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 Store

Audiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.

SynthJacker

13468911

Comments

  • @coniferprod reports that a new SynthJacker update is coming soon! Can't wait to see the new features and test them for making great instruments in NS2, AudioLayer, Auria Pro and
    maybe even Roland ZenBeats (if it imports SFZ's like StageLight).

  • It’s that time of the year again: the SynthJacker September Equinox Half-Price Flash Sale is on. Get it on the App Store for 50% off through Monday, 23 September. (If your App Store doesn’t show the five-bucks-ish sale price yet, just wait a little, or refresh.) Snap it up, new version coming soon-ish. Have fun-ish!

  • Thanks for all the great work and special discount on this awesome app!😌☝️🙏❤️❤️

  • @coniferprod One idea I had recently was if Synthjacker had a queue or recording list. That is to say, let's say you have a bunch of presets/ AUs you want to sample; you create a queue of those and then Synthjacker goes through the list and samples one after the other.

    So, you create a queue and let it run overnight or whenever and when it's done, you have a bunch of sfz ready to go.

  • That would be truly awesome!!! 😌😳❤️❤️❤️❤️

    @auxmux said:
    @coniferprod One idea I had recently was if Synthjacker had a queue or recording list. That is to say, let's say you have a bunch of presets/ AUs you want to sample; you create a queue of those and then Synthjacker goes through the list and samples one after the other.

    So, you create a queue and let it run overnight or whenever and when it's done, you have a bunch of sfz ready to go.

  • SynthJacker produces a basic SFZ meta file for import into apps that support SFZ'es.

    Has anyone tried it with Auria Pro or StageLight/ZenBeats? It won't provide any metadata
    so I'm not what the benefit might be. I use the Note Naming settings to get AudioLayer to
    import a sample folder and assign Notes to Layers. You can also place layers in Folders and
    Import that way into the 3 layers supported by NS2's Obsidian.

    Hopefully more users gets a larger base of folks to help know how to use this auto-sampler to it's full range of use cases.

    In the next update there should be the capability to slice up your own audio files which might make it useful for the "other" Sampler type (i.e. Akai MPC like hardware/apps).

  • I’m still a total noob with sampling. I really wanna sample Groovebox synth but will try to figure it out 😌😇

  • I never looked into this App very deep because it seems too complex for what I do with iOS music (play music).

    I didn't know Synthjacker could host Audio Units.

    In a thread I started recently about hypothetical Apps for iOS. I described an App that I think would be Awesome. Someone on that thread did mention using Synthjacker as a means to create the functionality of what I described.

    Now that I've read this thread, I think Synthjacker looks like it could be the foundation for creating such an App.

    This is a description of the hypothetical App (The App)....

    • The App contains an automated sampling engine (like Synthjacker).

    • The App has the ability to host at least three AU-v3 Audio Unit instruments, and run each AU instrument thru at least one AU-v3 effect per instrument. The resulting layers of combined audio output can be mixed, and then sampled by the automated sampling engine ( mixed like in a limited version of AUM ).

    • The App contains its own integrated sample player, and can act as an instrument for playing the samples it creates ( Like Chameleon does ).

    • The App's sample player instrument, can be hosted as an AU-v3 in iOS Daws. So users can work with their custom samples for recording in their DAW.

    • To simplify sampling. The user can set up the sampling engine using a variety of "Presets" suitable for a variety of sampling needs.

    With such an App....

    • Musicians can develop their own sounds by layering synths and effects.

    • Sample the result by selecting a suitable sampling preset, and pushing a button.

    • Then play their sampled sound, all within the same App.

    • The integrated sample player will be AU-v3, so the samples can be played and recorded in DAW's.

    • If the AU-v3 specification forbids the inclusion of an integrated AU-v3 sample player within the same app that hosts AU-v3's. The AU-v3 sample player can be provided as a separate App that has access to the same Sample files as the main "Standalone" App.

  • @horsetrainer said:
    I didn't know Synthjacker could host Audio Units.

    SynthJacker version 1 could send out MIDI events to external hardware record and chop audio from the microphone or USB audio.

    SynthJacker was updated to allow you to pick an AUv3 app and it opens that app and sends it the MIDI events for a sequence of NOTES and VOLUMES and makes a recording (which can also be saved) and chops it up.

    So, it's NOT a full featured host of AUv3's.

    What you'd like would be a great app but probably take a few years to create. The SynthJacker developer has being learning IOS musical secrets "one bug at a time".
    Our enhancement requests have often shown him a feature of IOS he didn't know about yet.

    I keep cheering him on to keep adding enhancements and hopefully gain a few more users to fund the work. It's the only auto sampler App for IOS. A must have utility for me. A potential update might allow us to sample those IAA apps too. Many have asked for that to
    use AniMoog sounds in an AUv3 sampler or in NS2 for example. IK Multimedia's Syntronik product is made from auto-sampling classic hardware synths. Sometimes close enough is great rather than the alternative of a room full of classic hardware.

    There's also a lot of work still need on the sampler side of the workflow. The best SFZ based sampler still lives inside Auria Pro for example. It's based on the "Aria Engine" software and it "disk streams" large instruments like the huge Salamander Piano's and the 4GB "Piano in 162". AudioLayer won't import SFZ's. It's always something we'd like to see "improved" right?

    We'll never run out of suggestions for the developers.

  • @McD said:
    SynthJacker produces a basic SFZ meta file for import into apps that support SFZ'es.

    Has anyone tried it with Auria Pro or StageLight/ZenBeats? It won't provide any metadata
    so I'm not what the benefit might be. I use the Note Naming settings to get AudioLayer to
    import a sample folder and assign Notes to Layers. You can also place layers in Folders and
    Import that way into the 3 layers supported by NS2's Obsidian.

    Hopefully more users gets a larger base of folks to help know how to use this auto-sampler to it's full range of use cases.

    In the next update there should be the capability to slice up your own audio files which might make it useful for the "other" Sampler type (i.e. Akai MPC like hardware/apps).

    I successfully created three simple SFZ instruments for Stagelight using Synthjacker a few months back, but if I remember correctly the quality of the playback wasn't what I wanted it to be and I lost interest before seeing if it could be more successful. Anyway, the process itself did work. I assume it would still work in Zenbeats.

  • For now i wanna really dive in and learn how to create samples that will work with AudioLayer. I wonder why people don’t sample with effects. Say you really love the way a preset sounds inan app or synth, that’s perhaps cause all the effects make it sound awesome! So i wonder if inshould sample with effects.

  • @Tones4Christ said:
    For now i wanna really dive in and learn how to create samples that will work with AudioLayer. I wonder why people don’t sample with effects. Say you really love the way a preset sounds inan app or synth, that’s perhaps cause all the effects make it sound awesome! So i wonder if inshould sample with effects.

    AudioLayer has a built-in effects rack. @Virsyn has even released it as a stand alone effects strip called AudioEffx (I hope I recall correctly on the spelling).

    So, I think it's wise to record dry samples. You can never remove recorded effect but you can add more.

  • @wim said:
    I successfully created three simple SFZ instruments for Stagelight (should work in ZenBeats).

    Thanks. If Roland starts porting some of their Classic Synths into ZenBeats in the store it
    will be a... "game changer".

  • @Tones4Christ said:
    I wonder why people don’t sample with effects. Say you really love the way a preset sounds inan app or synth, that’s perhaps cause all the effects make it sound awesome! So i wonder if inshould sample with effects.

    It's completely up to you whether you sample a synth with effects or without. If the effects are an essential part of the sound (as is the case with many synth presets), then it probably won't sound as good without the effects anyway, and you may need to add them later.

    On the other hand, if you want to sample a raw waveform from a synth, and then use that as the basis for a completely new sound, sculpting it with a filter and maybe adding effects to your own taste, then it's best to sample it "dry".

    So it's really what you are after that determines what you do. Try both and experiment, use whatever sounds good to you!

  • wimwim
    edited September 2019

    @Tones4Christ said:
    I wonder why people don’t sample with effects. Say you really love the way a preset sounds inan app or synth, that’s perhaps cause all the effects make it sound awesome! So i wonder if inshould sample with effects.

    The way I think about it is: “What about this sound might I want to be able to tweak later?” An obvious example is delay. It’s time based, so, what sounds good at 60bpm might not work so well at 120bpm. Or, in some cases reverb. If you have a cavernous reverb on a patch, it might not sit so well with a mix that has a totally different reverberation. You can’t very well un-reverb it. On the other hand, a patch might have a reverb or delay that’s an integral part of the sound, and that you would probably want to leave alone anywhere you used it.

    I’m a bad one to ask though. I have a fear of commitment when it comes to sounds.

  • Thank you guys really appreciate the suggestions! This is such an incredible and awesome app because now you have the ability to sample your fav presets and save on cpu.❤️☝️🙏

  • @wim said:
    An obvious example is delay. It’s time based, so, what sounds good at 60bpm might not work so well at 120bpm.

    When you synthjack a sample you have to live with any variation in pitch, volumes, etc.
    I big "no-no" for me are solo instruments with heavy vibratos. AudioLayer pitch shifts the
    playback across a range of notes in most cases and the vibrato makes the instrument sound
    artificial. Ideally a vibrato should be something the play turns on at will with a MODo controller to allow for expressive playing or the vibrato start after a second of straight pitch.

    Putting delays in samples would also cause slight variations of the delay speed in a pitch shifted playback engine.

    My focus is on sounds that have pure recordings of live instruments.

    AudioLayer has a whole application use cases for sound designs to make sounds nothing else can deliver. Layering different wave forms that get mixed and produced over a range of velocity inputs.

  • @wim said:

    @Tones4Christ said:
    I wonder why people don’t sample with effects. Say you really love the way a preset sounds inan app or synth, that’s perhaps cause all the effects make it sound awesome! So i wonder if inshould sample with effects.

    The way I think about it is: “What about this sound might I want to be able to tweak later?” An obvious example is delay. It’s time based, so, what sounds good at 60bpm might not work so well at 120bpm. Or, in some cases reverb. If you have a cavernous reverb on a patch, it might not sit so well with a mix that has a totally different reverberation. You can’t very well un-reverb it. On the other hand, a patch might have a reverb or delay that’s an integral part of the sound, and that you would probably want to leave alone anywhere you used it.

    I’m a bad one to ask though. I have a fear of commitment when it comes to sounds.

    I watched a tutorial earlier today about how to sample a hardware synth in BM3.
    It's clearly a task for a very patient person who has plans for specific sounds.

    I can see why an App like SynthJacker would be a great help anyone who is very serious about their samples.

    It's too much for me though. I think a simpler app like Chameleon would be as much as I could comprehend.

    I think I'm of the same mindset as @Tones4Christ when it comes to sampling effects. If I'm tweaking three synth apps in AUM, and putting various effects on each, and then that moment comes where you got this one of a kind sound that you may not ever hear again, why not sample if it you could... I think the reason why some may what their samples "pure" it because it can be so much work to sample it.

    Maybe some day a simpler app like Chameleon will come along that will just let the use push a button and capture the AUM output as a "good enough" sample that can be easily named and saved in one's personal sample library of cool sounds.

    I'm just to much of a newbie to sampling at this stage in my iPad music journey.

  • I think i might just do that; record a sample with my effects just the way i love it, abd save it with a name “effected” and also a pure one so i can have both😳😌🤓

    But for now im just gonna dig deep on SynthJacker’s latest update mow available on the AppStore 🤪😇☝️

    Thank you Mr. Developer @coniferprod , left a 5-Star review for ya!❤️☝️❤️🎸🎹🎸🎷🥁

    @horsetrainer said:

    @wim said:

    @Tones4Christ said:
    I wonder why people don’t sample with effects. Say you really love the way a preset sounds inan app or synth, that’s perhaps cause all the effects make it sound awesome! So i wonder if inshould sample with effects.

    The way I think about it is: “What about this sound might I want to be able to tweak later?” An obvious example is delay. It’s time based, so, what sounds good at 60bpm might not work so well at 120bpm. Or, in some cases reverb. If you have a cavernous reverb on a patch, it might not sit so well with a mix that has a totally different reverberation. You can’t very well un-reverb it. On the other hand, a patch might have a reverb or delay that’s an integral part of the sound, and that you would probably want to leave alone anywhere you used it.

    I’m a bad one to ask though. I have a fear of commitment when it comes to sounds.

    I watched a tutorial earlier today about how to sample a hardware synth in BM3.
    It's clearly a task for a very patient person who has plans for specific sounds.

    I can see why an App like SynthJacker would be a great help anyone who is very serious about their samples.

    It's too much for me though. I think a simpler app like Chameleon would be as much as I could comprehend.

    I think I'm of the same mindset as @Tones4Christ when it comes to sampling effects. If I'm tweaking three synth apps in AUM, and putting various effects on each, and then that moment comes where you got this one of a kind sound that you may not ever hear again, why not sample if it you could... I think the reason why some may what their samples "pure" it because it can be so much work to sample it.

    Maybe some day a simpler app like Chameleon will come along that will just let the use push a button and capture the AUM output as a "good enough" sample that can be easily named and saved in one's personal sample library of cool sounds.

    I'm just to much of a newbie to sampling at this stage in my iPad music journey.

  • Nice update, @coniferprod:

    • Introducing BYOAF or "Bring Your Own Audio File": you can now use the SynthJacker slicing engine with audio files recorded outside the app. This will allow you to auto-sample Inter-App Audio apps, macOS desktop apps and Audio Unit extensions, or anything that responds to MIDI and outputs sound. Export a MIDI file of your sequence, record it in a DAW and bring it to the Files app. The details of the process are found in the SynthJacker user manual.

    • Supports iOS 13 and Dark Mode.

    • You can now completely hide the virtual piano keyboard in the instrument Audio Unit view, to be able to use any instrument controls at the very bottom of the screen.

    • The maximum note length time has been increased to 30 seconds.

    I've been hoping for the extra note length to avoid any requirement for "looping" of string sounds that ruin the "acoustic illusion" of a sampled instrument.

    Now let's seem how AudioLayer and NS2 work with the resulting folders of sampled notes.

  • Thanks guys, you’re all awesome! Beware that there is a little problem with the AUv3 view on iOS 13, so I need to make a point update.

    Also the user manual needs a small update, but I’ll just include a BYOAF quick guide here:

    • Create a sequence in SynthJacker as usual. Swipe left on the sequence list and tap "Generate MIDI". You will find a MIDI file of the sequence in the Files app, in SynthJacker / MIDI Files.
    • Import the MIDI file into your music app or DAW. Then play it back and record the results into an audio file.
    • Copy the audio file to the SynthJacker / Audio Files directory in the Files app, for example using iCloud Drive.
    • Switch to SynthJacker, select the sequence and select Imported Recording as the source.
    • Listen to the audio file using the Play button, and slice it into samples with the Record button. As with the other sources, you will find the new sample files in the SynthJacker directory.
  • Bug fix release v0.7.1 is on the App Store now. Here's the news:

    Fixes and enhancements for iOS 13 and iPadOS 13 since version 0.7.0:
    • Restored full-screen instrument Audio Unit view.
    • Fixed crash when playing back an imported recording.
    • Better Dark Mode support.

  • SynthJacker Winter Solstice Sale: approx. 25 % off until Sunday 22 Dec.

  • Amazing app to make instruments for AudioLayer and NS2.

  • @Tones4Christ said:
    Amazing app to make instruments for AudioLayer and NS2.

    It certainly is - I'm using it a lot, it's so useful for making Obsidian patches.

  • If i mostly make presets for AudioLayer, can those be used in NS2?

  • @Tones4Christ said:
    If i mostly make presets for AudioLayer, can those be used in NS2?

    If you grouped your layers by folders you can import 3 layers into NS2.
    There are instructions on the forum and in the NS2 forum describing the naming
    conventions and Synthjacker options to use for a 3 layer import.

    If you want I'll find them and copy them here. We can't have too many NS2
    instruments made by users.

    We should start a thread for making NS2 instruments and help more see the benefits
    of the Obsidian synth as a ROM-pler. PatchStorage has an NS2 section with some nice examples of this art.

  • edited January 2020

    I looked at SynthJacker device and iOS version stats for 2019, for the whole year and also Q4 only. There is a sharp tilt towards iOS 13 in the last quarter, so that now almost 70% of active users are on iOS 13. I'm thinking it's time to take full advantage of the new iOS 13 features, so the next version of SynthJacker will most likely require iOS 13. What are your thoughts?

  • @coniferprod said:
    I looked at SynthJacker device and iOS version stats for 2019, for the whole year and also Q4 only. There is a sharp tilt towards iOS 13 in the last quarter, so that now almost 70% of active users are on iOS 13. I'm thinking it's time to take full advantage of the new iOS 13 features, so the next version of SynthJacker will most likely require iOS 13. What are your thoughts?

    It is a good decision.

    iOS 13 is a good updates since is very stable and everything is working good.

  • Fine with me @coniferprod - if you think 70% of userbase is enough to keep covered - go for it .

Sign In or Register to comment.