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.

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Audiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.

Off Topic: Live Music Lip-Syncing and Backing Tracks?

The other night I went to see The Jesus and Mary Chain show here in Austin. I know it's sacrilege to admit this, especially in a city like Austin that's so focussed on live music, but I mostly don't care for hearing my favorite bands live. I generally prefer the polish and production of a studio mix, or a live recording that's been mixed to studio quality. Just a preference I guess.

There have been few bands that I've heard live that sounded as good or better live compared with their studio work. Yes, there's the energy, and the communal experience, etc. And the stage lighting and performance are worth seeing. But from purely audio-centric perspective... I'd rather listen to the mixed albums.

However, I've been a fan of The Jesus and Mary Chain for a long time and wanted to get out for a bit. These guys have been at it for over 35 years, and I think there was a lot of bickering and excessive drug and booze abuse. So, I wasn't really expecting they'd really sound that great to be honest. The stage lighting was very dim and completely unimaginative IMO, so it was all about the sound.

Surprisingly, they sounded dead-on. I usually try to stand near the mixing board if possible, but for this show I was all the way off to the side. And yet they STILL sounded precisely like they do on their studio releases. The timing seemed abnormally perfect to me. Most of the time live shows don't sound even close to the studio mix, but this sounded as good... if not slightly better due to the massive volume.

I found myself focussed on their playing to see if I could tell if they were lip-syncing or using backing tracks. I know pop singers use lip-syncing and backing vocals, especially if they're doing a lot of choreographed dancing or they simply can't sound anywhere near as good as their studio mixes. Or, if it's an older artist who can't hit those notes anymore, they'll too use backing tracks for a little leg up in the tough parts.

So, that's kind of what I expected from The Jesus and Mary Chain given all the years, the wear and tear, etc. especially since they sounded nearly perfect. I was sure they had to be using a little help. However, due to a couple mic and audio problems they had, if they'd been using a little help, it would have be exposed. It wasn't. They had to be preforming at that level with any help.

I'm curious though. How can you tell for sure if you're getting a purely live performance without any digital help from the mixing board? The lighting was very dim so I couldn't get clean enough view of the lead singer's lips to see if he missed at all. And he often had the mic cable coiled up so that it kind of obscured his mouth at times. Again though, the times they had audio/mic problems it would've been exposed if they've been lip-syncing or playing with a backing track.

I'll add a few snaps if they're still on my iPad. All they would let me in with was a little compact and it was really dark, so they aren't that great, but the mood is there. :)



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