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
All @LuisMartinez apps have this issue, only way I know to cure is reboot after use.
Force quitting them should work.
If your device has a home button: force-quit all apps, hold down the power button until the power-off slider appears but don't slide it. Now hold down the home button until you're returned to the home screen. This is known as a memory reset. It's a great habit to get into each and every time you end a music making session. It's almost as effective as a full reboot for clearing out "ghost" processes.
If your device doesn't have a home button it's a little more involved. See here: https://www.igeeksblog.com/how-to-clear-ram-on-iphone-x/
I'm looking to take the plunge and buy a Boss RC 600 loop station in the hope that I can get the awesome Funk Drummer App on my iPad to jam along in time with any loops I make on it. (And/or vice versa.)
I'm not great with Midi though so I can't work out if this is possible, and if it is... how would I do it?
I'm guessing I'd need an Audiobus or Ableton link kind of intermediary for starters...?
Because I improvise everything live I have no pre-prepared tempos or midi files set up but just need to wing everything from the get go, including the BPM, even if my random bass groove turns out to be e.g. 116.347 BPM!
Can funk drummer pick up on exact tempos like that from a looper's Midi output? And could it sync the start of its bar 1 to the start of a loop in my RC 600?
I could get very, very excited if it does 🤩
(Edited after being corrected by @espiegel123) First, to answer your question, Funk Drummer, and I believe all of the Luis Martinez drum apps will sync to your fractioned tempo yes, but will “round up or down” the displayed tempo. So your “116.347 bpm” will show 116bpm.
The BOSS RC600 is a fine piece of hardware no doubt. Shoot, I’ve had some serious GAS over the RC-505 for years! These BOSS loopers are widely considered the industry standard for looping hardware.
I’m not going to try to talk you out of spending that 6-700 bucks on some nice new shiny hardware, because I know how it is once you have your heart set on something, but what if I told you there’s an app that can do everything that BOSS pedal can do, plus a whole lot more!? It’s true, and the best part is that I think it’s still only $30 (USD)!
Check out Loopy Pro before you buy anything! Seriously, this app has made all of my GAS for the BOSS hardware completely disappear! I mean, ok, yeah, it would still be nice to have a nice new shiny red BOSS Loop Station, but as far as functionality, and ALL of the looping capabilities you could imagine, Loopy Pro can do it!
I know you said you’re “not great with midi”, and Loopy Pro will have a bit of a learning curve, but once you get your head around it (and there’s plenty of help to be found here on the forums, all kinds of tutorial videos etc.), Loopy Pro will become one of your favorite apps I promise! Btw, syncing can be as simple as turning on Ableton Link in both apps; Funk Drummer and Loopy Pro (both have AL built in)
Let us know what you decide to do! I’m curious to hear.
yea, loopy pro with a sick foot controller like the fcb1000? would be an great way to go.
I don’t believe that this is the case…that Funk Drummer rounds tempo when syncing…i just tested with it slaved to a very slow fractional tempo 30.5 (which would make tempo mismatch obvious).
The drummer syncs to the host but doesn’t display the fractional part of the tempo. It can sync yo a fractional tempo like 30.5…it simply rounds its tempo display.
Oh is it just what’s displayed? That’s good to know. I tested it also, with a random set tempo in AUM and saw what “appeared” to be a rounded up bpm. I tried 116.3 and Funk showed 116, then tried 116.7 and then Funk displayed 117.
If it syncs to fractional tempos, even better, but why on earth would anyone really need 112.37 versus 112? In the extreme slow tempos as you say, yes, I can see where that might make things out of sync in the long run, but he was talking about looping FWIW.
Why fractional tempos? One of the joys of using a looper is having it derive the tempo from what you play. If you are playing something and it feels good, you want everything that is slaved to be slaved to what you actually played. It is pretty much guaranteed that if you record a loop without a click that it will be a fractional tempo.
Of course! Yeah, I get it now that I’m actually thinking about it lol. I mean, you’re right, if I record a random loop without a click that ends up being for example 100.68 bpm, then Funk Drummer would have to try to match it. (And not try to round up anything, as that would be obviously setting things up to cause problems)
I just need to remember to have my morning coffee and meds first before I start posting on the forums lol
My advice on trying out Loopy Pro before shelling out all the money on a Loop Station still stands though (doesn’t it?) shhh now I’ve got myself questioning reality over here haha
Afterthoughts: what I would do, is if I just happened to record let’s say an 8 bar groove on the guitar (or bass) without a click, and it ended up being detected as, let’s say for example 100.68bpm, I would stop right there, and take this recorded loop (which most of us know can be done right in Loopy Pro) and bump it up to a clean 101bpm before I did anything else, rather than trying to have everything else that follows try to work around the 100.68 (not that it can’t be done), but Loopy Pro’s time stretching audio engine capabilities can handle that kind of a subtle change without any audio artifacts. Right?
I and many love Loopy Pro, but some like the simplicity of a self-contained hardware pedal…particularly if they are already comfortable with a particular workflow. I think Loopy is worth considering, for sure.
I dont usually do shiny! 😉 - the problem with the RC-600 is its too new - I’m struggling to find a used beat up one…
I do do simple where possible though - the music must be first and the tech second or I just lose all my feel.
Loopy pro was a new one on me and having checked out the manual it does look superb. And yup - It would be a HUGE learning curve - particularly for a no screens just me and the pedals on the floor kinda guy like me. I’m not a full time muso anymore either (kids etc) , so I probably don’t have enough time right now to throw at learning and programming whole new systems. I’m only using screens and apps live for the first time because funky drummer is the closest thing to a jamming live drummer I can find, and since I now live in the sticks, I don’t have access to the real thing anymore.
So for the looping side its something simple I need, Something that grabs my improvised baselines, riffs, harmonised trumpet and vocals, all from simple foot switches… that would be sweet.
I had been playing with a live drummer and using the EHX22500 dual looper with its stereo inputs and outputs split to access different amps, to kind of give me a quad looper, particularly cause I can switch each amp’s feed on/off independently too with some separate home made switches.
The once simple dual looper set up has now become so tricky that when live and losing myself in my improvisations, I lose my way with the routing and switches too! Not good.
I’ve been starting to learn the RC-300 and live playing is much simpler but the RC-600 looks even more so, like it would be the last looper I’d need to learn, and there wouldn’t be too much learning for me and my limited time. That’s why I’m looking at that route.
When I get time I’ll definitely get into Loopy Pro cause it does look top drawer, and with you guys obviously loving it… it sounds like it must be something else, but unless I crash my bike again I can’t see that much free time happening for a few years … mmm 🤔… it’s tempting… but probably too much pain.
So from all your help (much appreciated) it sounds like
-fractional tempos are no problem,
-that Loopy Pro is definitely a way it CAN be done (maybe in the future),
-and how about from the RC-600?
-Is it possible for it’s midi out to auto-set the funk drummer tempo to my loop? And what would I need to use to do it that way?
@espiegel123 said:
Oh no doubt, the tactile feeling of having actual hardware still wins many purchasing decisions these days, no matter how advanced the software becomes.
Well, I’m sure you know the RC-505 was the de-facto standard for hardware loopers. I really have no idea what the 600 brings to the table as far as features, but a quick search shows it does do midi-sync.
https://rolandus.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4410034350491-RC-600-Synchronizing-the-tempo-with-an-external-MIDI-device
I’d try a USB hub (most likely a powered usb hub) with the 600 and your iPad both plugged into so they can communicate with each other.
Thanks for your help Edward
So I’ve gone ahead and finally bought my RC-600 -an amazing piece of kit for me - and in answer to your earlier question about what it brings to the table... I think it's the ability to do what the 505 does live at the same time as ringing the neck of a guitar and howling at a microphone ;-) ... (without having to buy midi pedals and interfaces, etc.
So I’m still looking to pair my looper up with Funky Drummer, and I followed your advice and got a powered USB hub, plugged both my iPad and the RC 600 into that powered hub, but they don’t seem to naturally talk to each other so I must be missing something.
I’ve tried the looper on Auto and also tried USB (auto) in the MIDI section, plus Sync Out set to ‘on’ (as per instructions in that Roland link you sent me).
I’ve looked in Funky Drummer itself and it’s Ableton link section doesn’t find any ‘peers’ to connect to.
And in FD’s MIDI section there doesn’t seem to be anywhere I can go looking for other connectable midi devices directly.
Do I need to be running Ableton Live on a PC that speaks to both of them? That’s more complicated than I was hoping for (bringing a PC to gigs too) but is that the only way or am I missing something that you guys can help me with, that will allow the iPad and RC-600 to communicate directly using Midi-sync?
Any and all help is much appreciated.
Hi again
I’m still looking for something that would enable the Funk Drummer app to automatically pickup on the tempo I create when I improvise a new loop on my Boss RC-600 loop station.
Ableton thought they could sort my problem using Live or Link so I tried it out, and tried various things they’d come up with, but after much too-ing and fro-ing they ended up saying its not possible.
Frustratingly Ableton Live could follow the RC-600’s tempo when set to Ext. - perfect!
So close, but still so far, (unless anyone out there knows a workaround).
Ableton said this: “After I looked at the specs of Funk Drummer app, the app only sends MIDI and receives Link as a clock. If it could receive MIDI In, not just MIDI out, then I would say using Ableton Link would not be necessary here. In that case, you could directly sync your RC-600 via MIDI. However, it seems, based on the tech specs Funk Drummer app won't be possible for this use case.”
He said there are ways of working it with Live or an app using Link to be the master clock for my RC-600 but that’s not what I need. I need my first improvised loop to set the tempo for Funk Drummer.
Does anyone out there know of any other way of achieving this?
It would be an awesome setup for me. 🤞
Not sure if it would work but maybe the Link to MIDI app would help?
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/link-to-midi/id1066216595
Funk Drummer can sync to midi clock in or Ableton link.
What happened when you set Funk Drummer to receive midi clock and set your looper as the midi clock source in Funk Drummer?
There are a number of apps that could also receive midi clock and send link if Funk Drummer works better for you with link. In addition to what the user above Audiobus, can do it if you already have it.
@dragnfli : whoever told you that Funk Drummer can't sync to incoming MIDI Clock was mistaken.
Here is Funk Drummer receiving MIDI Clock from AUM.
You don't need AUM for this. Any device or app that sends MIDI clock and has a MIDI port could do this. Just choose that device or MIDI port as the clock source in Funk Drummer's MIDI Setup dialog.
Thanks for your help guys. Especially your video espiegel123. Well appreciated.
Funk Drummer doesn’t see the RC600 as a clock when the iPad is connected directly via USB to the looper using a USB lead with lightning adaptor. (the RC600 doesn't appear under 'MIDI clock in' on the Funk Drummer 'MIDI channel' page like your AUM appears in your video). Is there a button to switch on the receiving of MIDI clock in Funk Drummer -that then allows other sources to become visible there?
Funk Drummer also doesn’t see the RC600 when both are connected via a powered USB hub.
I've tried this with the looper's MIDI clock settings on 3 alternatives: Auto, Internal and USB(auto)
FordTimeLord's suggestion:
I gave that a go and Funk Drummer sees 'Link to MIDI' in that 'MIDI clock in' list when it's running on the same iPad but 'Link to MIDI' doesn’t seem to see the Looper either (not that I know where that would appear anyway).
However, plugging my looper either directly or via a powered hub into my MacBook, Ableton live immediately sees it and is driven by its midi clock (when ‘Ext.' is pressed). So the looper is sending USB MIDI data in some capacity.
Is it possible that the looper will only speak to PCs and not tablets? I assumed MIDI was just MIDI, ...a language... but then what do I know?
Roland (who make the looper) have just said this:
"As the RC-600 isn't made to be compatible with tablet devices, there's no guarantee that this setup will be able to communicate MIDI messages with your RC."... which obviously covers them, and doesn't explicitly say it cant speak to tablets but now it does make me wonder...?
🤔 ???
I don't have Audiobus yet, but because 'Link to MIDI' can't see the RC is it really worth me trying other apps? Would AUM or AUDIOBUS likely be better at picking it up? If the RC600 just won't speak to tablets...?
Also, Would it make any difference me trying all this using a straight MIDI lead and MIDI interface rather than USB MIDI? (I tried with my old green MIDI sport but sadly it's died of loneliness - so I'd have to beg, borrow, steal or buy an interface just to try it out)
Might USB MIDI be more sensitive to the PC/tablet thing than old school MIDI leads?
@dragnfli : it sounds like your looper’s usb midi port is not seen by your iPad. That would indicate that it isn’t a class-compliant midi device. I don’t think it is a funk Drummer issue or has anything to do with cables.
Did you have to install a driver on your Mac for the looper?
If the device has 5-pin midi and sends clock through it, it should work with an iPad connected to an iPad-compatible midi interface.
Ok, thanks - that would all make sense if that were the case - even to me.
I don't specifically remember doing this, but I did download the latest RC-600 firmware onto the MAC and then put it onto the looper from there so it may well have been part of that process.
It does have 5-pin, I hope it sends clock... looks like I need to get my hands on 'an iPad compatible MIDI interface' next. I'll give that a go...
Any suggestions on which interface I should try?
Would this work for me:
Roland Um-One Mk2 Usb Midi Interface, Usb Bus-Powered, Mac/Pc/Ipad/Apple Ipad Camera Connection Kit Compatible
or
IK Multimedia iRig Midi 2 Universal MIDI Interface for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Mac and PC-Black
On a side note, you can record loops with Quantiloop, in conjunction with Funk Drummer or any other drum app.
Or even better, load up Ibassist, and in Ibassist, you can load a Lumbeat drummer, to play bass and drum together. There is one free slot for a rhythm app.
It is possible to record the first track with no preset tempo, and then the BPM is calculated. I read in the manual, there is an auto record mode, with a signal treshold. So recording the first track with your own tempo is possible, without a foot controller to start/stop the recording. The drum app will follow that tempo afterwards.
If you don’t want to spend a lot of money, those USB to 5-pin Midi cables work with iPads. I had one from the 1990s and it worked with the ancient iPad 2, so drivers and class compliance shouldn’t be an issue.
Success! Surprising though. And still problematic…
When I connected the looper to my mates Beringer UMC204HD interface, and then to a USB hub and then via USB to the lightning input on the iPad using the standard data/charge cable it didn’t work.
When I’ve connected my looper directly to the iPad via a CCK it didn’t work either.
But when I used the interface into the USB hub and then from there to the iPad via a CCK it worked! Funk drummer saw the RC-600 in the MIDI section and I selected it under MIDI clock. And it worked.
I then tried it without the MIDI interface as before but this time just with the Hub and CCK and it works. Tempo rises and falls with the looper.
Strange though that the iPad will only recognise my external gear if communication is via a CCK (camera connection kit).
The CCK is more important than the interface! That’s the surprise learning.
The iPad won’t charge through the CCK though so I then bought a powered CCK kit and hey presto - my kit is spot on. FD will ‘jam’ with me whatever I come up with. Though when charging it introduces a noticeable hiss or a hum (depending on whether I power from the hub or a separate 5V plug).
So thanks for all your help on that. On getting them talking. That’s a big deal and I’m a lot, lot closer.
However, the big deal is that they drift out of sync with each other! ..and I’m wondering if this is the fractions of BPM thing… ?
Something is making them drift apart so now I am wondering again...
The drift seems to be worse the further out from point zero (the integer) it is. When I improvised a loop that happened to be at 125.5BPM it was out of sync with Funky Drummer within 20 bars! even though FD picked up and displayed the tempo fine. This isn’t good enough for the hands free live performance I need.
Even on a loop that happened to be 123.0BPM (as displayed on the looper) it still drifted, albeit only distinctly noticeable after 187 bars. So the .0 is 9 times better than the .5 (i.e. for 125.5BPM) for staying close to synced. I experimented with a variety of partial BPMs and the drift corresponds rather neatly with the distance from .0
The bigger the fraction the faster the drift.
I tried putting the BPM up and down one on the looper and the FD at the same time so that both should be tied in as much as possible to .0 and it then took 280 bars to be out of sync. Now this (2mins) is workable and not the end of the world if I'm lucky enough to hit a loop that's close to .0 , but that still says to me that one is not absolutely driving the other. And I really don’t want to be fiddling at my feet or using my hands live for anything but playing.
Is there something out there that could force a perfect sync or is this as good as it gets?
I tried sending MIDI from several presets of my new Funk Drummer to the Klevgrand Ting. Interesting result, I like it.
That’s a great idea. I don’t have Funk drummer but Jazz into Ting or Slammer sounds like a fun time
thanks for the idea haha
How did you get this connected? I’ve tried standalone and AUM and nothing. Thanks.
Via Virtual MIDI channel in Loopy Pro. I also had no luck with standalone, Funk Drummer didn't see Ting.
Even in LP is a little bit tricky. Although I have my project saved I have to run FunkDrummer at first and set 'Send notes'
.
Our bro @McD recently did a great track using Lumbeats to drive melodic instruments. Maybe he can shed light on the midi connections.