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.
Dreaming about Thumbjam.
Man, I love so much about Thumbjam. Has anyone else noticed how wonderful some of those new instruments are? Wow. My new favorites are the hang and the Japanese Shakuhachi. The multi-layered sounds are so expressive.
And it seems I'm constantly finding out more about how the app works and hidden features that it implements very well. Its audio to MIDI is one of the greatest implementations in iOS.
My most recent discovery is the sampling interface which I had not tried at all until a few weeks ago. It is a good feature, mostly for its potential... to be honest I don't think I'll use it much until the process is more refined. I think Sonosaurus mentioned it would be overhauled in an upcoming update. That would be so great. I could see making a lot of use of it for sampling with a better interface. Anyone know the timeframe on that?
Comments
No one knows the timeframe on that, trust me
I need to at least get the bug fix release out first... but after that I will focus on a good sampling workflow.
Ah that would be super! Thanks for the reply.
I realize my original comment sounds like I don't like the sampler. But really it's just the workflow. That's the word I was looking for. :-) Everything else seems to work great. lt just ... Doesn't feel very user-friendly for workflow. Good to see that's what you are aiming for.
And on the seventh day He rested...
I'm just starting to get into sampling synth apps with Thumbjam through AB- I want to take sounds from certain CPU-intensive (and PC lacking) synths for use in a live setting. I'm finding that the volume is a lot lower after sampling (the signal going into TJ looks strong). In fact, even the stock sounds in TJ are quieter than most other synths and Sampletank. Is there a reason for this? Am I doing something wrong?
I've noticed this also. But it is no longer an issue after I found the volume setting that allows you to boost Thumbjam's volume. I probably keep it at 30% for all sounds, sometimes higher.
I think the volume thing is intentional. If you sample a single note and it's at -3db and then play 7 notes at once, it's going to clip/distort. The sample itself is still at the capture volume but the instruments (that contain the sample) default to a lower volume.
Exactly, the reason for the reduced levels in ThumbJam is to handle when you throw down 8-10 fingers on an iPad (for instance) so it won't clip, in the general case, and since TJ does not have internal compression or limiting. So if you are just playing leads with one or two simultaneous notes, it might seem quiet. I also feel that some of these synth apps seem to be in a sort of loudness war that I don't think is appropriate for most of TJ's instrument content, but that's just a personal issue
I'm actually amazed that some of those synths aren't clipping, they are so darn loud!
It took me so long to buy this app, got it last month. It took so long mostly due to the videos on YouTube, etc, which shows "the guitar sound" and almost nothing else. I was not aware of the wonderful acoustic sounds it can produce! Now it's among my top ten apps!
I need a massive overhaul of the official videos, for sure. It is a travesty, really.
Contest? Winner gets to choose to bump up in priority any feature already on your backlog. You choose what to share so no one can ask for the impossible.
TJ was one of my first and still a favorite!
Good to know, thanks for the info guys!
@sonosaurus I wonder how many of the problems that crop up here on the forum with 'distortion problems' are to do with apps clipping internally. Seems ridiculous how loud some of these apps are!