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.
Show some love for Xynthesizr!
Just dug out this old friend and rediscovered its magic. The sequencer section of the app is absolutely fantastic for creative exploration. I wish it had a live mode with a keyboard and assignable buttons with scale/mode presets a la Chordion.
I wonder if there's any other app that lets one change midi scales after recording rather than only before like in Gadget.
Anyways, great app.
Comments
Xynthesizr: 32-step matrix sequencer/synthesizer with generative features and MIDI by Yuri Turov
https://appsto.re/gb/BhR9Q.i
Really love this app and am keeping my fingers crossed for Link, the lack of which being the only reason that it's strictly a 'bus only' app in my workflow.
After buying it way back and it lying dormant and forgotten for ages, I finally busted out Xynthesizer for the first time on my most recent release. It ended up being perfect for what I needed in that passage.
I come for composer background, so I'm still wary of these "generative" apps where the machine has a mind of its own, but they can be a lot of fun. Some others you might want to look into are: Borderlands Granular, TC-11, and Fugue Machine.
It's a fun one for sure, I am a fan of apps with a generative angle. Anything incorporating the classic "game of life" algorithm get bonus cool points.
One of the never-deleters.
Agreed. It's wonderful in every sense of the word. My big problem with it is becoming too enamored of the very good preset sounds. THAT is when Xynth feels like cheating.
This. Any word from the dev on social media about whether Link will happen?
I love this app. But link is necessary for me. Have managed to get it working well but i can't always replicate the sync. I love thqt u can make it have minimal movement
Answering my own question by overcoming internet laziness. Via Twitter, dev says:
"No particular timeline, but Link for Xynthesizr first, then Shoom..."
He's been working on it for a while. I think, I could be wrong, but I wanna say he mentioned updating with a few more things besides link. This was quite a while ago
I'd like it better if it were a few extra grid rows bigger, so that it could allow constructs such as the Gosper Gun.
I don't use the generative stuff much but find the huge grid and synth to be pure joys. Link would be nirvana
I'm sure @YuriT can answer at least some of these questions while this thread stays on top for the non-awares and the rest of us can carry on with outrageously wild feature requests.
I keep trying to figure out how to chain patterns together but never seem to be able to. I get it that you can keep saving them as 1, 2, 3, etc etc but is there no sly song mode?
There isn't, but in settings you can have a pattern finish before the next starts, so you can play your tracks into a DAW pretty easily.
I hear you guys when you put it in the generative bag. I'm resisting that perception. Yes, it does have the random generator and squares can be blindly drawn on the grid but it can also be used in a super controlled way. This is probably wher this app shines, it can be carefully guided towards the required territory rather than being the 'what the hell is that' proposition.
Let us not forget its ability to easily control several external midi modules at once. Hook it to Animoog, ODYSSEi and Thor, mess around with scales and watch the beauty unfold.
Agreed though, Link would definitely take it up a notch.
While we're waiting for Link, MIDI Link Sync works well. +1 for some way to create multiple patterns/song then chain them.
Agreed. It irks me that we can't just bolt on bits of one thing onto another thing and in this case take the pattern/song mode of DM1 or iMPC (easy for the head to figure and the big paws to finger) and add it on....of course you can just export and chain in a DAW etc, but I love being able to fiddle on the fly (nurse).
When you guys hook it up to multiple synths does it bother you that each synth has to stay in its own octave because the channels are divided by octaves? Or am imagining a problem where there isn't one and this actually sounds just fine?
Good point. That can be worked around by messing with individual synth's pitch settings but not ideal when working with presets.
Still just a workaround.
@supadom that's what I figured. I've never actually done much with the midi. Those sine waves with the lush reverb and delay just lull me into a state of contentment
I like to use it as an arp, with no randomization. Then when I have the pattern how I like it, select one, or just a few passing notes and introduce mild randomization to them only. This keeps the main character of the arp but without it being repetitively boring.
I think it is a great idea. I've never properly tested the random function. In fact it works great to provide variations but I only wish they could be applied to one colour so certain pattern remained unaffected. Otherwise, even at the lesser setting the pattern gets deconstructed albeit slowly.
I know. I love the built in synth for bell sounds. Again, I wish in midi channel setting there should be an option to have the synth on only on certain colours rather than a global on/off. I did mention it to Yuri but it was a long time ago.
Can you imagine if it could do, say, 4 color coded different instances of the synth itself? Independent fx? I might never leave the house.
This is how i'll use it. Sometimes just selecting one note and boxing that so that it peppers in while the rest stays the same
Same here - that's my favorite thing bout this app. I guess if I had a wish it would be that one could create multiple randomize boxes across the pattern....
You can select a "custom area" so only the notes in the area are affected by randomization. This, as others have mentioned, is the really powerful way of using that feature. The trick is also setting the randomization values very low so there's just a subtle change in those elements of the pattern over time. As Wigglelights said, it would be great if you could select multiple regions.
Of course what really puts Xynthesizr over the top is its sequencer modification abilities; transposition and move allow you to play the sequencer like an instrument.
If you do give MIDI transposition a try (and I highly recommend it) just be aware that if you send a note out of Xynthesizr's 6 octave range it will crash the app.
It would also be nice if the move buttons were MIDI assignable or showed in Audiobus Remote.
Here's a thing featuring a good look at Conway's Life:
http://www.simulation-argument.com/simulation.pdf
The simulation hypothesis ... the rabbit hole be deep.
I love to speculate on such things and this is one of the many reasons I don't produce much music.
In other news ... Link for Xynth AND Shoom? Might be the best news I'll hear all day.
This may be more a reflection on the overall quality of my day though.
-Notes to self- Must make day better.