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 Store

Audiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.

Reliability and stability for live performances

OK so here's something that's been on my mind for a while.

Obviously making all these apps work together and having good latency is difficult and apple doesn't make it any easier with their app breaking updates.

I do a lot of live shows and sometimes stuff konks out or gets glitchey. That really sucks in a live performance and makes the job that much harder.

I'm just wondering if Apple and developers will ever reach a point where the software/hardware is very stable and this kind of thing won't happen? I'm a huge fan of ios music apps and audiobus is pretty much the cornerstone of most of my musical endeavors.

Is it possible to get it to a point where everything is ironed out or is it just an endless uphill battle with the ios system itself?

Thoughts?

Comments

  • The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • I take interest in this question as well. As a keyboardist I tried running a rig with just a controller and iPad for a while. While this made for a lighter load in, I found that the amount of troubleshooting was problematic and stressful. I now have a keys rig that combines hardware and iOS which has worked out well for me.

  • edited March 2017

    Just keep refining and refining until you have one setup that can cover all your requirements for your entire live show (or at minimum on setup to cover each set and change in the interval). Put as much emphasis on your boot up and shut down procedures as into your performance itself. Learn exactly how far you can push your digital instrument and in what directions.

    I've personally spent a LITERAL SHIT TON of time designing live setups and debugging them/pushing them to their limits, and I've thankfully never had any technical issues live. Maybe the odd user error now and then, but that can be worked around ;)

    NEVER leave your equipment unattended for any length of time after boot up, or expect instability.
    ALWAYS clear memory/full reboot after and before every boot up/shut down.
    Know what will go wrong (it's usually reliable) and if you can't eliminate it, learn how to avoid it/recover from it.

    Because my own project can be required to perform in a variety of settings including festivals, 'stage' concerts, academic/cultural demonstrations and often unorthodox settings such as house concerts, I've got to accomodate for a lot of different performance styles and settings. To make this feasible and condusive to creativity, we've divided our set into distinct moods, and which of these is required when is noted on our set lists on a '24hour' scale (yeah, yeah, we have 'concept' set lists..).

    "0001UDAGAN_DAWN"
    "0002UDAGAN_DAY"
    "0003UDAGAN_DUSK"
    "0004UDAGAN_DARK"

    These are each refined for their individual purpose.

    However, 99% of the work gets done in "0000UDAGAN", which is the composite/catch all version which loses a bit of speciality functionality in exchange for a stable and versatile all round setup.

    Then of course there's "0005UDAGAN_LITE", for 'acoustic' concerts .. which only contains instrumental/vox processing and is suitable for a lower buffer size.

    I find AUM and Audiobus2 in tandem is the best solution for my work, in terms of stability/customisability/boot up/shut down/playability.

    This is just an example of some of the practices I've developed in order to keep things stable/reliable. Develop your own!

  • Some things to consider:

    1. Can I make the sound I want with less apps? Recording a complex setup of sounds. Making and triggering loops. Putting FX onto the sounds and not using an the FX apps. If I can use less apps, I will.

    2. If I can get away without using IAA, I will. I find many IAA apps to be less than reliable for long term use, changing during a performance and using many at a time. Nothing worse than ghosting apps funkin' in the background messing about. Nothing worse than certain IAA apps which don't work unless opened in some special order while making a secret hand gesture only known to a few! If I can get away with no IAA within hosts, I will most certainly do so!

    3. Most certainly keep away from your iOS device being online. If Apple get a sniff of an excuse to force a download of iOS 11 pain of death version during your biggest gig ever, they will!

    4. Make sure as many background tasks etc are disabled. Self explanatory this one. If it's not needed for playing, switch it off if able.

    5. Guitar players rarely play without a backup. iPads cost considerably less than most guitars. If you can afford it, have a backup!

    6. Consider your devices power headroom. Never get close to the limit. Consider using external FX for power hungry apps like Reverb.

    7. Make it less complex. Most of the little recording intricacies can't be heard in many live environments, so don't bother with them.

    8. People love iOS devices. Make a big case to protect them and keep them safe from theft, beer, flailing guitar players etc. Keep a good air flow!

  • edited March 2017

    I wrote a long arse comment here and then pressed edit to fix a typo. First got told it'll be posted after it's approved and then got this:


    @Sebastian ?
    It's happened to me a few times now actually but previously I just got on with life.


    Anyway, here goes again..

  • I'm going to have to keep you in suspense here!

  • Reboot your device before performances. Use Audio Unit Extensions as sound generators where possible. Use Audiobus 3. :)

  • @OscarSouth: You're verified now. Shouldn't happen again.

  • @Sebastian said:
    @OscarSouth: You're verified now. Shouldn't happen again.

    Cheers

  • edited March 2017

    Just keep refining and refining until you have one setup that can cover all your requirements for your entire live show (or at minimum on setup to cover each set and change in the interval). Put as much emphasis on your boot up and shut down procedures as into your performance itself. Learn exactly how far you can push your digital instrument and in what directions.

    I've personally spent a LITERAL SHIT TON of time designing live setups and debugging them/pushing them to their limits, and I've thankfully never had any technical issues live. Maybe the odd user error now and then, but that can be worked around ;)

    NEVER leave your equipment unattended for any length of time after boot up, or expect instability.
    ALWAYS clear memory/full reboot after and before every boot up/shut down.
    Know what will go wrong (it's usually reliable) and if you can't eliminate it, learn how to avoid it/recover from it.

    Because my own project can be required to perform in a variety of settings including festivals, 'stage' concerts, academic/cultural demonstrations and often unorthodox settings such as house concerts, I've got to accomodate for a lot of different performance styles and settings. To make this feasible and condusive to creativity, we've divided our set into distinct moods, and which of these is required when is noted on our set lists on a '24hour' scale (yeah, yeah, we have 'concept' set lists..).

    "0001UDAGAN_DAWN"
    "0002UDAGAN_DAY"
    "0003UDAGAN_DUSK"
    "0004UDAGAN_DARK"

    These are each refined for their individual purpose.

    However, 99% of the work gets done in "0000UDAGAN", which is the composite/catch all version which loses a bit of speciality functionality in exchange for a stable and versatile all round setup.

    Then of course there's "0005UDAGAN_LITE", for 'acoustic' concerts .. which only contains instrumental/vox processing and is suitable for a lower buffer size.

    I find AUM and Audiobus in tandem is the best solution for my work, in terms of stability/customisability/boot up/shut down/playability.

    This is just an example of some of the practices I've developed in order to keep things stable/reliable. Develop your own!

  • Another to add:

    If using multiple iOS devices, split the sound parts. For example. Keep the drums separate for the keys. Why? If one iPad goes down, you can continue playing something or something sequenced while you get the other back up.

    If you have one reliable setup for drums, it is often not very taxing for the device. It's likely it will keep going while you get a sequenced synth sounds device back up and running again. Time for the guitar player to do an improve solo ;)

  • @Max23 said:
    If you need stuff to be rock solid don't mix so much applications.
    Use single iOS synths like you would use a soundmodule. One at a time.

    ^ this. I rarely have problems with single apps, it's only when I start stacking things up things get wobbly.

  • To be fair to iOS device prices, they are cheap really. Most stand alone drum machines cost the same as an iPad. Most hardware synths cost the same as an iPad.

    If I was going live now, I would get one per instrument ;)

  • @Fruitbat1919 said:
    To be fair to iOS device prices, they are cheap really. Most stand alone drum machines cost the same as an iPad. Most hardware synths cost the same as an iPad.

    If I was going live now, I would get one per instrument ;)

    If you've already invested in the software, the newest 'iPad' and the Mini4 are both dirt cheap. Both are more than powerful enough to run intricate and sophisticated setups. iPad pro line is pricey and shiny, a real luxury, but by no means necessary.

  • @OscarSouth said:

    @Fruitbat1919 said:
    To be fair to iOS device prices, they are cheap really. Most stand alone drum machines cost the same as an iPad. Most hardware synths cost the same as an iPad.

    If I was going live now, I would get one per instrument ;)

    If you've already invested in the software, the newest 'iPad' and the Mini4 are both dirt cheap. Both are more than powerful enough to run intricate and sophisticated setups. iPad pro line is pricey and shiny, a real luxury, but by no means necessary.

    Yeah I have a rather large investment in iOS software lol

  • edited March 2017
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • @Sebastian I'm planning on getting audiobus 3. I haven't used a ton of audio unit generators yet. Am I correct in assuming au3 are more stable than IAA? Also will you support 64 buffer as well as the usual 128/256/1024? I can force audiobus into it by starting tonestack first but it would be nice to have it as an option within AB.

    @OscarSouth thanks for retyping that. When you say memory clear do you mean a power on/off or hard reset? I'm still confused on how to do that

    Thanks for all the comments. My setup currently is tonestack/igrand > > loopy which seems pretty stable for the most part. I always just wonder when an update will destroy everything again

  • The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • @Panthemusicalgoat said:
    @Sebastian I'm planning on getting audiobus 3. I haven't used a ton of audio unit generators yet. Am I correct in assuming au3 are more stable than IAA? Also will you support 64 buffer as well as the usual 128/256/1024? I can force audiobus into it by starting tonestack first but it would be nice to have it as an option within AB.

    @OscarSouth thanks for retyping that. When you say memory clear do you mean a power on/off or hard reset? I'm still confused on how to do that

    Thanks for all the comments. My setup currently is tonestack/igrand > > loopy which seems pretty stable for the most part. I always just wonder when an update will destroy everything again

    Hold power until slide to power off, home button until returned to home screen.

  • @OscarSouth said:

    @Panthemusicalgoat said:
    @Sebastian I'm planning on getting audiobus 3. I haven't used a ton of audio unit generators yet. Am I correct in assuming au3 are more stable than IAA? Also will you support 64 buffer as well as the usual 128/256/1024? I can force audiobus into it by starting tonestack first but it would be nice to have it as an option within AB.

    @OscarSouth thanks for retyping that. When you say memory clear do you mean a power on/off or hard reset? I'm still confused on how to do that

    Thanks for all the comments. My setup currently is tonestack/igrand > > loopy which seems pretty stable for the most part. I always just wonder when an update will destroy everything again

    Hold power until slide to power off, home button until returned to home screen.

    Holy crap. I forgot about this one. Thanks!

  • @OscarSouth said:

    @Fruitbat1919 said:
    To be fair to iOS device prices, they are cheap really. Most stand alone drum machines cost the same as an iPad. Most hardware synths cost the same as an iPad.

    If I was going live now, I would get one per instrument ;)

    If you've already invested in the software, the newest 'iPad' and the Mini4 are both dirt cheap. Both are more than powerful enough to run intricate and sophisticated setups. iPad pro line is pricey and shiny, a real luxury, but by no means necessary.

    Not to mention that if a single iPad can't handle everything, an Ipod Touch 6 makes for a great cheap secondary iOS device to offload some apps to, as well.

  • Every other year I'll get a faster more powerful device and it still seems like latency stuttering and bugs are as bad as ever. When is ios Live music setups going to be more reliable? Will it ever reach a stable point or is it just a never ending uphill battle with new ios breaking things and lack of system stability.

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