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.
Comments
You have some good apps to get some basic music going. I would say get some more synth / keyboard / instrument type apps. Apps you will play over what you generate / record in the other apps
You can record into Garage band using InterApp Audio (IAA). "Most" programs support Audiobus and IAA.
If you don't want to you can record into Audioshare. I would suggest AUM (super minimal but good - great for recording phrases or loops) or MultiTrack DAW for more arranging flexibility. IF you want to go whole hog most swear by Cubasis or Auria.
As an alternative you can record performances into a looper (or copy paste) or Launchpad and then switch loops as you compose sections of your song right into Audioshare. You won't get any FX sends EQ or panning on individual tracks this way. Great for live performance though.
Hey mate. I use Beathawk on both the iPad and iPhone. I seem to like the piano roll the most, although occasionally it can be a bitch to see in a bright environment. It can be a tad small, but that's why I have a stylus nearby. I also like pitch mode when programming the "live" instruments.
As most of the rest of us have.
Submit now.
You will soon... ;-)
its like telling an accomplished guitarist he should start making music exclusively with an OP-1 (or other cool synth and/or sequencer) because its capable of so many more sounds and sequencing stuff than his guitar. and hes just like "yeah but I don't like making music that way." That what I feel when I hear about how Sunvox can do everything imaginable.
OK, it seems I've got creeping purchasism already ;-)
Bought some more Apps after your recommendations.
1)
I would like to be able use use one of Auxy, Medly or Beatwave for prototyping / Sketching and get those things into Gadget for further development.
As far as I understand, this is only useful if possible as MIDI.
Will check ;-)
2)
I would like to use both Gadget and SoundPrism Pro (and / or Link Edition and Electronic), later also DM2 or another drum machine, to create loops for Blocs Wave and then Launchpad for working with those loops
As far as I understand, this will only be possible as WAV files (or compressed), but not as MIDI.
3)
All or parts of that should later be edited (SunVox?) and recorded (MultiTrack DAW, later maybe Cubasis 2).
As far as possible, I would like to use "native" capabilities of those Apps to get things into or out of them. As much as possible in MIDI format.
If that is not possible, I also have AudioCopy and AudioShare to help, but they handle WAV or compressed formats only, right?
I also have Audiobus 3, if nothing else helps (this does not mean that I don't like it - I just would like to do things natively, if possible).
I will provide some images :-D
Auxy and Medly can both export "Music", WAV and MIDI.
interestingly, Medly can do so only towards AudioShare and MultiTrack DAW, while Auxy can output MIDI to SunVox too and both Audio-formats also to Blocs Wave, Launchpad and WAV even to AudioCopy.
Beatwave cannot output MIDI at all.
For me, that means Auxy or maybe Medly and also use of AudioShare.
Let's check Gadget and Soundprism
@tja I'll try to answer what I can, but I don't have all those apps.
1.) You'll want to check if your apps have MIDI out. If so, you should be able to send their MIDI data into Gadget and record it.
2.) You can export both audio and MIDI loops from Gadget. With DM2 you can export audio loops, but not MIDI. However, you can record DM2's MIDI data in another app like Gadget. Same with SoundPrism Pro. I don't think you can send or import MIDI into Blocs Wave or Launchpad, but I'm not 100% on that.
3.) I would put using SunVox at the bottom of the list of things to do after getting a good foundation in synthesis and working with audio and MIDI. Depending on what and where your different pieces and parts are, you will need a DAW like Multitrack DAW or Cubasis to mix your source material since you don't want to use GarageBand.
Dunno about AudioCopy, but...
"AudioShare supports all soundfile formats, bit depths and rates, that has built-in support in iOS: AIFF, AIFC, WAVE, SoundDesigner2, Next, MP3, MP2, MP1, AC3, AAC_ADTS, MPEG4, M4A, CAF, 3GP, 3GP2, AMR.
In addition, it also supports standard MIDI files.
Note that AudioShare can read all of the formats listed above, but only write some of them. For example, AudioShare can write M4A but not MP3."
http://kymatica.com/Software/AudioShare
For me, I'm trying to wrap my head around how Sunvox can do everything (sorry if I sound rather thick). I thought it was simply a modular environment/synth, right?
If you want to do "as much midi as possible" Audioshare has midi storage I don't think it does midi routing to external synths, and the sounds are simple.
If you want to record midi Gadget will as will Cubasis. Gadget doesn't do audio tracks well (prerecorded audio pasted into it). Cubasis does. Or you can wait 2-6 months for the illusive BeatMaker3
If you want to get "midi" out of Beatwave try routing the audio into MIDIMorphosis to translate it. It works best on single tracks with clear (un-overmodulated) sounds (like acoustic guitar or simple sine wave synth).
For other midi composing options you could try InfiniteLooper but it's not for everyone.
SunVox will gladly play externally generated midi files which beats inputting notes into the tracker
GarageBand also does midi and audio.
It's also a tracker, has a sampler, drum synth, imports midi files with ease and on and on. Oh and even while doing all that it uses surprisingly few system resources
It has a built in cpu monitor and i've had 6 tracks including a couple of dual osc synths, a spectral synth and drum synths while using less than 6% cpu on an ipad air 1
The guy who makes Sunvox, Pixitracker etc is a freaking genius
Sunvox is exceptionally well coded, the quality of the underlying audio engine is very high, samples sound very punchy and well separated. The interface makes very good use of available space but I can imagine it being quite a lot to take in if you are not used to trackers. There are probably better options if you are starting from scratch.
Nah, I've used trackers before and have played with Sunvox a bit before, but as I said, I thought it was a simple modular synth environment, not this behemoth beast of a sequencer! Now I'm very excited to see what I can do in it given how easy it is on my CPU resources on my iPhone SE.
I bought SunVox for later use, when I find time to explore it ;-)
This is what I would like to do:
Some more description:
So far I tested Auxy and Medly to be OK with MIDI export.
But sadly, Gadget is lacking here: It can only import from iTunes or Dropbox, which is a horror.
I even bought the gadget Bilbao as I read it to be able to import files - while this is true and offers AudioShare support, it does not seem to be able to import MIDI files: Gadget just crashes!
Now I am going to test if and how I can get MIDI sequencing data from SoundPrism (any) into Gadget - at least SoundPrism is able to see Gadget as MIDI instance....
Or maybe this just works for MIDI sync?!? I am not sure...
Finished WAV files from SoundPrism should not be a Problem, i hope.
You can send live midi to Gadget from soundprism no problem.
If I was starting out from scratch today I'd start with Audioshare, Gadget & Cubasis and complement the last two with IAPs and 'companion apps' for starters. After that I'd prioritise AUv3 enabled apps (Instruments & Effects).
For sampling BM3 goes without saying when it finally decides to drop.
Personally I am on an 'app cleaning spree'...
The upcoming ApeSoft Mood will most likely cause even more apps to get deleted from my iPad
@Samu:
Yes, I will add Cubasis 2 soon, I think.
Currently MultiTrack DAW ;-)
BM3 was recommended several times....
But ApeSoft Mood means currently nothing to me, will check
You are adding and deleting Apps - I just started and already bought too much, no patience ;-)
I checked SP Electro, and it can only be recorded by AudioBus into AudioShare, Blocs Wave, MultiTrack DAW or GarageBand (of my Apps) but not Gadget.
I see that it does MIDI out, but HOW to get this into Gadget?!!
Will now check SP Pro and Link
SoundPrism Link Edition adds Ableton Link support, but in regards to recording and MIDI, it is the same as SP Electro.
SoundPrism Pro offers direct recording as M4A file into AudioCopy (not AudioShare!), Mail and SoundCloud. Sad thing.
It also offers MIDI options, both for send and receive.
In this, it is different to the other two SP versions.
I am going to check if I can get some MIDI into Gadget ;-)
When I start my Music Apps, SoundPrism Pro shows the following - I disabled all but Gadget for now.
But in AudioBus, SP Pro does not show up as MIDI device! Neither as sending nor as receiving, but both other SP do! :-O
Its only fun to play pads on my SE, the pitch section is too tiny
@tja I dunno how to use the new Audiobus midi features but those soundprism apps you mentioned will send midi notes live to Gadget without audiobus. Open both apps. In Gadget, on each instruments mixer slot, there should be a little button at the bottom that says midi, click it on. Then in the soundprism app, go to the settings and make sure it's sending midi out to Gadget. Then you can play the currently selected Gadget instruments with soundprism. You still have to turn on the recording and set up the tracks in Gadget as you would if you were using Gadget by itself. Also, in the settings menu located within Gadget, you can select between easy or advanced midi receiving. Easy is well easiest, it just accepts midi from anywhere for the currently selected instrument as long as that little midi button is clicked on. Advanced is for different channels and complicated stuff.
Thanks. I remember you saying something similar in the BeatHawk 2 launch thread. Someone else there favored using full screen Pitch Mode, but I still find either too small for playing adjacent pads on my iPhone.
It's my own hang up, really, because I've gotten used to a standard drum machine set up with the pads in a certain sequence. It's tough to make adjustments once you're set in your ways.