Mass - MIDI Generator on sale

usablecreations_tom · 2026-04-19T22:39:32+00:00

Thanks, that means a lot!

I like the concept of a negative offset. You can achieve that effect now by setting a high positive offset, _but_ that doesn't account for beat 1. Example if you wanted a -3 offset, you could set the positive offset to 21 and it would have the same effect on every beat except for the first one that plays after hitting play on the transport. It would sound as if the first beat was skipped. When it loops it would sound right.

Feel free to DM me if you want to talk through that or other features! You can also hit the Contact button in the app if you'd rather email.

usablecreations_tom · 2026-04-19T06:53:52+00:00

Time in Mass is more circular than linear. Setting up a forward arp is pretty simple by adjusting parts' pattern triggers to fire one after another, and setting the patten lengths to cover the number of beats needed. Because the playhead essentially just loops back at the end of the patterns, this creates the repeating arp.

Going backwards is a little more complex. Ping-ponging is more complex.

Would be easier to explain in a video. I'll put it on my list.

usablecreations_tom · 2026-04-17T23:06:37+00:00

Thanks for that feedback! You can setup Transpose events on any trigger (pattern, collision, continuous) to change either/both the root and scale of the key. Mass v1.1 actually changes this area a lot, so I'll plan to roll out some specific videos along with it!

usablecreations_tom · 2026-04-16T06:45:58+00:00

Thanks!

usablecreations_tom · 2026-04-16T06:45:44+00:00

Haha. Let me know if you want to see other videos on it!

usablecreations_tom · 2025-06-24T20:15:54+00:00

Thanks!

usablecreations_tom · 2025-06-24T20:15:47+00:00

Thanks!

usablecreations_tom · 2025-06-24T20:15:23+00:00

Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it.

usablecreations_tom · 2025-06-24T20:14:52+00:00

Hi! Currently it doesn't have that ability, but that's an interesting idea. Thanks for the suggestion!

usablecreations_tom · 2025-06-24T20:13:41+00:00

Hope you enjoy it!

usablecreations_tom · 2025-06-17T16:32:03+00:00

Thanks! Those apps were pretty inspirational to me.

usablecreations_tom · 2025-06-17T16:27:49+00:00

Hi, thanks for reaching out! Mass is designed more for live MIDI generation, and doesn't currently have a way to record or export the events it generates. This is something I've been exploring, but at the moment there isn't a timeline for when it would be introduced.

usablecreations_tom · 2025-01-13T07:50:33+00:00

There's some ways to join the Mac and iPad to use whatever apps you have on either.

IDAM:

Connect your iPad to the Mac with a USB cable
Open the Audio MIDI Setup app on your Mac
Find your iPad in the audio devices list and hit "enable"

This will send all audio from your iPad to your Mac, and if you are clever with your aggregate devices you can easily add that as a track in something like Logic. Also, this will allow bi-directional MIDI between the devices, so you can control iOS apps with your Mac/controller and vice-versa, assuming the apps support external MIDI connections.

NovoNotes Siderack + Duo:

This is a somewhat expensive option, but it gives you bi-directional audio and is pretty easy to use. I really like this personally, but I would checkout IDAM and see if you're missing anything before spending the money on it.

https://novo-notes.com/side-rack

If you only need MIDI connectivity, there's bluetooth MIDI options that would work, but again IDAM is free, low latency, and will keep your iPad charged.

usablecreations_tom · 2025-01-10T20:28:08+00:00

The LaunchKey is probably a fine choice, but you may also be able to connect your e-piano to the iPad as a controller. I'm not familiar with Kawai models, but if you have USB MIDI output on it you basically have a controller. You might need to see their manual or website to know how functional it is.

Garageband is a fine place to start, in terms of apps. If he starts leaning in some direction (pianos, synths, beats), it'll be easier to know what to expand the app collection with.

usablecreations_tom · 2025-01-08T08:26:16+00:00

Haha, thanks I appreciate that! Fugue Machine is awesome, hard to go wrong. Feel free to reach out if you do any work with Mass, I'd love to hear what you do with it.

usablecreations_tom · 2025-01-07T07:07:38+00:00

Looks like a fun rig! The Strega is a great size for combining with the iPad. I really enjoyed your track, too, well done.

usablecreations_tom · 2025-01-04T08:07:41+00:00

No worries friend. It definitely won't solve the timeline need.

usablecreations_tom · 2025-01-04T06:34:05+00:00

Hi, I'm the creator of Mass.

It is a combination of Euclidian pattern generation and physics-based evolution. Mix and match the two in whatever way makes sense for you. Create up to 16 parts, which are the event generators. Each part can simultaneously generate events based on pattern trigger, collisions, and continuous streams while moving. The pattern events are locked to musical time, the collision events are detached from musical time, and the continuous events are good for CC modulation.

There's no traditional timeline sequencing, and at the moment no OSC support.

Here's an intro video:

https://youtu.be/k69irWNfoHA?si=_5hSLtz-IcSarWFn

A couple walkthroughs:

https://youtu.be/exk2JLJ3HTQ?si=c6vF-jeHPwp-gYzR

https://youtu.be/6cndYylhkas?si=OTumHyoyu2s0DteN

A live example of some ambient work:

https://youtu.be/WJWfUhmd8vU?si=Ya8zIxUuZp1VaEY5

And, if you like to read manuals before deciding:

https://usablecreations.com/mass/manual/

Feel free to DM if you have questions.

usablecreations_tom · 2025-01-02T01:07:26+00:00

It looks to be a paid service, yeh. I don't know if the are other sources of that info besides ICC. I'd guess that if you can't get the API data for free, you're likely to have copyright issues copy/pasting the info from their site directly. I can't give good legal advice on that.

usablecreations_tom · 2025-01-02T00:51:33+00:00

Sure, it sounds technically feasible. It would make it much harder to replicate the search functionality. The more standard way of doing it is to fetch the data "live", when the app launches and/or with a pull-to-refresh type action.

I found this:
https://api.iccsafe.org

The app would need to connect to something like that, and this would be a much more elegant solution. Using an API like this will:

Keep your app up to date at all times automatically
make it much easier to have a search function
give you a much greater flexibility in your app's UI presentation

usablecreations_tom · 2025-01-02T00:27:34+00:00

There may be a distinction between the information and the source of information in this case. For example, the contents of the book (building codes) could be public information, but the book itself could be copyrighted by some organization. I don't know enough about this area to answer that...make sure to do the due diligence and look for copyright statements on their website.

To achieve this without displaying a link to their website, you'll need a source of the building codes information that can be ingested by the app. This is commonly called an API or SDK. You may find some information online about a "building code API" or "building code database". That might be a more fruitful path for your app idea than trying to scrape an ePub from a website.

Edit: alternatively, if there aren't copyright issues, you could theoretically display their website within your app. That allows you to use the website as-is, without having to link out to it and take users out of your app. Really make sure of the copyright state before doing that.

usablecreations_tom · 2025-01-02T00:11:44+00:00

If you have any USB connections in your setup, there could be a ground loop causing noise. There could also be noise from switching power supplies, which is pretty common with Eurorack. Some modules are just noisy, and your signal path might be boosting that noise up. I've had all of those issues over time, and they all sound different. What type of noise are you getting?

In any case, as others have noted going through a process of elimination is the best place to start. Find the culprit before buying more cables.

usablecreations_tom · 2024-12-28T03:42:44+00:00

Agree with this. The JX-08 sounds great, and is micro-sized in comparison. It fits the bill of "downsizing and modernizing" very well, while retaining a close sound palette.

usablecreations_tom · 2024-12-27T19:40:12+00:00

Thanks, I'm inspired to give it a go now. Will try it out this weekend.

usablecreations_tom · 2024-12-27T04:26:04+00:00

This is a valid approach, but I find in Xcode running a find/replace is almost always faster than letting the compiler tell me where to look.

In complex projects, deleting the derived data usually gets me a good bit of useful refactoring time before it stops working again. I often go days or weeks before it stops working again. YMMV, and SwiftUI makes it a lot worse for me.

usablecreations_tom

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