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
Having used both i enjoy both for different reasons.
Once you get the workflow of Modstep it’s super straight forward and easy to use. It has one of the better step and sequence views on iOS in my opinion. I usually set it up to send sequences to AUM/Audiobus hosted synths.
BeatMaker3 offers a more complete story...the one thing it lacks is the fluidity of the modstep sequencer. Once they can lock the sequencer to the chosen Scale and fix how they handle external midi support we’ll be cooking.
Both apps have a place in your workflow. If you are needing an iOS sequencer to drive hardware gear, then modstep is your friend.
I agree
Now if Modatep could also do a Beathawk and provide an AUv3 to be hosted inside of AUM that would be wonderful....
Oh my.... Yes but I suspect the MS boys have their eyes set on world domination (soda --> audio tracks in MS). The world is their oyster of course but I do suspect they could get out in front of the AUv3 MIDI parade (with Bram of course) if they concentrated efforts there.
the sequencer for bm3 was goofy from the start and still is. wasn't designed for externals at all. originally you couldn't even stop midi output. now mute functions by sending note off messages which causes conflict, cancelling out of notes of different tracks outputting to one destination. it's a really odd way of implementing mute. modstep works really well sequencing apps hosted else where like audiobus or to hardware. looking forward to modstep 2
Yeah it's probably way off in the pipeline but might appear one day, now we have big screen AU. They say they plan to have a SODA AU track so a Modstep one would be very fitting too
Any news on this?
There is never news.
Bump, what happend with this ?
I am gonna say something not probably on the table.
Maybe he is letting everyone shoot their loads and watch all the issues of BM3, NS3, and every other app out in the last 12 months and do his app 100% correct.
Is that pie in the sky?
Lets face it Modstep lived up to the hype for me first time around.
Crazy that this is one of the few ipad apps I can find with tempo change. Looking forward to any update news.
It's also the only app that delivers the MIDI clips with IAA/AU instruments in a way everyone had hoped for in BM3.
yay, bring on a new version! I love modstep and have been ising it as my main sequencer in Playcycle since Modstep came out.
-ideally something that will easily, simply and with no stress at all accept our masterpieces and works of horror as imports into the new version/new app, as entire sets, complete and whole reproduced.
-ideally a midi export would accurately represent the modstep version. so, if you have a clip with only 4 active bars, only 4 bars are exported. and if that bar loops 7 times, it would be repeated seven times in the midi export. at present i have to rediet/rewrite exports in ableton for them to make sense.
- undo button
- better synth presets
- ability to save an entire set into a different ipad.
- aufx - compressor able to work within modstep
- ability to copy a scene directly below or nearby an existing scene.
- ability to share mappings for different controllers. eg a forum file area
V1 does respond to transport control events quite well here. No issues with external clocking, either. Updates the display without issues, as far as I can tell...
On that note, some of the other requests herein had also already been implemented in v1. I don't know about best-practice UX but I happen to find the interface rather intuitive. Seems that the manual could use a refresh for those that don't.
As for my requests, I'd like to see midi mappable clip/scene playback controls, and improved import/export.
@cblomert / modstep team - I'm happy to spend some time on the particulars (controls/project portability/docs) if you'd like some help.
Indeed. Such a no brainer... and yet.
I have been intrigued with ModStep for some time, but haven't pulled the trigger. I don't typically use any out board gear. While I realize that there is a learning curve, I am not too intimidated (I bit the bullet and became functional on BM3 a few months ago, if that experience is any comparison). Any thoughts on whether this is for me? It seems really powerful.
It will depend on the upcoming BM3 update and especially if the scene mode will get some love .
In the meantime, Modstep v1 is better for midi looping
I am using Modstep and Beatmaker as my two app setup. Modstep is where I'm recording the midi, song sections, sending to BM3.
There are some things each does the other doesn't that I need, or does better.
Modstep
-Easier workflow for triggering song parts verse, chorus, etc. remotely with midi CCs.
-Find the midi pattern recording easier/faster than BM3
-Modstep has separate tempo per part (again verse, chorus) that BM3 lacks.
-I use some external synths and, well, probably not fair for me to say this, but I tried to use BM3 to run them and they didn't work, Modstep worked right off. I didn't try and trouble shoot, but even if I did, it is super easy to set up in Modstep, takes more clicks in BM.
Beatmaker 3
-multivelocity layer samples. I use this for more realistic instruments, drums, etc. Modstep only has a simple sample player
-more and better internal effects. They use a lot less memory than your typical AU3s.
@Korakios and @Multicellular - Thanks for your responses. This is helpful. I'm inclined to pick this up when it updates.
I like the way the loop implementation is handled per the manual. BM3's is, as mentioned, a bit rudimentary for now.
Feels abandoned to me. Nearly one year since last update.
Awful customer support. Dev neither responds here or to direct emails.
Buggy app, with constant crashes ignored. Some users here swear by it and have no issues, but they’re the lucky ones.
Really wanted to love it, but with no communication or help from dev, I’d have to say this was a waste of money, for me personally.
Shame. Could have been great.
@SpookyZoo I never host any plugin inside Modstep. It keeps workflow stable
@Korakios said:
Same here, using modstep to sequence outboard hw only... Stable. Not tried any hosting.
EDIT: whoa, quoted an earlier comment by accident, resulting in the very opposite of what I was trying to convey.
I had some initial crashing, traced it all to hosted IAA apps. Haven't had a crash with hosted AU3s. And I also run a couple outboard synths and one non-hosted IAA - Beatmaker.
You are talking about Modstep or BM3...
Sorry, thought it was obvious with the thread being ‘Modstep 2’.
Hi. Any news?
Holds breath
It was my first thought but then read twice and feel myself confused
I just love using modstep to sequence soft and hardware synths.
cool, I have been going through listening to old tracks and really feeling the itch to use the Modstep sequencer to drive BM3. the clip speed adjustments and transpose are just so powerful. if i can just midi from modstep to bm3 ok enough and without setup headaches for initial sketching then yah... may be worth it. i will have to give it a shot this weekend.
Hey there was one trick to getting them to work together. Setup Modstep as you would expect, connecting notes out in the settings and then sending a channel out on the track.
But BM3, doesnt work quite as expected. Go to the bank midi tab and set it to All and the midi channel. Setting it to Modstep and the channel just didnt work for me. Still have 16 channels, so no significant problem, but I was scratching my head for a few minutes.