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 Store

Audiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.

Arturia iSpark

1…457910…17

Comments

  • nlognlog

    @loopingstar said:
    Can anyone help with the following ?
    I'm having a nightmare trying to create a short 4 bar loop in iSpark and get it into GarageBand.
    I've tried 'recording' into GarageBand via Audiobus , but I can't get iSpark to start cleanly at the start of a loop so it won't match up properly to GarageBand . It seems to start at a random point each time you start it !
    Method 2 would be to create the loop and then Audiocopy it into GarageBand ....... But I can't see anyway of doing this either .
    Am I doing something wrong ?
    Cheers for any advice in advance :-)

    You mean getting an audio loop into GB et al?

    Then just press "export" on the SEQ page and it will produce a precision cut loop file for use in GB. You could the choose "Open in another App" and done!

  • nlognlog

    @anickt said:
    @nlog

    iSpark needs a way to load/save files to cloud storage. Even if it was just user files. If I load it up with my own samples I'd like to have a backup that doesn't involve my increasingly dusty laptop.

    One good thing about Caustic is it has a built-in FTP server so I can connect with Document5 and save everything to Dropbox without involving a computer.

    I hear you well :-)

  • nlognlog

    @bennorland said:
    Turns out I cannot t register my copy of iSpark, as the email bounces back. Therefore I am not allowed (because of the way Arturia's support web form is set up) to make a bug report. Harder to feel patient under these circumstances.

    Has anyone else been able to register. And, Arturia, if anyone is listening in, please fix the registration email address ASAP.

    I forwarded the registration email issue to the Arturia people. Should be fixed sometime Monday. Will get back.

  • nlognlog
    edited February 2016

    @Crabman said:

    @Samu said:

    @Carnbot said:
    If I load the Lynnk Indus 1 project and play the sequence it eventually starts to clip on my Air 2 9.1 and glitch. This is a synth kit. It seems like that the synth engine needs optimising for iOS 9 because on my mini2 iOS 8.3 the same patch plays fine. Tried a reinstall.

    Unless it's a 9.1 thing

    So far 'no glitching' with that kit on iPad Air 2 iOS9.2.1, works smoothly.

    Over all the performance has been smooth, but that Lunynk Indus 1 project is just one of the examples why the 'Modular UI' is needed to make iSpark truly shine and when it gets it it will easily 'replace' many other apps on my iPad.

    He never said the modular UI will come for sure.He stated multiple times he will TRY to deliver it later.Just sayin.

    i can imagine it also depends on how much they gonna sell now.

    Couldn't rephrase that better :-) The iOS formula "much lower app prices than desktop - times - many more (legal, i.e. non pirated) customers" is a bit unstable. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. Still not convinced that this is a sustainable business although doing it now for 5+ years :-)

  • nlognlog

    @Samu said:

    @mgmg4871 said:

    Not sure if this is what you want, but there's a preset called New Project.

    I've noticed that, it's a good start.

    But what really is the issue is that even for sampled instruments there are multiple 'instrument-variations' with different parameters that can be adjusted and there is no easy way to change the 'parameter setup' for an Instrument without first having to load another instrument and then re-assigning the user sample to it.

    There is also no way to directly select which type of instrument is assigned to a pad. It's determined by the instrument that is loaded to a pad.

    All this boils down to the fact that there is currently no way in the iOS version to create a new instrument from scratch(similar to pressing init on a synth for a 'start-point' or 'clean canvas' like in Audulus 3 and other Modular apps). This goes for both sampled and analog instruments and probably physical modelling stuff to when or if its implemented in the iOS version.

    Hopefully sales go good enough so that iSpark has a possibility to survive and evolve.

    I guess I'm as usual a little ahead of time, sooner or later others will most likely ask for these features too :)

    The general workflow for starting from scratch in terms of instruments is:

    • Create a "New Project" from project menu.
    • Go to studio page.
    • Select a pad from the bottom.
    • Tap "Select" and then choose from the instrument browser.
    • There for starting with instruments from scratch, choose "Template" on the left side and then select the instrument you like.
    • Press "X" to close the browser and then change samples and/or parameters and/or FX.

    From the 12 parameter knobs, the bottom row of 6 is always same for each instrument.
    The upper row of 6 is specific to the modular patch.

    So, an alternative idea would be when selecting in the instrument browser, not to select "Template" but the "Type" of the instrument in the type filter like BD. Then choose from all the BDs in the the one which comes your idea close and then start from there.

    For build a whole synthesis patch from scratch you would of course need the modular editor.

  • JohnnyGoodyearJohnnyGoodyear

    @nlog said:

    @Samu said:

    @mgmg4871 said:

    Not sure if this is what you want, but there's a preset called New Project.

    I've noticed that, it's a good start.

    But what really is the issue is that even for sampled instruments there are multiple 'instrument-variations' with different parameters that can be adjusted and there is no easy way to change the 'parameter setup' for an Instrument without first having to load another instrument and then re-assigning the user sample to it.

    There is also no way to directly select which type of instrument is assigned to a pad. It's determined by the instrument that is loaded to a pad.

    All this boils down to the fact that there is currently no way in the iOS version to create a new instrument from scratch(similar to pressing init on a synth for a 'start-point' or 'clean canvas' like in Audulus 3 and other Modular apps). This goes for both sampled and analog instruments and probably physical modelling stuff to when or if its implemented in the iOS version.

    Hopefully sales go good enough so that iSpark has a possibility to survive and evolve.

    I guess I'm as usual a little ahead of time, sooner or later others will most likely ask for these features too :)

    The general workflow for starting from scratch in terms of instruments is:

    • Create a "New Project" from project menu.
    • Go to studio page.
    • Select a pad from the bottom.
    • Tap "Select" and then choose from the instrument browser.
    • There for starting with instruments from scratch, choose "Template" on the left side and then select the instrument you like.
    • Press "X" to close the browser and then change samples and/or parameters and/or FX.

    From the 12 parameter knobs, the bottom row of 6 is always same for each instrument.
    The upper row of 6 is specific to the modular patch.

    So, an alternative idea would be when selecting in the instrument browser, not to select "Template" but the "Type" of the instrument in the type filter like BD. Then choose from all the BDs in the the one which comes your idea close and then start from there.

    For build a whole synthesis patch from scratch you would of course need the modular editor.

    Thanks for your recent responses. Helpful. This last answer in particular helps clarify/simplify things for me.

  • robosardinerobosardine

    @Paul16 said:
    As nice as it looks, I can't seem to figure out what it has over Attack, ED, Patterning, etc. Happy to be convinced otherwise.

    I'm starting to miss any sort of randomise feature- which I have grown quite accustomed to with Patterning, Seekbeats and DM1 and the like.

  • anicktanickt

    @nlog said:

    @Lacm1993 said:

    @anickt said:

    Some of the bugs people are mentioning are user error. Before you report a bug make sure you can reproduce it and give exact steps. That's much more helpful than just saying things don't work like you think they should.

    @nlog

    That being said, I find that pressing the stop button does not go back to the beginning as it's supposed to per the manual.

    Tempo does not save with project. I have saved several projects and when I re-start iSpark it defaults to 120 even if I load a project that was saved at another BPM.

    Finally, it is very difficult to drag the tempo setting precisely. Many apps allow you to enter a tempo manually. Tap tempo does not seem to work either.

    Could it be that as in gadget the tempo defaults to 120 every time because ableton link it's enabled?.

    Right, please check that Link isn't enabled.

    With Link disabled selecting tempo precisely should work

    • there's a slow drag speed for precision control
    • there's normal drag speed for normal control
    • and there's tap tempo

    With Link enabled you're always in a beat grid with the result that you cannot rewind that.

    However, we have an internal discussion if we for ex. virtually "disable" Link when there's no other app connected in the sense that then pressing stop would actually reset the beat position and allow for normal tempo control as if Link would be disabled.

    Thanks!

  • anicktanickt

    @nlog said:

    @anickt said:
    @nlog

    iSpark needs a way to load/save files to cloud storage. Even if it was just user files. If I load it up with my own samples I'd like to have a backup that doesn't involve my increasingly dusty laptop.

    One good thing about Caustic is it has a built-in FTP server so I can connect with Document5 and save everything to Dropbox without involving a computer.

    I hear you well :-)

    Thanks again!

  • kobamotokobamoto
    edited February 2016

    has everyone here updated their device to the latest os?

  • JRSIVJRSIV
    edited February 2016

    Arturia's synths are some my favorite iOS music production tools, so the news of iSpark was very intriguing. I have most of the major drum app suspects (DrumPerfect Pro, Patterning, Elastic Drums, iMPC Pro, Praxis Drums, plus the groove boxes like Beathawk, Maschine 2 and BeatMaker 2) but am a sucker for more, especially if it has a different spin on the tried & true '16 step beatbox'.

    To me iSpark is an app that presently is in it's infancy, and with additional work can be 5 star territory no problem. It looks so good with the skeuomorphic design, the knobs and analog flavor really making the app feel like a pro piece of kit. Some hate that vibe but I dig it, reminds me of the old workflow that was seen in PortaStudios to Neve consoles.

    The sounds are good, the usual 808, Linn and 'electronic' drum flavors are present and the acoustic, sample based sounds are nice as well. I always look at the stock sounds of a drum app as icing on the cake, because I am going to be bringing in additional samples the bulk of the time. The importation of samples is okay, could be fine tuned.

    The fact that iSpark has sample layers is huge for guys (& gals) like me who use acoustic drum sounds more than digital. My gripes with the facility as it sits now is 1) AudioShare straight from the import menu would be nice (you have to middle man AudioCopy or the iPads pasteboard to get there right now) and 2) the audition for the current layer being worked with in the Studio section should be easier to do. As it sits now there is one button to use that runs through the six layers depending on where you tap it. When editing or trying to get some good realistic changes happening with the samples it is frustrating to hit the square "just so" to hear the layer you're working on. A button that plays each layer separately is needed. I do dig the various ways the layers can be triggered (round Robin, velocity based, etc.)

    Effects are amazing on iSpark. You can add subtle color to an instrument or completely mangle it. Parametric EQ, the Analog Chorus & Delay, Compression...it has a really cool selection. The automation is really cool, controlling not only velocity and panning but almost any other variable is possible. It is similar to the Praxis automation with the block graph visual very easy to make quck adjustments to.

    My wish list for iSpark isn't too deep, a few tweaks to layout here and there, streamlined auditioning. The AudioBus and IAA capabilities are solid though I wish there were individual instrument outputs similar to DrumPerfect's. The versatility and control that each drum kit element on its own track provides is the cats ass and would make iSpark that much more useful. Exporting or routing through AudioBus in stereo is there and the ability to mix and add effects internally in the app are as close as we can get at the moment.

    I still look at DrumPerfect (and especially DrumPerfect Pro) as the gold standard for drum apps on iOS. For realistic, acoustic drum parts it's on par with StudioDrummer and BFD on desktop. It's Achilles heel is the programming, work flow and layout; DrumPerfect Pro went a long way towards fixing that but it's still a challenging app to use at times. With some changes and additions, iSpark could get real close to the functionality of DP but bcause of it's beautiful layout and streamlining could be easier to program.

    Even if you have a daily driver iOS drum app I think iSpark is a steal at half a sawbuck and can be used to make really interesting sounds and grooves.

  • JRSIVJRSIV
    edited February 2016

    @kobamoto said:
    has everyone here updated their device to the latest os?

    I'm still on iOS 8.4 and have wondered how many hold outs there still are. I feel whatever OS was current when a device is released is probably going to be the one the device was optimized for. Of course updates and wholesale changes can make an older device work better, but when iOS 9 dropped it was nothing but trouble for us in the iOS music production realm.

    This should be a thread of its own, I am very curious to hear if those who early adopted iOS 9 are happy with it now or still experiencing problems.

  • DexterTragicDexterTragic

    @JRSIV said:

    The fact that iSpark has sample layers is huge for guys (& gals) like me who use acoustic drum sounds more than digital. My gripes with the facility as it sits now is 1) AudioShare straight from the import menu would be nice (you have to middle man AudioCopy or the iPads pasteboard to get there right now) and 2) the audition for the current layer being worked with in the Studio section should be easier to do. As it sits now there is one button to use that runs through the six layers depending on where you tap it. When editing or trying to get some good realistic changes happening with the samples it is frustrating to hit the square "just so" to hear the layer you're working on. A button that plays each layer separately is needed. I do dig the various ways the layers can be triggered (round Robin, velocity based, etc.)

    I, too, am thrilled that iSpark has sample layers. I've been waiting for an iOS drum app like this for years. However, when I use Velocity mode, and trigger a sample at a new layer, iSpark seems to be choking the previous layer, which is making my acoustic drum fills sound very unrealistic. If they can add an option to allow the previous layer's sample to play all the way through, I think I'd be in business.

    Dexter

  • JRSIVJRSIV

    @DexterTragic said:

    I, too, am thrilled that iSpark has sample layers. I've been waiting for an iOS drum app like this for years. However, when I use Velocity mode, and trigger a sample at a new layer, iSpark seems to be choking the previous layer, which is making my acoustic drum fills sound very unrealistic. If they can add an option to allow the previous layer's sample to play all the way through, I think I'd be in business.

    Dexter

    I hear you brother, I checked a few times to see if any samples were on a choke group but they weren't. I think either the app just has a few kinks to ironed out or the iPad itself is struggling to play multiple samples simultaneously... Although I have many apps that handle that chore fine and even though the iPad Air 3 is about to eclipse my Air 2 it still isn't a tablet that's lacking horsepower.

  • BiancaNeveBiancaNeve

    Wouldn't a real instrument do that? Surely when you hit a snare a second time the sound from the previous hit ends?

  • AndyPlanktonAndyPlankton

    @BiancaNeve said:
    Wouldn't a real instrument do that? Surely when you hit a snare a second time the sound from the previous hit ends?

    The instrument would but the reverb wouldn't :)

  • cl516cl516

    @JRSIV said:
    My gripes with the facility as it sits now is 1) AudioShare straight from the import menu would be nice (you have to middle man AudioCopy or the iPads pasteboard to get there right now) and 2) the audition for the current layer being worked with in the Studio section should be easier to do. As it sits now there is one button to use that runs through the six layers depending on where you tap it. When editing or trying to get some good realistic changes happening with the samples it is frustrating to hit the square "just so" to hear the layer you're working on. A button that plays each layer separately is needed. I do dig the various ways the layers can be triggered (round Robin, velocity based, etc.)

    +1 for this post. To add to this, I'm able to send sounds out from AudioShare directly into iSpark (maybe this is already obvious to most folks?), but I have great difficulty importing sounds while inside iSpark. Gets glitchy if I get AudioCopy or pasteboard involved, and then samples are limited to 16/441 (only with AudioCopy). Doing the pasteboard thing at one point with a higher rate sample gave me a crazy white noise blast, but I'm currently not savvy enough with all the iOS terminology to describe how to repeat it. The layering as mentioned above is indeed great, and if transferring samples to iSpark using a cable and iTunes, iSpark works pretty well over here.

  • encenc

    Maybe I'm missing something really obvious ... How do you set ispark to start from the beginning of the bar ?

  • AnotherGregAnotherGreg

    @Paul16 said:
    As nice as it looks, I can't seem to figure out what it has over Attack, ED, Patterning, etc. Happy to be convinced otherwise.

    Its way deeper and functional , 2 individual fx insert for each drum , layering, 2x aux master sends x2 fx each.
    But worst of all with patterning (and i should tell you really liked this app) is the missing pads there is no way to just rec on the fly..

  • AnotherGregAnotherGreg

    So after few hours working on ispark i must say it tops it all! Sound good it is capable to do in depth work and i must say i dont care for modular integration ( i think it will be pretty cpu heavy) Its insane that i can just load my spark libraries. Damn!!

  • anicktanickt

    @enc said:
    Maybe I'm missing something really obvious ... How do you set ispark to start from the beginning of the bar ?

    It will aways start at the beginning of the bar as long as Link is not enabled. Thanks to someone on this forum for pointing that out to me. I had unknowingly enabled Link and couldn't figure out why things weren't working as expected. Maybe that's what happening?

  • Redo1Redo1

    @nlog said:

    @knewspeak said:

    @Redo1 said:

    Right, that's what is meant by modular UI. And we understand very well that the current desktop UI isn't very nice and esp. not so great for the iPad screen. Another reason why we said, before doing quickly a 1:1 copy of the desktop UI, better give that some more time for designing an appropriate iOS UI.

    Thanks. Just want to clarify here, I wasn't suggesting the UI would change my mind out of buying the app, but that if something this deep was going to be implemented then it will have made my mind up to buy it.
    In case you thought I was complaining about the desktop UI for an iPad. I was not :)

  • gburksgburks

    Is it possible yet to import Spark desktop presets into iSpark? Is there an existing community for exchanging Spark presets? Would be very cool to tap into that and expand the kits.

  • DeVlaeminckDeVlaeminck

    @gburks said:
    Is it possible yet to import Spark desktop presets into iSpark? Is there an existing community for exchanging Spark presets? Would be very cool to tap into that and expand the kits.

    From appstore description:

    Possibility to share projects, kits and instruments between iSpark and the desktop version of Spark 2.

    Looks like a yes the first. As for the community i don't know.

  • knewspeakknewspeak

    @DeVlaeminck said:

    @gburks said:
    Is it possible yet to import Spark desktop presets into iSpark? Is there an existing community for exchanging Spark presets? Would be very cool to tap into that and expand the kits.

    From appstore description:

    Possibility to share projects, kits and instruments between iSpark and the desktop version of Spark 2.

    Looks like a yes the first. As for the community i don't know.

    Yes the community presets, exist on the official Aturia Spark (for the desktop) forum, quite a few exist, but to download them I think you may need to register.

  • encenc
    edited February 2016

    @anickt said:

    @enc said:
    Maybe I'm missing something really obvious ... How do you set ispark to start from the beginning of the bar ?

    It will aways start at the beginning of the bar as long as Link is not enabled. Thanks to someone on this forum for pointing that out to me. I had unknowingly enabled Link and couldn't figure out why things weren't working as expected. Maybe that's what happening?

    cheers dude ... you are right :)
    thing is i use it in a link set up so i need link enabled. cant say ive noticed any other apps with this trait when link is enabled :o

  • anicktanickt

    @enc said:

    @anickt said:

    @enc said:
    Maybe I'm missing something really obvious ... How do you set ispark to start from the beginning of the bar ?

    It will aways start at the beginning of the bar as long as Link is not enabled. Thanks to someone on this forum for pointing that out to me. I had unknowingly enabled Link and couldn't figure out why things weren't working as expected. Maybe that's what happening?

    cheers dude ... you are right :)
    thing is i use it in a link set up so i need link enabled. cant say ive noticed any other apps with this trait when link is enabled :o

    They mentioned looking into fixing this issue in response to one of my previous posts.

  • lieslavishlieslavish

    I just finished making a track to test out iSpark, and, although my feelings toward it aren't as evil as they originally were, I think that this workflow must just not be for me. Bugs aside, I found the song sequencer to be pretty difficult to wrangle. As far as I could tell, there's no easy way to, say, automate track mutes, which I see as being pretty necessary when you're arranging a loop-based song (constantly building up and tearing down by adding and removing tracks). What I ended up having to do, after trying a few things, was copying my pattern over and over again and then going into each individual iteration and "ERASE" pad for each pad that I wanted muted. Once I figured this out, things moved pretty quickly, but then it sucked when I'd change my mind, because there's no undo button and no way to, well, 'unmute' a track when you've just erased it. So, I'd have to audition mutes by literally muting the mixer to hear how things would sound before I committed to erasing the pad from a particular pattern, which ended up being quite a hassle for such a simple function. Again, all that it'd need to solve the problem would be a way to automate track mutes.

    I noticed that you can automate the 'volume' for each pad, and I was doing that for a while, automating tracks to 0 to mute them and then to 100 to bring them back in, but that ended up being a problem because 'volume' is actually a parameter of the synth, and not all of them were set at 100, in the first place. I was looking for something like 'Expression,' which would affect volume without dinking with any of the synth settings, but what it really needs is mixer automation, which would be cool for fades and things, anyway, outside of just automating mutes.

    The biggest problem that I had was constant audio drops on my iPad Mini 3, even though iSpark was the only thing running. I found no way to adjust the latency in-app, so I ran it in an instance of Audiobus with an extremely high latency setting, and it didn't seem to help. I remixed my track so that I could take out some of my effects (it's not like I had one on every track), and it was difficult to say if it made any difference because the problem really seemed to go away when I disabled WIST, although I'm updated to the most recent version, which was supposed to solve some WIST audio problems.

    What I like about iSpark is that each pad can have two insert effects, and I like the performing surface on the 'Main' page. I also love that it has velocity layers, which very, very few drum machines on iOS have, as well as cool ways to work with those layers. I must have been going about it the wrong way to get an actual song out of it, or maybe you're not really supposed to use it that way. The constant audio popping from drops made me think that I was never going to be able to record it and would have made it impossible to perform with, live, but I have the feeling that this is less of a performance issue and more of a bug that'll probably be resolved, at some point.

    I ended up having fun with it, but I probably won't touch it again until more issues are resolved and more features are added (if that modular UI is ever opened up for it, I'll almost certainly swing back in for a second try).

    Here's the track that I made, in case anybody is curious.

  • kobamotokobamoto

    don't you just press record on the sequencer and hit the mute button on the track mixer on and off to record track mutes?
    I haven't done it yet but it couldn't be any other way could it?

  • Rich303Rich303

    I'm looking forward to checking out iSpark tonight. Looks like everything I've wanted in a drum machine app.

Sign In or Register to comment.