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.
Some questions about NanoStudio
Hi,
I have NanoStudio but never really used it. Other things took my attention like BM2 and then Gadget.
However, @Otem_rellik mentioning how good NS is has made me go back and explore it. I like the idea of a self contained synth environment you can bring external stuff into.
I've been looking up stuff on the web etc but thought I'd ask a few questions here:
Can I import a load of samples in an organised and easy fashion (eg iFunBox or something?)
I believe the way to bring external audio in is to bring it in as individual samples of up to 45 seconds. Then string them together in the TRG sampler. Anyway have any expetience of how seemless you can make the join of 2 audio clips? (Or a better way of bringing audio in?)
Still no midi out I guess (unless I'm missing something)?
I can't find an easy way to use midi ccs to control the Eden synths controls directly. Do I just have to go through the XY pads (which I know I can address with midi ccs)?
Any decent 3rd party patches available for TRG drums or the Eden synth?
Any other neat tricks / tips? (Eg it plays sound fonts or something?)
Any info appreciated. Thought I might use it for a track to make a change from Gadget.
Comments
Hey Matt, you can ask me stuff directly through a Pm or email if you'd like. otemrellik at otemrellik dot com. This is probably a great place for a lot of feedback though from various users.
You can use nanosync to import sampes, or ifunbox. Nanosync works great for me, easy and wireless (though transferring large files may take a while). The file structure in nanostudio is awesome. You can actually make folders and stuff which is really helpufull.
You can import files much longer thatn 45 seconds. I summed my backing tracks to mono and loaded up about 20 3-4 minute songs back in the day for live backing tracks.
nope.
xy pads are how i used to do it. You can't midi learn or anything but xy at least gives you 8 controls to change with midi controllers.
Not that i know of, im sure they're out there though if someone wants to chime in.
Nothing that I can really depart, i suggest just getting in there and experimenting. I've had some interesting results modulating sample start/length with lfos lately.
Started out with NS. Keep meaning to get back to it....
Me too. My first real ios software. There are some trg kits around - and Eden patches.
Think there are some patches on developers website.
1: You can also record into TRG pads directly or as an Audiobus Output.
4: nS has MIDI Learn for a bunch of stuff.
6: nS is also a live looper, if you have the chops. Like Amy Lee does, for example:
My bad on the midi learn, forgot about that.
App-sound.com has nanostudio patches. And there's many in their forum as well.
http://www.blipinteractive.co.uk/samples.php
When I back home, I'll look for another ones that I don't remember right now.
Wow. Thanks everyone. I really appreciate all the advice and offers of help. That's why this forum is so great.
Seems like a lot of people started out with NanoStudio and have a lot of love for it. I was a bit late to the game.
I've been having a look and I'm quite excited about making my next track in it.
You're right - there are lots of free presets on their forum. For example this thread: http://forums.blipinteractive.co.uk/node/2260
And the ones i've loaded in sound really great and usable in the main (mostly based on samples, but some are synthesis based).
The other great thing is the sample packs for the TRG drum machine/sample pads. I've found some pretty good ones. Someone has even made most of the iMaschine Drum samples into TRG banks.
Lack of Midi clock sync is a bit of pain but overcomeble.
Generally it all seems pretty straight forward and given it has midi in it means I can use things like FiddleWax, FingertipMidi and StepPolyArp to play midi into it which is great.
Few little things baffle me a bit:
1- Although you can sync the LFOs to BPM, there doesn't appear to be a way to trigger the LFO on keyboard note press (i.e. the LFO starts it's BPM synced cycle at the point you hit the note. Other synths all seem to allow this. It's good for slower LFO cycles).
2- When you bring a sample in for Eden to play as a patch, how does it know how to map it against the keyboard. I.e it could be a sample of the A3 note but how does Eden know this and apply across the keyboard?
3- Is it only one sample per Eden patch? In which case does the sample not get pretty heavily stretched at the more extreme edges of the keyboard?
Anyway @otem_rellik... this:
"I've had some interesting results modulating sample start/length with lfos lately."
and: "You can import files much longer thatn 45 seconds."
are both really interesting and something I want to explore. Thanks for the info.
I'm thinking I can have whole parts played with external synths and then import them in as a single audio sample.
This give me the best of both worlds in terms of a self contained place to hold/compose/play around with/arrange and polish my track with lots of unrendered midi driven and automated Eden and TRG parts, while at the same time allowing me to use some great patches/sounds/parts from other apps that I could achieve in Nanosynth.
So what's not to like? Is Eden considered not as great quality as some of the pure synth apps out there these days?
Longtime NanoStudio user here. I'll see if I can address a few questions:
1) You can adjust the delay on each LFO, so in theory, it should start the BPM synced cycle on the note press.
2) Eden assigns the sample to C3 (I think). If you bring in a sample that's not C, you can shift it up or down a number of half steps so that the notes line up correctly.
3) Yes, one sample per Eden patch, which does create some issues once you go beyond an octave in either direction. Depending on the nature/timbre of the sound, so might be able to get 2+ octaves in either direction. I've had pretty good success with string, pad and lead sounds getting a 5 octave range.
just came across this. really cool trg kit maker.
http://luktown.org/random/trg/
@Matt_Fletcher_2000, you must judge NanoStudio with some perspective. It was released 21/07/2010, so it was awesome synth at that time...and right now as well in some well.
Obviously, it can fight face to face with the monsters, but some sounds, among factory presets and from third parties, are rally amazing.
I wish it was more easy to manage them.
In the other hand, this could be useful for you:
NanoStudio reources thread: http://forums.blipinteractive.co.uk/node/2206
Mayme some links are gone. If you're interested on, send me a PM. I have downloaded all the free ones.
@otem_rellik said:
Yep, forgot that (amazing) resource.
Thanks for posting!
You can also use ifunbox to grab all of the imaschine sounds then load them into nanostudio via nanosync. I organized all if the sounds into folders first, then imported them so I can access them in nanostudio's sample browser.
You people. I struggle to alphabetize my spice rack....
Some folks get pissed about nanosync but it's pretty rad. You can drag entire sample libraries over and keep all of the names and folder structures. Additionally, vs ifunbox, nanosync will convert samples to 16/44.1 which NS require.
Eden doesn't support multisamples but it is an otherwise super capable sampler. It's very easy to sample to it via audiobus or copy and paste. It's a mono sampler (vs the trg which supports stereo samples) but the big bonus is that after you have a source sample in there you have all of the capabilities of the Eden synth on top of it (three envelopes, 4 lfos...). I usually sample a clean sound from another app without attack, release or modulation. I recreate that stuff in Eden.
Not exactly the kind of thing that makes the "features" list but I challenge you to make a track in nanostudio that breaks your cpu. Pile on automated synths and effects and the fucker will just refuse to choke on you. Really kind of amazing.
NS is also great at importing and exporting MIDI. Also offers stem export. Both really handy. Oh, and you can export and NSP and run the app on the desktop. That combo means that you can export the midi to something like Logic and then point that Midi at the NS desktop app. And then edit your face off. Pull it all back into your logic project as audio by either importing your edited midi (exported from logic) or recording a mix as audio via something like soundflower.
@otem_rellik said:
Epic smile on my face. I made that.
Been meaning to upgrade it but haven't made/found the time. Would like to expand it to work with other app formats. If you're not afraid of text file editing, it should be pretty easy to convert the trg files you download from it to beatmaker, TJ or drumperfect files. Makes me very happy to know it's still useful anyway.
Mister Syrup, I love your genuine enthusiasm (and the proud poppa puff also, epic smile indeed, well-deserved
Thanks guys. Unfortunately I found the link to the Mac download of nano sync broken yesterday.
Update: Nanosync download working now... Not sure what happened the other day.
So, once again - thank you all for all your help. Particularly @otem_rellik and @fjcblanco for offers of PM help and @syrupcore for that amazing TRG maker - you're a genius - it's so nice to use! That's real community spirit!
I now have loads of my best samples in NS, plus a load of good patches (and more to discover) and the beginning of a track going.
Anyone have a good advice on using Patterns vs Parts?
I think I broadly understand it. You use a Pattern if you want the exact same section used again and again (and an edit to that pattern effects all instances of that Pattern) whereas a part is just a chunk of midi independent of anything else(?).
So far i've just been copying parts out as I progress through my track because i'm imagining I might want to go back and add some automation of varying effects across most instruments. Thing is I have used about 12% of my possible parts and i've just finished a kind of long-ish intro.
Should I be using Patterns instead? They seem a little more effort to set up.
Oh... update... just realised I can join patterns together into bigger patterns and that obviously solves the issue. I guess that's the answer.
What's the main advantage of using patterns then? I be interested to hear how different people use patterns vs parts (e.g. drums usually a few patterns?)
Correct.
You've just reminded me of another sweet NS feature/trick. Each track can have up to four lanes of MIDI clips. Handy for trying out different parts via muting but very handy for exactly your scenario: you can repeat a pattern of notes and add a new lane for automation or minor note tweaks. Even if I'm not using patterns I almost always record automation to a separate track. Just makes editing and reusing a lot easier.
Patterns also allow you to trigger Eden program changes. Mostly a hold over from back in the day when you had only 4 Eden tracks but can still be useful in big projects.
Ah... thanks @syrupcore. That's all clever stuff.
(By the way I love your messages on exporting in your TRG maker! e.g. "Deadmau5 would kill for these" - really made me chuckle)
I'm still not sure if I should use patterns or parts when sketching out the basic track - but I guess i'll just see what suits my workflow. At the moment i'm thinking parts allows me to make quick variations at different points.
I like the trick of automating on a separate lane though. Very neat.
Minor note tweaks on a separate lane... mmm - I can see you could add extra notes. I guess if you want to remove notes you move the pattern/part down to the extra lane then tweak. Or something. Anyway, i'll figure it out i'm sure
.
Eden programme changes - I like! Actually I really like this since i was thinking that i'm gonna run out of tracks soon since i'm playing around using Eden to mess with a single vocal sample (as per @otem_rellik suggestion on LFOing the sample start/length). If I have a track with a lots of samples in I want to do this with i'll quickly run out of Edens. But if I can do a programme change that's genius! Gives me basically unlimited instances of Eden (just as long as they're not all used at the same time).
Having come from Gadget (fairly power user i'd say) to NanoStudio I must say i'm pretty damn impressed with this 'old' technology. I mean there's a few advantages to Gadget (being able to set the piano roll to your scale is the biggest one that jumps out for me) but there isn't really anything you can do in Gadget that you can't do as well in NanoSynth i'd say (apart from possibly the ease of slicing/mashing in the Abu gadget).
And there are so many advantages in NanoSynth vs Gadget:
Mmm - whether I move over for good remains to be seen - but so far i'm having a good time.
I just need to get better at my 16 times table (i'm used to Gadget's rows being an easy indicator of how many 8 or 16 bar sections i'm into my track). Wish NanoStudio had a way to mark out sections on the timeline or something.
I mostly write with parts. When it comes time to clean up or mix or whatever, I'll sometimes convert to patterns.
Another use for lanes: record live without quantinization on, copy your part and quantize the copy. I generally prefer to record without and fix and glaring fails by hand. Sometimes running quantize on it works well though. Either way, I always want the raw performance and lanes+muting help make that available.
NS also has a crude slicer in Eden. It's a little finicky for real slicing unless your original file has everything perfectly aligned but is great for slightly glitchy longer stuff (really short attack and release can help). Bonus: pitch bend or xy pad assigned to OSC pitch still works so you can kinda crudely transpose for parts (plus all the rest of eden's goodies).
Another nice feature that may not he obvious at first is that in the part editor if you select notes (which NS provides a variety of ways to do, pretty sweet) and then go to something like the Velocity view, only those notes remain selected. Hoping that ns2 provides another side handle for velocity so you can adjust it in the main view.
Sorry, anyone know how you colour the parts in the timeline?
You can't color parts.
Oh, another trick. Make a track or a lane that has single empty patterns, each the length of each of your song sections. Provides visual cues for section (in lieu of actual section markers) and provides an easy way to loop those sections of your tune by selecting them and then hitting More and Loop to Selection.
You can use the mixer track for this so they are always at the top. If you use an Eden track, you can go as far as to create Eden patches called 'intro', 'chorus', 'verse', blah blah and set up program changes in each pattern which will display the name inside the pattern.
Thanks Syrupcore. I got confused by the manual which appears to show purple and green parts in the piano roll.
But I'll use your mixer lane trick. Thanks for that.
I'm currently stuck on one small thing - can't seem to see how on earth you can change the pitch bend range. Manual says its it settings but I can't see it. Any help most appreciated!
EDIT: sorry. Found it. It has moved to the main synth controls page.
Hey @Matt_Fletcher_2000 You'll find the pitchbend range setting on the main oscillator page, bottom left next to polyphony I think. Range goes up to 24.
Thanks @spookyzoo. Was me not looking properly.
Pitch wheel set to a high range with a sample loaded into an Eden patch is fun!
Hi. I'm continuing to enjoy my adventures in NanoStudio.
I'm loving the simplicity yet vercitility of the Eden synth. And the automation of the LFOs etc is pretty powerful. (Thanks for the extra lane tip @syrupcore - that's totally the way to go).
I have a very specific question:
The synth pitch parameter (not the pitch bend) that is controlable from the aux envelope... It's described as a number. Does anyone know if there is a relationship between this number and actual pitch. For example, how could I have the envelope make the pitch rise by exactly two octaves or whatever?
Any help appreciated as always.
I'm sure there is a correlation but like lots of params in NS it just displays 0-100 or whatever. One of the most requested features of NS2 is to have those sorts of things display meaningful numbers. Pretty sure it will make the cut.