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.
"Ambient" guitar on iPad?
Do any guitar players out there perform in this "ambient" style characterized by multiple delays and reverbs?
I thought his particular set up sounded good to my ears. I am starting to look for a similar sound using various amp sims. Tonestack and Bias FX seem the best contenders, in large part because I can't find a volume pedal in Amplitube or Ampkit. It has been harder than I would have thought to get that "wash" sound and avoid harsh tones or feedback on the multiple delays.
Just curious about any positive results using the iPad for this kind of performance. Thanks!
Comments
There are lots of ways you could do this. The first, and most flexible, that comes to mind is Holderness Media's Echo Pad. I would add it after the amp in your FX chain. The default delay preset allows you to adjust the delay time and number of repeats, as well as the filter frequency. Filtering out the high frequencies in the delay will take out that harshness you mention.
You can do many other things if you use something like AUM, that would allow you to set up the delay in its own channel and apply FX to just the delay. Adding EQ, chorus and reverb to just the delay signal can further wash out the sound and gives you a huge amount of control.
My hardware rig contains 4 delays and 2 loopers routed in various ways. There is really nothing exactly comparable in iOS, but there are suitable substitutions (Holderness apps and Amazing/ApeSoft apps used in conjunction with AS and AUM)
Tonestack is really good for 'real' guitar processing . I'm generally too lazy to get it all rigged up though , and play iFretless and Geoshred through a few FX instead lol
I haven't really tried yet, but to obtain an "ambiant" tone, I think the first app I'd use would be Flux:FX, then I'd add AUFX:dub or/and space plus MasterFX in which we can stack delays creating stereo effects while separing the signal in up to 3 "channels".
Depends on what particular sound you're after, but generally:
delays - multi-taps especially
chorus (and phasers can sound very cool too - on a very slow sweep)
cavernous reverbs - pretty essential
Eq - things can get very muddy in the low end
compressors - tighten things up and add sustain if you're considering using the most important thing (in my view) -
A volume pedal
The volume pedal is particularly important to get rid of the attack, which the delays will accentuate and can sound very messy, same for fret scrapes etc. Some artists actually like this effect though (strangely).
Last but not least - restraint !
Hammock, Kwajbasket etc. there are lots of people doing this style nowadays.
@Gratouilli I took your advise and plugged those apps in to audiobus. Flux:fx, Aufx:dub and masterFX. Did not change any settings so whatever came up as default. Worked out nice to my ears anyway.
Thanks for all the advice, it's really helpful. I was thinking just in terms of a single amp sim, but there is no reason not to combine them with other effects.
I think I need Tonestack or Bias to enable the volume pedal, but I can then route the sound to the other effects mentioned. I think Tonestack supports IAA effects in the chain which simplifies setup a little.
I bought Flux:FX because it looked cool and because the musicians behind it, but have never known what to use it for. This could be perfect.
Is there a way to control the volume pedal in tonestack via midi ? Say a controller keyboard?
yes - just tap on Midi Learn and turn a knob or fader on controller and it will map it.
This is mainly what I use my iPad and iPod Touch 6 for. I love building huge layered ambient guitar pads in AUM using FluxFX, Aufx Space, apeDelay, Gliderverb etc in parallel and in series. RP-1 is a very useful delay for this type of sound as multiple AU instances can be used. I also love iPulsaret which is capable of huge ambient guitar washes. iDensity and GrainProc get regular use too.
Cool
Espacially without editing the effects !
In fact ambiant guitar tones are mostly based on stacked delays and modulations. I think it works better when differents delay times are not synchronised, this helps "fill the sound space".
As @Flo26 mentioned, the playing (differents strenghts when attacking strings, use of volume pedal or simply the volume knob to make "violin" sounds, etc.) is also a major part of that style. And, of course, a very good clean tone as the starting point.
Oceans says: For trippy or ambient apps I love: CS Grain, Idensity, Turnado, samvada, and Zed synth as you can run audio through it really crazily. Not just filters its some weird magic? Then Loopy or loop tree as a basis for it all.
Forgot about MIDI guitar synth apps to make ethereal pads. Midi morphisis! Poly mode is good for insane ambient chords when a 'dissonant note comes out' its ok. Mono mode is actually usable tho for real.
Oh, and Samplr is ace for violin sounds for guitar or much more. LOTS of sick apps.
Roll on brother
I'm partial to use Holderness Media's app Crystalline (sp?) for this exact purpose. Super MIDI controllable, great performance interface. It's like a way less confusing FLUX (which just is "too much" for me.
Borderlands Granular as mentioned above, though you have to 'learn' it a bit.
Yes, Flux is a good starting point. Here's a little thing I did with a preset I came up with (unfortunately without a volume pedal) It's not a brilliant chain of FX, (needs a better chorus) but it gives a idea:
Tonestack has a pedal called 'All S'Well' which does a good job on swells for single notes.
Jeff Pearce is a very good 'ambient guitarist' (in my view). People may be interested to check him out:
https://jeffpearcemusic.bandcamp.com/album/follow-the-river-home
I made these a long time ago. Think I only used AUFX:Space.
Crystalline is awesome for such too
Cheers
@tonappas Those were beautiful tunes. Well done.
@TrustButVerify, this is something I did using a Mac DAW; but I am sure the effect could be done with iOS effects. It is playing a chord progression with reverb, delay and a phaser effect, then adding a solo on top with lots of reverb.
Thanks
@bsantoro Thank you, that was nice. You really managed to smear the chord progression under the solo.
Anyone who has any good sugestions on this today with the apps avilable today? Iam thinking geoshred as a source since iam not a guiyrr player or maybe any other guitarr app ?
Where did all the forum members from this old thread disappear to? I love me sum ambient git.
The thing is, you don’t really need a guitar per se. You just need to use the right FX. You could use many things to generate the original signal, add a fader type of control or put a slow envelope on the synth, run that through your FX setup, and maybe add an amp sim on the end if you really like the particulars of ambient guitar sound.
It is really just a drone type of setup, but using a guitar to drive the whole thing instead of a synth or oscillator. So since it is guitarists trying to emulate a droning synth, you should easily be able to emulate a guitarist trying to emulate a droning synth.
I would also add that Guitarscaper excels at generating this type of music.
I have been also trying to connect all these various apps together . Lot of iOS app options but wiring them correctly and using MIDI is the the tricky part
So I have the guitar connected to a volume pedal and then to irig pro to iPad. External volume control gives flexibility is keeping hands free and getting a not natural fade rather than a midi mapped pedal in tonestack and controlled by a knob or slider.
Challenge right now is to use a looper so big loops and washes can be mixed
Is there a recommendation for a looper that works very well with AUM ? I want each channel to feed into its own loop and each loop should have its midi controlled start/stop/etc controls . Loopyhd is fiddly with having to go via Audiobus to it . Waiting on another looper that might work more directly for live looping and in AUM ?
Nothing sounds as good and deep as the hardware effects though..love the strymon and figuring out how to incorporate that in the iOS setup...best of both worlds !!
I love all the scaper apps but iam after more control, good tip on using other sources though
The Looper app would have to be an IAA host I believe for it to receive output from AUM. Otherwise Audiobus would have to feed the Looper app, just like the Loopy situation.
What would be great is if you could set up AUM to be the Looper somehow. It has great loop recording already, as well as great loop playback, but you need to figure out a way to get the loops to auto load into the FilePlayer for it to be a full on Looper. I don’t know if that is even possible without some additional functionality being added to AUM.
I've made "ambient guitar" using nothing but Geoshred and its internal FX. It's got everything you need. It can get CPU intensive though. You need a capable ipad.
Cool, how did you set it up if you dont mind me asking ?
Can you share these setups as presets since it’s all just Geoshred?