The Project File

There are a number of mobile music apps that let you mix etc on mobile, and _generally_ at low quality with a limited palette of sounds and fx. But even if they can work at higher quality, the really big and basic problem here for most musicians is that this mobile-made music is isolated - it is not part of a bigger work flow, a "Project" file.

More to Think About...

Mobile music apps generally allow on-device recordings of a project to be made. Some apps allow these recordings to be transfered to the PC for later use. But, when it comes to the work in progress itself, the project file, even if this can be copied to the PC, it is in effect forever stuck in mobile land as there is no desktop version of the software - that's a big issue for musicians who also use computers.

The reason is that when it comes to music making, the Sequencer is the mothership of creation. Everything happens there: huge numbers of tracks with an enormous range of (often purchased) plugins for FX, synths, editors - and loops. Learning to use one of these is like learning a language; it is also often a big investment in cash and time.

So, if you are going to be making content while you are out and about, you will want to make sure that you can plug your project file right in to your Sequencer when you get home: a mobile music making app should at least attempt to suit your workflow.

Mixtikl variants & the '.mixtikl' Project file solve key problems here.

Mobile < > PC: Your Platform Choices

If you're wanting to work solo, then you will be concerned about YOUR phone & apps that work OK on that. You may decide you want to transfer your mix files & content (Projects) between your phone & your PC (if you have one) so as to carry on your creative process there.

If you're aiming for the big stage, then another thing to consider is how to finalise your mobile Project to a high quality recording: it is really best to mix it down (on a PC) in your favourite music sequencer using your preferred FX, and then mastered to a final recording.

If you want to experiment with community participation or create music in a more social way (like a band), you must be able to share Projects (and not just final non-editable recordings, e.g. like pictures or video clips) across a wide range of devices. The reason is that your collaborators might have a Win XP or MaC OS PC, or a Windows Mobile Phone/PDA, Symbian Smartphone or a Linux phone etc.

Mixtikl give you more options.