Audiobus: Use your music apps together.
What is Audiobus? — Audiobus is an award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you use your other music apps together. Chain effects on your favourite synth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app like GarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface output for each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive a synth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDI keyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear. And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.
Download on the App StoreAudiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.
Comments
Morning! One of these days I'll beat you to the update announcement Morris haha.
Just to make sure its clear - update is now a Universal app - meanings its optimised for both iPad and iPhone in the same app. So if you already have the app, just re-download it onto your iPad and everything should be sweet. I've put the app on sale for $2.99 down from $8.99, so if you are interested and don't have it, now might be a fine time to go for it.
Full update details here:
If you've never heard of the app, here is a little video I made a few days ago showing it in action:
Also, someone posted in the iPad Musician group that if you access it via this link http://main.iosmars.com/wp-content/plugins/Ryans appstore/AppStore.php?appid=596628003 @Ryan gets a small chunk of Apples commission... so use that one I reckon !
Wow! This is special..........still getting my head around this.....processing.............!
.......still processing
Thanks, @JamMaestro for the update and the sale. As someone unfamiliar with this app, I have to say I found the How to make a Metal Song in 5 minutes video more instructive in regards to playing/using Jam Maestro. I'm still not sure I've got the skills necessary to realize the potential of this app.
Sweet...got it!
I am absolutely not a MIDI guy. But after some fun with Gadget and seeing the new JM3.0 video, I bought it (can't resist a good sale either). I have now officially been converted to a MIDI guy. There is just so much you can do with Jam Maestro, and so easily, I had to convert! Awesomeness!!!
@telecharge hehe yeah, that video is basically a condensed version of the 'how tf do I use this app' video that I made for V1... but that video went for 10 minutes long so I had to condense it into that how to make a metal song video
Definitely much better than that new V3 video I made in regards to learning how to use the app properly though, that new video is really just a demo of what it can do, rather than how to do it.
Pasted the video telecharge was talking about below if anyones interested.
@NoiseHorse yayyy
thats great feedback. To be honest I never appreciated what Midi can do before I started this update either, but its with the right implementation its powerful stuff!
@Mmmwahaha check out that video above if your brain is still processing btw
its informative.
This is a fantastic and generous upgrade. I've owned the app for a while and used it from time to time, but it is definitely going to get more play now.
(1) Thanks for providing all the guitar, bass and drum sounds
(2) The effects implementation is easy yet powerful with access to IAA effects. It's nice how you can select an effect, drop it in, drop it out. I like the dry/wet slider. Very easy to spice up the stock guitar and drum sounds.
(3) The easy integration of background synth apps via virtual MIDI makes great use of the controller interface. It's like a more guitar-ish version of Geosynth.
(4) I need to explore all the chord and scale options, which seem great for live jamming.
Your app has been great for some time, but it's at a new level now. I hope it gets the attention it deserves.
Thanks for your kind feedback @TrustButVerify !
Moving up in the US charts. At 31 in music catergory.
@JamMaestro - What a truly inventive and outstanding product! I was staying up to watch some late hockey games, and literally was half paying attention to them because I wanted to play with Jam Maestro some more. The presentation and pure imaginative thought that went into this thing from top to bottom is astounding - it could only have come from the type of person who really loves and understands guitars!
The implementation of "importing your own drum kits" in this app has to be the best I've ever seen. Not just the visual representation of a kick, tom, or snare on the screen (which is very satisfying), but the ability to do a group selection of a handful of instrument hits and import them all at once from DropBox.
I did have a few crashes while I was in the drum kits on my iPad2, but we'll see if that was an anomaly or a recurring thing. Outstanding work and thanks again!
@JamMaestro - Perhaps you are unaware that if people buy your app (or any app) via this website, then Audiobus gets a small chunk of Apple's commission.
@StormJH1 said:
Thanks for this super update! This app keeps going from strength to strength and it certainly is one of the best right now!
@mgmg4871 I've been refreshing appannie's chart rankings every 10 minutes watching it hehe.
@StormJH1 Thanks man! Means a lot that you can appreciate it on its deeper levels. Was it hard to pick up how to use the 'create your own drumkits' ? If you get any more crashes you can always send me the crash logs generated on your device, they're always helpful in diagnosing problems. (Guide on how to do that here: http://osxdaily.com/2012/08/07/get-crash-reports-logs-from-iphone-ipad/)
@MrNezumi Really! I had no idea. To be honest I didn't even know this commission thing was even possible before someone posted about it earlier. In that case feel free to get JM from within the AB app too so as to support AB.
Has anyone tried audiobus state saving with it yet? Here's something to get you started:
http://preset.audiob.us/YICBvbm0F99RNaC
Its the tab I used in that video I made recently. The start of guitar 2 is copied to guitar 7 so you can just mute guitar 7 and jam along and play that part yourself if you like (as I did in the video).
Something I noticed a few days ago btw (and something that was suggested to me by another too) is that it might be quite handy to be able to disabling the editing mode on fretboard in the tab screen so you can it like you can in the play screen (ie a button to toggle the editing on and off), as if you're trying to learn how to play something you need to be able to read the tab and play simultaneously to practice. I guess this is only useful if you're playing someone else's tab though and have no guitar around. Just a thought anyway.
ps. if any of you feel like putting your humbling feedback into AppStore reviews I'd greatly appreciate it
@paulb did you catch any crashes too?
Ipad 2 users can set higher buffer in options, you can also compress samples, if you have the space.
Sorry @JamMaestro that I didn't provide any feedback as a beta tester. I over-estimated the amount of time that I would have for this. You've created a truly wonderful app though. I did want to ask if you've considered adding a keyboard interface, given that you could now incorporate keyboards with IAA.
@funjunkie27 no problem at all
beta testers are under no obligation... and there will always be next time!
I would love to incorporate keyboards. As discussed with Morris though, there is the technical hurdle of how to display notes played by the keyboard in the tab that has to be overcome first. With guitar strings you have 6 channels (represented by 6 lines), as you cannot play more than 1 fret on each string at the same time. With piano you could potentially play 88 notes at the same time. There needs to be a sensible and intuitive way to program in piano notes in something as easy to understand as tab, that doesn't require 88 strings to do so
Thats just the tip of the problem but if you can think of any solutions I'd be most grateful. Where Morris and I got to when we had a discussion about it was have 12 or so channels and key notes are dynamically allocated to a channel as they are played, but then do you have to retroactively swap channels note are played on so they stay in hierarchal pitch order or what? Tricky....
Mmmm...I see the dilemma. My first thought was 10 channels, since we only have ten fingers, but knowing that one finger could cover more than one note, I think 12 makes more sense...plus that could open up a twelve string guitar model! In regards to the implementation though...that's a tougher nut to crack, but I'm sure that the user interface needs to be intuitive, regardless of how it's managed in the background.
I did download your preset, and that loaded everything as I would expect, however the AB sidebar seemed to be acting erratic. It would bounce between hiden and popped out. Have you seen that before?
That wasn't enough to detract from my 5 star rating though! Great app!
I would like to hear PaulB's take on implementing the keyboard in JM.
Hmm I have since that once before, but only once, and I managed to stop it by manually pulling it in and out and then switch in and out of the app I think. Possibly a quirk with the 2.0 beta SDK. Good to know the preset all loaded fine though.
The problem is notes ring out, so you could hold down the sustain pedal and run your finger down the entire piano, you would need a lot more than 12 channels if someone did that
In regards to your 12 string guitar comment though, don't worry, guitar strings are already dynamic in this version (I could change a few numbers and have an 88 string guitar if I wanted). They have to do be as the drums are now dynamic and can have any number of pads (but with an artificial/practical limit of 20 set). You wouldn't play 1 of the 12 strings on a 12-string guitar separately anyway though, it would still be a 6 channel affair and you'd mix the 2 complimenting strings together into the one channel (would be pretty impossible to play these strings separately in real life, even if you wanted to!).
Hi Dave, I tried that preset and got all bar one instances of Jam Maestro saying 'port unavailable'. I don't think it's the app, I've seen it a few times with some AB2 set ups. Not sure if I'm setting chains up incorrectly.
Anybody else experiencing 'port unavailable' messages and have an idea how to fix it? Thanks.
In-laws coming next week Closed headphones, Jam Maestro, random smile and nod, life is good.
I rebooted my iPad and the AB sidebar is working as it should now.
I see your point about playing individual strings on a twelve string. I was mainly interested in having a 12 string instrument to throw into the mix. If Guitarism supported IAA as an instrument (I don't think it does), that would be perfect.
Any chance of allowing the user to control the ring out time....like latching the chug?
No port unavail here @SpookyZoo.
@JamMaestro said:
I would be happy to provide a review on the App Store, and I'm a new user post-update, so that should show up!
Regarding the "crashes", I think @PaulB thought I was making a drumming pun. Haha. No, it was an actual crash or two. Nothing alarming, and I didn't notice any performance slowdown at all on the iPad2. However, if it continues to happen, I will refer to that link and send you a report.
I've done imported drum kits on other apps - DM-1 has it on iPad, and an under-appreciated universal app called EasyBeats 3 allows you to do it with AudioCopy/Paste into pads. I know that it's a feature in some recording programs too, like BeatMaker 2. But, man, it's nice to be able to import all the samples at once from DropBox and then just rearrange the pads and corresponding pictures within the app. Your drum kit video Morris re-posted here a few weeks ago was good intro to that (although I think that used internal sounds from the app).
People complain about the lack of good acoustic/rock drum kit options on iOS, but if you find samples of drums you like, it just takes a little bit of upfront effort to get them into apps that have a DM-1 style grid interface and go from there. To get you started, I made a DB link for some good acoustic kits that are free or open-sourced online (including forum member Derek B's excellent kit, which I'm very appreciative of!). Let me know if it doesn't work for some reason:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/yb0fat92ldt4i9a/qjmbZuGW5t
I'll say right now, though, the variety of kits in Jam Maestro is so good, you really don't NEED those samples. My knowledge of drum composition is still largely garbage, but I made some great beats with the Punk and Power kits instantly. At the $2.99 sale price, even if you had zero interest in guitars, basses, and tablature-based music, Jam Maestro would still be worth the purchase for the drum functionality alone. It's reminds me a bit of DrumStudio, another excellent drum app in the way it graphically registers notes into a tab-like grid format. And there's really three ways to lay down a drum track, so one of them is sure to work:
@TedBPhx said:
Haha amen. That was me during the Holidays at my inlaws' for 6 days. I was importing BIAS amps into JamUp one at a time. Tedious process, but I was happy to be doing it then!
@SpookyZoo You using the 'Lite' (+upgraded) or 'Full' of the app? Perhaps try loading JM up first before you try opening the preset (AB can only detect the extra ports other than the default one after the app is loaded, so maybe that is the problem?). Otherwise try adding JM to an input slot manually, but pressing the ( i ) icon at the end of the row and make sure theres 18 different slots there (All, User, Instruments 1-16).
@TedBPhx LOL
@funjunkie27 .. yeah an another IAA app which has 12 strings would be perfect. Cant be easy to record 12 string guitars I imagine, don't think you could really record the complimentary strings separately hehe. How do you mean control the ringout time? Do you mean the length of the 'fade' fret release mode (currently 1 second) ? Or do you mean a way to stop the nodes quickly (not sure what you mean by latching the chug). If you mean that you can just touch any blank space in between the frets to do that (see the guitar tutorial video for ways of muting strings as you play if you didn't know about that).
@StormJH1 Thanks for those drum links, I've just saved it to my dropbox. So are the licensing on all these all free to use commercially? I have a few of them already actually, Derek's kit sounds are already used in the 'Rock' and 'Rock Pro' drumkits (and were the samples I used in the custom drum kit video). Got to fill specific niches though, can't have too many drum kits that sound identical though otherwise people wont know what the difference is. Just checked out that 60's kit though, thats definitely got a unique sound that I don't have yet. Still looking for a really good Jazz or Funk one. Maybe an 'Indie' sound too but not sure what that would sound like until I hear it.. something less heavy than the Rock or Metal I guess. Have you tried connecting to DrumStudio yet btw? I have a bunch of preset midi drum templates in there that are already set up for it. Still lacks the fine control you can get in DS though (ghost notes, triplets etc).
Grinning at Pauls joke.
I'm just referring to the decay time of a note/chord. I know how to input that into the tab interface, but I was thinking of some way for the user to control it through the other interfaces...on screen or MIDI. Maybe a decay slider?