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.
What are Devs hiding under all that gratuitous reverb?
Am I alone in thinking most stock synth presets are drowning in reverb? I mean, a little goes a long way guys... My workflow usually goes: loads cool looking new synth, loads preset, has flashbacks of being trapped in a church or cavern, questions mortality, rapidly searches for the reverb fader, turns it down, way down, never turns it back up... returns to a pleasant state of mind. Until I get bored, then turns up distortion.
Comments
Same thing on hardware. Sometimes effects are a part of the sound.
You are right, the stock presets in ios are usually drenched in verb or delay. Part of the issue is that people making the presets may be sitting there listening to just the synth, and trying to make it sound good, so what they get is something that sounds impressive on its own, but you start combining several of these huge verbed out synths together, and it starts to sound like shit. There's no room left for anything else.
One nice exception is DRC, it has many dry sounds that sound good with other instruments.
Ever see those Woody Woodpecker cartoons where they remove the veil from the pretty girl’s face?
I'm sure you are aware: the post was an attempt at being humorous :0 I was just noticing that was the first thing I did when browsing, kill the verb... Not the vibe though, bro -
Using a bunch of different reverbs on everything in the mix is my secret sauce!
Yep. Where to turn off the reverb and delay is usually one of the first things I learn. Of course, Im often usually running the whole mix into a bit of delay if all in the iPad and into an amp in a room if not.
Indeed. But i have no problem with lots of reverb, since i like to use it. The problem is most reverbs in iOS synths sounds mediocre. Only TF8 and some Garage Band synths are good here.
I also like the reverb in Sunrizer with the character of the synth which is the same algo as in Zeeon but in Zeeon i don‘t like it really.
Then i would prefer great FX like in Model D. The bender and delay together are really good.
Maybe Synth One could be good here soon.
I think the heavy effects give a good first impression when people are making buying decisions. Also when listening to sounds by themselves rather than part of a whole song.
Agreed. (Sadly).
high amounts of reverb, chorus, delay cover the flaws of the synth engine...
The FX in Synthmaster One (not to be confused with Synth One) are pretty good IMO. However, I do admit the first thing I do on most parches is dial way back the reverb before I even tweak anything else in the patch. I think the SM1 reverb sounds good compared to the built-in reverbs on a lot of iOS synths, but man those patch designers really crank it up, knobs pegged to the wall.
Detuning can be quite overdone as well, but yeah I agree about the reverb.
This has always been the case, going back decades, long before iOS ever existed.
The first synths that I ever tried and experienced were wonderful, fat and glorious analog synths in the early 80s. Those didn't have any effects built into them. They sounded great with nothing on them.
Then in the mid 80s we started to see a few synths coming out that had built in effects, like the M1, and many of those sounds were drenched in reverb and effects, and I remember saying at the time to my friend, that I preferred testing out synths by first disabling the misleading effects, so that we could hear the original, dry, un-hyped sounds.
It's like taking a female home that looked ok when you were drunk the night before, but when they wake up in the morning, their makeup is gone, youre no longer drunk, and they're basically hideous looking.
Or a cis woman taking home a man, or lesbian taking home a woman, or a gender neutral cheerleader taking home a hockey team, or frank zappa playing golf with Alice Cooper, or a...
I have been told by my female friends I need to call out sexist comments, this is a gentle call out, I know that was meant to be a light hearted remark, and borderline on the sexist ness.. but... but... anyhow, I tried
- I liked the rest of your comment.
*Edit - its so effing hard to not offend anyone these days, I have been called out for really minor things, so hopefully you don't think I'm a dick. Ironically I've heard from someone that this forum has been a bit, well, offensive at times. I haven't seen that yet but a female might, hell I could be a female who doesn't fit western beauty standards for all you know. Anyhow, hopefully there are SOME females on this forum!
I had a Jupiter 6 for a while, and that was nofx if I remember right - we used to set that thing on the slowest lfo settings and let it run all weekend while we did other stuff. It would get into this insane little pockets that were so rad.