Groove Rider GR-16

Let me preface this by saying that I’m a guitarist. I have other hardware and a MacBook. Not using my MacBook much. I have Bitwig and Ableton. But I reach for my iPad because GR is FUN. It’s simple enough that it works without needing a manual. But when you do read it, you realize this is fairly flexible and can get as complex as you want. Yes, I bought all of Dimitri’s apps 🇺🇦! The GR2 is nuts. And you can import your own sounds. Love the Acid and Poison sounds too. The drum machines are right there. Sometimes it sounds like the ‘80s, sometimes Radiohead. FYI, if you have a Fishman Triple Play MIDI pickup for your guitar, it’s plug and play. No lag. You’ll get stares when you launch clips and start ripping bass synth lines on an accustic guitar. You’ve gotta try it.

I was initially upset when I bought this because I forgot to purchase this yesterday for Black Friday (my own fault, you snooze you lose). I really wanted to try it however, caved, and bought it for double the discount price. And you know what... it was worth every, single, cent and then some. I can already tell that this is the greatest purchase Ive made in terms of music production software on iOS and I’ve bought a LOT. Nothing has been able to take the number one spot, Fugue, until now. I love electronic music and this is one of those tools that just “resonates” with me as I use it and you get into the zone with near instant gratification of your musical ideas. Wow. This is special. Just buy it. The developer deserves more than the regular price and I’m glad I actually paid full. My only regret now is that I didn’t discover it sooner.

This app is utterly fabulous, and this developer is amazingly responsive. Feature after feature has been added every week. Groove Rider 16 is a groove box. And it is so feature rich, well designed, and just plain fun to use that I can’t put it down. All my iOS DAWs seem like work rather than play. This is mainly designed around 4-bar patterns, so take the reviews saying this is a full fledged music production system, the best DAW ever, etc. Sure, you can make songs by chaining patterns together, and can export patterns into DAWs, but it’s main attraction for me is as a quick and fun jammin’ idea powerhouse. That said, it has HUGE power under the hood. A good library of samples included, the ability to import your own, and a surprisingly good synth, that is super-basic, but able to dial in great sounds in a fraction of the time I spend messing around with full synth apps. Did I say synth ... I mean up to 16 of them if you want. At the very least, consider this an introduction into the best features of high-end hardware groove boxes at a tiny fraction of the cost. If it doesn’t gel with you ... then you just saved yourself hundreds of dollars on hardware, cause you won’t like it either.