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
FWIW, I have had the same experience with my faders and AB3 range that @OscarSouth describes above.
Same here as you know @Michael your system I think could be interesting for hardware calibration or things like that, but what is needed from live playing perpective is the other system.
Midi clock sync is wild. Now I can control my entire iOS music rig with my Octatrack.
For instance, if I set up the Octatrack with a recording trig on step 1 of a pattern, I can hit play on the Octatrack, and it’ll just record whatever apps are hosted in AB, automatically. Super duper cool.
Yes and it’s like having Midi Link Sync inside Audiobus3, that’s HUGE. Perfect for syncing AUM or Blocswave with GarageBand but with AB global transport apps sync!! Works really well here
New doors keep getting opened daily...
I've been doing some tests to see if I can separate out different variables. So far, it does seem to be related to just total volume, as you suggest. If I set up a single controller with a single light-weight AU synth (I used Poison 202), I get an acceptably small "drop" as I toggle between next/previous with different patches in the synth. It's probably acceptable for live use, but anything more complicated and it's diminishing returns. I've reached this conclusion: for "scenes" within a song to work, it's preferable to load in all of the stuff you need for a tune and then create scenes by assigning "mutes" and "unmutes" accordingly. The MIDI lane mutes are a real godsend on this front!
To fully make Prev/Next work as scenes, I suspect you'd have to "pre-cache" the prev and next presets to make the switch instantaneous with complex setups. I don't even know if this is technically possible, but I suspect that it wouldn't be worth it anyway because pre-caching or pre-loading the Prev/Next presets would affect the overall performance?
Yeah, have been wondering to ask Michael about this, when switching scenes/presets if all the apps were the same and only parameters were different does AB just change the parameters rather than reload all the AUs again, so like a composition change etc.? I’ve not actually experimented with this yet, just wondered.
This is where folders I hope come soon, since you might overshoot and load the wrong session by mistake so folders could help prevent wrong preset changes.
I'm constantly wanting to reach for this functionality -- another use is when I have a hardware button that only sends 0 or 127, but I want it to toggle a control (for example the feedback on a delay) from 0 to about 75% (ish). I'd normally do this by setting the range to 0-100, so that when the CC is at 127 it'll move the parameter about 75% of the total range. The presently described use case was possible with two separate bindings for press and release, but setting it with a range would be way simpler.
Fair enough! I certainly understand the utility of the other approach. I'll add that as well.
Yeah, that's how it works - it won't load anything new, just applies the changes, so it should be nice and quick.
@Michael, anyone testing.
Where does the load previous, next preset action show up ? I’m not seeing it under the preset menu. Does it just happen when you select a preset ?
It appears in MIDI Learn mode when you open the presets panel
I’m afraid to say, with Audiobus getting more advanced features, you might need to write a manual or make a few video tutorials to hit the nail on the head. My head is still mainly struggling with practical application of midi profiles but can imagine others will have other dark areas for themselves.
@Carnbot You’re talking about midi profiles or presets? I find the terminology very confusing. In current AB iteration the presets feel more like sessions which makes my brain ache at times
.
Sorry @Michael still can’t find it, any chance of a screenshot. Originally i thought it was to change AU instrument presets so was obviously looking in the wrong place. I still can’t see it under Audiobus presets ? All I can see is load preset?
Has anybody got BM3 and BeatHawk to play together properly?
BeatHawk seems to follow AB3 transport well, but BM3 starts much too late and at a completely wrong tempo.
You’re talking latest beta right?
Yes hopefully when it’s out mainstream someone will pick up the video cause and push some tutorials out for us midiots ! Preset change and program change obviously 2 different things!
I mean presets. But yes sessions is a more appropriate word I agree.
I'm currently using the 3.4 (101) that dropped overnight. Its added parameter adjustment range and fixed virtual midi output.
Yes, so do I. Air 2 on latest iOS.
OK something wierd happened and it reverted back to a old build I can see the previous next option now.
Everytime I download a new build its asking me to sign in to my iTunes account when I open the build is that normal?
Thanks @supadom for the help.
Not sure if ‘normal’ but I get that too. I’m definitely hoping it is not the Apple’s new normal
Anytime mate
Yeah that's cos of the way the in app purchase stuff works in TestFlight mode. Annoying but only an artefact of the TestFlight builds, not the App Store
Yeah I'll be doing that
OK cheers for the answer.
WOW! The pace you are adding new features and building out on AB functionality is phenomenal. Thank you! The MIDI features are more or less performance ready for me now.
I've also been keeping a text file of 'personal desires' for AB3. I don't want to say these are even feature requests but I'm sharing them in case it's interesting/useful to know the kind of things I'm wishing for while working with AB3.
It's pretty short currently:
Ability to ..
.. hide/show MIDI channels on the mixer screen
.. collapse/expand effect channels into their source channel on mixer screen
.. route audio internally (audio bus nodes!) -- MIDI control of this would be immense
.. offset (+/-) the MIDI sync output going to a destination (as in MIDI Link Sync App)
The MIDI sync offset would be particularly handy for MIDI work with hardware as I've never actually had a note repeat function on a hardware controller line up with a software MIDI clock send. It can work with 100% accuracy with MIDI Link Sync and it's MIDI Clock offset, but that's the only app I've ever managed to get a note repeat mode in time with.
Hope this comes across as helpful rather than demanding!
I'm pretty certain this is a BM3 bug. I get the same issue when trying to sync BM3 in other hosts too.
A quick addition to the request for offset (+/-) on the MIDI clock -- the clock is VERY good!! WOW!!
The note repeat here does drag a tiny bit behind the beat (which I guess is a result of the round trip latency from AB3 to device and back to AB3 to generate sound). It's only really noticeable with percussive sounds and microscopic nudge 'forward' in time would have everything lined up perfectly.
I'm also syncing Samplr and likewise I've never seen Samplr's synced tempo sit exactly on the desired value with no fluctuation whatsoever.
I have to say, I've actually never seen a MIDI clock work so well 'out of the box' -- my expectation for this feature fell very short of the quality that it actually delivered!