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
@JohnnyGoodyear Ello mate, well I enjoyed that mate. It was dark for sure, nice sparse production with excellent use of delay on the vocals. I enjoyed your vocal performance aswell, nice and dynamic with that gravelly tone in places. Good stuff man
@LostBoy85 when this popped up in my SoundCloud stream the other day I had a listen and left a cheeky comment, something along the lines of this being on the soundtrack to An Officer and a Gentleman - I can just picture you and Shevaun belting out Up Where You Belong on karaoke while gazing into each other's eyes....
Anyway there's no denying the song comes with a strong dose of schmaltz, but I knew what I was letting myself in for before clicking play, just from looking at the picture you chose as a cover!
Full marks for the call and response in the intro: your "oooh" followed by the higher pitched one from Shevaun - that's an inspired bit of music that's really well done. Vocals are excellent, Shevaun has a really lovely voice, and the vocal melodies are really good - possibly your best yet in fact. The bell-like synth/electric piano line that you use as a recurring hook is also very good - your composition skills are really coming along, if you wrote all the music in this track then you're doing a great job.
The arrangement also works really well - it's a well crafted power-ballad, and as I mentioned to Jocphone last month I happen to have a soft spot for duets anyway (I have a playlist devoted to them, everything from Lee Hazlewood/Nancy Sinatra to Kenny Rogers/Dolly Parton and my all time favourite Connor Oberst/Gillian Welch), and I love the format. It's well written song with an excellent and memorable vocal melody, and the fact that it's a duet just makes it even better.
Hate it?....... More like Frigging Love it. Brilliant everything mate. It's refreshing someone has made a track like this. It bought back memories when I was a nipper(Slow dancing in the clubs). Great stuff indeed.
@JohnnyGoodyear This was a dark walk you took me on, and the combination of the cut-up video footage and the raw-sounding vocal delivery combine to make a fairly disturbing whole. Some of the higher pitched vocals waver out of of tune, which I think is the first time I've heard you sing off-pitch, so either it's deliberate (and it does add to the intensity) or you're stretching your range, either way it kinda works (although as you often say yourself the performance might benefit from being practiced another hundred times or so).
The song feels a bit like an open wound, it's very intense, I was thinking towards the end that it could maybe have a little emotional contrast, some light among the shade, maybe if the singing at the end was a little sweeter to temper the raw singing of the intro (but then maybe that would completely interfere with the meaning of the song).
I see you've also joined the early submissions gang, who's going to be left to hold up the rear if all the stragglers start posting early?
@Marcel This one is pretty uptempo for you, I really like the jangly guitar and it's a really nice chord progression. The intro completely hooked me in, great groove and feel on the drums.
The vocal is pretty simple, but it's engaging and flows nicely with the track without feeling dull - maybe the words could be fleshed out a little more but it works as it is. And then the layers of lead guitar just top it off, it's a great track.
@Bluepunk Interesting. Reminds me a little of The Streets.
@rickwaugh Great video quality and guitar playing. Enjoyed it.
@JohnnyGoodyear Nice track. A little dark and melancholy. Reminds me of Muse and Radiohead, which are 2 of my favorite bands.
Wonderfully tortured vocals on this, and the piano suits it perfectly......I think this is the most energetic I have heard you sound. Great stuff
I think the Big Secret (that you and I both know) is that sometimes you end up so far behind you're out in front again
Won't last.
As regards the quavery singing, you're absolutely right about the '100 times' reference. This was the one and only take. I just felt it nailed what I was thinking/feeling. To be honest, after I played it back it felt a little bit like a multiple-personality thing who IS that guy? and I just left it exactly as is. For all of that I am trying/aiming to let go more. I seem to want that in other people and realized it was the log in my own eye that needed dealing with...
Would/could/should I go back? Probably, but I got what I wanted/hoped for at this point. Agree entirely about the end. When it goes on the album I will be telling the producer we need this century's version of the 'You Can't Always Get What You Want' ending (whatever that might be).
nicely done! very solid, musically, it sounds great. I think the vocals could benefit from being brought to the forefront a bit more, and maybe a simple verse, or bridge added to break it up between the "I don't know" sections would add a little more interest. Overall though, it's a very nice mix and easy on the ears.
this had some cool moments, I like the vocals, but the music was a little too much "everything all the time" for my taste. I think it would be more interesting if you brought parts in and out more in different combinations and added some more dynamic changes. That said, I do think I was able to hear everything that was there - the hard panning helped, so kudos on the mix.
I like the guitar on this. TBH, I usually prefer stuff with vocals, but this had enough interesting changes in it to keep it interesting. The groove is excellent, and the mix is spot on too. well done.
Wow! Thanks so much Richard for this really positive, encouraging review.
Yes I did all of the music, I used Korg IM1 for everything you hear. So thanks for the props for that.
Your musicianship and songwriting skills have really come along since you first started then, because that is a really well crafted song with lots of great musical elements that you’ve created. Great job.
Hello mate! Great to hear some music from you again. It’s a lovely moody piece as is your trademark. Congrats on great track! God can you believe it’s been nearly two years since we wrote Kingdom Come??? Crazy how time flies. Anyway, hope you’re well buddy. Take care
Hello mate, there’s a lot of cool sounds and effects that you are using there. Very 80’s which I LOVE! The mix was ace to my ears, so congrats on that.
A bit over indulgent due to hearing just coming back..but hey.
If it is your HAPPY BIRTHDAY or someone's you know (or the monthly birthday celebration party at your workplace), here is a special way to celebrate it...
Just pull out your smartphone or tablet and point it to:
Connect your device to a speaker.
Have others sing in chorus (and maybe dance to the drums).
The above is an extended version (2-minutes).
Here is the short form (1 minute) - if you cannot wait to eat the Cake!
:
The above are Screen Recording videos showing how various tracks in the song are laid out in GarageBand sequencer along with other short video clips, graphics with birthday messages, animations, animated text greetings, etc - which you can also display to the newborn at the birthday party
Audio songs:
Enjoy and have fun
PS: Created purely in GarageBand on iOS and nothing else was used (not even an external MIDI keyboard). These songs have accurate notes, chords, arpeggios, BPM (85), etc. Background music (bassline, drums, Hollywood strings, FX, etc) are my own ideas to give it a unique rhythm. The videos have detailed song and track info at their end.
Flagged.
It's all downhill from here this month... no offense, mates.
@rickwaugh I always dig your stuff but this is my favorite by a fair piece. First, the playing is very, very good. As a once and future guitar player, I have a deep appreciation for the craft you've shown here--the composition is compelling and the playing is top notch. The video approach amplifies the experience--a man and his guitar and a camera. Keep it simple, there's power there. From a technical perspective, you say that the video shot was shot with an iPhone 8 but how did you switch angles in mid-song? Extra points for the excellent drawing.
@richardyot you trying to make us look bad? Seriously, you're working on March's tune already? Well, I applaud your giddy up and go, sir!
Another good tune here and this one showcases your vocal. I think the chorus is about the best I've heard from you as a singer--the melody works and your voice has a nice timbre in that range. Elsewhere, the electric piano is lovely, and the bass guitar stood out to me, both in tone and in performance. Not so sure about the synthesizer in the back half. It's a welcome change in the arrangement but I'm just not sure about that sound. Probably just me, but the sound clashed slightly with the rest of the arrangement. Small potatoes. Good stuff.
Here my contribution
@trackedout that's a seriously unusual arrangement, with the two dueling guitars panned left and right, I don't think I've ever heard anything quite like it, it was quite jarring on the first listen but I like the idea.
The guitars don't quite mesh together, which creates quite a bit of tension, especially at the start of the song, and it takes a while to get into the sound. Then as one guitar drops out, the song gets to breathe a bit and has some ebb and flow, before the second guitar comes in again. Some of the guitar parts a pretty dissonant too, which really adds to the tension - overall it's a pretty cool idea.
Vocals are great, love the laid-back delivery.
@gburks A pretty interesting instrumental, with lots of different sounds, lots of musical parts and some really nice melodies. The guitar blends in really nicely with the synth sounds, and feels like it belongs with the whole.
The bass line pulses along nicely, driving the track (along with the drums) and allows the rest of the instruments to float around it. The lead sound that comes in at around 2 minutes 40 is delicious, and could have gone on for longer in my book.
The track has a good progression, and was an enjoyable listen.
Very interesting song. I can’t juge the technical aspects because it is much better than anything I can produce but I really enjoy what I am hearing here and the hard panning is working perfectly
Don’t worry Luke, we can stragglers together. There’ll be others like us who can’t afford a polished apple for the gaffer. And while they all sleep, hopefully this technicals question will enter their dreams.
Keep it in the family. I’m off to the allotment to plant a seed today. Cowell (BGT) turned Mum down. It was my fault. The ‘Novocained Jerusalem’ duet was deemed ‘not family entertainment’ and that’s cool. Must try again. I’m teaching (properly) the daughter to hit drums harder (need not have bothered) than Bloke1 in this vid does, while I learn to play bass, (properly) sing, (angrier) and play covers like Bloke2 (?). Live is later Jools but before the fertile earth is gently patted down and new growth emerges (before I spend too much money) in the form of the shrub: ‘Blue Blood,’ do you fine folk in the know think a cheap bass (car boot cheap) and a screen full of amp sims/pedals used only with Guitarism before, can get anywhere close to the sound Bloke2 achieves stamping on his scaffold planks worth of pedals please? I mean, how much does it cost to to have the power to pulverise souls into dust with that vacuum bass drop thing Bloke2 does at the end. Strewth.
Will one of you nutters move to the land of tears please so ‘Limited Drooling’ can be conceived. That particular project is a tad too old, wrinkly and heavy for the young woman to lift. We tried.
Thanks.
@Bluepunk I reckon you probably can achieve that sound with a cheap bass and something like BIAS FX. The thing that really struck me is how he manages to make single notes on the bass sound as full as chords on the guitar, I'm guessing it's just down to having the right distortion and possibly some kind of harmoniser pedal working alongside it.
He's a very good bassist and singer though, so it's going to take some practice to emulate that kind of performance - you might have to give up watching footie on saturday afternoon to get those hours in
Thanks Richard. Well the season is done and dusted now so Saturday afternoon is bass time. I’m so glad you picked that up because that is exactly why I thought it easier to learn four, instead of six strings....It sounds like a rhythm guitar chugging away. I could google his workflow but it would be information/cost overload.
I think it was Dave Grohl who said play the high strings like your snare/hats, and the low as the bass drum. He probably didn’t but it’ll do. Thank you again.
I've had a bit more time to think about it, and I think with a bass you might be able to get a sound approaching that with a multi-harmonizer pedal, something like the Eventide Harmonizer that can create two new additional pitches. As well as the original pitch you would generate another note an octave higher, and then another than was a fifth above that - that would give you the equivalent of a guitar playing powerchords along with the bass. Add some distortion on top and you've got a big sound coming from a single note.
You should be able to do something similar in BIAS FX or Tonestack, it just depends if the harmonizer pedal emulations are good enough, last time I tested (quite a while ago now) the Tonestack harmonizer was much better than the BIAS one, but the distortion was better in BIAS.
That is genius Richard, thank you. I understand what you’re getting at and it makes sense. I’ve been twiddling with The Big Pig stomp plucking the E string in Guitarism but now I have something concrete to start the journey with. Cheers for your time. Appreciated.