MikroWave

igorski.nl

About this app

Getting to the point straightaway: MikroWave is in essence a "groovebox", a self-contained instrument where multiple sound sources (synthesizers and a single drum machine) are controlled by a sequencer with parameter and effects controls, to allow a musician to rapidly construct and control a pattern-based musical sequence.

If this description boggles you, having a look at the video demonstration should clear things up.

Well suited for quickly sketching out your musical ideas when on the move, patterns can be created in the sixteen step sequencer, with no limit to the amount of bars your composition requires. Apart from the basic waveforms there is also a secondary oscillator which can be routed to different targets for harmonically enriching your initial sounds. You can shape the basic palette from friendly cheesy 80s trumpets via stuttering robots to totally unlistene-able sonic mayhem. If anything, you can sure annoy people on the bus.

For further improvisation there is a multi-touch keyboard allowing you to play along with the sequencer for quickly testing new ideas. When you're pressed for time, you can save a song in progress and return to it later for finishing your idea, or plainly reliving your initial enthusiasm when creating that bubbly, acid bassline over that funky beat you had a brilliant destination for.

Apart from working from your mobile device, your songs can be exported in WAV format, uploaded to SoundCloud for direct sharing, or you can export your songs as MIDI data so you can continue work on your desktop computer / other hardware devices. You can also record a live performance directly onto your device.

MikroWave is actively being updated, so keep your eyes peeled for notifications to be sure you're getting all the latest features. You may also aid development by leaving suggestions and sharing your ideas on the website.

Just to be clear: MikroWave doesn't rely on samples for sound generation, but actually synthesizes sound. For best performance your device should run Jelly Bean (Android 4.2) though it should run fine on any recent device.

Required permissions:
Read / write from external storage / SD card. This is used for exporting your songs as audio / MIDI and for recording audio output.

Internet access. Used for both accessing the online manual and for direct uploading of your material to SoundCloud.

When in doubt, MikroWave is also available as a FREE version, note that saving of songs is disabled in this version.

More information, development updates and video examples can be found on the project page : http://www.igorski.nl/mikrowave

Ratings and reviews

This app looks and seems awesome. It's a shame that it seems to be abandoned.. the UI on my galaxy S9 (not exactly the newest phone on the market) is cut off at the bottom and I cannot get it to fit the screen. If I could I would use this app literally all the time.

You will have some fun with this app. It's solid enough and creates some interesting sounds. Looks very nice and haven't encountered an problems. What does let it down though, is the sound of the drums. Especially the bass drum, it's not at all strong enough

Used to like this app but for some reason, the keyboard disappears once you go into & out of it again. Once you've played about with the keyboard on one synth, the option to do the same on the other synths is taken away!

What's new

No functional updates other than adding support for newest Android versions.
Removed confusing overlay permissions request.