Beakmaker is moving me.

File this under the category of “what’s moving me.” I recently picked up Beatmaker by Intua for my iPhone and shelled out a very fair $20 for this app. What? $20 for an app? All I can say is that I’m tired of duplicate, half-realized, shoddy applications. I’ve been looking for (1) something actually worthy to use the power of the iPhone and (2) something that will satiate my craving to be a DJ / closet electronica creator. This is a good start. Intua’s site has a lot more info. If you’re looking for a cool 16 channel step sequencer with live recording, multiple trigger pads, 2 effects channels… oh and you’d like for it to fit on your phone… this is the program you’ve been after.

You can use Wifi to load your own samples into it and export full sequences. In practicality that does take a little time. It also ships with quite a few kits already assembled. A kit contains 16 samples which range from solo drum and snare hits to full 4-8 bar loops, sound bytes, and instrument sounds. It’s just a lot of fun. I may have even found myself driving down the road, iPhone plugged in to the stereo, making my own driving soundtrack.

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My prediction, call it a theory: in 2-3 years you’ll find groups of four dudes on a street corner in NYC. They’ll have iPhones running several versions of a similar program. Bluetooth will MIDI sync their tempo together. They’ll have a master system to “dock in” their audio. One guy’s triggering loops, one has a synth, the other two are scratching and operating a digital instrument we’ve never even heard of before. There’s a live MC, and they’re creating music that’s part digital and part organic due to the tactile interface.

And why will this happen? Because everyone carries a phone, the iPhone is $200. The apps will be in the sub-$50 range, much cheaper than something like Reason (maybe they should get in on this). Portable and accessible. It will open up creative avenues we’ve never even considered. Can’t wait.