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.
Favorite Modular Synth App?
Ripplemaker has whet my appetite for a fully modular synth app. Which would you recommend? Looking at zMors, Audulus...maybe even Model 15 would satisfy the craving.
Comments
Model 15 is the best....my opinion just
Zmors modular. Mainly because it's a lot more than just a synth. Could not even dream of building my euclidean sequencer inside model15. Although... I own both lol. Model 15 sounds lovely.
If you have Caustic then there's a modular in there worth checking out. You can pipe Caustic's other generators into it and even instances of itself into other instances of Modular. Here's the original tutorial video but check out the documentation for newest updates:
You know. I own caustic and I never truly experimented with it's modular. Need to rectify that.
I am lucky enough to have a real eurorack modular and I utterly LOVE Model 15. It's every bit as weighty as my Minimod VCOs and also compares to Pulsar P900 on the Mac. I'd love more modules, especially utility ones like ring mod and maths functions, but most of all I'd love it to go AU, and use it as my main mobile sound source.
I've always felt way too thick to really grasp modular synthesis, but Model 15 and Ripplemaker have served as a gateway. Mucking around with these synths is almost a separate love from music production/song-writing. I have yet to really use anything I've created with either synth in an actual song, but eventually I hope to use nothing but.
Shout out to Audulus for their efforts to put a real mod community together around the app. I hope it grows because the potential for new sounds is amazing.
only reason i discount Audulus currently is the lack of Link and midi in/out. till it gets those i ain't using it at all
I think Audulus is an amazing learning tool, but the sound quality is very poor. I treat it as an educational app rather than a making music one.
And to eddielovesyou, since you don't have Model 15, go with it. It is the most logical next step after Ripplemaker. ZMors, Audulus etc. have a much higher barrier to entry.
Plus, Model 15 is pretty universally regarded as the best-sounding synth on iPad. As for me individually, I think the sound quality is better than anything else by a looooong shot.
I can think of lots of reasons not to buy Audulus (which I personally love), but I don't think is true at all. True it doesn't have nice built in filters (which goes with the territory), or oversampled whatever. But that's true of any modular environment (Max/MSP included).
Analogkit is one of my favorite ios apps. The interface really clicked with me, over the other full modular programs, It can be used by beginners, casually as a regular modular synth, using the premade modules, or by more experienced users in full on, science project mode, like Pure Data.
Model 15 has good sound quality, and I really like the lush visuals, but I got turned off by the authenticity of the rat's nest experience of deciphering patches of cables going everywhere, and how the quirkiness of the original hardware operation had been reproduced. The limited number and basicness of modules, too. Mostly just enjoy the presets, rather than digging in. Of the rat's nest (traditional) modulars, it is the slickest, though. Has great midi implementation and connectivity to the outside world (like an audio input, to use it as an effect).
If you want to explore modular synthesis to its fullest, and build your own soft synths, consider one of the modern style, software modulars, if you want the authenticness and quirkiness of working with a basic modular synth from the 70's, Model 15.
One advantage to the model 15 is you can send ripplemakers audio through it using the Audio-bridge. deliciousness guaranteed.
Analogkit's been abandoned though (sadly). I agree it was a nice app.
Model 15 sounds fantastic (I also like the experience of playing with it on the ipad). For the West Coast semi-modular synth experience I doubt this will be beaten any time soon. Was really blown away by how close to the authentic Moog sound this gets.
iVCS3 is an amazing reproduction of an extremely quirky and peculiar synth classic. For your BBC Radiophonic weirdness. I suspect this is also about as close to a genuine VCS3 as any of us need.
zMors modular does a good job of replicating typical Eurorack modules and it plays well with the wider IOS infrastructure (hosting au3s, etc), and can also host PureData files. I like it, though the interface never quite worked for me (but I still use it). Sound quality can't really compete with the two above, but a lot more flexible.
Audulus is a really beautiful PureData/MaxMSP clone (with a lovely interface). Like those apps it has a great, lively community (though smaller), and lots of great modules that community members have built. However, it assumes a fairly decent level of basic Synth/DSP knowledge. It also lacks a few things you'd find on those tools (wavetables/granular being the most irritating), but very powerful nonetheless. And you're not going to get the advantages of upsampling, or clever algorithms to reduce aliasing.
Another vote for Model15. Aside from sounding great and having a nice built in tutorial to get your started, using it is very fluid. They did a great job making the UI not just look good, but VERY touch responsive.
Audulus 3 followed by Model 15
I'm not saying you're wrong as I don't know - but I'm always a bit wary of statements about audio quality because of how subjective opinions can be. Are you going by what you hear or do you have some technical data that tells you the Audulus sound quality is 'very poor'?
Don't worry, a modular synth is just like a normal synth, only not finished.
Makes note to have something to burn boffins with at next faculty party
Model 15 for me too. Sounds incredible, and I love the touch interface. Unfortunately I have to test apps for my day job and had to install iOS 11 Beta, and Model 15 no longer works! Loving Ripplemaker though, so I can keep modularing for now...
The oscillators sound plastic-y and as someone else above said the filters aren't the greatest sounding. So it's subjective; I have no secret data.
Fair enough. I thought maybe you knew they were using lower quality processing to reduce resources or something.
The oscillators only sound 'plasticy' because Audulus doesn't use analog modelling for the oscillators. Similarly the filters are fairly basic (and don't have the distortions you get in 'analog' filters). However there's nothing stopping you building analog sounding oscillators (which is just an oscillator with a tiny bit of drift) and good filters using Audulus (there's a really nice user contributed one on the forums).
Audulus is basically the parts for a car. You can build a Ferrari using them, but you have to know how to build them. If you just want a Ferrari, you'd be better off buying one. But with Audulus you could also build that insane custom hotwheel with the 6 wheels and the truck motor.
Faith restored. Thank you.
Audulus is a two level app: they recommend to use already built modules instead of nodes aka build your own modular system and make music instead of spending countless hours building your own modules
What about Mitosynth?
Jasuto !!!
Using it since 2010, still love it. Still rocks (doesn't work on iOS11, i guess? though) for me. It's my app to make live perfomances with (be it standalone or through audiobus). Too bad developer disappeared
Tried others but they never clicked with me. Huge respect to Audulus devs/community though - they do titanic work!
Yes! Jasuto is on the hit list unfortunately.
I'll get Audulus 3 eventually, I have v2 but hardly use it, must block out some time and see if I can justify the upgrade. The user library looks worth the price of entry alone.
Model 15 for sound quality tho ...
Well, that's why i keep older iPad with older iOS - for all those oldies to live...
Yeah, subpatches etc. are great in Audulus if you are not ready to dive in math etc.
Also, could i say that Audulus is good as teaching tool?
edit:
iVCS3 - also like it, actualy i adore apeSoft apps. I only wish you could touch and change everything at same time... maybe on 12" ipad pro? i mean having matrix and knobs on one screen.
Model 15 - never played with, but that Suzanne Ciani demo is sweet
Mitosynth is modular? Need to check again ;-)
What about KQ MiniSynth???
Isn't this the ultimate Modular?
About Model 15, I really hate the cables and needing to scroll around.
A iOS Synth should not replicate the looks of a real Synth, IMHO - I prefer more easy layouts, able to click things in a matrix or something like that, to make connections.
I do not even like the photo-realistic knobs and such.
More modern looks like the Apps from apeSoft or VirSyn
I googled a bit:
Modular Synthesizer by Pulse Code
http://www.pulsecodeinc.com/modular.html
Ops by Jonathan MacKenzie
http://jonathanmackenzie.net/ops