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.
Thesys by Sugar Bytes on the Bus
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/thesys/id655513441?mt=8
MIDI step sequencer app. The makers of Turnado strike again. UK App Store for £10:49
Comments
There is a VST version and its description reads:
Thesys is an extremely powerful and intuitive MIDI stepsequencer plugin, giving you control over just about all aspects of your favorite MIDI devices. Use Thesys to create varied and organic bass lines, screaming leads, pulsating chords, and organic pad sounds in the studio or on stage.
For live musicians, Thesys provides an extremely versatile palette of performance options which can be triggered right from your MIDI keyboard: you can transpose, manipulate, twist up, mutate, and mangle your patterns without even getting near your computer.
Thesys is a plugin which can be used with any major Windows or Mac VST/AU/RTAS host. This includes Cubase, Logic, Kore, and Ableton Live, among others. No other MIDI sequencer plugin offers you the ease and power of Thesys. It is 100% MIDI compliant and therefore provides the ultimate MIDI sequencing solution.
Looks good, although I'm not to fond of the double tap to zoom in on things they use. They mention a built in synth for the iPad version, but I take it it's a simple tone generator a la Arpeggionome to let you make patterns before sequencing another app or outboard stuff, and not a fully fledged thing?
Interesting! :-)
Manual http://www.sugar-bytes.de/content/products/Thesys/manual/Manual_English_iPad.pdf
looks VERY interesting. the double-tap thing actually works well for me in Turnado.
Thanks. I looked at the demo video, and it looks like you can use it as a really fleshed out arpeggiator ? If anyone gets it please share some impressions, I'm really tempted but that interface looks scary small and fiddly..
I'm tempted as well, but I already have Genome, stepPolyArp, iSequencer, and others, so I'm not sure what this offers beyond those.
Holy moly, when I first started playing with it I was like 'meh' but then the more I fiddled around the more I realized this thing is super flexible and can do a ton. Comes with a bunch of presets, can start the seq from inside your synth, I don't really know how to properly explain it but I can tell you it's much much easier than Genome, more flexible than StepPolyArp, and it has a great randomization for almost every thing, tons of what i guess would be modulation of all sorts of stuff. It's easy to pick up if you mess around for a few minutes. I think that it's easy to underestimate it simply by looking at it. I'll post what I came up with here, please keep in mind that I "mixed" it entirely through the iPad speaker (no headphones) am taking care of my sick daughter...but thought I'd throw it up (no pun intended) for ya'll
If i recall from the original app, you can set independent loops (and lengths) for pitch, velo, and gate, which offers possibilities. Also the "performance" sequence lets you do a number of different things like short runs, trills, chords on a single step, i think. Check the manual for details, but it seemed pretty cool at the time when i free-trialed it. Original was about the same OSX to iOS price ratio as Turnado.
I honestly think I will use this a lot, whereas Genome has too much of a learning curve and can be confusing. I will say that unlike in Turnado, you almost have to use zoom in this app but its not bad really. I really like this thing....
@Smeeeth yes you can set them to where they're all the same or individual lengths for each loop, you can have several diff parts that you can basically sequence (used it on the bass in my little demo), also they've made it super easy to copy/paste patterns to the diff parts if you want something to stay the same. Chord progressions, slides, and more...sorry if I sound like I work for them haha I am really digging this
Wow, sounds interesting. What I'm really looking for from a MIDI sequencer is great AUTOMATION! Does this automate note and CC? The killer question: can it automate Animoog?
At least that's what I think I want... ya know, I play a line on Animoogs keys and have the MIDI sequencer play it back perfectly.
Possible on iOS?
Seems to be just what I've looking for in terms of a performance transformer. But, but, I'm already over budget for June. Guess I'll have to wait till next week ...
@dwarman, you're one craigslist ad away from all the apps you can eat, on your new second ipad.
@syrupcore, wish you hadn't said that. I know I need a second but I've been trying to stay in de nile about it. Without getting wet. Clearly a lost cause.
Someone know if it control only one midi channel at time??
The step sequencer looks just like the one in Turnado, and that was way hard to get the right steps. Any comparisons there? I take it zoom is definitely a must to enter the correct notes and to get to that tiny keyboard, or?
Zoom is a must for a lot of the settings but its not bad really and the keyboard at top left you can tap & drag up/down to change. Tbh I'm not entirely sure what the keyboard at the bottom affects, I still have some learning to do but I will actually use this app
Can you send different patterns to different synths simultaneously?
"You can open other MIDI channels with other soft synths (or samplers) and set similarly. This way you can achieve layers of sounds, all triggered by Thesys."
"If a multichannel sound card is connected, you can choose all available out ports here."
"All relevant Thesys parameters can be remoted with MIDI CC ́s and Host Automation."
"The Keyboard Control Section offers you extensive live-performance-oriented control over Thesys. Here you can select a Pattern, trigger an Action, or transpose sequences up or down by hitting the corresponding key on your MIDI keyboard/controller."
Some info from the manual...
@ChrisG - just came across this, makes it easier to get the right notes and more fine adjustments
shortcuts are for the desktop version. You still have to use the meat pointer on the iPad.
Curious how I can use this with lemur.....
@Smeeeth - not sure if that was directed at my post but Cmd, Shift, and Alt is included in the iPad version
JM: Thanks. Do you need to hold the shortcut buttons or do they act like toggles?
Edit: NM looks like you gotta hold the buttons while doin all the other stuff. Hmph...Sugar Bytes a request for a toggle like behavior here.
@funjunkie27 I have all those sequencers, arps etc too. Thesys just might be the best.
Can different patterns go to different channels at the time?
Yes
Thank you.