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.
Help me find a keyboard app before I lose the plot....please!
Hi peeps,
I'm losing it here and no mistake.
Firstly I've only been experimenting with the iPad as a music making device for a couple of weeks so please excuse any glaring 'noob' errors in what follows....ta!
I seem to be collecting apps at a rate of knots and I'm rapidly running out of funds and the will to live.
I'm not a keyboard player, I'm a guitarist/singer/songwriter type bloke but I need to have access to keyboard sounds, brass, strings, pads etc to add some colour to what I'm doing, so; as I don't know the first thing about playing keys I need an app which helps me along the way. I know the features I want it to have, those being....
1) An accessible double-decker layout
2) A facility to enlarge the key size be that via reducing the number of them or on screen manipulation etc
3) Choice of musical key
4) Choice of musical scale type
5) MIDI out to access sounds in other apps
6) A toggle between note and chord would be extremely helpful as well
....so that's it, not much to ask really....or is it?
I already have iM1 on my pad and that does most of it apart from the double decker keyboard option added to which, when you choose the scale or the chord function the keyboard shrinks to a ridiculous little half inch long white blob at the bottom of the screen.
Next I tried the much lauded Bismark BS16i and that was hilarious. I checked it out for days before taking the plunge only to discover that the 'scale' button which I thought was there to assist the musically illiterate did nothing to the app sonically it just stretched or contracted the keyboard visually, massive own goal there! So I'm left with an instrument that I am totally incapable of playing.
Whilst on the subject, regarding said app; I am also at a complete loss as to how soundfonts are loaded, am clueless about 'parts' and 'Rx.Ch' etc plus extensive Google searches have produced absolutely zero documentation or instructions anywhere.
I know people on this forum rave about the app, probably with total justification but without a manual of any kind and a website which uses impenetrable dark blue lettering against a black background, how the Dickens is anyone new to all this iMalarkey meant to work anything out about the Bismark? Quite frankly, I'm sunk (see what I did there?). 
The closest I've come to a panacea is SampleTank which does absolutely everything I want it to but 45 quid (including all the IAPs which would be needed as it has no MIDI out) and a load of popups to boot, blimey O'Riley....we woz robbed!
So please, fellow sufferers, is there anything else out there which might fit the bill? I'm not too fussed about the on board sounds as long as I can access my other apps, iM1, ThumbJam etc, I just need the functionality above all else, failing that it's another 45 notes down the Swanee then, something I can ill afford in these times of huge Government cutbacks (for everyone except the Government of course!).
All suggestions gratefully received.
Kind regards,
Charlie.
Comments
You mention ThumbJam, so it looks like you have it. Everything you're asking for is in the ThumbJam UI ... and, if you like that UI, you can even use TJ as a playing surface for your other sounds, in addition to or instead of the TJ sounds.. I do that a lot. You can of course set TJ to show whatever scale and root note you like (I particularly like the fact that tonic, dominant and subdominant notes are highlighted for easy spotting). You can split the interface into two or three columns, and can set each column to its own octave in the scale, or even to its own scale, or EVEN to its own instrument or MIDI channel. If you're not using the TJ built-in sounds but want to control other apps, you can use the menu (button is in the upper left corner) to mute TJ sounds. Then set up MIDI using the settings (button for this is in the upper right corner). I can provide more info if you like, but maybe you don't need it (or don't really like the TJ UI as much as I do).
Thumbjam.
Firo may be helpful to you as a single controller.
ThumbJam will do pretty much what you want.
Many options perhaps, but as indicated, wear out ThumbJam first if you have it....
@buffalogal Bloody hell's teeth, you are of course completely correct in what you say, I love ThumbJam (ToeJam not so much!). I guess I just hadn't realised it could do so much, well I kind of did know what it was capable of but had ventured down other avenues before having fully explored it.
One thing I really need are good brass sounds as I'm doing a lot of reggae, TJ is pretty much devoid of those. In one session with it I managed to get it to play the iM1 sounds but didn't think about the splitting of the UI whilst doing that, certainly didn't realise that the two play areas could be assigned different scales and instruments. I also didn't realise that the dominant and subdominant notes were the colour they were for a reason....thick or what? I just liked the fact that they were claret and blue (being a West Ham fan for 50+ years!).
The only thing TJ can't do on that list is play chords from a single note/section but with the possibility of two rows of keys I definitely should be able to get something respectable out of it....possibly. Blimey, two different iM1 brass sections playing notes that don't injure each other, the thought of that gets the juices flowing somewhat.
I'm going to struggle a bit setting the MIDI up I expect. The main problem I seem to have with MIDI at the moment is in the octaves department when using apps like ChordUp or Chordion which don't have any octave adjustments, piccolo on the iM1, tuba on Chordion....you know the kind of thing. Still TJ doesn't have any of those issues as you rightly say. I will never get the hang of MIDI though until the day I croak on that you can rely!
So thank you for your kind post, I will revisit TJ with renewed enthusiasm anon.
PS:- Does anybody know how to load soundfonts into Bismark? There is no manual anywhere and the only YouTube video that's vaguely related is Doug from the SoundTestRoom demonstrating how to load fonts using something called GoodReader, that seems a bit convoluted to me but what the Hell do I know?...Sod all I hear you say!
@db909 @Fruitbat1919 @JohnnyGoodyear
As you can see from my post above, in the space of one message I have been completely re-educated as to ThumbJam and its possibilities. They often say that what you've been looking for was right under your nose the whole time, I shall definitely go back and fully explore its capabilities. As I said, I've only been introduced to iPaddery in the last couple of weeks and this app buying stuff isn't too far away from being addictive....just say no Charlie, just say no.
Thank hugely for the sound advice, duly heeded.
@Karma_Train
@JohnnyGoodyear
Cheers for that
I think ignorance might be pushing it a bit though, I didn't even know what an iPad was three weeks ago so I had to research those blighters first as well, my head hurts, it really does! It's like Homer J Simpson once said, "Every time I put something new in my brain, something old disappears"
Whilst on the subject of ignorance though, this Bismark BS-16i app, there are absolutely no instructions out there for it at all, I just don't get that. You go to the trouble of creating what everybody in the know says is an absolutely brilliant app and yet provide sod all in the way of a user's manual, how on Earth are ignorant people like me ever going to become less ignorant? Or is it a mysterious app that only a few anointed ones know the secrets of?
Not the most sensible way to make money I wouldn't have thought. Ah well.
Thanks again, just for being there really.
I have a suspicion if we sit quietly enough some kind and better educated member of the brethren may at least give you a pointer or two...(I will take notes).
@Karma_Train How about Midi Guitar it lets you play keyboard sounds, synths and virtual instruments on a guitar, as of version 2 it is a brilliant app. I think you should at least consider this, it is a more expensive app that most but worth every cent
1: to add a SoundFont .sf2 library, you can either download it from the web using GoodReader then "Open In" BS, or connect your iPad to your desktop/laptop and use iTunes to copy the .sf2 file(s) from your computer into Bismarks Inbox file share folder. (iTunes is the only way to remove them later. SF's can be huge:) Then, in Bismark, under the sprocket icon, you an assign up to four of them to libraries 1 thru 4. These then show up in the instrument picker menu.
(some of the screen shots were too big for this forum. It has a low limit for these ays of retina screenshots. Sorry, hope this is enough
Midi Studio Pro can be scale locked, and double-deckered. It's a pretty nice MIDI controller:
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/midi-studio-pro/id590496392?mt=8
Also definitely look into Firo, which is free:
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/firo-music-maker-instrument/id905878913?mt=8
Finally the likes of ChordPolyPad and SoundPrism are also super useful as MIDI controllers. And since you're a guitarist you should also look into Geo Synth:
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/geo-synthesizer/id465224352?mt=8
For the chords part of what you are looking for, I would suggest taking a look at the SoundPrism range.
A minor correction: It is possible to manage BS-16i without recourse to desktop utilities. In the selection dialog of BS's Documents folder and Inbox, it's possible to edit the list of soundfonts ('Edit' button @ top-right), including 'Delete'. That's what I do, anyway
As for getting soundfonts into BS: Doug's (TSTR) vid describes how in Safari (or other browser) to 'Open In...' downloaded zips in GoodReader, unzip them there and then 'Open In...' the unzipped soundfont(s) in BS.
@Karma_Train : GoodReader is an excellent (if ambiguously named) app but it's not the only one of its kind. I use FileBrowser, and swear by it, but that's mainly because I don't 'click' with GoodReaader's UI. However, if you already have the AudioShare app (and, if you don't, you should get it - it's one of the key apps for iOS musicians), then you already have the means to unzip, manage and 'Open In...) soundfonts in BS. Simply substitute AudioShare for GoodReader in the various instructions you've been given so far.
[EDITED for clarity]
OK, some quick replies to show my extreme gratitude for your kind contributions, I was up all night again fiddling about with this stuff so please excuse any typing slackness
.
@banjofran As a guitarist of sorts I have long messed around with guitar synths, way back into the eighties when I had a Shadow system which never worked at all well somewhat unsurprisingly. For the past couple of years I've used a Line 6 Variax guitar with a GK3 hex pickup attached and a Roland GR20 synth which worked a bit better but still with millions of missed notes and false triggers. Funnily enough, that entire system is now up for sale on FeePay since I discovered what the iPad was capable of. I did check out the Midi Guitar videos on YouTube and although that method seems to have sorted out a few gremlins, I'm going to steer clear of MIDI guitaring for a while I think as the iPad is well, simply a whole lot more inspiring and fun....blimey, fun; now that's a word I haven't used in quite some time. Grateful thanks for the heads up though, something else I didn't know existed then!
@dwarman A thousand blessings for your post and for the effort entailed, I really am most grateful.
As I said, I ended up staying awake most of the night trying to sort this stuff out and eventually stumbled upon a video by a couple of American dudes, one of whom was a pastor who had managed to import some sounds from one of his all time favourite synths into Bismark. The video was virtually impossible to hear due to broad Southern accents and the fact that it was probably recorded on a banana but by following the visuals I just about made out his methodology. He did the importing via the iTunes route and so at about 3am I installed said program onto my PC....several hours, an iPad update and a couple of near-breakdowns later I finally managed to work it out. I had previously downloaded (by not entirely legitimate means) a huge 10gb+ library of SF2 files and so until dawn I stayed up slapping sounds in an out of Bismark, great fun, plus I found a tremolo flute to die for. An added bonus of going down the iTunes route was that I was also able to delete that damn U2 album they inflicted upon my poor little iPad at birth!
@richardyot Many thanks for your kind post and your suggestions, I will definitely take a peek at MidiStudioPro when I've finished this epistle, can't say I've heard of that one as yet. Some other helpful soul mentioned Firo earlier, I went and took a gander at it last night and stumbled upon the following video which kind of put me off it for life, actually it's probably one of the funniest reviews I've ever seen, almost bordering on satire, if you recommend it though I'll definitely give it another look, preferably reviewed by someone who knows what they're doing as opposed to a barely house trained chimp with their first ever app. Here, give it a butcher's....it's hilarious
https://youtube.com/watch?v=6A6cft403-k
Regarding your further suggestions, ChordPolyPad was pretty much the first app I bought and was basically the reason I decided to get into this iPad malarkey in the first instance as I saw that it could pretty much totally bail me out of that 'non-keyboard playing' bind, brilliant app. Not sure what to make of SoundPrism, watched countless videos of it and have never actually seen it used in a structured way, largely just random sweepings up and down and too and fro with pleasant noises emitting as a result. I always planned to give it a thrash though as it's not hideously expensive, so that I will. I've watched, pretty much mesmerised; by Jordan Rudess' demos of GeoSynth and GeoShred, beautiful, beautiful stuff, my only reservations regarding those apps I guess is the leaning curve, I already have the iFretless bundle on my pad, bass, brass, sax etc and although they are aimed at guitarists I find them ridiculously difficult to get anything musical out of, for some reason (perhaps down to me being a crap guitarist) although I recognise the notes and the layout I just can't seem to marry the two, Geo Synth; as it uses the same kind of theory both appeals and scares me at the same time, plus it's a bit pricey, definitely tempted though, that Rudess chap just makes those apps sing, His version of Norwegian Wood is a flippin' masterpiece!
@PhilW Apologies for sort of adding you to the previous comment but now two knowledgeable people have suggested that SoundPrism is a goodun' I will definitely take a look see. Thanks for the heads up, much appreciated.
@Washboy Many thanks for your hugely informed reply, I'm most grateful. If you've read the above you will have noticed that at great detriment to my already ill health I stayed up all night and eventually managed to get some SF2 files into Bismark, as seen, I followed the iTunes route as I figured that despite Apple's insistence of installing and paying through the nose for everything Apple, iTunes would actually be quite useful to have installed on my PC for other less involved iPad duties, so 'yay' I got there in the end....kind of. And yes, I had also spotted that you could delete fonts via the edit option in Bismark being the inveterate poker of buttons I probably shouldn't poke that I am! I don't have AudioShare as yet but will definitely add it as it gets mentioned in virtually every instructional video I've ever watched and GoodReader as recommended by Doug can be a back up option I guess. Still, as I said, the iTunes method seems moderately harmless so I'll stick with that for the time being and thanks again for taking the time to give my situation some thought, most kind of you indeed.
My fingers hurt.
That video for Firo is a waste of time. The way I use it is as a MIDI controller, it's easy to create nice progressions and you can scale lock it.
Geo synth is also great as a controller. I wouldn't compare it to iFretless, I'm not than keen on iFretless but I love Geo Synth and Geo Shred.
But IMO if you have MidiStudioPro, Geo Synth and ChordPolyPad you should be set for any situation, they are all great controllers that play a little differently but cover all bases, and there isn't much of a learning curve. Firo makes a nice addition, especially since it's free.
@richardyot Ah Firo also known as Fiddlewax Pro?.....just found Doug's video on it, it's nearly half an hour long so I'll give it a watch in a bit.
Got to say it (and it pains me to do so) but I really don't much care for those iFretless apps which is a bummer as they weren't exactly giving them away. Just can't wrap my tired old brain around the interface. I do a lot of reggae so iFretless Brass was the main one I was after, turns out it's no good at all for that purpose as the instruments have about as much attack as a gummy poodle, probably wonderful for Hovis adverts but not a great deal else. On my iPad Air 2 I find lots of velocity discrepancies as well plus the saxes are somewhat kazoo-like at times. The main problem though is that confounded interface.
So you reckon the Geo Apps are a bit more 'getting to grips withable' then?
I really love the Geo apps, but of course YMMV
Also I know you said you didn't want to go down that route, but for brass instruments I really like using MIDI Guitar, because it's really easy to get nice phrasing by using a guitar to drive a trumpet or a sax: the hammers and slides sound really good. Might still be too much Hovis for what you're after though. Maybe what you need is more straightforward stabs, like you could get from SampleTank.
Gosh, even though the sun is out under a huge blue sky and it's headed for the mid-eighties today here in Austin, I miss England...
There's no blue skies here in Albion.
@richardyot I just had to look up YMMV
Regarding the Geo Synth, looking at the playing area I think I can see what vital difference between that and the iFretless apps might make the former a tad more easy to extract music from, that being a lack of pretend strings adorned with weird barcodes which make zero sense to me but most importantly the fact that when a note is pressed, all the same notes in other octaves are highlighted, meaning sliding to an area with similar note clusters in different octaves is more visually helpful. Bugger! I want to have a go on it now!
Money is tight though. I just did some adding up and since I bought the iPad (which was far from cheap itself) I've burned £112.86p on flaming apps....I seriously need to have a word with myself, in fact I just did, trouble is I just told myself to buy GeoSynth, it's only eight quid after all....does the Audiobus forum provide a counselling service? I could be a suitable client if it does!
@dwarman Further to the screenshots you posted of your Bismark, can you possibly help me understand something please?
All the videos I've watched of the app show it as having a further button on the interface between the mixer and the play buttons. The function of this button is to bring up another screen which shows a single large keyboard and all the adjustment knobs etc.
I was concerned that my installation of the app had malfunctioned as said button, which on the videos looks like a circle was not present and I had no single keyboard option just the double-decker screen.
Looking at your shots though it appears exactly the same as mine though so I'm totally confused, has the developer done away with the single keyboard option on the latest updates, do you only have a double keyboard to interact with or are we both suffering from mysteriously disappearing button syndrome?
@Karma_train - yes, the loss of that puzzles me too. Also gone on the iPhone 5. There s a version comment from Nov 15 last year about "fix instrument view in iPhone 4". Wonder if he broke it every where else then?
@dwarman I've sent the developer a message on Facebook but as yet no response, I will keep badgering him though, I'm annoying that way! It certainly does feel broken as opposed to updated though, can't imagine that most users would be particularly cheerful about losing what amounts to a third of the app, I know I'm not!
Check out GarageBand, which has tons of great instruments, including Smart Instruments (keys, strings, etc.) plus keyboards that you can set to certain keys/modes. Also has great guitar amps and fx. The only downside is that you have to use the instruments within the GarageBand DAW itself. But it is a pretty decent work environment -- a was which recently upgraded -- and it's FREE. Sounds like it could be perfect for your needs.
@Lady_App_titude Thanks hugely for your suggestion, I have to say though that GB was one of the first apps I installed on the pad and agree with everything you say, the smart instruments are pretty incredible, just love the smart strings, so very....er....smart! My trouble is I think I might be developing a dangerous app buying habit and keep looking around for perfection, which of course as we both know, simply doesn't exist! Thanks again for your input, much appreciated.
@Karma_Train
I think we almost have you....just a few more apps and you'll never be satisfied...
@richardyot Bloody Hell's teeth and buggery, Firo is a monster isn't it? Sampler, loop recorder, chord arranger, drum machine plus you can import soundfonts (of which I have plenty!) and normal audio files AND it can be used as a midi controller AAAAND it's flippin' free, what in Heaven's name is going on here? I think I could have probably just installed that and saved myself a hundred and twenty notes....the world's gone mad I tells yer!
Just wish I had the fingers of a five year old not these damn sausage like appendages I've been landed with....hmm or an iPad Pro, that would sort it out as well I guess....
Chordion is a great controller too. You play chords in the middle and the side TJ style side keyboard automagically switches to 'only good ones' based on the chord you're playing. Animoog and Magellan both also have great control surfaces. I wouldn't buy them just for that but if you already own either, you might check them out.