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
Yes - its a session recorder designed to arm & then record midi you send it. It captures all midi messages except system ones (sysex, clock etc). All saved (or loaded) as standard .mid file so you can share/import etc.
There are some improvements planned - including the ability to do multiple takes automatically (basically record in a loop with each loop going to a different track)
The pads give you the ability to transpose/speed up or down the recording too, so useful for experimentation
The step record & groove templates are just additional functions
Next on my list, but @Daveypoo has offered to help there
If Odesi has airDrop share yes - you can then open in Photon (standalone - its then available in the AU)
Ta, well written that.
I’ll take a stable functional app with infinite utility with a decent manual over some eye candy UI. Besides, I’d say the UI is far from an “eyesore”.
Looks really useful, but looking through the manual - no indication the app can receive MMC messages to enable record start / stop with a foot pedal.
I can rebalance the colours somewhat - the whites are a little too white etc. All easy stuff to do.
I've intentionally left blank areas for additional functionality.
Photon and Korg Gadget Midi Out will make a nice pair.
allowing us to experiment and record further the loop based system
so will it be out sometime today?i did t even know this was coming, but it sounds pretty useful
far? hm ok. it is possible to have a strong gui and a strong fuctional app. i still plan on buying and using it but if there was something that offered the same utilities at the same price with a more sleek ui which one are you more inclined to open? strong interface design isnt everyones cup of tea but as a designer myself im keen to think it could be better.
GUI isnt just about aesthetics its also about layout. if the ui is crowded appearing it can hinder use, particularly in a live setting. this is important to me at least as a live performer.
I’m primarily a coder and left to my own devices my UIs are on the function over form side of things so maybe I’m more tolerant.
Do you have a link to the Quantum one, by any chance?
as a coder you would understand fucnction and form are both equally important. i have close friends who code their own apps and would be in agreement. to each their own but tolerance has little to do with it.
Yeah I design too, so I'm in favour of nice design of course. But as this is a cottage industry, not all developers have those skills so I understand why that can suffer. I'm sure it will be improved upon in future versions after all the additional features are set.
Just hope Apple reviewers don't have a problem figuring out how to test it
If you read the manual you'll see Tony's schematic for the user flow and it more closely resembles a tech plan than a story map. The UI faithfully reflects that schematic, for better or worse. Would a UX designer hide some of the complexity so that the user experience slowly unfolds (most use the term "intuitive" to describe when this is done well)? Very likely. But, on the plus side, most everything is right in front of you so that the map of the thing is revealed immediately.
In practical terms: I was at first annoyed by the buffer. I wanted to tap the pads and record MIDI, edit if necessary, and then play it back. But after using the app, Tony's thinking around the utility of the buffer became apparent. I still think the app would have broader appeal if it was designed for a MIDIot, but Tony is the creator, he has a vision, and I have no doubt the app will be celebrated by the niche of MIDI enthusiasts we find in these here parts.
Not MMC, but quick record (including playback of pad1,2,3 or 4 or all together) is an AU Parameter.
If you still want MMC (or maybe AUM host record toggle say) then I can add it.
As you probably know I'm happy to extend this app to make it more useful and the workflow quicker - just reluctant to put in a full blown piano grid editor because its a lot of work and others exist.
I'm using it to record Quantum output session where I normally use the RT controls to power Model D - its great to see all those midi ccs being played back and then I can transpose it etc.
I feel the looping part can be expanded, so happy to accept ideas to improve this.
Should be today
Apple are pretty quick nowadays.
appreciate your comments but I'm not a UX designer (just an indie dev with a full time job) so yes controls tend to be packed abit, but I'm always open to suggestions - but I usually get feature requests over look n feel.
Let me know what doesn't work for you and I will try and accommodate.
Looking forward to being able to record midi in AUM or apeMatrix and exporting into my daw of choice. This is big for me.
@midiSequencer
Just a quick question that some people are asking in the iPad Musician group,
what’s the MIDI resolution in PPQN (pulses per quarter note) for recording?
Thanks!
@midiSequencer : you are such a standup developer, my hat is off to you. Really appreciate the way you have listened to users' needs and filled such an important niche. I totally agree that a piano roll editor is a low priority.
Looks like its 480 ticks per beat on a file I just recorded & saved.
Recording is from the host (it passes midi events in an audio buffer so is sample accurate).
Playback is also back through the audio/midi buffer to the host
cool, I'm hoping ppl find this useful. On the PC I use Cantabile program a lot to capture midi sessions & ideas, after that you can edit it how you like but if you want this process to just record everything.
One day I might do a piano roll editor, but I've done this once already using another framework(the one Quantum & MidiSequencer uses) - only so many hours in a day and I've had to learn swift/audiokit & uikit to bring myself up todate.
I'm on it - let me get my grubby little paws on this beast and see what I can do...
You can do...
an awesome demo.
No doubt about it.