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
The cycle button also works as I had hoped on shorter sequences.
Awesome stuff.
glad your happy
Since you're here @midiSequencer , i have a question: if I have the CC parameter sending filter cutoff changes to a synth, is there a way within MS to make those changes be smoothed out rather than steppy? Like a slew function?
Just a guess because I can't test it right now, try making the gate longer?
maybe that'd work... the lengthened gate would have to apply to the notes as well as the CCs though, right?
That's what I can't remember! I can test it later but maybe Tony will chime in before that.
use case is i was driving nLog synth using a patch with long release times and modulating the filter cutoff with the CC parameter, but of course the cutoff changes were very sudden per step.
i was trying to get 14 bit ccs to work with model 15, but no success yet. anyone figure it out?
Not that I'm aware of (which doesn't mean much—I'm still constantly surprised by the app). A slew function is cool idea. Or just an option to interpolate CC steps. You could then use the tempo modifiers (in Q anyway) to create LFO patterns by just drawing your finger along the steps. Jeez, you could then use the app as 24 LFOs!
If you could turn interpolate 'off' for any single step, you could create smooth LFO-like modulations with spikes/dips that would be hard to make with an LFO alone. You could also set the last step of a sequence to 'interpolation off' to create Ramp Down style shapes.
MidiSequencer only has 16 steps, so yes you are not going to get smooth outputs as the CCs are output at each step - there is no LFO in the background like midiLFO app or a slew function that would interpolate between the steps. The reason for this is the way the engine clock works was wrong as it waits for the time to play a step, therefore wasting all that useful time in-between.
I rewrote the clock engine in Quantum to work in a much higher resolution - the familiar ppqns you see in a DAW. As such its also much more accurate and stable.
Quantum currently has manual realtime controls (up to 8 of them) you can see on one screen that can be assigned how you like (CC#, 7/14 bit, +/- buttons and a button to show values as +/-). I use these to control Moog M15 app.
14 bit CCs are CCx followed by CCx+32 as used by M15, and with a large rotary you can get a nice clean sweep.
this doesn't help you with steps though Quantum has up to 64 in one sequence.
One of the bits of Quantum I'd started, but deactivated for now (I have a few of these) was a panel with 4 LFOs. This is indeed midiLFO inside Quantum with drawable waveforms, standard ones, amplitude & frequency(sync or free) variation. These also can be fed into each other and a sum taken to drive an independent midi out just for CCs (or use a shared one). I think this is what you want?
The trouble with slews and steps is that movement in Quantum (or indeed MidiSequencer) isn't linear as sequences can go forwards, backwards, jump about, repeat or ornament, so I think the LFO would fit the bill.
you need two CCS 32 apart to represent the 7+7 bits of data. As I mention in my post just now Quantum does this for you, but MidiSequencer is only 14bit for NRPN, RPN or Pitchbend messages. CCs are only 7 bit.
Not sure why Moog did this, NRPN would have made more sense imo as it was created for 14bit data exchange.
Probably not going to mean anything to anyone who doesn't have the app, but yes step intervals lengths can be drawn - this skews any linear timeline, but its the 64 steps that help.
You can of course chain sequences together and run one long 384 step sequence - bit extreme though when I should probably just finish the lFO's as these allow you to draw waveforms (the spikes you mentioned).
Oh man the drawable LFOs sound so great! It sounds like even without those I could do what I'm thinking in Quantum, pretty much, by using a 64 step sequence at a high tempo and just using fewer notes, while changing the cutoff CC a small amount with every single step.
Meanwhile I'll figure out how to make the current mechanic work to my advantage!
(BTW, anyone know if any of the MidiFlow filters usable in AB3 let you apply a slew type effect to incoming CC?)
Right. This made me realize that with a 64 step sequence and fast tempo multipliers already built into Quantum, you can just draw the "LFOs" into the steps and at the correct tempo multiplier it would likely be indistinguishable from an LFO due to the increased resolution. And since LFOs generally have +/- phase, you can essentially get double the resolution by using the "back and forth" sequence direction (so steps 1-64 would represent one side of an LFO's phase and it would go backwards for 64 steps of the flipped phase).
yes you could use loop type=bounce to mirror a sine or cosine wave say.
more I think about it, drawable waves (with some presets) is the way to go here - then your just limited by pixels....
Tonight I used Quantum to automate a load of different parameters on a Sequential Circuits Six-Trak. Immense fun. Had two sequences running single notes in different rhythms and then 4 others running CCs only. Then I muted the note sequences and just played the Six-Trak live (6 note poly) while the CC sequences kept doing their thing. STUPID GOOD.
No doubt, LFOs would be cool but I think you and @artkerns should team up to make a series of videos for hardware synth nerds that wouldn't ever consider an iPad as a useful tool. Quantum and midiLFOs can bring hardware synths to life. You should only market the videos on deeply snobbish synth 'purist' sites and include a link to pricier versions of the same apps. ;p
@syrupcore IOS is pretty good too, as well as vst synths.
I think its about having more sources of note or controls, but there is a lot of fun to be had by composition by accident - just swiping your finger across the screen with a music scale means you don't have to be a synth nerd or a music professor to get something that sounds right even on an iPad. I have a music education but now prefer to compose melodies this way (then copy & alter them for interesting counterpoints).
@midiSequencer absolutely. And I probably use it with iOS synths the most. I only meant to suggest that there are a lot of hardware owners out there that may not realize there are apps like mS/Quantum or midiLFOs that do 'make beatz' or allow you to remix T-Pain songs or... but instead can serve as a meaningful, unobtrusive way to extend the possibilities of their current hardware.
"I really love my BassStation 2 but really wish it had the MonoLogue's sequencer'
'I really love my OB6 but I wish it had another couple of LFOs or the sequencer allowed me to overdub parameter moves'
'I wish I could transpose my Mother-32's sequencer automatically on a bar-by-bar basis so that I could arrange longer musical passages'
Them folk.
Obviously, when this comes out I'm going to have to lock myself in a room and spend a few days figuring this out - there's just so much to consider!
And I'm sure a lot of this will make more sense when it's sitting in front of me....
So I haven't quite understood this; are these discrete chunks of the 64 step sequence, or can they overlap (so at one extreme it's like Fugue Machine with 4 playheads playing the full 64 steps in different timings and directions, etc. at the other it's 4 separate chunks of the 64 step sequence)?
So each part can have a defined time signature? Is that discrete from the steps it contains? I.e. part 1 of a particular sequence has 13 steps, but it's defined as 4/4, with each step a quarter note, so there's an accent on
1, 5, 9, 13, 4, 8, 12, 3, etc.
So do you set a default step value and then adjust from that, or is there an assumed starting place? i.e. you could set a default step value to 1/64T and then your only option is to lengthen steps, but you can make them really long. Or is it assumed you're starting with 1/4 notes and then can move in either direction.
Then, do the other parts' timings work by changing that default step length, or is it a multiplier/divider of the baseline step value?
Is it possible to have a sequence / part run with a fixed tempo or tempo that's not Link-locked? Yeah, that's pretty wacky, but I'm thinking of a rapid, burbling arpeggiated sequence that slows down to the song tempo. Or the inverse where a "heartbeat" runs at a fixed tempo while the song ramps up (or jumps) from that heartbeat tempo to double-time.
OK, and as per my original question, can you set a sequence or part to not be phase synced? i.e. so I can start it whenever I want and not when it's "supposed" to start (but it will still have tempo and beat sync)?
Sort of a "hard-sync" for the sequences? Sounds fun!
Oh my...
So a 384 step sequence?
Oh my x2...
...of course
So really, polyrhythm not polymeter. i.e. everything has the same "1" but different internal timings.
Yeah, you don't say
Actually, most devs go whole-hog and implement phase sync as the default. In fact, I would wager that most people consider this to be what Link is all about.
Granted, in most cases it is what you want, but as soon as you try to work with polymeters or want to have your beat shift to the off-beat, phase sync is a frustrating limitation.
In a perfect world, devs would give you the option of what level of Link sync you work with.
Actually, in a really perfect world devs would give you another option: in addition to tempo, beat and phase sync, they would give you a way to define the Link phase separate from the actual sequence you're using. This is sort of what Patterning does. Link is phase locked to the Song time signature, but the song time signature doesn't have to match with the time signature of the pattern. This way if the bulk of your track is in 4/4, but your beat is 7/8, you can set the Song time signature to 4/4 and then when you start a pattern it will come in on the 1 of the 4/4 beat (and then go out of phase as you would expect).
I'll take a whack at answering the bits I think I know. Still learning the app though!
They can be set up either way.
I haven't messed with the accents all that much but I think this is correct. Yes, to sig perpart.
Insanely fun, especially combined with step probability.
Yes. And beyond with loop actions. Sequences can have an unlimited (I think) number of versions. They can be loaded on the fly or they can be called from a loop action. It's a little tricky to set up but you could have a 2000 step sequence.
Yes. Well, both. Polymeter is the default behavior, given sequences of differing lengths and the same clock division.
Yes - but you can have more detail than in FM - e.g. each part (or head) has its own set of actions you can define to perform on a loop (e.g. part 1 can stop then direct part 2 to play), or different parameters (like accented beats)
1, 5, 9, 13, 4, 8, 12, 3, etc.
Yes - but the time signature applies to the special velocity accent (you specify a % increase on every 1st of 4th step if the time sig is 4/4) whatever the length of the sequence.
Then, do the other parts' timings work by changing that default step length, or is it a multiplier/divider of the baseline step value?
Q calculates how long a step interval is based on the song tempo x sequence (or part ) tempo(which is specified as a tempo division to create a ratio) x step time interval (shared by parts - but again you specify as a tempo ratio).
So Song Tempo = f BPM with a sequence & step time divisions = f steps per minute
If you specify 1/2 sequence & 1/4 step - then thats f/8.
so change the song tempo - everything changes timing
change a sequence tempo only - only that sequence (all parts & steps) change timing
change a part tempo only - only that selected part (& its steps) change timing
change a step tempo only - only that step changes tempo - but this may alter another part if step is shared.
parts can of course loop with actions and change tempo, or you can automate it via midi NRPN control.
But in Poly mode all of the tempos are controlled for you - adjusted to make all parts start together
Not exactly at the moment, but I might add more on this later. You are thinking of a free running sequence unlocked from the song tempo? You could of course define a tempo division as Legato (rather than 1/1 say) - then the step length is determined by the gate% (since legato means step length = gated length) - like in MidiSequencer (NoteTime vs StepTime).
But I'm not sure if you are asking if you can slew rate the tempos? You might be able to do that when I finish the independent LFOs.....
At the Sequence level (not the part level) you can define what type of Link you want (none, beat or phase)
yes - think of this like sync in an audio oscillator or the trigger reset in a sequencer - again it alters rhythm and adds variety and patterns
As @syrupcore said combine this with repeats & probability you get fun.
yes actions will continue to grow as the app matures as it represents cool things you can do to alter a loop once its played. E.g change tempo, loop 3 times more, change tempo back. Another example is randomise steps....
This is the current list of actions (each one can be assigned a probability (0=never up to 100%= always) of playing:
Actions
All of these work per Sequence/Part
. Restart action list - will therefore re-execute list on next loop (e.g. random notes+restart would randomise every loop)
. Transpose absolute - set transpose
. Transpose relative - adjust transpose
. Tempo Division Change - modify tempo division
. Loop Type - set loop type
. Start Step - set the start step
. End Step - set the end step
. Stop the sequence/part
. Mute the midi output
. UnMute the midi output
. Randomise the notes within start/end range
. Change music scale - notes will conform
. Change Midi Channel - this is the override midi channel of the step midi channel
. Wait a number of loops &/or steps - great for silence or delays
. Start another Sequence/Part - kick off another sequence
. Start another Sequence/Part relative to this one - kick off next sequence say
. Start another Part in this sequence - play a part in this sequence
. Start another relative Part in this sequence - e.g. play the next part in this sequence
. Play a random sequence/part including this one again
. Play another random sequence/part but not this one
. Load a sequence version (will replace whole sequence & parts & action list etc)
. Load a relative sequence version - e.g load & play next version in list - will loop to first if at end
Yes is you want unique steps. But of course you can link & repeat using actions (e.g. load previous sequence on a 50% chance) or as @syrupcore said load in one of the 100 versions you could save of each sequence (there are actions for that too!)
yes - but the accents give you polymeter too.
yes it does seem to be more useful than beat! I used the excellent Patterning app as reference when writing my code as it provides a really easy way to visualise it.
Hey @midiSequencer tony. I really appreciate how invested you are in your app, i can tell it's really a labor of love. Messed around with it last night with my nee moog sub phatty and it's pretty great. Have to sit down and read the manual and figure out the performance aspects and how to get the cycle to change when and how i want it and other cool tricks. Can you (or others here) list the best videos to check out?
@vpich
all very old (development finished on this app 18 months ago)
nice sub phatty btw!
also check out my soundcloud page - a lot of audio demos there!
https://soundcloud.com/manowargoblin
On the 384 step sequence... first, you can make a guitarish sound on a DX-7 but you should probably use a guitar or a sampler—mS/Quantum isn't really designed for 384 step sequences (though it's possible). Second, we both forgot to mention that any given step can have repeats (1-7, I believe) so even within a view of 16 steps, presuming some of those steps repeat, you can cram in quite a few more "steps".
I think the motive for long sequence was long cc's - 64 should be fine, but two sequences would give you the ability to map all values in a 7bit wave.
Coming to realize I've never messed with the "time" step type in Quantum. After discussions above, took some lunch break time to mess with it. Holy shit.
So, a sequence can be set to clock at many different dividers or multipliers of the global tempo. By default, it's 1/1 and each step represents a 16th note. You can change the sequence's tempo divider to say 1/2 and then each step represents an 8th note. And so on.
But, I didn't realize until reading Tony's messages above and messing with it, EACH step can be set to any of those tempo divisions/multipliers. Not only can this do all manner of fluttery fast bits and 'pick up' notes, it means that with a single 5 step sequence, you can create, say 1/4, 1/4, 1/4, 1/8, 1/8 or 4 whole notes and 2 halves, or pretty much any rhythm you want. This kind of blows the traditional notion of a step sequencer wide open.
Screenshot attached with the possible tempo setting. If you look behind the tempo pop up, you can see steps in the sequence set to all manner of per-step timings.
Quantum bending time ... didn’t expect otherwise. Mind bent.
Q: I’d like to know which options can be midi-learned, please? Thanks!
By the way, the second sequencer in the screenshot with steps 00, +03... is a transposition source sequence, pointed at sequence/rack 1 at a 1/16 tempo division. So every 16 steps of the master tempo, it moves forward by one step and it transposes sequence/rack 1 by the amount set. You can only see two steps in the screenshot but it's a four step sequence that transposes sequence 1 by 0, +3, -2, +5 and then loops.