of the city or the songs of birds etc. this app has become my go to, and other than my DAW, most of my projects will start with Hokusai 2.
It is absolutely intuitive, and with very few exceptions does pretty much everything that I wanted to. I do have big hands and sometimes I get frustrated with the size of my phone screen. But then I got an iPad and man oh man did I go to town. I started with a free app but then after about a week I was like “I must have more!” One of the more fascinating tools I use is the noise reduction where in you sample a tiny section of NOISE and then run it through the program and that noise is removed. It’s really fantastic and I’ve communicated with the developers and they’re really good about getting back to me. They’re very nice people and I’ve been sharing my ideas with them and one thing I would like to reiterate here is it be nice to have a return to zero (RTZ) function as well as a mute button on each track. With this app and the trio of aps from Amplify one almost doesn’t need a DAW to make great music.