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.
New project
Hi all,
i just wanted to tell you that I've been inspired by this forum to dive into app development.
Having followed all drum sequencer related discussions on this forum and having played around with existing apps I decided to try to make one of my own. i really like DM1, but found it quite difficult to create dynamics in the tracks. With DD, I found myself constantly reverse engineering the sine waves into desired patterns. Stochastik is also great, but doesn't even want to start anymore on my 7.0.3 ipad..
In no way I am suggesting that my app will be any better than the existing ones, but at least I hope that it will accomodate my workflow better :-)
i'll keep track of progress on https://www.facebook.com/pages/Drumperfect/533719970036877, where I will also upload audio samples that are made with the early version of the app.
So far, I've spent a 150 hrs. Probably, I'll need around 750 hrs to finish the things I've in mind.. Which means less music creation, but I'm having lots of fun and am learning every day..
Thanks for the great discussions on this forum,
Marinus
Comments
Can't wait looks and sounds cool, I'm excited!
Cool sounds and great feature set ;-)
Can't wait for it !!
Sounds great..look foward to making a video for this...
Sounds excellent, but I have to inform you that if it stays iOS 7 only, I'm going to have to shoot you and drown your dog...
...maybe I'll go easy on the dog...
Interesting! Please keep us posted on developments! :-)
thanks guys for your positive words. I'll keep you posted on the facebook page.
@PaulB: lol! Maybe by the time the app is finished, you've upgraded already..
@thesoundtestroom: I am a huge fan of your videos, so yes, you'll be the first one to check it out if you like.
Looking good! Random suggestion: There are a ton of kits out there in Beatmaker and Nanostudio format. Hundreds and hundreds. They both use basically the same XML format. Please consider adding the ability to open/import that format so that we can all add an instant drum library to your app.
Very interested and excited about this app! I hope it is available soon... Any idea re pricing, yet?
@Marinus, will virtual midi and midi export be included features? Please say yes!!! :-). Would be great to stream in parts to DAWS via virtual midi and also past in midi part to other apps.
@syrupcore: thanks for the suggestion. Do you have any pointers to documentation on this format?
@dj8: the app does sync to midiclock at the moment. Midi in/out is on the list of future work.
Yes, very impressive work as you've definitely given the sample back some human/analog qualities. Is it a drummer or an iPad app? You could do a promo video by simply recording the responses of people's responses when you let them know it's an iPad app.
The snare rolls are the only bit that lets it down at the moment.
Thx @Paulinko
@PaulB: I agree on the rolls. Snare rolls need separate samples for left and right strokes, otherwise it will always sound like a (single-handed) machine.
I also hold the view that drum head vibration is like ripples in water, the second hit does not stop the vibrations of the first, they combine and coexist while they both damp naturally.
Actually, in linear dynamics the responses to individual strokes can be just added (superposition principle). So, you must have assumed non-linear behavior..
I think you're right in that ;-)
Anyway, I'll try the "different L/R samples" approach first.
@marinus Thanks for considering. Pretty basic XML format:
Here's the opening for a beatmaker file:
and repeats on and on for each pad until the close. Lots of examples here http://www.ibeatmaker.com/bmk/
NanoStudio's is very similar:
and repeats. You can download some examples from here: http://blipinteractive.co.uk/samples.php
In both cases, they are available as a folder with the xml file (BM2 calls it kit-name.bmk and NS calls it Package.trg) and all the related wav files.
I reckon almost every attribute in these XML files can be safely ignored by your app (though using any relevant attributes might be cool). The main benefit here is a portable package of drum sounds vs creating drum kits sound by sound via import or copy/paste.
@syrupcore what abt licensing and copyright and all that. What if later there are some pro sample packs that were purchased and should not be shared
Too many iffy issues .
Better option is to see if there is a stanrd spec for sample meta data and distribution and use that.
Maybe support sound fonts too !!
Can you copyright an XML file format? If I buy Joe's Awesome Drum Sample pack for Nanostudio, can Joe restrict me from using it in BeatMaker or Logic? I don't think so but I don't really know.
I agree about a global standard being preferable, I'd much rather everyone use something like sfz format but the two big iOS players don't currently.
@syrupcore: thanks for the info! Wouldn't be too difficult to support it seems.
Don't know about the legal stuff. Does there exist an open, free-to-use standard?
@PaulB: no perfect roll yet, but with 12 samples for the snare it becomes already quite expressive:
For this demo I loaded some (32) of the free jazzfunk samples by OrangeTreeSamples into DP.
Left and right strokes use a different set of samples. Recorded via Audiobus/Aufx:Space into AudioShare.
This is sounding very promising. Will you be supporting user configurable time signatures (not just a list of choices) and time sig changes within pattern sequences?
Thx. Time signature can be set for each pattern separately as x/y where x is the number of beats in the pattern and y is the beat note value. At the moment max x is 20 and max y is 64. Each beat has its own subdivision into max 16 subbeats. So, full control indeed :-)
Fantastic! Looking forward to this one!
Sounds excellent, although I'm more likely to need 23/8 than 20/64. Personally, in over 40 years of playing rock, pop and classical music, I have only ever seen one instance of a 32 beat value signature, never a 64. I doubt anyone will need more than 1, 2, 4, 8 and 16. On the other hand, regarding the number of beats in the pattern, anything from 1 (yes, I've seen it) to 31 could be useful.
@Flo26, @TCM: thanks!
@PaulB: thanks, no problem to increase max x. Min x is indeed 1.
By the way, BPM can also be set per pattern :-)
Yes, I heard your tempo change demo.
This app is going to be something special.
@synthandson: Thanks! Besides the resolution, each stroke in a pattern can be given a timeshift between +/-0.5 of the subbeat duration. This can be used e.g. to get a specific feel or swing.
Stop posting and get on with finishing the darned thing...
@PaulB: in the tempo change demo, BPM changes were dictated by a varying midiclock, continuously during one and the same pattern. I'm thinking of implementing tempo automation in song mode by recording tempo changes by the user, which would be great for ritenuto's and such.
@PaulB: did only see your last message after my previous one.. lol