Who says you can’t create production-quality music on a mobile tablet? I was able to create the music track below using the Launchpad app on my iPad.

The app itself is free. It includes eight sound packs, and you can purchase additional sound packs for various genres of music. There’s also a Pro Features add-on that lets you import your own sounds. Once you’ve loaded in a set of sampled sounds, you can play them using a grid of color-coded buttons. The app provides a virtual set of guardrails to ensure that the sounds are in the same key and properly timed (for a suitable in-sync entry and exit).

I’ve found that the best strategy is to spend a short amount of time getting a feel for where the sounds are located (button-wise) and how they might possibly jell together. Then jump right in and improvise a tune knowing you can always start over again. When everything clicks, the result can be quite extraordinary.