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.
DISCUSSION: Is the DRUM APP market saturated?
Have we reached the saturation level for drum apps?
BEATING MYSELF SILLY
It appears we are coming to a crescendo for certain genre apps. For the purpose of this thread, I am talking drum apps. Time to proverbially shit of get off the pot.
I am tired of buying drum apps to say- I love this app's sounds, but the UI sucks.
I love the design and sync abilities, but, the file sharing is bunk.
You know the banter we engage in on the Audiobus forum. Haplessly, we continue making suggestions to the committees in our own heads and developers who are pretend friends.
Meanwhile, the barrage of new drum apps is relentless. Some are ok. Some are good. Some are better. Some suck a wanker.
NONE ARE PERFECT.
I don't think it is that hard to get a perfect drum app.
I would like to see several of the drum apps who have popularity and acceptance take a moment and listen to the drum beat of their customers. I would like to see the drum app big pimps PERFECT their apps.
I don't want another app with 9 drum pads and a sequencer that doesn't have automation. I don't want another drum app without sync abilities. I don't want a drum app that doesn't allow the EASY importation of my own files. I don't want all samples. I don't want all synth based. Apps should all be MIDI cc ready.
UGGGHHH!
The list is relatively easy to know. All a developer has to do is read this forum for a 24 hour period. Read several threads by users here and you can see the formula for a perfect drum app. It sometimes is insulting already to have drum apps come out and tell me it is amazing and something I haven't seen before. I buy the app and low and behold -- bugs, no sync, .no sample import--- blah blah blah.
I don't want any new drum apps. I want someone to perfect their drum app to the needs expressed on this forum.
That being said -- thank you for reading.
Comments
I have Beatseeks, DM1, Beathawk.IMPC pro, Elastic Drums, Diode, Figure (?) and Gadget inc Bilbao and Abu Dhabi...too many...agree
If you have not found one that is for you, it is then under-saturated market.
I have not found a one for me! But I am ready to Patterning! I can sense that I gonna like it much.
Korg Gadget with Bilbao makes a pretty complete drum app in my opininion
If Waldorf make improvements in Attack to moving forward will be "the drum machine" don't you think?
From what I have read, the app market in general is oversaturated.
Had a few hours play with Patterning, and its loaded.
Yeah, I think it's a little silly to beat up on new drum apps that are perhaps a bit similar to what we already had...when there's literally a hundred synthesizer apps out there that evoke classic pieces of hardware from the past, but rely on just a handful of different methods of synthesis. We're also not "required" to buy ALL of them - for me it's a bit of self-solving problem because I haven't bought a new iPad since 2011, and many of the newer apps require 8.0+ and faster processing.
For the people mentioning Bilbao - yes, the easy answer is to just use a good sampler, since a sample is just an audio file that could be practically anything. Bilbao isn't the greatest example, though, because it's nestled into this overall package that is a larger production engine, and requires an investment of probably $30 to $50 (Gadget + IAP), depending if there's a sale.
The thing is that there is no perfect drum app, so there will always be a wish list of things that we don't have. Even the drum app with "perfect" in the title (DrumPerfect) was one that never worked for me, despite the fact that a lot of people love it and say that it's all they need out of an acoustic drum app.
Any guitar players out there familiar with the DigiTech TRIO pedal unveiled at NAMM 2015? (http://digitech.com/en-US/products/trio). It's basically a band-in-a-box pedal that interprets basic chord patterns and then generates a backing track with drums and basses. You can then tweak that for style or change the tempo. It even throws in periodic fills and some human variation - IF it works well enough, it's really an amazing practice tool for home guitarists.
I'm highly likely to drop $179.99 U.S. on that thing, but only because I can't think of (and have not found) an iPad app that can do really do that. And that's amazing to me. The closest comparison is maybe the very excellent "Rock Drum Machine", which can generate random patterns and do intelligent fills. There are some groovebox apps (Beatwave) that do drum generation, and complicated apps like Different Drummer that can be used for generative stuff. But we have hundreds of drum apps, as as a specific type of musician, the DigiTech TRIO offers something that is so interesting to me that I'm willing to consider paying a premium for it in a standalone box. But that's also a very specific function I have in mind, so even though we have dozens upon hundreds of apps, I don't suppose our "wants" ever really end. Heck, many of the most celebrated iPad apps basically duplicate functionality from VST's offered 10-15 years ago on PC, but now in a mobile format.
I'd have to say that even though there is a zillion of drum/beat apps out there none of them is truly fully featured.
I've gotten my fair share of apps over the years (In no particular order: DM1, iMPC, iMPC Pro, Beat Maker 2, Diode-108, Beat-Machine, BeatHawk, Molten Drum Machine, Attack, SeekBeats, Elastic Drums, iElectribe, Stroke Machine, Funk Box the list goes on...).
All the apps have their own strengths and weaknesses...
Some apps might have a good UI but lack feature X, some apps have sucky UI but have feature X.
Imagine crossbreeding the Minisampler from Cubasis with Beathawk and add the Note/Grid editor from Gadget to that, just as an example. Or maybe just a basic 'sampler' to Attack or simply just adding the Cubasis Minisampler as a 'Gadget' to Gadget
(Honestly the Cubasis Minisampler would be nice inside Diode-108 too).
And then off course we have the 'off the wall' apps like FingerBeat with a playful UI that does so many things right, it looks like a toy but there is some serious features to be found under the hood (no midi yet though).
This very forum has enough information and inspiration for a striving developer to create the ultimate sampling drum/synth-app with enough features to keep us all satisfied
Yes, the App market is very saturated in many areas making it hard to find the really good apps.
The 'load' of 'sh*t apps' (I'm thinking clones of games and the multitude of apps whose only purpose is to play a web-stream of some radio/vlog-station and show adds, not to mention the pointless 'fan apps') also make review times longer and longer...
@Ivan_Dj Agree on Attack, it just needs a proper 'Sampler' to shine and well, the Grid/Note-Editor from Gadget together with automatisation of every Attack-Parameter
For me Attack is my most used and fulfills a massive gap in iOS drums, but needs some key features to be complete. Doesn't stop it from being great to use as is though.
Everyone will have different requirements though and the diversity is good for different situations and styles.
Drumjam is another classic, seekbeats and Elastic great too but am using them less post Attack.
I think the drum apps out there are pretty weak, and are all missing one thing or another. Looking forward to see what Patterning brings to the table.
since there is still not ONE classic drummer (to my knowledge) with an absolut reliable timing (as IAA in cubasis i.e.)...no,there are not enough
Btw,the new DM1 update didn`t changed much about the sync issues.But well,at least it still gets constantly updated
I've got zillions of drum/rhythm apps but they're all different and have their own strengths and weaknesses. Probably the most solid would be Gadget at the mo. I did like the look of Attack and it certainly has the potential to become a 'go to' drum app, but it needs it's things tweaking and price dropping before it makes it into my bucket.
For all the (understandable) squabble, I did spend an hour with DM1 last night and ended up with a beat I like. The only criteria that seems to make sense to me at the moment.
I like the interface more than anything else, but without automation I still wouldn't use it.
This is because the reliable timing on ios doesn't exist. It is just about forgivable with arped synth but percussive instruments always flam. I've said that before but the best continuous sync I found so far is between loopy and samplr. Last time I tried syncing egoist to cubasis they simply drifted apart within a few bars. Gadget seems good at listening but I hear it is easier to implement slave than master. Ah well, here we are again.
I love the idea of a perfect drum machine. Unfortunately, I have a hard time finding even two people who want the same thing out of a drum machine. We put many months into Diode, addressed the features that had the most agreement, and still we seem to have infinite work to do to address everyone's "most important" feature.
We have amazing classic drum sounds from www.dubsounds.com and samplesfrommars.com (check them out) and we sync to Cubasis the best we can (even adding a latency slider in our app to try to get you on the beat).
We'll keep doing more. For now we're trying to build a drum machine people love, with lots of personality, trying to fill in all the holes we can.
I have come a long way from working with great drummers and wishing a perfect app could replace my funky friends.
@Diode108 I think a big part of the problem is in the fact that the line between a clean 'drum-synt/beatbox' and 'sampler+sequencer' is very blurred(at least to me) and I think many of us want to cut down the number of apps to as few apps as possible creating the dilemma of wanting integrated sampling and sample editing and drum-synth all baked in into one app and usually when the sequencers/patters start to get longer and more complex (with multiple sounds per pad, controllers etc.) the requests for time-line/piano-roll/grid-edit/automatisation-editor/scene-approach to arrange and build complete songs come up sooner or later...
What's the problem..make beat patterns and loop them lol
I am hoping for an app that can adjust on the fly with eye contact and a head nod.
As one that grew up with hardware drum machines, I'm not seeing what folks are missing. I've been digging that I have Seekbeats for my drum synthesizer, iMaschine for my sample playback, and Beatmaker2 for my sampler. I wouldn't want an all-in-one app. I love mixing the personalities of each of the aforementioned 3 drum machines. I'll start working with my own samples in BM2, drop a beat into Auria; phatten the kick(for example) w/Seekbeats; then sprinkle some hats from iMaschine. Mixing it all in Auria is pure bliss.
Yeah, I completely understand. On the iOS, it seems the more bundled into one app, the less pain.
Not beating up on new apps.
In fact there is 1 that is tops on most counts.
I am just as much referring to the older ones that could be perfected.
Beating up on is such an emotional word anyway.
My concern is my music and the best apps to make it.
I'm in the minority but I say the more the better. More drum sounds to pick from for use in your productions. The sample based iMPC has sounds that are different than Waldorf Attack which is a drum synthesizer. Johnny and I talked about having too many sounds for your arsenal and being overwhelmed by the choices, but that's a price I'm willing to pay. ;-)
But most important it leads to innovation in the industry like Diode's ability to add effects on individual beats. It would be a sad day if developers stopped creating new and better apps because they felt the market was over saturated.
Still no proper cinematic drums/hits for iOS.... saturation is far away
Apps are like money. A lot will make you sick but you want always more!
One can actually have too many drum apps? Not yet at least.
no. Gadget, sampletank and others in separate folders
> @Tritonman said:
@mkell424 Once you've bought an 'app' I see no real problem in lifting out the samples and using them with your other apps. (For example using the iMPC/iMPC Pro samples with Attack or Diode-108). Maybe there is some 'fine-print' that doesn't allow this but who will hunt you down if your track contains samples from apps that you already own?
No I don't think that would be a problem either! If you bought the app you own the sounds with the exception being Gorillaz :-(. The only question I would have is would there be any degergation of the audio? For example when I transferred a Gadget Project over to Ableton there was a lot of hiss. What do you think would be the best way to transfer Drum sounds? They sound good on a Cubasis track but then you have to import them into another program.
Totally agree.