Elastic Melody 1.2: iOS/macOS sequenced synth gets a major DFAM-inspired update

Elastic Melody is an AUv3 sequenced Synthesizer app for iOS and macOS; version 1.2 is a major update inspired by the Moog DFAM.

At the end of 2023, Oliver Greschke of Mominstruments released Elastic Melody. It is the sister app to Elastic Drums, but geared toward melodies.

Update 1.2 is now available with many new features.

Elastic Melody 1.2

Elastic Melody is a sequenceable Synthesizer for iOS and macOS. Update 1.2 is a free update but includes several major new features that can be unlocked via iAP (In-App Purchase). According to Oliver, this update is inspired by the Moog DFAM.

The new version expands the sound engine with more powerful sound shaping features. It now comes with four more oscillator waveforms and oscillator modulation to extend the sound spectrum.

Pitch modulation is part of the free update, while frequency modulation and FM decayed mod are available via a new in-app purchase. With these, you can craft new bass and percussion sounds that go in the direction of the DFAM hardware.

Then, you can explore three new filter overdrives to add character and dirt. The creamy overdrive is free in update 1.2. Filter feedback and filter FM are available as part of the new extra modes iAP.

Alongside the new oscillators and filters, you can benefit from new FX features. The three tracks now have an FX send button, letting you make some tracks sound drier. The EQ is now at the end of the FX and dry chain.

If you are owner of the iAP, you also a new ping pong option for the delay as well as a Datorro reverb for the reverb seciton. 

More Features For All Users

Good news: more new features are available to users without the iAP. For example, there are some new changes to the sequencer:

• new rnd shift knob to automatically after the notes with new rounds 
• turn right to shift pitch every 4, 2a, 2b, 1 rounds
• turn left to shift position every 4,3,2,1 rounds
• double tap rnd shift button to get the original pattern again 

Elastic Melody 1.2 also comes with a new automation recording. Turn a knob while the pattern is playing and Elastic Melody will write it into automation for you. You can also record a changing curve at the playhead by moving the knob back and forth.

This lets you record automation automatically or by drawing it. Other changes include:

• tracks: solo is now on the track top, and mute is on the track button; plus you can edit names by long-tapping the track number 
• improved sync behavior for first and last buttons 
• corrected notes for certain scales
• better preset browser with favorites, delete, import, and save to functions 
• better timing in the AUv3 plugin mode
• improved behavior with BT headphones changes 
• ….

On top of that, the new update 1.2 comes with new presets by SOI and Another Machines 

A great update for the Elastic Melody app. It’s very welcome to see a three-year-old app getting such a big update.

Elastic Melody 1.2 is available now as a free update. The app is now $14,99, and the new iAP is $4,99.

More information here: Mominstruments / App Store

Update from March 14, 2024

Great news from Oliver Greschke. His latest synthesizer app, Elastic Melody, is now also available for macOS. Existing iOS users can download the macOS version for free from the App Store. 

However, this is only possible with an Apple Silicon (M-Chip) computer. Once you download it, you can use the app in standalone mode and as an AUv3 plugin. In the linked image, I’m using it in Ableton Live 12. 

Article From November 15, 2023

Some apps will never disappear from my iPhone and iPad and are used again and again to capture ideas. Elastic Drums by Oliver Greschke, aka Mominstruments, is one of them. It’s a drum Synthesizer/drum machine with an intense and flexible core.

On the one hand, with many drum engines, and on the other with an “elastic” sequencer, you can capture automation on the fly.

In 2017, the concept was continued in the Elastic FX, an AUv3 multi-FX processor supercharged with the automation engine. With the newest Elastic Melody app, notes are now pushed into a tornado with automation.

Details

Elastic Melody is the sister app to Elastic Drum. No drums but notes, i.e., melodies, are drawn into the elastic world. It’s a standalone iOS app and AUv3 Synthesizer with three Synthesizer channels.

Each channel features a classic virtual analog synth voice with an oscillator, filter, filter modulation, envelope, and amp, with 14 parameters.

The exciting part is that you can draw an automation line for each parameter. So you can go very wild.

Then, each sequencer channel (synth) has its own start/end and timing parameters for notes and automation. Yes, it’s made for crazy complex things. Each channel also has solo and mute functions.

A master multi-FX section is onboard to refine your sounds. This isn’t as deep as Elastic FX, but it’s powerful enough to turn your classic synth lines into an FX rollercoaster.

It offers EQ, chorus, delay, and reverb, with almost all parameters automatable. Also here, each FX has its own start/end and timing parameters for the automation line.

Elastic Melody isn’t just made for casual jams. You can also create entire tracks with it. It has a song mode, allowing you to create longer sequencers with features like pattern repeat, duplicate, or alternating.

On the connection side, it has everything you need in a modern iOS music environment: AUv3 support, Ableton Link, import/share functions, and more. Also neat are the various random functions, giving you instant new ideas with a click. 

First Impression

An exciting new app from the maker of the Elastic Drums. I really like Elastic Melody’s design. Very simple and inspiring. I hope you expand the oscillator section in the future so you can go even deeper.

Elastic Melody is available now for $9,99. It runs on iPhones and iPads as a standalone app and an AUv3 plugin. 

More information here: AppStore

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