Welcome to Tabletop: Meet the Drum Deranger

It's time for the second edition in our ongoing "Device Spotlight" blog series and this one comes in conjunction with a very special announcement: the Tabletop app itself is now FREE!!

With this change in price, we're hoping that lots of iPad owners who weren't totally sure if Tabletop was right for them will now have the opportunity to try it out and see first-hand what all the excitement is about! And to ensure that everyone has a good time playing with Tabletop from the first time they open the app, we're still including all the same devices that have always been included in the purchase price.

For users who are having a great time with the included devices and want to see what other possibilities Tabletop offers, we think a great place to start is with the XOX Drum Deranger, available for only $4.99 in the Tabletop Store. The Drum Deranger is a step-sequenced drum machine that creates eight track drum patterns. Probably the most exciting part of this, and what sets the XOX apart from many other Tabletop devices is that it's a step-sequenced machine, meaning that you simply create a pattern using the on-screen "step" buttons and it plays back in perfect rhythm. It's a great way to get started with songwriting, since you can quickly lay down a basic framework for your song, and then build on it by some of the more expressive devices effects available in Tabletop.

A few very important things to know about the XOX Drum Deranger like a pro!

1) There are eight buttons available to store different drum "patterns" and you can easily cut/paste between these in order to create many different variations of the same basic rhythm for use in different parts of your song.

2) There are dozens of different sample presets available from amazing artists like Oh No, Sasqwax, and +verb for you to explore by clicking the "Load" button. Try creating a pattern using one preset & then switch to another to see how it sounds. Note that you can also mix and match samples from different presets, or even import your own sounds from iTunes or AudioCopy by using the "Load Sample" button and then save your own 8-track preset using the "Save" button.

3) You can affect the way each drum sample sounds by modifying five different parameters (Distort, Length, Balance, Pitch and Level). These can be adjusted individually for each "step" in your pattern by swiping your finger up or down on the slider above each step button, or you can change them all at once by using the "Master Param" wheel.

4) Tracks 1–4 have dedicated outputs. If you have a particular drum sound that needs additional processing (e.g. Echo or Reverb) you can attach the necessary effects using these outputs. By default, all tracks are played through the XOX Drum Deranger’s Master output, but using any of the dedicated outputs removes that track from the Master output.

If you'd like to see the XOX in action, just check out the track "Buckle Up" which was used as the soundtrack to the Tabletop 1.3 launch video:

So now that you know a bit more about the XOX Drum Deranger, let's see what you can do with it. Post your Tabletop setups and tracks to the SoundCloud group, and let us know in the comments or on Facebook and Twitter what else you'd like to know about this device, or if you have a request for future editions of the Device Spotlight!