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.
What are GarageBand Users Missing?
I use, and love, GarageBand iOS. I record everything on my iPhone and am still genuinely amazed at what can be accomplished on this DAW in my pocket. It's very intuitive, seems to have virtually everything I need buit right in, and the few things it doesn't have can be easily added via a few external apps, inter-app audio, and Audiobus. And if we're honest, any DAW will always be lacking something, as we musicians are always yearning for more. The most mind-boggling part of this is the cost...$4.99. I sometimes wonder if GB is so well rounded, versatile, and capable, that it gets taken for granted, and that it's ridiculous $4.99 pricetag gives the false impression that it's not as advanced as its higher priced counterparts. Perhaps if GarageBand was priced at $29.99 it would be regarded more highly? And just when I think I'm beginning to take full advantage if everything GarageBand has to offer, they release a free update that opens up even greater possibilities. But I'm still curious.
I see others prefer and often rave about other DAWS, combined with external drum apps, multiple external synths, external effects, external this, and external that, all being brought together using an external routing app. The cost of this method far more expensive than the measley $4.99 for GarageBand, the multiple learning curves vastly more difficult, and just a more complicated process overall. I'm just trying to understand what exactly I'm missing out on as a GarageBand user. The curious/never satisfied musician in me would love to be convinced that switching DAWS, using an external drum app, etc will bring my recordings to another level. So, what do other iOS DAWS offer that GB doesn't? Do these other DAWS offer as much (perhaps more)built-in capability as GB? What specifically does GarageBand lack?
Comments
Automation!
appregiator apps. link. like 99% of whats awesome in ios.... garageband is fantastic. but i hate the fact i cannot automate things or input midi externally. (by externally i mean by external sequencers like midi steps, midilfos, patterning,modstep,etc.)
I'm a also a big GB fan and user. And honestly I'm quite happy that it is more of a "music making app" than a dedicated DAW.
I would love to see GB's own drum sampler!
It does have a primitive automation. Just sucks that you can't go back after recording a pass and edit the automation.
But I agree with the op. GarageBand has grown into a nice little daw on iOS. I finally just picked up Cubasis over Xmas since it gets much love here - I like it , but still find myself using GB much more. Also I can get more bang for the buck on my iPad 4 running GB than Cubasis ie more tracks , more stuff going. If I could pick and choose features from both I'd have an almost perfect daw on iOS.
A couple mentions of automation being an issue with GarageBand. I have to plead ignorance here, as I guess I'm not as well versed on automation as I should be. When I open "automation" on GB, it allows me to set points within the track where the track volume will be automatically adjusted louder or softer as marked. What other "automation" features am I missing out on?
I think GB is awesome, especially as a songwriting tool and musical sketchpad. I love the Drummer, and all the virtual instruments, especially Alchemy.
But in terms of what it's missing, I would say that while it's perfectly possible to create final mixes in GB alone, or with AU effects, I personally wouldn't choose to. You are going to achieve much finer control of your sound with a DAW like Auria simply because it offers so much more in the way of mixer routing and especially bread-and-butter effects such as compression, EQ, and reverb. If for example you want to create a polished vocal sound, or a particular kind of compression on a drum track, then GB isn't the best tool for the job.
But GB is great for putting ideas together, and it's simplicity makes it more immediate to work with - you can't spend hours tweaking the compressor because that simply isn't an option, so for some situations that is actually an advantage. Putting demos or ideas together being a case in point.
My absolute favourite thing about it is the interaction with Music Memos. If I come up with an idea on the acoustic guitar, I can record a Music Memo which automatically adds a Drummer track and some bass guitar. I can then open that in GB to add more tracks or instruments and create an instant arrangement from a very rough idea. It's pretty amazing.
Not sure what you mean as I don't do much sampling pe se. GB does have a sampler, and a bunch of drum options. What is it you're trying to do that you can't?
If you set the recording options for a track to "merge recording" you can hit record - then adjust a synth parameter knob (cutoff for example) and it will record that movement. You can continually do this as a section loops over and over. But if you screw up and move the knob more than you wanted - there's no way to go into any automation curves and adjust. You can undo and try it again.
My biggest complaint about GB and many other iOS apps is the fact there very few different time signatures and no ability to change tempos or time signatures in the same song. IMHO this is the biggest flaw in iOS music at the moment and it's been this way for a while.
Auria Pro has a tempo track that allows you to change the tempo or time signature of a track at any time.
The latest GB update does offer compression, EQ, reverb, fx, etc for individual tracks. Are you saying that what GB offers is just not detailed enough when compared to Auria, etc? Admittedly, I have a lot to learn about EQ'ing and how to fine tune a mix.
Something like Bilbao in Gadget, where you can import your own drum sounds.
I like the drum options in GB - the "live drummers" are an awesome feature, especially when writing songs. But I'd like to be able to make my own drum kits as I'm quite a drum nerd
Yes and I do use Auria for that but this is why I don't use GB other than for sketching out basic ideas.
Yes exactly - GB has had comrpression and reverb since the beginning, and the new visual EQ is a big improvement, but these effects are very basic and allow for very little control, whereas in a more fully-featured DAW you are going to be able to fine-tune the sound to a much greater degree.
Unfortunately, there is a bug in Auria, changing tempo in Auria shifts and trims midi tracks and generally scrwws up timing. Rim is not sure how to fix at this point...
I never noticed, perhaps because I usually plan tempo and time signatures in advance, and seldom experiment with it during the tracking process.
Got it, thanks. This type of automation is something I need to start incorporating, and I can see why this type of limitation would be a nuisance.
The lack of far more extensive automation options and a proper mixer / signal path are my two biggest gripes with GB. But I don't think it was ever meant to be that deep of a DAW. As a sketch pad and playground it's damn near perfect, especially after this latest update. But for the type of music I make I need something like Auria to help manage the chaos.
I will post some more specific actual examples this evening when I have a bit of time to put something together, but in the meantime I can offer a practical example with my latest SOTMC entry.
A lot of this actually was produced in GB, the drums are by Darcy, and the main synth lead (as well as the background pads) are Alchemy, but the final mix was in Auria so that I could control the sound more precisely, especially for the vocals.
The vocal sound isn't particularly heavily processed, but I did use some plugins to achieve the tone I was looking for, and it wouldn't have been possible in GB. First of all there is a gate to eliminate all the breaths and little clicking and popping sounds from the mouth, then there is some compression to even out the volume and enhance the timbre of the voice, and finally some reverb from Pro R and a hint of slapback delay from Timeless.
The compressor in GB doesn't have any real controls, so you can't set the threshold, the attack, or the release - all 3 of which are essential to fine-tune your sound. The threshold controls what level your compression kicks in, the attack controls how the transients are treated, and the release has a profound effect on the overall sound by controlling how quickly the compression fades out. Once you get your head around these controls you don't really want to use a compressor that doesn't have them.
The reverb in GB is very basic, whereas in Auria you now have Pro R which allows control over several really important parameters, especially the exact frequency range of all the reflections, so you can create reverbs that emphasize some frequencies and attenuate others for example. In this case I used the reverb to only emphasize the timbre of the voice, and cut the highs and lows out of the reflections in the reverb. If I had used the GB reverb instead there would have been very bright reflections in the reverb tail that I personally dislike, and you would hear those bright reflections at the end of every vocal line. With Pro R I have complete control over the tonality of the reverb.
The same for the drums, in Auria I can use a multiband compressor to bring up the kick, and fine-tune the sound of the cymbals, it's much more flexible than using EQ because this allows you to control the dynamics as well as the tone - you don't emphasize all the low-end indiscriminately for example, you just make the kick louder.
Great info here, thank you.
As an aside, this is the Music Memos version of that song, recorded on the internal microphone on my phone after I had just come up with the chords a written the first verse of lyrics. It's rough and I wouldn't normally post something which is just a very early WIP, but it demonstrates how amazing Music Memos really is, because normally this would sound terrible if it was just a really rough early recording of my guitar and voice, but with Music Memos you get a sense of how the song would sound in a proper arrangement, and this really helps the process IMO.
Thoughtful Man rough
Back in the 90s I would have given my liver for the possibilities packed into Garageband. At the time, I was making finished tracks with a lot less sophisticated technology than what's built into the €4,99 GB app today.
So while GB is more limited than other DAWs (by design, actually) it is certainly possible to make music with it and it can be much more than just a scratch pad if you're willing to creatively work with its limitations
And some people make music for a decade without once needing a mid-track time signature change
I think anyone who's ever used a four-track would agree with that. More to the point though, while GB is already amazing for what it does, more fully-featured DAWs allow you to do stuff that could only be done in the studio 20 years ago. You can now create studio-quality mixes on an iPad, for comparatively little money. That's a revolution in terms of giving the average musician access to what was once inaccessible to all but the most successful.
@richardyot Did you notice there are advanced tweaks for fx in gb?
So it seems the lack of detailed automation, and intricate mixing/EQ tools are the main pitfalls of GarageBand. Certainly answers my original question.
That being said, I'm not sure what to make of it. The automation thing only seems important to those who do a lot of that kind of thing, which I don't. I don't think my music "suffers" due to GarageBand's lack of automation, though it would be nice to have the option.
I'm sure my (instrumental) music could benefit from a more detailed set of mixing options if I knew how to properly use them, but without that knowledge such options could actually have a negative impact, resulting in a lot of wasted time randomly tweaking knobs with negligible, or even negative, results. I imagine these detailed mixing options are arguably critical for vocals, but are they as crucial for instrumental music?
My biggest complaint about GarageBand and why I don't use it is because I find the interface fiddly as all hell. The animations when you change screens make it feel sluggish. Everything seems one more click away than it should. this all combines to dampen my musical flow. Its a shame cause I really like the way it sounds but it just feels like a chore.
@Dubbylabby I knew about the visual EQ, but I didn't know the compressor had also been improved - that makes a big difference! Thanks. I'll take it for a spin tonight.
Honestly I think compression, EQ, and reverb can benefit any mix and any kind of instrument, especially drums and leads. I will see if I can do a comparison tonight between the GB compressor and one in Auria.
The main thing though is to use what works for you. It's good to be open-minded and willing to learn, but on the other hand not everyone needs or wants to micro-manage their mixes.
I love GarageBand. The simpleness is key for me. I just wish I could do some customizing in GB. For example build a drum kit but I can do that in the sampler and merge my tracks later. I'd like to have a Kontakt like feature where I could build patches fast but for a guy who travels a lot GB is about good as it can be without making it logic. Alchemy is cool and needs design capes but I can add poison 202 into it and I have synths for days. Sometimes to much will take away the flow and creativity. Ultimately I can transfer to logic when I'm fed up and finish. With beathawk and bm3 up next GarageBand is really a simple program that can do great things.
I would like the drummer to have an option to become midi track. That would be cool so I could edit it.
Maybe I'm missing something but I would like to automate delays and echos . Is this possible in GarageBand iOS ?