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.

What selection of Apps for a total beginner?

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Comments

  • @db909 said:
    @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.

    Hello,
    I tried.
    Realy.

    :-(

    Opened Gadget, reset MIDI to Easy, MIDI Sync to Auto, Ableton Link diabled.
    Added Berlin, touched MIDI, checked the record button, headline is flashing red.

    Then switched to SP Pro, which is set to send to Gadget only, played some tunes, switched back to Gadget: Nothing

    :-(

  • tjatja
    edited May 2017


    Oh.
    I retried with SP Link Edition: And this worked!!!!!
    Will check SP Electro and after that re-think the MIDI settings in SP Pro!!!

    EDIT: Problem solved, thanks a bunch!!!!
    I misconfigured both Apps, having no MIDI experience.

    Now I am happy!!!!!

  • @tja a YouTube search can be your friend when it comes to learning the apps you've purchased.

  • tjatja
    edited May 2017

    Believe me, I tried - lots of videos and webpages, I even wrote to support of both SoundPrism and KORG!

    The problem was, that I mostly tried with SP and did something wrong with the setup as Gadget was set to advanced MIDI.

    But the main problem was, that I disabled Ableton Link in Gadget!
    Without this, I did not get anything - and I just disabled it because of the annoying flashing bar at the top. Very bad idea.

    I did it think Ableton Link to be required for MIDI, as only SP Link Edition has this feature, but not SP Pro and SP Electro!
    But still, it is required in Gadget to receive MIDI from either.

  • Now it works like a charm and I can record all three channels separately and together at the same time - with Link and Electro, my setup is still broken with Pro:

  • Incidentally, in Gadget, you can rename both the scene (from 1, 1 copy, etc) and the other axis (the Track 1, Track 2, etc), making it easier to reason about it (whatever that means)

  • I also solved the miracle about SP Pro ;-)
    Everything fine now

  • tjatja
    edited May 2017

    @u0421793 said:
    Incidentally, in Gadget, you can rename both the scene (from 1, 1 copy, etc) and the other axis (the Track 1, Track 2, etc), making it easier to reason about it (whatever that means)

    BTW, my brain works different to Gadget.
    I would like to have the instruments on the left side in one column and the scenes from left to right.... Just like a timeline, able to see what corresponds to what and happens at the same time

  • tjatja
    edited May 2017

    I tried to give GarageBand a second chance.
    Saved a Launchpad WAV and M4A to Dropbox and tried to import.
    No chance.

    Googled, and it seems you can only do this with a computer / iTunes.
    Only other way seems to be the use of MP3 instead.

    Cannot even comment on this :-O

    This is just ill, in my book....

    GarageBand should NEVER be a recommendation!!!!!!!!

  • GarageBand isn't for everyone, but you might want to do some more homework before poo-pooing apps and proclaiming absolutes.

    http://midnightmusic.com.au/2016/10/how-to-import-audio-files-into-garageband-for-ipad

  • @tja said:
    I tried to give GarageBand a second chance.
    Saved a Launchpad WAV and M4A to Dropbox and tried to import.
    No chance.

    If you enable iCloud Drive (at system level) you can actually import files into GarageBand using the standard iOS Document Picker (ie. if you have your files in AudioShare import is easy). It's accessed from the 'loop' menu next to the 'wrench'. When you're in the loop selector select the Audio Files tab and at the bottom you'll see Import From iCloud Drive. There you can choose Audio Share from the 'Locations' menu...

    The imported sounds are also available for the 'sampler' you have in GarageBand.

    To export to AudioShare, just share the GarageBand session and use 'Open In..' and select AudioShare as the destination...

  • @telecharge said:
    GarageBand isn't for everyone, but you might want to do some more homework before poo-pooing apps and proclaiming absolutes.

    http://midnightmusic.com.au/2016/10/how-to-import-audio-files-into-garageband-for-ipad

    Now, I searched Google and read in several forums, incl. pages from Apple themselves!
    And this strange trick over Voice Record was never mentioned - I cannot check the whole Internet!

    https://support.apple.com/kb/PH24847?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
    https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3985265?tstart=0

    And lots of pages more....

    Still, this shows that GB is ill - It does NOT work in an intuitive way!

    So, it CANNOT be a recommendation - being intuitively usable is crucial for something that gets recommended, IMHO.

    Anyway, thanks!!!

  • GarageBand can be fun if you give it some time...

    I think this dude is the uncrowned king of GB :)

  • iPad Audio Units

    AU HOST 
    Audio Evolution Mobile Studio (Davy Wenzler) *instruments & effects •iPad only
    Auria (WaveMachine Labs, Inc.) *instruments & effects •iPad only
    Auria LE (WaveMachine Labs, Inc.) *instruments & effects •iPad only
    Auria Pro (WaveMachine Labs, Inc.) *instruments & effects •iPad only
    AUM (Kymatica) *instruments & effects •universal
    Cubasis (Steinberg) *instruments & effects •iPad only
    Cubasis 2 (Steinberg) *instruments & effects •iPad only
    Ferrite Recording Studio (Wooji Juice Ltd) *effects only •universal
    GarageBand (Apple) *instruments & effects •universal
    Helio Workstation (Peter Rudenko) *instruments & effects •iPad only
    midiSTEPs (Arthur Kerns) *instruments & effects •iPad only
    modstep (AppBC) *instruments & effects •iPad only
    MultiTrackStudio (Giel Bremmers) *instruments & effects •iPad only
    n-Track Studio MultiTrack Recorder (n-Track) *instruments & effects •universal
    TIZE (Tize Music, Inc.) *effects only •universal
    Twisted Wave Audio Editor (Twisted Wave) *effects only •universal
    Twisted Wave Recorder (Twisted Wave) *effects only •universal
    zMors Modular (mobile only) *instruments & effects •iPad only
    INSTRUMENT PLUGINS 
    Addictive Pro (VirSyn) •iPad only
    Baervaag - FM Synthesizer (Klevgränd produkter AB) •universal
    BASSalicious (MIDIculous LLC) •iPad only
    Colossus Piano (Christian Shoenebeck d/b/a Crudebyte) •universal
    CMP Grand Piano (Christian Shoenebeck d/b/a Crudebyte) •universal
    Enkl monophonic synth (Klevgränd produkter AB) •iPad only
    FM Essentials (Yamaha) •universal
    Heavy Brass (Crudebyte) •iPad only 
    iCathedral Organ (Christian Shoenebeck d/b/a Crudebyte) •iPad only
    iSEM (Arturia) •iPad only
    iSymphonic Orchestra (Christian Shoenebeck d/b/a Crudebyte)•universal
    iVCS3 (apeSoft) •universal
    Jussi - Vocal Synthesizer (Klevgränd produkter AB) •universal
    KQ MiniSynth (Ryouta Kira) •universal
    NS1 (Nikolozi Pty Ltd) •iPad only
    Oriental Strings (Christian Shoenebeck d/b/a Crudebyte) •universal
    Pads - Lush Pad Synth (Klevgränd produkter AB) •universal
    Phasemaker (Bram Bros) •universal
    Phonem (Wolfgang Palm PPG) •iPad only
    Poison-202 Vintage MIDI Synthesizer (Dmitrij Pavlov) •universal
    ReSlice (VirSyn) •universal
    Ruismaker (Bram Bros) •universal
    Ruismaker FM (Bram Bros) •universal
    Sensual Sax (Embertone) •universal
    SwarPlug (Swar Systems) •iPad only
    Tines (Klevgränd produkter AB) •universal
    Troublemaker (Bram Bros) •universal
    Turbosounds for Accordian (Reinhard Rieder) •universal
    Viking Synth (Blamsoft, Inc.) •universal
    WaveGenerator (Wolfgang Palm PPG) •iPad only
    WaveMapper (Wolfgang Palm PPG) •iPad only
    EFFECT PLUGINS 
    6144 equalizer by DDMF (Christian Siedschlag) •universal
    apeDelay (apeSoft) •universal
    apeFilter (apeSoft) •universal
    AudioEffX (VirSyn) •universal
    AudioMaster Pro (Future Moments) •universal 
    AudioVerb (VirSyn) •universal
    Buttercup Bitcrush (Flora Creative Ltd.) •universal
    DC-9 Overdrive (Blamsoft, Inc.) •universal
    Envelope AU Reverb by DDMF (Christian Siedschlag) •universal
    Esspresso de-esser (Klevgränd produkter AB) •iPad only
    F-16 Filter (Blamsoft, Inc.) •universal
    frekvens (Erik Sigth) •universal
    FuxEQ (mattoncino software) •universal
    Haaze- Stereo Tool (Klevgränd produkter AB) •universal
    Korvpressor - smart dynamic hotdog device (Klevgränd Produktion AB) •iPad only
    Lofionic Duplicat Delay (Chris Rivers) •iPad only
    Lofionic Mani Chorus (Chris Rivers) •iPad only
    MicSwap: Microphone Emulator & Recorder (Future Moments) •universal
    MicSwap Pro: Microphone Emulator & Recorder (Future Moments) •universal
    NoLimits Audio Unit Limiter by DDMF (Christian Siedschlag) •universal
    Phlox Phaser (Timothy Barraclough) •universal
    PressIt multiband compressor (Klevgränd produkter AB) •iPad only
    Remaster (Audioforge Labs Inc.) •universal
    Resampler (Blamsoft, Inc.) •universal
    RF-1 (Kai Aras) •universal
    RP-1 (Kai Aras) •universal
    Saffron Saturator (Timothy Baraclough) •universal
    SquashIt (Klevgränd produkter AB) •universal
    Svep phaser, flanger, chorus (Klevgränd produkter AB) •iPad only
    ToneBridge Guitar Effects (Ultimate Guitar) •universal
    Voice Rack: FX (TC-Helicon) •universal
    Zero Chorus (Blamsoft, Inc.) •universal
    Zero Reverb (Blamsoft, Inc.) •universal
    zMors EQ (mobile only) •iPad only

    Just saying

  • @Samu:

    While your alternative sounds OK, I cannot open WAV or M4A into GB from the iCloud App. Tried also with AudioShare, but no chance. And the whole reason for GB was, to NOT depend on other Apps ;-)

    But I tried what you wrote, and this hidden way works!

    You can even change to read from AudioShare!

    Thanks ;-)

    Still: WHYYYYY, Apple???

  • tjatja
    edited May 2017

    @Shazamm
    Ummmh.
    Yes, lots of Apps.
    And? :-O

    Edit: Ahhh, you recommend AU instead.... yes, maybe later.
    Right now I am happy and try around things ;-)

  • edited May 2017

    @tja said:
    @Shazamm
    Ummmh.
    Yes, lots of Apps.
    And? :-O

    Edit: Ahhh, you recommend AU instead.... yes, maybe later.
    Right now I am happy and try around things ;-)

    lol I only produce on iPad Pro now so I wanted everything lol. I own those apps

  • Cubasis is the best all around DAW in my humble opinion. Auria Pro has nicer plugins, but a worse interface and more CPU hungry. Everything else is icing.

  • @Matthew said:
    Cubasis is the best all around DAW in my humble opinion. Auria Pro has nicer plugins, but a worse interface and more CPU hungry. Everything else is icing.

    worse interface i think its the best. Crazy how we all love what we love

  • Garageband has become a really viable option for the majority of users. Especially after the latest update (and price drop) it's a pretty sweet solution.

  • edited May 2017

    I always used to surprise myself when I realised how much stuff I'd started in GarageBand. I'd then migrate the idea out of GarageBand once it got to be a concrete direction and before it went too far. Experience tortoise that there's a lot of technical difficulty in getting a reasonably progressed work back out in any useful form. However, it is a superb, and in my opinion one of the best, way of starting off an idea. Just plan on moving the idea out soonish.

  • tjatja
    edited May 2017

    Continuing about GB:

    I cannot even find a way to save / export something'

    If it is possible, then only in an obscure way...

    I even googled and found this: http://www.delora.com/hdocs/?page_id=502&title=how-to-export-files-from-garageband

    It seems, many have this problems ;-)

    In any other App I ever tried, you can find what you seek within seconds, maximum a minute.
    Not with GB...

  • @tja said:
    Continuing about GB:

    I cannot even find a way to save / export something'

    If it is possible, then only in an obscure way...

    I even googled and found this: http://www.delora.com/hdocs/?page_id=502&title=how-to-export-files-from-garageband

    It seems, many have this problems ;-)

    Not sure what the screenshot is about, but somebody likes drum machines.

    Anyway, this ought to help...

    GarageBand for iOS 2.0.x (iPad): Share GarageBand songs
    https://support.apple.com/kb/PH24835

    Basically, the same info here, but formatted better...

    GarageBand for iOS (iPad): Share GarageBand songs
    https://support.apple.com/kb/PH17218

  • I come to this impasse quite a bit with music creation .. not necessarily with GarageBand.. but certainly with a lot of other setups.

    I'll read about all these intriguing apps .. ModStep .. StepPolyArp.. and a bunch of others I see people using in really complex and interesting ways ... and I assume I should just understand how they are work after seeing or reading about the great things done with them .. and feel discouraged because I am not there yet.

    Then it all just becomes sort of stressful and not fun anymore...

    Sometimes I find it good to step away and do something else to distract ..come back with a fresh outlook on it.. .

    This doesn't address your original question .. ( what Apps ) .. but hope it helps

  • @telecharge said:
    Basically, the same info here, but formatted better...

    GarageBand for iOS (iPad): Share GarageBand songs
    https://support.apple.com/kb/PH17218

    Thank you, I found it!

    You need to leave the song to be able to export it ;-)
    I will continue with my GB experiments!

  • tjatja
    edited May 2017

    @heybail said:
    Then it all just becomes sort of stressful and not fun anymore...

    Sometimes I find it good to step away and do something else to distract ..come back with a fresh outlook on it.. .

    This doesn't address your original question .. ( what Apps ) .. but hope it helps

    Thank you ;-)

    But I have no stress, but lots of fun!
    I just like to comment on my feelings when something like GB makes me angry.
    Otherwise, everything is OK and I try many things with my apps.

    The sequencer in Gadget is not good enough for me, missing linked pastes / copies like from Medley and beside copying scenes, I really would like to be able to copy whole tracks.

    Also grouping patterns, maybe even hierarchical would be great - not sure if such a software exists.

    So, I will seek a better stepper / sequencer....

    I would use a sequencer and the syntax from Gadget to create loops which I then use in Blocs Wave and Launchpad to arrange songs.
    I still have to check, if I can get the MIDI from this out again and back into Gadget to later change the synths or part of them :-O

  • As I think about this, getting MIDI out of Launchpad and back into Gadget will most probably not be possible.

    Maybe I try the two loop gadgets, Abu Dhabi and Bilbao, instead of Blocs Wave and Launchpad. But this is sad, as I love them both

  • Yeaaah, you're not going to get MIDI out of Launchpad (audio clip launcher) or Blocs Wave (audio clip launcher / arranger / re-arranger) as they use samples.

    They are great at what they do! Especially for jamming.

  • I love Launchpad for creating songs.
    Rearranging and repeating samples...
    This ****could**** be done In Gadget, but is quite strenuous and not very applicable to the process of creation.

    But the result from Launchpad is just audio, not patterns - I cannot return into Gadget and change synths / sounds.

    I need something that preserves the MIDI structure for further work ;-)

    I think this could work in Bilbao, need to check.

    I would need something that preserves / saves the structure of the loops, their repeatings and FX and so on.

    Something like a Meta MIDI, where as MIDI handles channels and tones and pitches and such things, but instead for whole loops instead of just tones.

    This way, you can arrange a song and it's structure, but do not loose the ability to change all sounds....

    Maybe there is something like this?
    Bear with me, I have 0 experience.

  • @tja said:
    I love Launchpad for creating songs.
    Rearranging and repeating samples...
    This ****could**** be done In Gadget, but is quite strenuous and not very applicable to the process of creation.

    But the result from Launchpad is just audio, not patterns - I cannot return into Gadget and change synths / sounds.

    I need something that preserves the MIDI structure for further work ;-)

    I think this could work in Bilbao, need to check.

    I would need something that preserves / saves the structure of the loops, their repeatings and FX and so on.

    Something like a Meta MIDI, where as MIDI handles channels and tones and pitches and such things, but instead for whole loops instead of just tones.

    This way, you can arrange a song and it's structure, but do not loose the ability to change all sounds....

    Maybe there is something like this?
    Bear with me, I have 0 experience.

    GB can do midi loops. Maybe that's what you're looking for?

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