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• Review

Mixtikl 2 is a multi-platform program that attempts to bring some of the spontaneous song construction of apps like Ableton Live and Sony Acid Pro to the world of generative music. It comes in Windows and OS X desktop varieties (standalone, AU and VST), as apps for iPhone and Windows Mobile, and you can even run it in your web browser using a plug-in.

Here, we're reviewing the Mixtikl 2 Bundle (act fast and you can pick it up for the introductory price of $40), which includes the desktop and WiMo versions along with three extra 'Tiklpaks' of content. We'll also put the iPhone version through its paces.

Overview

The basic premise is thus: drop the musical elements you like onto a matrix and hit play - the result is a piece of music generated in real time that you can twist and tweak to your own personal style. Before you get to that point, however, you have to wrestle with one of the most bewildering user interfaces we've ever encountered.

Whichever version you use, you get exactly the same interface, the same constrained list of options, and the same tiny flickering symbols and scrolling text. This isn't something you'll want to try on your 30"-inch Apple Cinema HD Display, which may even keep Mr Eno from joining the party.

Fortunately, the standalone desktop version (but not the VST or AU plug-in) can double in size. But even then, it's still difficult to navigate through lists, go backwards or forwards in the file navigator, create a new patch, save an old one and work out what goes where. We appreciate that compromises have to be made to produce an app that works on so many platforms, but this particular interface is fundamentally flawed.

If you can get past these serious problems, though, you'll find Mixtikl to be a generative powerhouse. Upon opening the app, you're greeted with a list of 'applications' (as Mixtikl's confusing terminology would have it) and the Mixer app enables you to combine audio and generative components to create music. It's what Mixtikl is built for, and it also houses the screen you'll spend most of your time on: a grid with 12 horizontal tracks, where you sequence elements and add real-time effects to create a new mix of generative music.

In detail

Each horizontal track has a central row of four blocks, each of which can hold either an audio loop, a General MIDI sound generator or a synth sound. The notes used to generate the sounds of the last two are embedded within each patch, and you'll need the accompanying Noatikl software if you want to design generative music from square one. Mixtikl's approach is more immediate, letting you place blocks of sounds alongside one another without worrying too much about how they were made.