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.
Would Audiobus 3 + MidiFlow IAPs solve my iPad + Mac workflow?
I am attempting to use my iPad with MidiFlow as a front-end to Propellerhead Reason on my Mac, for live keyboard rig purposes. Basically, I am sending MIDI from my two keyboard controllers into MidiFlow, and having MidiFlow do some stuff and then send it to Reason. Because of how Reason deals with MIDI, the way I've decided to do patch changes is to assign each soft synth in Reason to its own MIDI channel, and have each MidiFlow "song" route my MIDI keyboards' channels to the correct Reason synth.
This is working well, but the final piece of the puzzle is to have my iPad change Reason's song tempo, for the purposes of tempo-synced delay patches. It doesn't look like MidiFlow is Ableton Link compatible. However, I see the AB3 is Link compatible, and has MidiFlow capabilities baked into it via IAPs. Would AB3 with its MidiFlow IAPs allow me to do the following?
1) Have AB3 "patches" re-channelize my two incoming MIDI keyboards, so that my bottom keyboard is channel 3 and top keyboard channel 4 on one patch, and the next patch sets them to channels 5 and 6. This MIDI is then sent out of my iPad into my Macbook, via iConnectAudio4+.
2) Have each AB3 patch set at a given tempo, such that when I change to that patch with Reason connected via Ableton Link, it will both re-channelize my keyboards (from step 1) and send the new tempo to my Link-enabled laptop.
3) If possible, MIDI map AB3 patch changes to buttons on my MIDI keyboard.
Basically, I am trying to replicate a MainStage 3 setup, with its patch changes and MIDI plugins, with an iPad + Reason. The bonus would be that, since my iPad is automatically connected to my 2 keyboards and my iConnectAudio4+ interface, if my laptop dies I can simply swipe over to Gadget and have a backup keyboard rig ready to go during a gig.
Comments
Well, I watched a couple demo videos, and I can probably re-state my questions in a way that has nothing to do with Reason or my laptop. I would appreciate any help, as I'd hate to pay $10 for the app and realize that it doesn't do what I need it to do.
1) On the "MIDI" page in AB3, if you have two MIDI keyboards connected to your iPad, will they both show up as discrete MIDI inputs? Where, for example, "Arturia Minilab" and "M-Audio Axiom" can each be sent to different places?
2) ...and does the MIDI Output list include physical and virtual MIDI outputs, or is it only apps and AUs?
3) Can each Audiobus preset have its own tempo, such that if Audiobus is Ableton Link-enabled, changing the AB preset automatically "broadcasts" that tempo change to other Link-connected apps and devices? In AB2, Ableton Link works by putting a Link-enabled app (like Gadget) into AB's routing, but I want AB3 itself to have a tempo setting that I can change.
1) Are they the exact same keyboard ? If yes the answer currently is no. I own two Keith Mcmillan k-boards and for some odd reason Ab3 refuses to accept midi from both. It sees both devices but only accepts midi from one.
But like you if it's different keyboards then yes. It works fine.
2) physical outputs and Ab3 sdk app ports only. Ab3 doesn't have coremidi support. You need midiflow adapter to send midi to apps that haven't upgraded to ab3 yet.
3) no idea about this one actually. Maybe someone else can help ?
On your Mac, if you enable 2 Network Midi Sessions, both will appear as inputs on AB3 Midi slot, and as outputs. Can you route Midi from your k boards to the separate network sessions?
Don't own a Mac. On windows myself. So no clue. But regarding the k-boards even if you send them to 2 different ab3 midi apps one just doesn't send midi. It works fine in Aum and modstep but not in ab3. I got around this problem using modstep sending midi via midiflow adapter. But Audiobus itself Is a no go.
On winders I use RTP Midi, same as Network Session, so shows in AB3 Midi input and output ports. What you mean when you write "even if you send them to 2 different AB3 Midi apps on just doesn't send Midi"? Do you mean that only one will work at a time or something? Sorry, just unsure the proper challenge!
The 2 identical k-boards. Doesn't matter if they're set to send out midi on separate channels. Audiobus 3 ignores the midi from either one. But connecting a k-board, a launchpad pro and an m-Audio key station 88es it accepts midi from all 3 simultaneously. So yes. Identical keyboards only 1's midi works.
What I would try is 2 RTP Network Sessions, send the midi from each the k board to one of the sessions. In AB3 you'll need 2 busses, as all Midi inputs to a network session are merged, which I think is why the single instance causes challenges. Network Sessions should def. show up like this on the Midi bus (here one from Mac and 1 pc-Inspiron).:
Info on Network Session: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/coremidi/midinetworksession
MIDINetworkSession
The singleton MIDI network session represents one Core MIDI source-destination pair, known as a MIDI entity. The session can have any number of MIDI network connections. MIDI output is broadcast to all the session’s connections. MIDI input from all connections is merged.
I think you're not understanding my problem. In the Audiobus input slot. Where you select the physical keyboards. Even with 2 k-boards connected it shows up as a single device. Completely ignoring the second one.
AUM, modstep, thumbjam, literally every coremidi app sees them as 2 separate keqyboards. I tried keeping the k-boards sending out on 2 seperate channels in the same port but it completely ignores either one.
Gotcha, I'm still confused about the physical keyboards - do they actually show as inputs for you in AudioBus 3? None of my control surfaces show up on any of those ports - should they? Or am I Still misreading here?