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.
Missing essentials...
Ok I think I have most of the iOS "essentials"
What I know I am missing is...
Sunrizer
Gadget
Audulus 3
Poison
isem
I'm leaning towards gadget, even tho it's limited to its own walls in a way... But man it's so hard to decide and as soon as I buy gadget, I'll want to buy more iaps 😫
Comments
I’m curious why Audulus 3 is on the list. Not questioning the decision at all, but curious about the reasoning / assumptions behind it.
And yes, Gadget is an essential as well as a huge money trap. Poison, Sunrizer, and iSEM are much more incremental changes.
I have audulus on my MacBook and man is it powerful... By the far the best modular synth that's not a hardware.... It can pretty much create every synth that already exists on iOS, but... You gotta be good asf to build em haha and I'm not... Also you can create every effect known to man with it
Yeh, super nerdy fun. Not in the typical iOS user essential tool bag though, so I was curious.
The ladder filter is downright amazing. That one module alone makes it worthwhile in my book. If the AUv3 version of Audulus is ever released, I’ll use it a lot more.
ya I agree that maybe it isn't essential in a sense of the average user as it is kinda next level for iOS land.... But I do think as time goes on more things like it will be the norm... And it is playing a big role in shaping what ios music can become..
isem and sunrizer are a bit outdated sound quality wise
I couldn’t disagree more. Both of those synths sounded fantastic when they were released and they still sound fantastic now. Have our ears evolved that much in the few years since these apps were released? How are they outdated?
@reasOne I'm curious what your existing essentials are?
Gadget would give you the most immediacy (compared to Audulus) and lots of things to play with but probably the most expensive, you WILL want to get IAP's so the cost will rise, the default Gadgets are good, but I don't think any of them do anything special that cannot be done with regular synths, the thing with the gadgets is that they are tailored UI in each for certain types of sound, which is useful for speed, but if you already know what you are doing with a synth then they may seem a bit limited as rather than just reprogramming for a different type of sound you end up having to switch Gadgets.
It isn't as walled as it seems, you can load it and use it as a sound module and sequence from something else if you so wish, it has both Link and MIDI Clock sync, the import and export options are pretty good too.
Having said all of that, I haven't touched Gadget for a long while now, it does call me back from time to time, but I haven't used it in anger for a long time.
Poison is a great all rounder analog type synth with a nice low resource footprint, I personally prefer it to iSem. If you already have GrooveRider then that was originally based on the Poison synth engine, so you would already have access to what Poison can do.
Are you thinking just synths and sound sources ? Are you covered for Mixing/mastering ? ProQ is the most useful purchase I have made recently.
Only once you have used them all will you know whether you were missing them or not!
Which would be best suited to your needs/taste much depends upon where you want to go musically, which you don't say so no idea.
Have you not purchased the latest iEars human upgrade...
I can’t afford those. Not after I forked out for the latest iEyes upgrade.
https://i.etsystatic.com/9412425/d/il/2ce3fa/1465216147/il_340x270.1465216147_evbn.jpg?version=0
outdated in the sense of what an ios synth is capable of producing sonically since those two were released. plug into a loud set of speakers and play either of those synths back to back against Zeeon, model 15, Synth 1 and Layr. Sunrizer and ISem sound like slightly faded photocopies. i love both of those synths but i can hear a difference in beefyness ( for lack of a better word).
my essentials are AUM, AB3, and ApeMatrix routed into Cubasis as far as recording goes.
I use the aforementioned synths plus animoog (i still and always will love animoog) and use a combination of Blocs (for easy looping) and bm3 to get things going. i work in bm3, ab3, and AUM damn near ever single time i pick up my ipads. I reach for cubasis when i have something i like enough to bring it into ableton.
The Audio Damage, FAC, Kymatica, and Klevgrand effects cover most of the bases as far as effects go.
Oh! and i also use Syntronik as much as i can stand. something about the UI just grates on me. plus it crashes if you push it. Infinite possibilities with that one.
I want to like Audulus more than I do. Probably my own lack of wiring creativity, but I can never figure out anything to do with it when I open it. I just end up studying a few patches then closing it.
Haa..
There is a book called Machine Man by Max Barry.
Spoiler only for the first couple chapters. Engineer that works on advanced prosthetics accidentally loses a leg. Kicks his prototyping into an even higher gear, and starts to be annoyed by the limitations of his remaining "meat leg." He kinda gets addicted.
I think it was meant to be a horror book. But I was all cheering him on. I'm absolutely hoping to be a cyborg one day.
I can certainly see the appeal
haha I fear this would be how I used it 😂 I like the user created patches, there are a lot, but someday when close to death I may have time to invest in really building my own stuff
😂😂😂
I don't have iSem. I'm glad to hear that Poison (as mentioned by @AndyPlankton ) is a good stand in. I really don't want to buy more synths.
Where is your list? Hard to see what's missing when we don't see what you already have. And I agree, it might be nice to know more about what specific sound you're going for ... or are you like me and you like everything and could be considered an all-rounder or slightly fickle or more apps than brains?
Mine might be different than most I dunno...
Synth one
Synthmaster one
Moog 15/D
Samplr
Spacecraft
Layr
Tardigrain
Patterning 2
Groovebox
Sunvox
AB3
AUM
Xequence
loopy HD
Gestrument pro
Rozeta
@AndyPlankton
Ya I feel you on that....i feel like gadget could give me that "environment" I need to focus and stay within some boundaries and help me to actually finish tracks rather than just a bunch of noodles...
But also have the flexibility to use other synths with it in Ab3 and create outside the box as well ...
I'm pretty good good at sound design but I lack the time to really spend on that and I just wanna create and finish arrangements so thinking gadget could maybe that more doable
disagree x50
isem is still one of the best sounding ios synths...
Yes it is good for this, it just works, no messing, and if you have Korg Nano controllers they work well with it.
If you want to browse presets and tweak to taste gadget has quite a lot to offer.
Finalising an arrangement is something I prefer to do in Cubasis, one thing I don't like about Gadget is that there is no way of getting an overall visual of the track and arrangement, there is no zoom so you can only see a limited part of your overall arrangement at any one time.
BUT, you can build in Gadget, then when ready for finalising something, export the MIDI or Audio to Cubasis and finish in there.
After seeing your newer list, do you use sampled loops at all ? If so then blocs wave is a must have imho. Free app but the Audio Import and Slicer and EQ are IAP's. Awesome tool for messing with loops and making new loops from them.
Personally, I would add Animoog to that list.
I dunno about using this word "Essentials".
If ya'll talking essentials then grab 1 or 2 synths, a drum sequencer, either 2 joints from AB3, AUM or ApeMatrix, a midi-thingy like Rozetta or Xequence and 3-4 FX plugins.
...Or just get Gadget.
Saying that all of the other stuff is "essential" is a bit of a stretch, although I do understand it's subjective.
What do ya'll think
You’re correct in saying it’s subjective. Different people will have a different opinion on what their “essentials” are. The quantity of “essentials” is just as subjective. I’m sure some here could get by with one or two apps, whereas others (probably the vast majority) would prefer a few (hundred) more “essentials”.
Creating something useful with any modular system often requires a rather good understanding of synthesis and DSP. The way I approach it is that before I even open a modular environment, I'm doing a sketch of required modules in my head, and only when I think it could work, I'll open e.g. Audulus and scroll through the modules list, then place and connect them on the screen.
AUv3 is in the works and that will likely make Audulus the best choice out of the iOS modulars.
I think there is a common understanding of what the essentials are to a degree, it's more figurative than literal lol but it's not worth arguing over whether we agree or disagree on if it's really a thing or if it's an exact match from person To person lol
How can there be an essentials list without BeBot? I can only assume everyone already has it and assumes it’s a given so it’s not necessary to list.
haha never have never will own it but I deff know it's essential