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
Cool to hear this solution works for some. Thanks for the tip. I've just tried it again and I definitely get pops - probably from my audio interface reconnecting with it or something. Aside from that, I often program PC changes into the sequencer, so this solution still doesn't allow for changes mid-track. Also doesn't allow for seamless transitions between tunes.
Not complicated at all if you're using any pro midi controller or sequencer - which can easily send many program changes simultaneously.
The sequencer I'm using will send program changes to 48 different instruments - on 48 separate channels and can be sent at any given step in a sequence of up to 384 bars (as well as any other midi messages and midi fx).
Any midi keyboard worth its salt has pads that can be programmed to send PC and BC messages.
I think the 3 matrices in ApeMatrix will eventually be how I 'mix' 'songs' in iOS... This should allow you to load up complete setups of AU's and have presets selected prior to 'mixing' in the new section or whatever...
Has anyone pulled this off satisfactorily? If so, lets hear about it
I'll see if I can make it happen. The only problem is non-AU's like Patterning, but version 2 now has 'drumkit' changes within songs, so maybe I'll just put a whole damn set into one song so I don't have to change presets, only patterns.
Ya I am not sure how one would execute this during a song.
OOOHHHH I thought you wanted software that would somehow do this...
If there was some sort of software that could force program changes on synths that don't accept them, then yeah. but that seems unlikely...
I was just curious how people making music out in the real world, especially people performing with ios in their setup, managed to change presets with minimal fidgeting (app switching and menu diving).
See, I'm using AUM essentially as a multitimbral instrument. Connected to a sequencer and keyboard to quickly get to different synths on different midi channels. I'm hoping to make a setup that is efficient and versatile and without the need to load different projects, causing a gap between songs and, in my current setup, clicks and pops with my audio interface.
Ideally, I'd like to not have to mess with the ipad in performance (unless using it as a midi controller or some fun touch interface). any software controls are mapped to midi knobs and sliders and pads etc and I can call presets of each synth via the sequencer panel.
@palm yep ! That's my exact workflow...It's a bit of a nightmare to solve all this, but I'm almost done...Hope I'll have enough energy to make music at some point...
Really, it's exhausting, but I'm in an airplane driven by midi controllers and multiple iPads now...
Half a year passed and I am still searching forums for any improvement on this. I really wonder why developers ignore ability to change presets by, ideally, program change MIDI message.
Imagine you could send PC to multiple channels = multiple instruments would change presets at once and you can switch by single button between various presets combinations. For apps like AUM or Audiobus, if this is also applied to midi plugins, you could actually easily implement scene switching and even switch whole tracks without stopping the playback!
This would open so many possibilities for live use of iOS that I wonder people aren't screaming every day to get this implemented.
That said, I am a it skeptical about asking every developer to implement PC by their own. I believe it's AU host apps like AB3 or AUM that need to translate PC messages into AU preset change. This way we wouldn't care if a plug-in supports it or not, It would be enough to implement standard AU preset management (which currently nearly every AUv3 has).
You are aware that AB3 with the midi learn IAP does this, right?
Waaat? Yesterday I again spent some time fiddling with AB and MIDI, haven't noticed anything like that. Can you please point me to docs or video describing how it works?
https://youtu.be/5l1jcJCi6Ao
if you haven't directly written to the developers whose apps aren't supporting program changes, make sure you do that. Email sent to most developers has a much bigger impact than posts made here.
Thanks! I have found it in the meantime and tried it out, seems it is exactly what I wanted. Damn, I feel stupid now 😳
I actually spent whole yesterday evening researching this topic, also exploring this AB3 IAP and completely missed what I had right under my nose 😄
I believe this is true as I see that it's impossible to follow AB forums, but this is also why I ask (or rant :D ) here first. There's a chance users already found some viable workaround my problem or that I am just blind like in this case ;)
But of course, occasionally I send feedback if I feel it can be valuable for the developer and that's probably the best way also for them.
Digitakt could actually help you lots.......
Now I realized yet another thing I am missing and I am unable to find it anywhere in AB3 - user presets management for AUv3. I can only see and recall factory presets, which is pretty useless for controlling via MIDI.
There is some suspicious button on the top right, but that only "flashes" the screen like something is saved, but no option to name the preset or so. Tried with brambos apps and also with few others. Only Poison-202 showed user presets that were saved internally...
Did you try here?
Yes, this time I was not completely blind 😀
But there's definitely something different on my setup. As for standard instrument AUs (e.g. Ruismaker), I only had "Factory presets" label instead of "Presets", on that dropdown button. Also when I have tried to check MIDI AUs on iPhone right now (also Rozeta Scaler, which you probably used on the screenshot) and I see no such button there 😦 🤔
Any idea what could prevent it?
Also there is other difference with that "mysterious" button on top right - I have an "arrow down" inside the folder icon in it, instead of plus sign... When I tap it on the iPhone, I get "saved state for ruismaker", even if the currently active AU wasn't Ruismaker and not event routed to the Ruismaker... Weird...
Anyone knows what is the difference here or what am I doing wrong?
Attaching a screenshot: