Galactica HD

I’ve provided three new instrumental tracks for Galactica HD, an iPad version of Galactica, written by my friend Robin Charlton and originally released on the iPhone last year.

“The sort of app the iPhone was made for.” 148 Apps

In addition to all of the features of the original iPhone version, the iPad version supports VGA output, and an auto-play mode that lets you sit back and enjoy the trippy visuals without even straining an index finger. There’s also an option to download the three tracks from the iPhone version.

I enjoyed the challenge of writing music for this app again. There’s a specific feel it seems to demand – spacious (well, duh, it’s in space) but with a quiet energy as well, a sense that something big is going to happen. I don’t think I’d have created these tracks without that purpose to aim for.

It also gave me an excuse to play with some new toys, as I’d just taken delivery of Native Instruments “Komplete 7”, an overwhelming feast of synthesisers, sample libraries and effects.

That leads to me to reason #769 for loving my iPad: I’ve transferred all the documentation for Komplete 7 onto iBooks. As is common with most software these days, the documentation is provided as PDFs. This is just as well with Komplete 7, as I would need to build a new extension onto my house if they were physical copies. Viewing PDF documentation has always been a bit of a pain on laptop though, as typically the document obscures the actual software you’re working on. Having the documents alongside on an iPad makes the whole process workable at last. I strongly recommend considering getting one if you use a lot of documentation. End of commercial.