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
Thanks a lot for your thoughts. Exactly the kind of information I was hoping to get!!
Here's another dummy question: How can I send the different midi channels to different apps through AudioBus (or ApeMatrix/AUM)?
I've done this before with Xynthesizr, Fugue Machine and other apps but I'm lost here 😰I can't even send all channels to one app!
Video tutorials appreciated.
in Ape/Aum you filter the midi channels on the track (Ape on midi matrix filter icon, AUM in the channel settings at the bottom)
In Audiobus it's a bit different, you can use different Audious/Polyphase virtual midi ports in the AB midi sender page, and you can assign each one to the different midi ports as set up in Polyphase.
My personal feedback is that unless you are controlling other hardware, this app really needs Link to work inside iOS. I know it is on the roadmap. Otherwise the linked 4 lanes of sequences is what makes Polyphase a bit different as above.
Agree with the above get more flexibility and tonal usability using Photon which I know is a different animal.
Thank you @Carnbot I had to set midi out to PolyPhase to make it work. Working in AudioBus. I'll try the other options later.
Velocity seems to be fixed, am I wrong? It could play well with Noir's modulation if it wasn't so.
Also nice sounding synth but again: missing some modulation.
It seems a little bit cryptic but I think I can get it.
Bought this yesterday morning. I was the only one at work so I opened it up and let it play for a few hours while I was working on some coding. Was lovely to just leave in the background. Look forward to actually using it with purpose :)
Awesome info, thx!👍🏼
I would say that generative phrase sequencers work best creating slower moving parts. Whether that’s a full ambient track, or simply the backing parts for a more traditionally sequenced piece, it’s best when it’s not really in the foreground.
Generators like this, when sped up to tempos for non-ambient melodies or bass lines, tend to sound too random. I think that we like a bit more repetition in rhythm and pitch with melodies and bass lines - when both pitch and rhythm are constantly evolving, we don’t have enough structure to latch onto.
To that end, I would suggest that if you want a less gentle, less ambient result with something like PolyPhase, you pair it with something that would give the results more structure by restricting the randomness to either pitch or rhythm, not both.
E.g. set up something like StepPolyArp or Rozeta Arp or Bassline with a rhythm and send the notes from PolyPhase to transpose those patterns. Now you have a bit more of a structured groove, but with an evolving pitch. Or, use the notes to step through a pitch sequence in Senode or Quantum. Now you have a defined pitch sequence, but with an evolving rhythm.
This can work pretty well, but I still think the best application is using an app like this in conjunction with traditional sequencers; randomness, even structured as with PolyPhase, is a spice best used in moderation.
Really good points here. I have done the same with Autony--point a standard sequencer at a synth and point Autony at the same. It helps to reduce the number of generated notes per bar. Best of both worlds!
You guys realize you can turn off the generative sequences for each part, and have fully repetitive sequences, right?
Also, try using the Euclidean sequence generation. It is very groovy.
Yeah but... Why use these sequencers for repetition vs others that are easier to set up? Had not noted the euclidean feature--thx for the alert. This app really needs a video tute or two.
It just seemed like folks were wanting to do some more repetitive sequencing with this app, but were saying it only does abstract, dreamy, ambient type of sequences.
The same reason you would use any generative app to create a repetitive sequence. Whatever your reason is, there be your answer.
Yeah, that’s the approach I used in the video. It’s fixed sequences for the bulk of the track and then I turn on the generative aspects as the song is breaking down at the end.
But, as @lukesleepwalker notes, this isn’t PolyPhase’s forte. Beyond just the fiddly nature of trying to do precise editing, the fact that all notes have the same duration makes melodies and bass lines that don’t sound “generated” hard to achieve.
For me it’s best used in conjunction with other apps. Either with those other apps handling more traditional roles, or with PolyPhase modulating those apps.
Exactly. One reason for example, mine, would be that PP generates new musical ideas at the press of a button, so you keep pressing till something you like comes up. If you can come up with brilliant stuff unaided, cool.
I respectfully disagree with your comment about "all notes have the same duration" - to my mind one of the strengths of PP as against Autony, for example, is that you can set the different tracks to different note lengths, plus in the case of consecutive identical notes you can set them to sound as one continuous note. It would be even better, of course, if you could set that differently per track, so that for example the master track is set to retrigger on repetition but one or more others are set to continuous-sound mode.
Sure, it's limited in terms of duration variability, but I think it's actually a point where Polyphase is stronger than some of the other apps in this area.
recorded about 15 mins into cubase, sounded great. Played the midi back and it was stuttering gibberish. It won’t state save, it won’t bpm save in cubase or AUM.
such a shame because it can produce amazing melodies.
Sorry, I wasn’t clearer there and I don’t want to confuse potential buyers. I meant per-track. I’m fully aware that you can set tracks to different tempos, durations directions, etc.; and that you can link notes.
However, this was in the context of a larger conversation: Several people noted that it was hard to get results that weren’t ambient-like or trance-like. I posited that was because for more forward parts of a song, listeners want to hear motifs. PolyPhase’s strength is in generating interlocking lines, but while those lines evolve together, they don’t “call back” to earlier phrases, hence the result sounds a bit more abstract than what many may want for a melody or bass line.
To be clear, this isn’t an indictment against PolyPhase - I think it’s ridiculous to believe that all apps can be all things to all people. What PolyPhase does, it does brilliantly, and I do think it achieves better results than other generative apps (except Wotja, but that requires a lot of setup). However, precise editing of notes or the generation of a funky groove are not it’s forte.
The bigger point I was making was that you can use PolyPhase in conjunction with other apps to get to the results you want.
Have you tried the snapshots at all. They are there so you can recall previous sequences.
I think I get your point, though. This app won’t create melodies or motifs, but it does create nice sequences. You would have to take some nice, generated sequences from here and create structure and form in another sequencing app, like Xequence, or your DAW of choice.
Sure, I totally take your points. I'm still trying to work out what can be done with it... more "calling back" would indeed be great. But it is at least possible in a maybe crude form with the snapshots, as @CracklePot suggested. I just generated 10 snapshots-worth of Euclidean sequences (whatever they are) and it seems to me you could make quite a groovy track running these snapshots with the various tracks in and out of "evolving" mode. (You have to be carefully not to accidentally clear them when you're trying to activate them, I found the hard way.) Having said that, I haven't done it myself, so what do I know? I'm definitely going to give it a try though.
Ableton LINK option would be maximum pleasure and a Note Lenght option too like Staccato, triplets, that would add x channel a best variation for instrument
Ableton link is needed or the app coded as auv3
+1 @mekohler 🙏
Useful update for Polyphase just released.
You can now save and load MIDI mappings, and manage these via the new Files support too.
These are both useful in that they allow you to share mappings and files between devices.
I believe this may also allow me to share my mappings here and also my custom Launchpad Pro Mk3 layout.
For any Polyphase users who also a new Launchpad model with custom layouts. You can load up the .syx file to LPP3 via Novation's Components website and then load the mapping file into Polyphase's MIDI mappings folder via the 'On My iPad' folder in Files app.
It's a really easy setup and probably sounds more complicated than it is.
For gods sake. Update us with Ableton link pleaseeee!
https://c.tenor.com/L3i3kIOrD78AAAAC/angel-pray.gif
Yes, link please.
@SpookyZoo 👍🏻Sweet.
I did an hour long walkthrough on polyphase!
Really? I'm gonna go check it out. Thanks