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.
Best Apps to use with Cubasis?
Given the recent addition of Cubasis with it's midi capability I've been thinking of what Apps would compliment it's feature set and possibly cover cover up some of its current deficiencies?
The ideal for me would seem to be a sampling drum machines where the sounds are playable by midi so that you don't need midi clock but can make up for Cubasis lack of ability to load your own samples. Also if you can play samples of synths it'll save a lot of memory on backing tracks.
My initial thought was that Molten would be great as it has a bit of synthesis, some effects, and can handle user samples. Unfortunately however I can't get it to react to midi from Cubasis....if anyone else has I'd like to know! The other downside is because each sample reacts to a single midi note and you can't play a melody on a tuned sample.
Bizarrely Beatmaker 2 has all the sampling and synth requirements but seems like a bit complex and CPU intensive solution, just to use as a sound module, and of course it doesn't have AB support to make mix down easy.
Live FX and various guitar fx Apps look like good options to add to Cubasis limited effects pallet. Currently a good EQ would be handy as well, though you'll need to commit to the setting as each take gets recorded
I'd be interested in anyone else's thoughts. In particular an alternative sampler/drum sampler solution or fix for Molten would be great?
Any suggestions?
Comments
Remaster, LiveFX, Audulus in effects position, Sunrizer, Animoog, ALL OF THE OTHER SYNTHS, SoundPrism Pro (in combination with another synth), DM-1/ Funkbox / Molten / MoDrum
Finally got Molten to work with Midi so that's a step in the right direction
@skipp
Love to know who you got Molten to work via midi notes. I tried in vain and came up with nil points.
In the process though I discovered that DM-1 also works really well (and allows you to import your own samples) although as ever the midi setup is a tad strange. You need to set the Cubasis midi track out to Virtual Midi as DM-1 won't see the Cubasis midi info if it's sent on 'all ports'.
I can't believe I'm giving away my molten secrets
but here you go guys:
Page 41 of the user manual lists all the parameters for Molten's MIDI
http://www.onereddog.com.au/uploads/molten/Molten_User_Manual_v1.0.8.pdf
I did have some trouble at first before I learned that every time you launch Molten, you have to go into settings and tell it to listen to network MIDI (or other virtual/core midi apps)
If that doesn't help, I don't know what else to try. Is Molten accepting any midi messages at all? If you wanna send me a promo code for Cubasis, I can try to help figure it out on that end
haha.
I can say that Molten responds very well to MIDI Designer Pro thru virtual MIDI on iPad2, both for triggering samples and setting effects.
@jonmoore Every time I go back to Molten I have to teach myself how to get it to work with other Apps. After trying for hours it now works using a setting that I'm sure I tried at the start........
Hit C1 and you should hear a Molten Bass drum. (Can't remember if there is a setting for background audio in Molten?
Hook up with AB in the usual way if you want to record, effect and mixdown!
I think this is quite a good combo with Cubasis because of the drum sampling support
Hope it works for you.
Back to my original thread....
I should have mentioned Audulus as its sheer flexibility allows it to perform lots of useful tasks in Cubasis and if you desperately need something in particular you can build it!
Drumjam is also handy and if it ever gets upgraded to handle user samples it'll be great.
I'd love to see Electrify on the bus. It's one of my all time favorite Apps but it hasn't had any love for a long time........shame.
Also surprised that nothing from Wisdom music has made it on the bus. Samplewiz would have been useful though mostly now Samplr has over taken it and its on the bus
Geo Synth is coming and it will play Samplewiz samples.
@Skipp
Cheers for the tip ref Molten. I think I'll stick to DM-1 for now as it doesn't involve the 'run round the garden three times with your fingers crossed whilst singing All Across The Watchtower backwards' routine that we so often have to go through to get IOS midi to behave!
In limited testing I've found that most often I just play to a simple click track that I've created using my favourite Cubasis drum timbres anyway. The thing that interests me most with Cubasis is layering the more processor intensive IOS synths that I love (Animoog, Magellan, the PPG synths and to a certain extent Grain Science) . I only use my iPad as a 'scratchpad' anyway before integrating my IOS synths with my Desktop DAW workflows.
I don't tend to use the Korg IOS apps other than the two Electribe drum machines (which I love) as I find their sound a tad plasticy. They're great proofs of concept of what's achievable on IOS devices but in the end of limited worth as real musical instruments (the same goes for their desktop plugin variants). Far more interested in the real mini MS20 synth Korg are just about to release. Mmmm, now that's how an analog synthesiser really sounds!
My biggest wish for Cubasis is that they allow us to sequence control data. So much of what makes the synth apps I've mentioned above so great (and more importantly unique) is the expressiveness they can achieve through CC manipulation. Now if only Genome offered audio recording (and Audiobus integration but of course), that would be my dream IOS DAW. So much control for so little processor overhead. Probably be a long wait for that one but you never know...
Is that Hendrix's version or the original?
@ian
I suppose it would have to be the Hendrix version seeing as we're talking about mystical powers of voodoo & incantation required to get IOS midi to do what you want!
Forgot Geo could import Sample Wiz sounds. Will look forward to it.
@jonmoore:how did you get DM1 working with Cubasis together?It supports only core midi.I know theres Midi Bridge,which i have but i can't get it to work with Beatmaker,even with Midi Bridge.Seems i'm too dumb,lol.
It would seem there's need for a little bit of voodoo with DM-1 too!
You need to have first opened a reliable midi app such as Animoog in Audiobus/Cubasis so that the midi ports are created. For some reason DM1 doesn't create these ports itself but once you have opened another reliable midi app DM1 then reacts to the Virtual Midi port. Weirdly if you select All Ports in Cubase it can't be seen either.
The other thing to remember especially if your using DM-1 in tandem with another IOS sound generator is to give it a unique midi channel in its setting page (found in the song tab of DM1).
If you're still having problems, let me know.
@jonmoore:
aah,i see.THAT's what you mean when you say you don't like to"'run round the garden three times with your fingers crossed whilst singing All Across The Watchtower backwards'".
Anyway,was both easy to setup (ah yeah,bought cubasis last night and love it so far) but Molten had a clear latency.Was quite unusable to use it live (on an ipad 4 with nothing in the background)but DM1 worked like a charm together with animoog.Although i had to take care that Cubasis is recording the correct input.First time it jumped to the microphone input on the Animoog channel so i recorded the mic input.Not a big deal though if you check the input before the recording.Thanks for your help!
@Crabman
I've been having that issue with Animoog and Cubasis too (but is is only occasional and easily rectifiable). So far the problem seems isolated to Animoog though.
It's funny, I'm not a huge fan of DM1 as I find it all 'fur coat, no knickers' (great looks, shame about the underlying functionality - for those not used to my strange Brit idioms) but it turns out to be the best percussion app to use in combination with Cubasis. That is until Beatmaker finally makes it's Audiobus appearance.
and i noticed one thing:a 256 samples buffer creates recordings that starting too early in the timeline of cubase,if you know what i mean.Setting up Audiobus to 512 creates perfect sitting tracks in cubasis.i like this behavior,512 is less stress for the cpu and of course...the battery.and still no noticeably latency when playing drumpads or keys.I'm quite excited today...good times ahead for iOS musicians
@jonmoore said "So far the problem seems isolated to Animoog though."
Alas this has happened several times on different Apps for me. Looks like Cubasis fancy AB implementation gets confused on occasion. (See thread on Steinberg site saying Cubasis swaps back to input 1 if you use undo.)
Usually easy to fix by ejecting input App and reinserting in AB.
@Skipp
Good to know. I highlighted the problem to Sebastian a couple of days ago and the Steinberg team are aware of the problem. Lets hope we get a bug fix relatively quickly. As you say though it's more an irritation than killer blow.
The pains of being early adopter types!
@jonmoore
Sometimes I wish I'd just make music with what I have instead of constantly pushing for the next thing.....
.....but I'm probably not going to change
LESS TALK MORE ROCK!!
@Ryan