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
AudioShare and Groove Rider might be the most minimal set up and a very powerful one too.
I agree with MrSmileZ, BM3 is great if you learn from the manual itself. Trying to learn from tutorials etc will take forever but the manual is very well laid out, particularly for an IOS app (some of which don't even have a manual.)
For example, before I got into the manual I COULD not figure out how to timestretch a loop to fit the BPM. Within 20 minutes of downloading the manual I knew how to do that and several other nice techniques.
Yooo for real tho.seems like the developers of AudioLayer have gone missing after they promised some features
One thing to consider @MarkySo if you liked BM2, which to me is still superior to most other DAWs for sample based work, you had to have grappled with the learning curve and oddities of that workflow and GUI (to get to a place where you dig it). BM3 is next level above the formidable BM2, but again there is a learning curve and a few apparent oddities to temporarily contend with before you dig it...
Will try later today
But I've noticed that when any kind of quantise/time-correct is on the pads 'double trigger'. Ie. first the 'live' trigger and after that the 'quantised' trigger. ARGHHHHHH!
All in all BM3 is probably the tool best suited for getting the job done, alone for the fact that its sampler is the most powerful.
The biggest trade-off, for me anyway, and I guess for you too, is the pattern based approach, i.e. not being able to control a bank with discrete midi tracks. I’ve gotten used to it and developed my workarounds, but I still hate it.
The second biggest trade-off imo is that BM3 is in serious need of polish. So many bugs, so many half-baked features, so many convoluted workflows (some are excellent, though!), it’s getting frustrating at times. But this can be said about the other apps too (I haven’t tried NS2 though, no audio tracks is a show stopper for me).
@Samu @Retronyms yes exactly the same issue. Thats what I was trying to explain Its really not good enough for an app carrying the Akai MPC name ,
Part of the 'dilemma' here is that if BPM is on the slow side (<75BPM) playing the triggered sound after it is quantised to 1/8th as an example will make the pads feel 'laggy'. On the other hand if both sounds (ie. triggered & quantised) are played it will feel and sound like double-triggering.
When for example trigger-quantise/note-repeat is enabled in BM3 it only plays the sound after quantise.
Some felt it was 'laggy' but once they understood how it worked it became quite obvious...
When only playing the quantised/time-corrected hits it will make anyone feel like a groove-master since ever hit is swung and quantised before being played back. No 'off da beat' hits to speak of.
So iMPC Pro 2's 'time correct' needs a bit of logic behind it. If time correct is not enabled play the live-trigger, when 'time correct' is enabled play the sound after adjustment...
There are no doubt issues with the app (as there are with most apps when starting to dig deeper).
@samu @Retronyms true to all the above - thing is it works fine in impc pro v1 and even the original impc first one - they have 100% messed this up Also they took away the locate cursors at the top right in transport so can no longer step through a sequence - not cool
@MarkySo I get what you mean with preferring the BM2 sequencer over BM3. @whiteout ‘s feedback is super interesting on this point.
I feel like the thread has gone over lots of important consideration, I’m honestly not sure what the most promising direction is at this point.
One question that might be helpful: what specifically is missing from BM2 for your needs? Does it sound appealing to use BM2 (which you already know well) together with something else to patch up what’s missing?
As far as intuitive, powerful, and fast to navigate UI goes for recent linear sequencers, I’m pretty sure nothing comes close to NS2. It’s not just super intuitive to learn. It’s in a place where the touch screen feels like an amazing asset rather than a drawback. (Maybe it’s just me but iOS daws tend to make me miss mouse and keyboard. Not NS2.) For synth heavy tracks, it’s already in a great place imo.
The biggest issues atm have to do with the features it doesn’t yet have. Not sure what the plan is for things like time stretching samples. But full audio tracks (eta 6 months) should go a very long way towards shoring up its biggest weaknesses as of now.
Still, I do wonder whether you might already find a sweet spot with NS2 if you supplement it with BM2 for your sampling workflow until NS2’s audio track + sampling features expand. @Samu Assuming no prior familiarity with cubasis (different from your case) and high familiarity with BM2 (like @MarkySo), does this kind of hybrid approach (until NS2’s feature set expands) sound worth it? Or would you recommend cubasis for @MarkySo ?
@Samu @Retronyms these issues make it totally unusable in a live performance as you have to STOP the sequence then adjust the swing etc so basically the audience would have to hear the groove without swing till the performer adjusts swing
You should have Samplr in your arsenal.
Also consider hardware like the Digitakt or Mpc & Roland SP series (303/404). All great for hip hop beats.
Edit:
Here’s a Digitakt beat:
@stormbeats this bug should be resolved in the update and was something we sorted in the iPhone version first. Build is in testing currently. -Niki
Ive had my MPC in combo with my Akai S950 since 1997 check my profile pic Had the @mireko_2 sp404 Great sound but that sequencing is pre historic Each to their own though - i got the Akai MPC Black too The software is overboard for me Then discovered iOS only last year and it blew my mind Bm3 is the one app that really does all I need - Powerhouse - :-)
I guess you're right man but I don't want to spend so much time learning instead of creating. It's frustrating but I guess it might be my best choice.
Oh I see, BM3 can be used that way but it's still frustrating to use imo.
Wow, you put Bm3 up there that highly? Though I would like to get into making some synth heavy stuff and could use some more synths so maybe I'll get Nanostudio 2.
Thanks for you analysis man!
I appreciate it though it's sad to know Akai still has not got it's act together with impc 2. I'm also really thinking about NS2 and Stagelight.
I own Imaschine and Gadget but consider them more like toys, not that that's a bad thing but I just can't get any serious music production done in them. However you can get some good ideals going with them and gadget especially has a lot of cool sounds.
I was also looking at beathawk recently too but the work flow is not for me lol. I need something with real chopping like the bm3 sampler. To have to copy the sound to each pad and individually edit each would suck lol.
Great point man, guess I just have to take some time to learn it and will get right on it when the Ipad screen gets fixed soon.
Oh Blood pressure, duh lol. Also wow, 150? You're lucky man.
For sampling I would need the ability to chop and also pitch and time stretch. Can I do that in cubasis? Cubasis has some great features but it seems more and more like I will have to get nano studio 2 instead as it would be a better fit for what I do.
Thanks a lot for sharing your insight and perspective man, I really appreciate it.
Wow, actually never heard of this before you mentioned it but I will google it and check out the sampler in it.
Thanks a lot. The UI looks very interesting and unique from what I have seen so far.
I will have to check out Groove Rider, this is another one I never heard of so thanks for mentioning it.
I agree man, they shouldn't force you into the pattern based workflow imo and it should be an optional thing for the app imo. Also I agree with you on half backed workflows and things that are convoluted. It makes things annoying and not as intuitive as the app could be so to speak, it's cumbersome.
They got work to do because it can be even better but I see why many of you love it and it's because of the sampler lol.
Interesting I might get NS2 and try that out where I pretty much sample in BM2/BM3 and use NS2 for it's sequencer and synth.
One thing missing from BM2 imo is actual synthesis. Also the sampler from what I see is not as good as BM3 but other then that it's still golden in a lot of ways.
If I were starting fresh, I’d probably start with Stagelight ...and Nanostudio 2.. Cubasis 2 is great for what it is and was my goto daw when I got into iOS production, but it has been surpassed in nearly every area since then.
I actually enjoy using quite a handful of different daws, picking the best tool for any particular job. Recently picked up Audio Evolution to use just as an audio editor, which works great. I’m starting to feel like everything is coming together, not missing my PC tools anywhere near as much anymore.
I think in this case NS2 isn't good choice for you... Curretnly there is not chopping/slicing functionality, no timestretch. Most important if you're into MPC-like workflow and you want things like FX per pad, ability to play pad chromatically - this is not possible in NS2 and even not planned as future feature for now - pad sampler is NS2 more like lightweight version of Native Instruments Battery drum sampler, than MPC-like sampling workstation ..
There is no better choice than BM3 for this kind of workflow, it was designed from the ground for this, lot things there are inspired by MPC or NI Maschine. Actually if you ever used NI iMaschine 2 on iPad, you will feel familiar in BM3.
Yes, this seems legit. If you look at BM2/BM3 just like on external HW sampler, feeded by MIDI from NS2, then this method show work pretty well. In area of midi sequencing capability Nanostudio really shines with it's super intuitive and fluid workflow.
Regarding me, i would prefer in this case BM2, for me it looks more straightforward, easy to use, with almost no learning curve - but i may be biased because i did lot of full tracks with BM2 :-)
Btw - NS2 is of course capable also sampling - Obsidian is not just synth, each of it's 3 oscillators can work as sampler with up to 24 zones, capable of playing up to 32bit/96khz samples (and you can automate in sequencer things like sample start, loop start, loop length).
But as i said - no MPC-like workflow, this more like traditional sampler approach.
Was gonna name-drop a few other options (iMPC, Beathawk, iMaschine, Gadget, etc.) but people already mentioned it before. But adding other one: Caustic
Gotta admit I didn't read the why's in this discussion, but i'll read later to give a more informative (I hope) feedback
Caustic filters are just not good....and it’s a closed (no auv3) party, so it’s a no go if you filter audio a lot.
BM3 is undoubtedly powerful but the interface can be very confusing.
I think this is partly because of the dark UI scheme where everything is the same shade of very dark and there is no apparent layer structure to show you where you are in the interface hierarchy. Panels leave ‘X’ close buttons all over the place and it’s sometimes hard to know where to find parts of the interface. There are too many panels and it isn’t always obvious which tab/panel houses what.
If the panels were differentiated better (a different shade perhaps?) you could see where you were more easily. Often the panels hide essential parts of the UI (for example the track helper button) and it can take a minute to realise it’s ‘beneath’ a panel.
Also, the pads get in the way when they’re not needed. The UI could be significantly simplified for using keyboard based auv3s for example. The BM3 method for inserting an AUv3 instrument is a little bit too convuluted. You shouldn’t have to skip around the pad UI unless you want pads specifically.
The scenes mode is also half baked. There’s no easy way of recording a scene mode jam into the song mode timeline which kind of makes it pointless. The benefit of scenes is being able to jam an arrangement. Not being able to save your arrangement for further tweaking is disappointing.
However, it is very good as it’s core features. The sample slicing and pad based UI are great if that’s what you want. I just feel they tried to make BM3 too many things for too many people and it doesn’t fit all those different styles as well as the MpC based workflow.
It seems to me that BM3 is well suited to a sample based workflow but not quite so well suited to a more traditional linear style DAw with Au instruments.
Not good? They are quite okay.. just use a multimode filter as an insert effect.. that way you can filter all the way to mute the sound
I think Caustic is well suited for sample based hiphop production:
etc.
Its not as good as you are making it sound. Filters suck period. Even the dev knows the filters are wrong. Beatmaker3 is a far superior hiphop production app. This isn’t even a close thing, so people need to step off the soapboxes of bs and keep it moving. Recommending Caustic for hiphop is bad advice. I can name several apps that would be much better suited for the task. Caustic 3 is very good for android phones and tablets, its aight for ios.
I have toy keyboards that have better filters in them!
Too bad you don’t like it. I really like the app, I even like the filters. You don’t need much to make samplebased hiphop... Ease of use and stability are the things I apreciate the most...
A talented producer could use any of the apps mentioned. Caustic has a lot going for it. Just because one person doesn’t like it shouldn’t deter anyone from investigating it. For $10 it is probably dollar-for-dollar the most fully-featured iOS music app (IMHO) as you have implied @SlowwFloww
Buy it! Use it! Filters still suck!
I mean what do you hope for here?
I don’t have a heart to change
Old guy alert: beatmaking started with two turntables and no mixer. Any of these will work. Use whichever one most inspires you to actually produce music.
Totally agreed