Outgrowth - Sample Instrument

I love the overall sound and immediacy of this instrument. Creating custom multi-sample-based soundscapes is quick and easy. Unfortunately, preset management is limited and the app doesn’t expose presets to the file system (either on the iPad or in iCloud). Deleting presets cause the plug-in to completely lock up nearly every time. Edit: working with the developer offline, he was able to quickly track down and solve the problems when deleting presets, and has some other interesting updates coming soon™ as well. :) 5-stars!

Outgrowth is the fourth app by one of my favorite developers. Aqeel Aadam has a way of creating both beautiful sounding, and beautifully simple, complex instruments, effects and generators. Outgrowth is a continuation on this theme. It allows some incredible ways to manipulate sound, but without overwhelming you with menus or too many options. You can quickly tune in sample modulation in a visual manner, in a way that augments your ears. I don’t know how else to say it, but he just has a way of making really deep sound and rhythm manipulation extraordinarily easy to access. I know this app will grow with me as I spend more time with it and that makes me really happy. I place this high on my list of totally worthwhile iOS music apps to own.

Import any sample and control it in a lot of unique ways. The granular and wavetable conversation of the sample allows for some great options. I especially love the modulation matrix and the options that it has. With the round Robbin selection of multiple samples and the modulation source ‘random per note’, a lot of natural sounding life can “outgrow” from your samples. I would give 5 stars if… 1) if it had an easy way to record in samples from the microphone or audio input instead of pointing to file locations 2) if it didn’t crash when you (X) out of a modulation option. As an example, when I assigned a mod source like ‘jitter’ to pitch, adjust a range, etc, then decide you don’t want that mod option, X it out and the program crashes- obviously this is a bug to work out… So the matrix works, but you have to load the init patch and start from scratch if you want to remove the mod source, or alternatively- you could bring that mod amount to zero and just move on. 3) both ‘jitter’ and LFO affect the sound globally (mind you, I am not using MPE mode and don’t know if that makes a difference) so if you play a chord, all notes of the chord move together in variation (pitch control being most obvious). Especially for the ‘jitter’, it would be nice to have this per voice rather than a global function. If these things were fixed or more obvious, I would give it a 5 because it really does sound great, but use your own samples and experiment! It is well worth it and I do highly recommend this app despite my gripes above. I do love the reverb happening before the amplifier- it is a nice effect that I could previously only do with modular synths.