Xequence midi sequencer ?

SevenSystems

@reasOne said:
Gotta say, I'm loving this and can't believe I waited this long to get it, gonna get the iap stuff too..

That's perfect "Split" executes the split at the current song position (rounded to the nearest bar). Yes gotta watch out for those overlaps. Parts are drawn slightly transparent so there will be a more saturated color where an overlap occurs.

What I find funny is your comment about how Xequence is different to what you're used to the thing is that Xequence really is THE most "standard" MIDI sequencer there is on iOS! It's just that iOS never was "normal" in the first place I guess

reasOne

Haha I guess what I mean by different is Just the gestures to move things around.... For example, to make a note longer I'm used to touching and dragging it rather than using the slider at the bottom, and with the split not being able to split where I put the maker,... Not that I don't like this way it just requires adapting 😄 but ya man this thing is excellent and I'm going to be using it for so much!

@SevenSystems said:

@reasOne said:
Gotta say, I'm loving this and can't believe I waited this long to get it, gonna get the iap stuff too..

That's perfect "Split" executes the split at the current song position (rounded to the nearest bar). Yes gotta watch out for those overlaps. Parts are drawn slightly transparent so there will be a more saturated color where an overlap occurs.

What I find funny is your comment about how Xequence is different to what you're used to the thing is that Xequence really is THE most "standard" MIDI sequencer there is on iOS! It's just that iOS never was "normal" in the first place I guess

reasOne

I'll deff look out for over laps maybe I'll have to disable looping while I record to prevent it from looping and increasing the chance of overlap... But it is great that you can overdub while it loops

SevenSystems

@reasOne said:
I'll deff look out for over laps maybe I'll have to disable looping while I record to prevent it from looping and increasing the chance of overlap... But it is great that you can overdub while it loops

For recording, it's often a good idea not to use the song loop, but loop individual parts instead (select them, then tap on the "Magic Wand" -> "Loop On". That way, you can keep all recorded notes or controllers without overlap and pick the best ones after recording.

(automatic creation of a new track lane for each song loop iteration during recording is on the roadmap...)

wim

@reasOne said:

@SevenSystems said:
@reasOne glad you're getting good use out of the app. Let's see:

• Xequence doesn't have a realtime arpeggiator per se, so you would still need something like SPA for that (note though that you can route SPA through Xequence's MIDI Thru and it will always automatically be routed to your current track / instrument, so you never have to reconfigure anything except select a different track in Xequence. Please look up "MIDI Thru" in the manual for more details. It's a VERY important thing to use because it'll increase your productivity tenfold.)

• As an alternative, Xequence has an extremely powerful generative music module, Polyhymnia (In-App purchase), which can be used much like an arpeggiator.

• Unfortunately I can't do anything about the crackling as that's got nothing to do with Xequence (it doesn't do audio and has quite a low resource footprint, so the problem lies with the other apps or iOS)

• about the parts changing thing: I'm not totally sure what you would like to achieve, but if you're looking for something "Ableton style", that is not available... but maybe you could give me a little more detail on what you're looking to do.

yah im eyeballing that polyhymia, looks like it can do some pretty cool stuff ! and since i feel like xequence is going to play a big role in my music making, itll be cool to have something built by you to work in the environment.

midi pass thru! i always forget about it haha gonna read thru the manual today and refresh on that and how it applys to xeq. thanks for all your help man its def got me moving faster and loving the app more.

and as far as switching parts, i probably am looking for something like ableton.
but more so just for the creation time , not so much for playing live...but if im working on a new part, i normally go back n forth listening to the old part to make sure they are sounding good with each other, so i like to bounce back n forth between them as i get ideas and make changes..hard to explain, but if it would start playing, after the next beat once you tap on it that would allow for that, but i understand most people probably do not want that

Have you considered just making another track pointing to the same instrument, then using mute / solo to switch between them? If the patterns are in the same place in the timeline, this would work.

reasOne

pro tip!!
And Heck ya I like where that future road map is heading.... Love this app !

@SevenSystems said:

@reasOne said:
I'll deff look out for over laps maybe I'll have to disable looping while I record to prevent it from looping and increasing the chance of overlap... But it is great that you can overdub while it loops

For recording, it's often a good idea not to use the song loop, but loop individual parts instead (select them, then tap on the "Magic Wand" -> "Loop On". That way, you can keep all recorded notes or controllers without overlap and pick the best ones after recording.

(automatic creation of a new track lane for each song loop iteration during recording is on the roadmap...)

SevenSystems

@reasOne if you haven't yet, I would suggest checking the Quickstart Guide when you have some free time. It has a lot of useful information including a comprehensive FAQ (that actually covers some of what you asked here! )

It's available both online and as a PDF:

http://seven.systems/xequence/manual/
http://seven.systems/xequence/downloads/XequenceQuickstartGuide.pdf

reasOne

@wim said:

@reasOne said:

Have you considered just making another track pointing to the same instrument, then using mute / solo to switch between them? If the patterns are in the same place in the timeline, this would work.

Good idea man !!

CracklePot

I think it is on sale right now...
$3.99. ($6.99)

reasOne

@CracklePot said:
I think it is on sale right now...
$3.99. ($6.99)

I just got it two days ago for 6.99 but am happy with that price... Sometimes I'll wait for sales but the dev has been so cool helping me learn to use it and get it going that I'm like here, take my Money haha..... That means a lot to to us to have the devs here listening to our b.s. 😄

reasOne

But anyone whos on the fence should take advantage of that sale

reasOne

Might grab some iap today, that polyhymnia looks rad

chandroji

I would like to use Xequence more often, but I have some question marks in my head!

For me the most important question for the beginning:

What I need to do that Xequence when opens a saved project, also opens used apps automatically with the selected sounds?

So far I have to open all used apps individually and set the corresponding sounds. This is not much comfortable so I'm afraid I’m doing something wrong. 😎
May I need Audiobus or AUM for it? Because of this problem I use Cubasis instead of Xequence...

Could you please enlighten me @SevenSystems or any experience user here?
Thank you so much! 🙂🙏

wim

@chandroji said:
I would like to use Xequence more often, but I have some question marks in my head!

For me the most important question for the beginning:

What I need to do that Xequence when opens a saved project, also opens used apps automatically with the selected sounds?

So far I have to open all used apps individually and set the corresponding sounds. This is not much comfortable so I'm afraid I’m doing something wrong. 😎
May I need Audiobus or AUM for it? Because of this problem I use Cubasis instead of Xequence...

Could you please enlighten me @SevenSystems or any experience user here?
Thank you so much! 🙂🙏

Xequence plus AB3 = most of what you want.

This has become the center of my workflow of late, and I’m Increasingly enjoying it the more I use it. Since Xequence Supports AB3 state save, I can get back to where I left off on a project within seconds. The only exception is IAA apps that don’t support state saving. I try to avoid those. But thats the same situation in Cubasis and other DAWs.

That said, unless Cubasis isn’t working out as you like, I don’t see any compelling reason to go to a more complicated setup. I like it because I can swap projects between iPhone and iPad easily, and for AB3s fantastic app switcher and global transport. But it does add a layer of complexity to wire things together.

McDtracy

I think I need PolyHymnia for $3. I have all the other IAP's (except for Drum Maps, I think).

Is there a workflow similar to Cubasis where you send MIDI to a beloved App (Synth, Sampler) and save that Apps output as a Frozen audio that is sync'ed with the midi as you iterate to make something beautiful and dense?

Can you point Xequence at AUM (or AB3) and record "lanes" and have them re-play as you add more lanes for example until you have maybe a dozen Frozen "stems" you could import to a Final Stage mix-down app that manages the FX and mixing?

Maybe sending the AUM right into Cubasis as audio tracks does this... or any other DAW. I'm just wondering if there's enough resources on an iPad 2018 to use this workflow reliably and not have App crashes with Xequence, AUM, powerful sound APP and Cubasis running.

At some point I need to understand how to sync multiple apps using a MIDI Clock or Ableton Link to just hit a transport widget and have everything aligned.

Maybe I should just send audio to Logic Pro and give up on IOS as the production engine and just enjoy the low cost VST/AU products.

Any suggestions to make "Film Score" like music appreciated.
I'd like to stay IOS just to avoid the cabling issues with adding a Laptop to my keyboard. I'd like that to be a last resort.

The iPad just feels like "active paper" and my cabling is clean and neat. My cabling has never been clean and neat before IOS.

wim

@McDtracy said:
I think I need PolyHymnia for $3. I have all the other IAP's (except for Drum Maps, I think).

Is there a workflow similar to Cubasis where you send MIDI to a beloved App (Synth, Sampler) and save that Apps output as a Frozen audio that is sync'ed with the midi as you iterate to make something beautiful and dense?

Can you point Xequence at AUM (or AB3) and record "lanes" and have them re-play as you add more lanes for example until you have maybe a dozen Frozen "stems" you could import to a Final Stage mix-down app that manages the FX and mixing?

Maybe sending the AUM right into Cubasis as audio tracks does this... or any other DAW. I'm just wondering if there's enough resources on an iPad 2018 to use this workflow reliably and not have App crashes with Xequence, AUM, powerful sound APP and Cubasis running.

At some point I need to understand how to sync multiple apps using a MIDI Clock or Ableton Link to just hit a transport widget and have everything aligned.

Maybe I should just send audio to Logic Pro and give up on IOS as the production engine and just enjoy the low cost VST/AU products.

Any suggestions to make "Film Score" like music appreciated.
I'd like to stay IOS just to avoid the cabling issues with adding a Laptop to my keyboard. I'd like that to be a last resort.

The iPad just feels like "active paper" and my cabling is clean and neat. My cabling has never been clean and neat before IOS.

Xequence is a midi sending app only. It doesn’t even try to do most what you’re describing. It is an excellent timeline / piano roll based sequencer. Yes, it can send midi to any other combination of apps you like in order to accomplish whatever they’re capable of.

wim

@McDtracy said:
At some point I need to understand how to sync multiple apps using a MIDI Clock or Ableton Link to just hit a transport widget and have everything aligned.

Xequence + AB3 + AUM. There’s not much you can’t accomplish with these three relatively easily, and all easily in sync from the AB3 transport bar.

Or just use a DAW.

McDtracy

@wim said:

@McDtracy said:
At some point I need to understand how to sync multiple apps using a MIDI Clock or Ableton Link to just hit a transport widget and have everything aligned.

Xequence + AB3 + AUM. There’s not much you can’t accomplish with these three relatively easily, and all easily in sync from the AB3 transport bar.

Or just use a DAW.

I think I'm burned out on IOS DAW's. They don't hold up.

Using AB3 and AUM is an idea I didn't consider. I always thought of it as AB or AUM.

I'll try that and use the AB Transport. When I hit play and have an AUM track set to record I get a wave file in AUM. On the next pass I want that Wave file to play as I make another file wave recording. Is that possible?

wim

@McDtracy said:

@wim said:

@McDtracy said:
At some point I need to understand how to sync multiple apps using a MIDI Clock or Ableton Link to just hit a transport widget and have everything aligned.

Xequence + AB3 + AUM. There’s not much you can’t accomplish with these three relatively easily, and all easily in sync from the AB3 transport bar.

Or just use a DAW.

I think I'm burned out on IOS DAW's. They don't hold up.

Using AB3 and AUM is an idea I didn't consider. I always thought of it as AB or AUM.

I'll try that and use the AB Transport. When I hit play and have an AUM track set to record I get a wave file in AUM. On the next pass I want that Wave file to play as I make another file wave recording. Is that possible?

No. Not automatically. You’d have to set the wav file up as a file player in a new AUM channel.

It sounds to me like rather than AUM, you should be capturing the audio in a looper like Loopy, Group the Loop, or Quantiloop. Xequence + AB3 + Looper of your choice seems to fit the bill.

gusgranite

Now if Xequence was an AUv3... naughty to even suggest it, I know, but one can dream! Statesaving worries would be non-existent. Lol.

wim

A Xequence AUv3 you could stick anywhere would indeed be cool.

SevenSystems

@McDtracy there's a good thread here that discusses combinations of Xequence + AUM + AB3 "to death":

https://forum.audiob.us/discussion/28221/xequence-audiobus-aum-best-practices-for-a-complete-music-production-environment

@gusgranite said:
Now if Xequence was an AUv3... naughty to even suggest it, I know, but one can dream! Statesaving worries would be non-existent. Lol.

State-saving worries ARE non-existant in AB3. An AB3 preset includes absolutely everything, including all MIDI connections AND even your ENTIRE Xequence project (you don't even need to save it separately in Xequence).

Regarding AUv3: Won't happen, sorry! (At least I'm honest from the get-go! )

chandroji

@wim said:

@chandroji said:
I would like to use Xequence more often, but I have some question marks in my head!

For me the most important question for the beginning:

What I need to do that Xequence when opens a saved project, also opens used apps automatically with the selected sounds?

So far I have to open all used apps individually and set the corresponding sounds. This is not much comfortable so I'm afraid I’m doing something wrong. 😎
May I need Audiobus or AUM for it? Because of this problem I use Cubasis instead of Xequence...

Could you please enlighten me @SevenSystems or any experience user here?
Thank you so much! 🙂🙏

Xequence plus AB3 = most of what you want.

This has become the center of my workflow of late, and I’m Increasingly enjoying it the more I use it. Since Xequence Supports AB3 state save, I can get back to where I left off on a project within seconds. The only exception is IAA apps that don’t support state saving. I try to avoid those. But thats the same situation in Cubasis and other DAWs.

That said, unless Cubasis isn’t working out as you like, I don’t see any compelling reason to go to a more complicated setup. I like it because I can swap projects between iPhone and iPad easily, and for AB3s fantastic app switcher and global transport. But it does add a layer of complexity to wire things together.

Thanks a lot for your feedback @wim !
So I think I need to load Xequence and all used apps in AB3 right?
Is it possible to post a screenshot of AB3 with an example setup? I don’t have much experience with AB3. I have it but was not using it seriously up to now...😎

Many thanks, I really appreciate any help! 😊

gusgranite

@SevenSystems said:
@McDtracy there's a good thread here that discusses combinations of Xequence + AUM + AB3 "to death":

https://forum.audiob.us/discussion/28221/xequence-audiobus-aum-best-practices-for-a-complete-music-production-environment

@gusgranite said:
Now if Xequence was an AUv3... naughty to even suggest it, I know, but one can dream! Statesaving worries would be non-existent. Lol.

State-saving worries ARE non-existant in AB3. An AB3 preset includes absolutely everything, including all MIDI connections AND even your ENTIRE Xequence project (you don't even need to save it separately in Xequence).

Regarding AUv3: Won't happen, sorry! (At least I'm honest from the get-go! )

Right on! I need to update my workflow then. I didn’t realize it was that seamless in AB3. Respect! 👊😎

SevenSystems

@gusgranite said:

@SevenSystems said:
@McDtracy there's a good thread here that discusses combinations of Xequence + AUM + AB3 "to death":

https://forum.audiob.us/discussion/28221/xequence-audiobus-aum-best-practices-for-a-complete-music-production-environment

@gusgranite said:
Now if Xequence was an AUv3... naughty to even suggest it, I know, but one can dream! Statesaving worries would be non-existent. Lol.

State-saving worries ARE non-existant in AB3. An AB3 preset includes absolutely everything, including all MIDI connections AND even your ENTIRE Xequence project (you don't even need to save it separately in Xequence).

Regarding AUv3: Won't happen, sorry! (At least I'm honest from the get-go! )

Right on! I need to update my workflow then. I didn’t realize it was that seamless in AB3. Respect! 👊😎

I do however still recommend saving the project from time to time inside "Xequence proper". In the very first Audiobus-compatible Xequence version, there have been a few reports far and between of an Audiobus preset with the Xequence project missing in it. I've gone to great lengths finding every possible way that could cause it and fix it, including talking to Michael (Audiobus), and I haven't gotten any further reports since. BUT. I LOVE my projects. So I still save them "properly" from time to time anyway

SevenSystems

@chandroji said:

@wim said:

@chandroji said:
I would like to use Xequence more often, but I have some question marks in my head!

For me the most important question for the beginning:

What I need to do that Xequence when opens a saved project, also opens used apps automatically with the selected sounds?

So far I have to open all used apps individually and set the corresponding sounds. This is not much comfortable so I'm afraid I’m doing something wrong. 😎
May I need Audiobus or AUM for it? Because of this problem I use Cubasis instead of Xequence...

Could you please enlighten me @SevenSystems or any experience user here?
Thank you so much! 🙂🙏

Xequence plus AB3 = most of what you want.

This has become the center of my workflow of late, and I’m Increasingly enjoying it the more I use it. Since Xequence Supports AB3 state save, I can get back to where I left off on a project within seconds. The only exception is IAA apps that don’t support state saving. I try to avoid those. But thats the same situation in Cubasis and other DAWs.

That said, unless Cubasis isn’t working out as you like, I don’t see any compelling reason to go to a more complicated setup. I like it because I can swap projects between iPhone and iPad easily, and for AB3s fantastic app switcher and global transport. But it does add a layer of complexity to wire things together.

Thanks a lot for your feedback @wim !
So I think I need to load Xequence and all used apps in AB3 right?
Is it possible to post a screenshot of AB3 with an example setup? I don’t have much experience with AB3. I have it but was not using it seriously up to now...😎

No, all you have to do is do whatever you want in any of the loaded apps including Xequence, then in the Audiobus app, tap the "Folder" icon in the bottom right corner, tap "New Preset", give it a sensible name by tapping on "Rename", then "Save". Done. That Preset includes absolutely everything, including the Xequence project itself (not just the filename of it. The ENTIRE project.)

(this of course only applies to apps loaded directly into Audiobus slots, NOT apps running standalone outside Audiobus).

wim

J> @chandroji said:

@wim said:

@chandroji said:
I would like to use Xequence more often, but I have some question marks in my head!

For me the most important question for the beginning:

What I need to do that Xequence when opens a saved project, also opens used apps automatically with the selected sounds?

So far I have to open all used apps individually and set the corresponding sounds. This is not much comfortable so I'm afraid I’m doing something wrong. 😎
May I need Audiobus or AUM for it? Because of this problem I use Cubasis instead of Xequence...

Could you please enlighten me @SevenSystems or any experience user here?
Thank you so much! 🙂🙏

Xequence plus AB3 = most of what you want.

This has become the center of my workflow of late, and I’m Increasingly enjoying it the more I use it. Since Xequence Supports AB3 state save, I can get back to where I left off on a project within seconds. The only exception is IAA apps that don’t support state saving. I try to avoid those. But thats the same situation in Cubasis and other DAWs.

That said, unless Cubasis isn’t working out as you like, I don’t see any compelling reason to go to a more complicated setup. I like it because I can swap projects between iPhone and iPad easily, and for AB3s fantastic app switcher and global transport. But it does add a layer of complexity to wire things together.

Thanks a lot for your feedback @wim !
So I think I need to load Xequence and all used apps in AB3 right?
Is it possible to post a screenshot of AB3 with an example setup? I don’t have much experience with AB3. I have it but was not using it seriously up to now...😎

Many thanks, I really appreciate any help! 😊

Sure, I’d be happy to.

Here are screenshots from a recent thing I started but haven’t taken very far. The basic idea. I would send the AB3 preset, but not sure if you have all the apps I used.

Note: you can put AUM (or Cubasis, or Auria, or...) in the output slots to further process / capture the audio.

Warning: I’m not sure that state save is always working 100% with Xequence. It’s best to save the project file in Xequence in addition to saving the AB3 preset. It seems mostly to work, but just now opened with the last project I had saved, not the midi from the preset.

wim

For apps that can’t be used in the Audiobus midi output, load them into the Audio page, then either send directly to them with Xequence, or do as I prefer by using the Virtual Midi output.

chandroji

Wow! That’s great, thanks a lot for your screenshots @wim 🙏😊
I will trying to figure out your setup. Not now because it’s quite late here in Germany but maybe tomorrow. Most Apps I own and some of the fx I can replace with other ones.

I think your screenshots are very helpful to understand some principles using AB3 and Xequence!

👍

I will give you some more feedback when I’m successful!

wim

@chandroji said:
Wow! That’s great, thanks a lot for your screenshots @wim 🙏😊
I will trying to figure out your setup. Not now because it’s quite late here in Germany but maybe tomorrow. Most Apps I own and some of the fx I can replace with other ones.

I think your screenshots are very helpful to understand some principles using AB3 and Xequence!

👍

I will give you some more feedback when I’m successful!

You’ll get it easily enough. Fortunately, Xequence is super easy to route midi with and AB3 / AUM make hosting apps a breeze.