Fugue Machine : MIDI Sequencer Cheats

Fugue Machine : MIDI Sequencer Hack 1.5.19 + Redeem Codes

Multi-playhead MIDI sequencer

Developer: Alexandernaut
Category: Music
Price: $19.99 (Download for free)
Version: 1.5.19
ID: com.alexandernaut.Fugue

Screenshots

Game screenshot Fugue Machine : MIDI Sequencer mod apkGame screenshot Fugue Machine : MIDI Sequencer apkGame screenshot Fugue Machine : MIDI Sequencer hack

Description

A music sequencer reimagined with multiple playheads.

"How Bach would have made a sequencer." (Create Digital Music)
"A musical feat." (Creator's Project)
"A new approach to sequencing." (XLR8R)
"A next generation music sequencer." (Ask Audio)

Fugue Machine is a tool inspired by composition techniques used in Baroque music and Serialism — e.g. Bach’s canons and fugues, and Schoenberg’s twelve-tone technique. The idea was to design a tool to manipulate a melody’s speed, direction, and pitch, as well as play multiple variations of the melody simultaneously.

As it turned out, the best implementation for this was to reimagine one of the most fundamental building blocks of all music sequencers: the piano roll.

Fugue Machine is the world’s first multi-playhead piano roll. Create a music sequence and play it back with up to four playheads at once — each at various speeds, directions, pitches, and more. Watch the playheads dance, and hear the complex patterns that emerge.

It’s mesmerizing.

Fugue Machine supports iPhone, iPad, MIDI, AUv3 MIDI, Ableton Link, Audiobus, Audiobus 3 MIDI, and Inter-App Audio. Thanks to the AUv3 standard, you can run multiple instances of Fugue Machine on the same device when hosted in an AUv3 MIDI host app — like Logic Pro, AUM, and Audiobus.

Version history

1.5.19
2023-05-28
- Updated network permissions, resolving an Ableton Link connection issue introduced in 1.5.17
- Updated About page
1.5.18
2023-05-20
- updated Audiobus
1.5.17
2023-05-18
- More Button now becomes lit when presenting the More Menu
- cleaned up More Menu formatting
- cleaned up Launch Screen
- simplified Newsletter signup process
- built with latest SDK
- replaced deprecated methods
1.5.16
2019-10-18
Fugue Machine 1.5 — iPhone support, AUv3 support, more scales, piano roll gesture improvements, and more. See 1.5.0 Version History for more info.

1.5.16
MINOR UI FIXES
iOS 13 caused a few UI issues in the More Menu. All fixed now.

NEW MORE MENU POSITION (iPhone)
The new position no longer blocks the bottom toolbar buttons or the transpose control, making Fugue Machine more playable when the menu is open.
1.5.15
2019-08-31
Fugue Machine 1.5 — iPhone support, AUv3 support, more scales, piano roll gesture improvements, and more. See 1.5.0 Version History for more info.

1.5.15
Minor UI fix. When Loop Length was set greater than 1 bar, bar masks in the Piano Roll weren't shown properly. Fixed now.
1.5.14
2019-08-14
Fugue Machine 1.5 — iPhone support, AUv3 support, more scales, piano roll gesture improvements, and more. See 1.5.0 Version History for more info.

1.5.14
Version 1.5.13 changes caused factory presets to no longer load in AUv3 instances. Fixed now.
1.5.13
2019-08-12
Fugue Machine 1.5 — iPhone support, AUv3 support, more scales, piano roll gesture improvements, and more. See 1.5.0 Version History for more info.

1.5.13
Fixed issue caused by changing Loop Length to smaller values. If you had notes in a measure being removed, the notes wouldn't be removed initially. This was usually harmless, but in some very specific cases, could cause a crash when moving or duplicating notes. Fixed now.
1.5.12
2019-05-01
Fugue Machine 1.5 — iPhone support, AUv3 support, more scales, piano roll gesture improvements, and more. See 1.5.0 Version History for more info.

1.5.12
Fixed MIDI issue experienced after bringing app to foreground after a long period of not running in the background. If MIDI Clock was enabled, when hitting Play, there would sometimes be a temporary hiccup. Sorry about that, fixed now.
1.5.11
2019-04-23
Fugue Machine 1.5 — iPhone support, AUv3 support, more scales, piano roll gesture improvements, and more. See 1.5.0 Version History for more info.

1.5.11
- no code changes, only App Store edits.
- sorry about all the updates, hopefully done now.
1.5.10
2019-04-20
Fugue Machine 1.5 — iPhone support, AUv3 support, more scales, piano roll gesture improvements, and more. See 1.5.0 Version History for more info.

1.5.10 Changes
- App Store edits.
1.5.9
2019-04-19
Fugue Machine 1.5 — iPhone support, AUv3 support, more scales, piano roll gesture improvements, and more. See 1.5.0 Version History for more info.

1.5.9 Changes
App Store edits (last one I promise).
1.5.8
2019-04-18
Fugue Machine 1.5 — iPhone support, AUv3 support, more scales, piano roll gesture improvements, and more. See 1.5.0 Version History for more info.

1.5.8 Changes
App Store things.
1.5.7
2019-04-17
Fugue Machine 1.5 — iPhone support, AUv3 support, more scales, piano roll gesture improvements, and more! See 1.5.0 Version History for more info.

1.5.7 Changes
App store things.
1.5.6
2019-04-06
Fugue Machine 1.5 — iPhone support, AUv3 support, more scales, piano roll gesture improvements, and more! See 1.5.0 Version History for more info.

1.5.6 Changes
Fixed minor UI issue when reducing note length via one-finger-pan. When moving slowly, if the note was greater than 1 step, it would snap to the previous step momentarily, then back to the proper step under your finger. Fixed now.
1.5.5
2019-04-04
Fugue Machine 1.5 — iPhone support, AUv3 support, more scales, piano roll gesture improvements, and more! See 1.5.0 Version History for more info.

1.5.3-1.5.5 CHANGES
PER-PLAYHEAD MIDI CHANNELS (AU)
Similar to the standalone app, you can now set per-playhead MIDI channel in the AU. For more details, see More Menu > Settings > MIDI Output Settings (in the AU).

NOTE-LENGTH CHANGE DETECTION
Improved one-finger note-length change detection. Much better at higher zooms now. As before, simply pan-right at a note's right-edge to change its length.

CHANGED AU NAME
The AU is now simply named 'Fugue Machine'. Some users were having trouble finding the previous name, 'FM.au'. Please note, depending on your AU host, this may cause issues. It should be fine, but if do you experience any issues, try opening the Fugue Machine standalone app and restarting your device. If that doesn't work, send me an email and we'll sort it out.
1.5.4
2019-04-03
Fugue Machine 1.5 — iPhone support, AUv3 support, more scales, piano roll gesture improvements, and more! See 1.5.0 Version History for more info.

1.5.4 CHANGES
Nothing significant, just made some clarifications to the 1.5.3 version history. Also, if you're using Cubasis and unable to open a project due to the Fugue Machine AU name change, please send me an email.

1.5.3 CHANGES
PER-PLAYHEAD MIDI CHANNEL SETTINGS IN AU
Similar to the standalone app, you can now set per-playhead MIDI channel in the AU. For more details, in the AU, go to More Menu > Settings > Midi Output Settings.

NOTE-LENGTH CHANGE DETECTION
Improved one-finger note-length change detection. Much better at higher zooms now. As before, simply pan-right at a note's right-edge to change its length.

CHANGED AU NAME
The AU is now simply named 'Fugue Machine'. Some users were having trouble finding the previous name, 'FM.au'. Please note, depending on your AU host, this may cause issues. It shouldn't, but if it does, opening the Fugue Machine standalone app and go back to your AU host. If that doesn't work, try restarting your iPad. And if that doesn't work, please send me an email and we will sort it out.

REMINDER: MOVING PATTERNS BETWEEN AU AND STANDALONE
Just a reminder that you can move patterns between AU and standalone via copy/paste.
• To copy/paste in the standalone, go to More Menu > Patterns, and swipe-right on the pattern.
• To copy/paste in the au, go to More Menu, and scroll to the bottom for the copy/paste buttons.
1.5.3
2019-04-02
Fugue Machine 1.5 — iPhone support, AUv3 support, more scales, piano roll gesture improvements, and more! See 1.5.0 Version History for more info.

1.5.3 CHANGES
MIDI OUTPUT SETTINGS (AU)
Similar to the standalone app, you can now set per-playhead MIDI channel in the AU. For more details, in the AU, go to More Menu > Settings.

NOTE-LENGTH CHANGE DETECTION
Improved one-finger note-length change detection. Much better at higher zooms now. As before, simply pan-right at a note's right-edge to change its length.

CHANGED AU NAME
The AU is now simply named 'Fugue Machine'. Some users were having trouble finding the previous name, 'FM.au'. Please note, depending on your AU host, this may cause issues. If you experience any issues, simply open the Fugue Machine standalone app and go back to your AU host. If that doesn't work, try restarting your iPad.
1.5.2
2019-03-29
Fugue Machine 1.5 — iPhone support, AUv3 support, more scales, piano roll gesture improvements, and more! See below for more info...
// ========================
// - for 1.5.x changes, see below.

// ========================
// NEW FEATURES
Fugue Machine is now Universal, making it compatible with iPhone! (This is a free update).

Fugue Machine now includes an AUv3 MIDI App Extension! Open your favorite AUv3 MIDI Host and run as many Fugue Machines as you'd like!

The Scale parameter now includes Wholetone, Whole Half, Major Blues, Minor Blues, Major Pentatonic, Minor Pentatonic, and Chromatic.

Fugue Machine now properly adapts to the size of the view it's in, with pixel-perfect detail for all devices.

// ========================
// USABILITY IMPROVEMENTS
•The Piano Roll now responds significantly better to gestures. Most noticeably with one-finger note-panning, one-finger note-length changes, and one-finger pan-right note creation.

You can now copy/paste Fugue Machine patterns. This works within the standalone app, between the standalone app and AUv3 instances, between AUv3 instances, and between devices. To copy/paste in the standalone app, go to More Menu > Patterns, and swipe-right on any pattern. To copy/paste in an AUv3, go to the More Menu, scroll to the bottom, and use the copy/paste buttons.

When moving notes in the Piano Roll, the Keyboard View and Overview View now show the same notes moving in real time. This is useful while moving notes beyond the visible boundary of the Piano Roll.

The View Braces (located in Keyboard View and Overview View) can now have each side moved independently, making it much easier to navigate/zoom the Piano Roll.

Until now, when you'd perform a gesture on the Piano Roll and move beyond its boundary, the Piano Roll would automatically scroll in the direction of your fingers. No more! Much more usable now I think. However, if you enjoyed this feature, you can reenable it in Settings.

// ========================
// ABOUT THIS UPDATE
To be honest, most of this update was unexpected! About a month ago, I decided to venture out on a small FM update to take a break from my main project (a new app I've been working on for over 2.5 years!). My only intention was to update the UI to accommodate the new iPads — more specifically, to handle the Home Indicator and the new aspect-ratio of the 11" iPad.

Regarding the new aspect-ratio, I realized that the best way to handle it was to completely refactor the UI to handle any aspect-ratio. This was tedious, but eventually led to the idea of supporting iPhone and AUv3, which, after the UI refactor, was surprisingly trivial! The refactor also led to allowing scales of various sizes (making chromatic possible, finally!). Lastly, supporting iPhone meant supporting smaller screens, which inspired most of the usability improvements.

Regarding the Home Indicator, the best way I found to handle that was to just make it go away completely! And the only way to do that is with Guided Access. Not only does Guided Access remove the Home Indicator, but as you may know (I had no idea!), it also disables all other OS edge gestures, essentially isolating your app from the OS. So no more accidentally swiping the control center or notifications! For me, for the way I use iOS to make music (one app per iPad), this is the absolute ideal configuration.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the update, it was a blast to work on :]

All the best,
Alexander

/ I'm hoping to post some mini tutorial videos on my new Fugue Machine accounts. If interested...
@fugue_machine on Instagram
@FugueMachine on Twitter


// ========================
// 1.5.1 CHANGES
- fixed issue where AU wouldn't run on any OS below iOS 12.1. Fixed now at iOS 11.0 and later.

// 1.5.2 CHANGES
- in 1.5.0 and 1.5.1, copy/paste in the standalone app was achieved by long-pressing on a pattern in the Pattern Menu. Instead, now you swipe-right. Much better.
1.5.1
2019-03-26
iPhone support, AUv3 support, more scales, piano roll gesture improvements, and more! See below for more info...
// ==================================
// NEW FEATURES
Fugue Machine now works on iPhone!
Fugue Machine now includes an AUv3 MIDI App Extension! Open your favorite AUv3 MIDI Host and run as many Fugue Machines as you'd like!

The Scale parameter now includes Wholetone, Whole Half, Major Blues, Minor Blues, Major Pentatonic, Minor Pentatonic, and Chromatic.

Fugue Machine now properly adapts to the size of the view it's in, with pixel-perfect detail for all devices.

// ==================================
// USABILITY IMPROVEMENTS
The Piano Roll now responds significantly better to gestures. Most noticeably with one-finger note-panning, one-finger note-length changes, and one-finger pan-right note creation.

You can now copy/paste Fugue Machine patterns. This works within the standalone app, between the standalone app and AUv3 instances, between AUv3 instances, and between devices. To copy/paste in the standalone app, go to More Menu > Patterns, and long-press on any pattern. To copy/paste in an AUv3, go to the More Menu, scroll to the bottom, and use the copy/paste buttons.

When moving notes in the Piano Roll, the Keyboard View and Overview View now show the same notes moving in real time. This is useful while moving notes beyond the visible boundary of the Piano Roll.

The View Braces (located in Keyboard View and Overview View) can now have each side moved independently, making it much easier to navigate/zoom the Piano Roll.

Until now, when you'd perform a gesture on the Piano Roll and move beyond its boundary, the Piano Roll would automatically scroll in the direction of your fingers. No more! Much more usable now I think. However, if you enjoyed this feature, you can reenable it in Settings.

// ==================================
// ABOUT THIS UPDATE
To be honest, most of this update was unexpected! About a month ago, I decided to venture out on a small FM update to take a break from my main project (a new app I've been working on for over 2.5 years!). My only intention was to update the UI to accommodate the new iPads — more specifically, to handle the Home Indicator and the new aspect-ratio of the 11" iPad.

Regarding the new aspect-ratio, I realized that the best way to handle it was to completely refactor the UI to handle any aspect-ratio. This was tedious, but eventually led to the idea of supporting iPhone and AUv3, which, after the UI refactor, was surprisingly trivial! The refactor also led to allowing scales of various sizes (making chromatic possible, finally!). Lastly, supporting iPhone meant supporting smaller screens, which inspired most of the usability improvements.

Regarding the Home Indicator, the best way I found to handle that was to just make it go away completely! And the only way to do that is with Guided Access. Not only does Guided Access remove the Home Indicator, but as you may know (I had no idea!), it also disables all other OS edge gestures, essentially isolating your app from the OS. So no more accidentally swiping the control center or notifications! For me, for the way I use iOS to make music (one app per iPad), this is the absolute ideal configuration.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the update, it was a blast to work on :]

All the best,
Alexander

/ I'm hoping to post some mini tutorial videos on my new Fugue Machine accounts. If interested...
@fugue_machine on Instagram
@FugueMachine on Twitter
1.5.0
2019-03-25
iPhone support, AUv3 support, more scales, piano roll gesture improvements, and more! See below for more info...
// ==================================
// NEW FEATURES
Fugue Machine now works on iPhone!

Fugue Machine now includes an AUv3 MIDI App Extension! Open your favorite AUv3 MIDI Host and run as many Fugue Machines as you'd like! Requires iOS 11.0 or later.

The Scale parameter now includes Wholetone, Whole Half, Major Blues, Minor Blues, Major Pentatonic, Minor Pentatonic, and Chromatic.

Fugue Machine now properly adapts to the size of the view it's in, with pixel-perfect detail for all devices.

// ==================================
// USABILITY IMPROVEMENTS
The Piano Roll now responds significantly better to gestures. Most noticeably with one-finger note-panning, one-finger note-length changes, and one-finger pan-right note creation.

You can now copy/paste Fugue Machine patterns. This works within the standalone app, between the standalone app and AUv3 instances, between AUv3 instances, and between devices. To copy/paste in the standalone app, go to More Menu > Patterns, and long-press on any pattern. To copy/paste in an AUv3, go to the More Menu, scroll to the bottom, and use the copy/paste buttons.

When moving notes in the Piano Roll, the Keyboard View and Overview View now show the same notes moving in real time. This is useful while moving notes beyond the visible boundary of the Piano Roll.

The View Braces (located in Keyboard View and Overview View) can now have each side moved independently, making it much easier to navigate/zoom the Piano Roll.

Until now, when you'd perform a gesture on the Piano Roll and move beyond its boundary, the Piano Roll would automatically scroll in the direction of your fingers. No more! Much more usable now I think. However, if you enjoyed this feature, you can reenable it in Settings.

// ==================================
// ABOUT THIS UPDATE
To be honest, most of this update was unexpected! About a month ago, I decided to venture out on a small FM update to take a break from my main project (a new app I've been working on for over 2.5 years!). My only intention was to update the UI to accommodate the new iPads — more specifically, to handle the Home Indicator and the new aspect-ratio of the 11" iPad.

Regarding the new aspect-ratio, I realized that the best way to handle it was to completely refactor the UI to handle any aspect-ratio. This was tedious, but eventually led to the idea of supporting iPhone and AUv3, which, after the UI refactor, was surprisingly trivial! The refactor also led to allowing scales of various sizes (making chromatic possible, finally!). Lastly, supporting iPhone meant supporting smaller screens, which inspired most of the usability improvements.

Regarding the Home Indicator, the best way I found to handle that was to just make it go away completely! And the only way to do that is with Guided Access. Not only does Guided Access remove the Home Indicator, but as you may know (I had no idea!), it also disables all other OS edge gestures, essentially isolating your app from the OS. So no more accidentally swiping the control center or notifications! For me, for the way I use iOS to make music (one app per iPad), this is the absolute ideal configuration.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the update, it was a blast to work on :]

All the best,
Alexander


/ I'm hoping to post some mini tutorial videos on my new Fugue Machine accounts. If interested...
@fugue_machine on Instagram
@FugueMachine on Twitter
1.4.1
2017-11-29
// ======================
// BUG FIXES

SYSTEM SETTINGS SAVE ISSUES
In some cases, system settings were not saved between sessions. This may have caused the welcome screen to show or midi routings to reset on each launch. Resolved now.

// ======================
// ABOUT THIS UPDATE

Just a quick bug fix :]

Also, I'm still hard at work on my new project (13+ months now!). I've never worked on anything for so long... and I'm still super excited about it :] Check my twitter (@alexandernaut) for a short teaser.

Anyway, thanks again for your support, and please let me know if anything comes up.

All the best,
Alexander
1.4.0
2017-04-03
// =================================
// NEW FEATURES

PATTERN BACKUP/EXPORTING IMPROVEMENTS
It's now much easier to backup and export your Pattern Libraries.

First, the Backups Menu is now located inside the Pattern Menu — much more convenient than before (buried in settings). To check it out, go to More Menu > Patterns > Backups. (The Backups button is in the lower right corner).

In the Backups Menu, each Backup File now has a share button on the right side — allowing you to send the Backup File to other devices with Airdrop, over email, and more.

// =================================
// BUG FIXES

PROGRAM CHANGES NOT SENT TO 'ALL PLAYHEADS' DESTINATION
If enabled, MIDI Program Changes would not be sent to the 'All Playheads' MIDI Destination. Fixed now.


// =================================
// ABOUT THIS UPDATE

I've been meaning to update the file system for a while now — to make it more robust and easier to backup/export — and after the recent update to 1.3.0, I thought I should just finally do it.

Anyway, I hope you find the update useful, and please reach out if anything comes up. Also, a huge thank you to all the beta testers who helped ensure this file system transition will be as smooth as possible :]

All the best,
Alexander
1.3.0
2017-03-22
NEW FEATURES...

PER-PLAYHEAD MIDI 'DESTINATIONS'
You can now route each playhead to any MIDI Destination and MIDI Channel — the previous version only allowed routing by MIDI Channel. This makes it much easier to send each playhead to a different app or MIDI Port.

Check out Settings > Midi Output Settings, and notice that each Playhead (1-4) now has its own setting. There's also an 'All Playheads' setting for convenience.


SYNTH ENABLED SETTING*
There's now a setting to explicitly set the built-in synth on and off, allowing Fugue Machine to send MIDI and control the built-in synth simultaneously. Go to Settings > Synthesizer Settings.

*Synthesizing sound is expensive! So if you're only using Fugue Machine as a MIDI sequencer, set Synth Enabled to OFF to save CPU resources.


AUDIOBUS 3 MIDI SUPPORT
Audiobus 3 brings MIDI support to Audiobus, and Fugue Machine is good to go :]


AUDIOBUS STATE SAVING SUPPORT
Fugue Machine now supports State Saving in Audiobus, making it possible to save/manage Fugue Machine patterns via Audiobus.


BUG FIXES...

EXITING APP NOW PROPERLY FLUSHES MIDI NOTES
In previous versions, if you exited the app while Fugue Machine was running, there was a chance some MIDI Notes wouldn't be turned off. Not a huge deal, but it's fixed now.


SPECIAL NOTES...

ABOUT THIS UPDATE
Although this is a relatively minor update, getting the MIDI Destinations to route properly was surprisingly tricky! I wanted it to be foolproof... which required a system to ensure that redundant MIDI data would be filtered out.

Basically, thanks to this system, you can set the playheads to any Destination / Channel combination, and not have to worry about a connected MIDI device receiving duplicated MIDI messages. Yeee :]


A NEW THING... PERHAPS
I'm currently working around the clock (for 5+ months now!) on something new, and... I couldn't be more excited about it :]


THANKS (AGAIN!)
And yes! Thanks again for your support with Fugue Machine... the new thing I mentioned above would otherwise not be possible.

Ok! Please reach out if anything comes up, and also... if you can... (and I hate asking)... please consider rating/re-rating the app on the App Store :]

All the best,
Alexander
1.2.0
2016-03-14
NEW FEATURES

PER-PLAYHEAD MIDI ROUTING!
You can now independently route each playhead to any MIDI Channel, allowing the playheads to control separate apps or MIDI devices. Go to Settings > Midi Output Settings > Output Channels for more info.

FASTER, STRONGER, MORE PUNCTUAL
Thanks to a complete rewrite of the sequencer code (I obsessed over this for far too long), Fugue Machine is now about 4 times faster and MIDI timing is now as tight as computationally possible. Very proud of this :]

SEND MIDI PROGRAM CHANGES
You can now (optionally) send MIDI Program Changes to the MIDI Destination when you change patterns. When enabled, there will be a "PC" button next to each pattern in the PATTERNS Menu. When you press this button, the pattern will change and a Program Change Message will be sent to the MIDI Destination. Go to Settings > MIDI Output Settings > Send Program Changes.

ABLETON LINK OFFSET SETTING
When Ableton Link is enabled, you now have millisecond control over phase offset — allowing you to compensate for potential audio and midi latency introduced by your setup. Go to Settings > Ableton Link Settings > Offset for more info.

NEW ALBUM: LIVE SETS
I've added another album to the Music section! It only has one recording at the moment — a live set I performed with Fugue Machine and Patterning controlling a bunch of hardware synthesizers — but more will be added soon.

BUG FIXES

EDITING NOTE + PATTERN CHANGE BUG
If you loaded a pattern while editing a note on the piano roll (yes, a corner case's corner case), you'd find yourself controlling the loaded patterns selected notes. This was weird, and doesn't happen anymore.

LAUNCH FROM IAA HOST BUG
Fugue Machine would hang when being launched from an Inter-App Audio host, requiring you to open it before adding it to your IAA session. Fixed now :]

SPECIAL NOTES

ABOUT THIS UPDATE
This version may not seem like a huge update, but it’s actually the result of 2 months of full time work! Long story short, I completely rewrote the sequencer engine… ahhh!

This was necessary for a couple reasons. First, my conscience. I can now sleep better knowing how clean the code is. Second, and more importantly, this update paves the way for some super cool updates I plan to work on in the near future :]

Anyway, thanks so much for your continued interest and support, and please reach out if anything comes up.

All the best,
Alexander
1.1
2015-12-17
NEW FEATURES

ABLETON LINK SUPPORT!
Ableton Link is a new technology that synchronizes beat, phase and tempo of Ableton Live and Link-enabled iOS apps over a wireless network. It's awesome. Go to Settings > Ableton Link Settings for more info.

GLOBAL QUANTIZATION SETTING
You can now set Fugue Machine's Global Quantization, the musical time required for changes in the app to occur. Previously, this is was locked at eighth notes. Go to Settings > Sequencer Settings > Global Quantization for more info.

BUG FIXES

MIDI START MESSAGE BUG
When synchronizing to MIDI Clock from an external MIDI Source, and Start Message Offset was greater than 0, Fugue Machine would start playing notes even if the Play button wasn't engaged. That was bad. Fixed now.

FREE ALBUM DOWNLOAD BUG
If you're on iOS 9 and tried to download one of my two albums (Songs for Fugue Machine and Songs for Arpeggionome), the system failed to send the email! It works now, my apologies.

SPECIAL NOTES

PER-PLAYHEAD MIDI ROUTING
Per-playhead MIDI routing is almost complete! I promise :]

THANK YOU!
Early support for Fugue Machine has been absolutely incredible. Thanks so much for your interest and please be in touch if you have any questions, feedback, feature requests, etc..

All the best,
Alexander

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Ratings

4.9 out of 5
557 Ratings

Reviews

mechascorpio,
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!)
MarLunk,
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
Conticreative,
Easily a 6 stars out of 5
This is a brilliant instrument. Yes it’s a sequencer, but I see it more as a instrument and a composing tool.

The only wish I have is the ability to see the notes names somewhere. It’s easy to get lost playing it and hit a less than pleasant combo. That would go away in part if we could see the notes names or the chords/scales someplace in the interface.

Another wish would be the ability to play patterns manually, as opposed to having to clutter the screen with not just a menu, but a submenu.

Having 4 to 8 buttons to assign patterns to would rock. Literally. Even if it means squeezing the interface a bit. Maybe an overlay? I am already doing this using the submenu, but it occluded the screen for any other work.

By the way, I have the most fun with it driving my computer midi over WiFi. There is something magical in holding an iPad in your hands and hear sound out of your speakers. Recording the patterns is pretty easy too and the results rival or better dedicated midi arpeggiators. This is simpler and more versatile.

Great job.
drag2,
Such a good idea
What I love: making things I might not have thought of, guiding it in a way that isn’t arbitrary and doesn’t have to have the blandness that other “inspiration tools” might have.

What I want: exporting MIDI files. I like to make things on the phone and then open them in my DAW (which is not Ableton) and it seems like a no-brainer to include this option.

Also, more sounds. Not a whole synth necessarily, but some more options.

And most importantly: when a playhead is going in reverse it acts like a tape playhead would and triggers the note at its note-off. I would find it more useful musically if I at least had the option of it triggering the note at its note-on position on the timeline when playing in reverse. (When I superimposed a 16th note figure in reverse over a quarter note figure, since the original notes were all 16th in length, the reverse sequence sounded early. Could I get it to do something different by changing note lengths? Yes, but I liked the original notes as they were.
dysamoria,
Fantastic Composition Tool
Fugue Machine is a fantastic composition tool. It’s also apparently a great live performance tool, according to some videos I’ve seen, but that’s not how I use it. I mostly play with the built-in synth for a while and then use the four MIDI outputs to control other synths, either on my iPad Pro or externally.

There are some things I don’t find ideal about the GUI, but it seems that it’s going to stay as it is. My five star rating is in spite of those shortcomings, because what this tool allows me to do is completely unique among all my tools, AND I can operate it with ease (and I have not encountered bugs).

Highly recommended for musicians!
LinearLineman,
Much More Than Meets The Eye!
Hi Alexander. I wanted to personally thank you for your wonderful invention. I have avoided this type of tool until now because I did not realize that something like FM could be used as an improvising instrument. But I got curious when it was recently on sale... and, wow, what an awesome surprise! As I explored the various parameters (some seemingly benign ones like “Start”) I realized I could do much more than just generate some patterns. The control of pitch, tempo, octave, direction, in and out of playheads all engaged me in a progressive, real-time creative experience that I had never had before.

The capability of recording the four individual playheads was a tremendous asset in creating finished mixes, allowing me to orchestrate the real time improvisations as true modern classical or ambient finished tracks.

As a jazz improvisor breaking the bounds of my own concepts has always been paramount. FM allowed me to do that in a brand new way. So, thank you so much for making FM! BRAVO!!

TOTALLY RECOMMEND THIS AMAZING TOOL!
Eriptron,
1.5.11 Update greatly improved! 🤓👍
Update: The piano roll works like a dream now. Still nothing on the App Store like Fugue Machine. It’s a lot of fun to play with!

——
l saw the latest big app update and loaded it. Still checking it out but things seem a lot better now! Thanks to the developer and also for their response! Many developers won’t do that. Plus 2 stars! 🤓👍
——
Kills creativity with the worst Piano roll editor I’ve ever touched! Terrible! It’s a nightmare! Auuuughhhh!! 🤬 Working with the notes, being physically way too small, and you can’t zoom the piano roll at all, I spend 9/10 of the time ‘fighting’ with the note editor and cleaning up mistakes. Auugh Auugh! It’s an instrument wanna-be. You can’t even position the play head/s! All you can do is start/pause them and start over?! It’s a really cool idea done poorly. Obviously all these 5-Star reviews haven’t really tried using the app because it’s user interface is so restrictive. It’s an exercise in tedium... (Oh, on 1G iPad Pro)
Gunther Becker,
As amazing as they say...
Perhaps even more so. This is one of the most brilliant pieces of software I have used on any platform.

With the recent updates, this app has further blown my mind and become even more fun to use. Improvements to the MIDI - routing of each of the four playheads have also made the app even more user friendly. If you even dabble in ios music making, you need Fugue Machine in your life. If you are a serious iOS music maker you already have this on you iPad and already know the genius of it.

Alex - thank you for all the amazing work you've been putting into this app.
levincoolxyz,
Such a unique composing tool
As an amateur pianist coming into composing recently this app is a godsend! Only wishes are: 1) if there’s a way to omit certain parts or notes for different voices while also not cluttering the UI. Now I can do this for two groups of voices by manipulating the velocity values. 2) I think for the knobs it could be easier to use if the typical convention of only relative (up down) movements are used to change the values. It gets tricky sometimes try to turn it to a specific angle. 3) it would be even more awesome if user can put in their custom scales!
.Alucard,
Amazing, but outdated
Alckemy here.

This little device has become a major staple in mobile sound design and idea crafting inside of Drambo.

A multi playhead sequencer is almost like having a “bach” button that creates super inspiring progressions and sequences and is highly usable.

I’m its current state it’s already awesome, but I do think some updates are in need as I don’t think the app has been patched… ever?

I don’t need much, just the ability to set the playback mode to a hz rate, nudge the notes off grid, and some tweaks to copy/paste as it does not work for me outside standalone.

On that note, it’s weird you can’t save or pull up presets while using it in plug-in mode, although it will remember the state if you save the entire rack in either drambo or Aum.

I wish this app existed in bitwig or as a plug-in for the computer. It’s mad handy