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.

Cality by Abigail Macfarlane

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Comments

  • @pagefall oh yeah, you’ll never get agreement lol. I’m looking forward to weaving your apps into my sounds though. Cality is quite unique.

  • edited April 2019

    @pagefall said:

    Assuming that this is presumably just down to synth demands & preset requirements ? - Air2 128GB 12.0.1.

    Cality itself doesn't load the CPU BUT it can generate an awful lot of notes at a time which can of course push CPU usage right up.

    I would also suggest that it can push the amount of notes way outside anything that a developer might have considered 'normal' usage too - so for synths that are quite CPU heavy to start with you just need t try it and see. There are synths on my iPad Pro that I can push above and beyond using it (and interestingly one or two synths reject the very short notes you can generate too )

    Yep, my assumption was that it was the density of the midi stream leading to the synths overloading rather than anything to do with Cality.

    Currently trialling & erroring through who plays nice with whom from the synths 😚

    It’s a delightful little app for sure. Fugue>Cality>Phosphor2+Quanta is currently behaving quite nicely, elegant dissonance, & topping out @ 40% DSP

  • @pagefall said:
    no one agrees quite what the standard for any of this stuff should be - so whatever I do will be upsetting someone.

    Yep! Peeps be crazy! :lol:

  • Just chiming in here that I love Cality and Autony. I wasn't sure when Autony first dropped if it would be something I'd use, but I use it CONSTANTLY and find it a joy to use.

    Cality was on my list from the first announcement, but when it dropped I had trouble figuring out how to use it. After a few days of experimenting, I'm finding all sorts of ways to use Cality.

    You're doing great - we love your stuff. Keep doing this and make more - thanks for what you do, @pagefall !

  • You're doing great - we love your stuff. Keep doing this and make more - thanks for what you do, @pagefall !

    thank you! hearing stuff like that makes it all worthwhile (especially on days like today when I've been fiddling with audio DSP and it's not entirely doing what I want and starting to wonder what on earth I'm doing ;-) )

  • @pagefall said:

    You're doing great - we love your stuff. Keep doing this and make more - thanks for what you do, @pagefall !

    thank you! hearing stuff like that makes it all worthwhile (especially on days like today when I've been fiddling with audio DSP and it's not entirely doing what I want and starting to wonder what on earth I'm doing ;-) )

    I agree with Dr. Poo.
    You are creating some great apps. I use them very frequently. I am looking forward to whatever you think of and develop in the near future.
    Rock on!

  • @CracklePot said:
    I agree with Dr. Poo.

    Heh heh.... Dr. Poo....

  • So glad to hear this. We need a tutorial or manual too, the trial and error is more miss than hit for me personally. Its not as friendly to mucking about and doing the fake mad scientist thing (I'm guilty sometimes). That said I see the lights and lasers shooting out of this thing and just need a tesla scientist to help cool the coils and adjust the deviation property of the sound. Love you all crazy people flipping on how amazing this gear is and how it would have cost probably thousands in the past for a lot these apps you know hardware versions. I aim to never take this for granted even with issues and funny work arounds.

  • @oceansinspace said:
    So glad to hear this. We need a tutorial or manual too, the trial and error is more miss than hit for me personally. Its not as friendly to mucking about and doing the fake mad scientist thing (I'm guilty sometimes). That said I see the lights and lasers shooting out of this thing and just need a tesla scientist to help cool the coils and adjust the deviation property of the sound. Love you all crazy people flipping on how amazing this gear is and how it would have cost probably thousands in the past for a lot these apps you know hardware versions. I aim to never take this for granted even with issues and funny work arounds.

    Yes please.

  • Ich > @pagefall said:

    You're doing great - we love your stuff. Keep doing this and make more - thanks for what you do, @pagefall !

    thank you! hearing stuff like that makes it all worthwhile (especially on days like today when I've been fiddling with audio DSP and it's not entirely doing what I want and starting to wonder what on earth I'm doing ;-) )

    Oh yeah you bet !!!
    I am working on something in combination with @echoopera graciously shared AUM files. With the new update I can import isolated glories out of any AUM sessions. So so good.
    Will share my stuff when ready @pagefall ;)

  • Regarding an excess of notes that someone reported, I've noticed this too.

    I just took a closer look in apeMatrix and AUM using MIDI Monitor (VictorP) and I'm seeing the following using a single NoteOn/NoteOff from Atom as input:

    0 => 1 notes
    1 => 2 notes
    2 => 4 notes
    3 => 6 notes
    4 => 8 notes

    When Cality's Notes is set to N, I expected it to send N+1 notes, but it seems to be sending 2N notes when N > 0.

  • @mojozart said:
    Regarding an excess of notes that someone reported, I've noticed this too.

    I just took a closer look in apeMatrix and AUM using MIDI Monitor (VictorP) and I'm seeing the following using a single NoteOn/NoteOff from Atom as input:

    0 => 1 notes
    1 => 2 notes
    2 => 4 notes
    3 => 6 notes
    4 => 8 notes

    When Cality's Notes is set to N, I expected it to send N+1 notes, but it seems to be sending 2N notes when N > 0.

    The logic is that any moment for a given note input there will be at least N notes active (sometimes less) - the 'resolution' setting controls how frequently it looks to generate them - so for example if blur is 0 and resolution is 1/8th then every 8th note, if there is an active note on it will look to make sure there are at least N notes active.

    Agree on the need for a manual - the need to generate actual income has overtaken me and I'm doing some paid work at the moment but will get to some documentation

  • @pagefall thanks for clarification. So, if I understand correctly, the doubling was because the Resolution was 1/32 (default) and the input source was a 1/16 note.

    By the way, I've also noticed that in some configuration of Resolution, etc., Cality could continue to generate notes even when the transport in apeMatrix was stopped. The panic button brought it to a halt.

  • edited April 2019

    Yes that sounds correct for note generation

    If you can video or give details of the conditions under which you get stopped notes that would be helpful. It’s a real pain to debug because there are odd situations where it occurs

  • edited April 2019

    In Cubasis, I have a prerecorded midi segment and I want Cality to modify it and record that to a new track.

    I understand how this is possible in AUM, but not Cubasis. Can Cality do this or is this a limit to the midi routing matrix in Cubasis? As I understand it, midi fx come before the midi notes not post... or am I wrong?

    Maybe a solution would be to use something like Atomic in the first midi slot (this would have the melody line), then Cality in the second (to process) and record that to the track in Cubasis?

  • @SevenSystems said:

    @pagefell
    things like double click to set values - which other apps do that?

    XUI (the UI library used by Xequence and its derivatives) supports single-tap to enter value, and double-tap to reset to the default value.

    It's desktop but Ableton Live - nearly every parameter.

  • @jonmoore - so timeline for Cality knobs stuff - currently unknown just because I'm pitching for a piece of paid work right now

    If you let me know the specific issue I can maybe shove in a quicker fix for that aspect

    It may amuse all of you to know I've just used double click to reset settings on a knob on an EQ (on my desktop but still :-) )

  • @osc101 said:
    In Cubasis, I have a prerecorded midi segment and I want Cality to modify it and record that to a new track.

    I understand how this is possible in AUM, but not Cubasis. Can Cality do this or is this a limit to the midi routing matrix in Cubasis? As I understand it, midi fx come before the midi notes not post... or am I wrong?

    Maybe a solution would be to use something like Atomic in the first midi slot (this would have the melody line), then Cality in the second (to process) and record that to the track in

    I can’t see any way to do this in Cubasis, which is a shame, no where near the routing power or AUM. I’d love to know if you can record post midi fx, but even using midi channels via Audiobus, no chow.

  • @skoptic said:

    @osc101 said:
    In Cubasis, I have a prerecorded midi segment and I want Cality to modify it and record that to a new track.

    I understand how this is possible in AUM, but not Cubasis. Can Cality do this or is this a limit to the midi routing matrix in Cubasis? As I understand it, midi fx come before the midi notes not post... or am I wrong?

    Maybe a solution would be to use something like Atomic in the first midi slot (this would have the melody line), then Cality in the second (to process) and record that to the track in

    I can’t see any way to do this in Cubasis, which is a shame, no where near the routing power or AUM. I’d love to know if you can record post midi fx, but even using midi channels via Audiobus, no chow.

    I was just trying my proposed solution and it does work. Use Atom in first midi fx slot and enter Notes (in Atom). Load Cality or Rozeta in next slot etc.. Output can be recorded in Cubasis midi track and used as a normal part.

    I wish the Cubasis routing matrix was more flexible so this kind of thing would be native, but this solution does open up some interesting creative possibilities.

    I also wish Cality had a more robust probability engine. For example, a knob to control chance of random Notes (from scale) injected in to loop.

  • I also wish Cality had a more robust probability engine. For example, a knob to control chance of random Notes (from scale) injected in to loop.

    how do you mean? Describe it in action. I might be able to add something if it fits....

  • @skoptic said:

    @osc101 said:
    In Cubasis, I have a prerecorded midi segment and I want Cality to modify it and record that to a new track.

    I understand how this is possible in AUM, but not Cubasis. Can Cality do this or is this a limit to the midi routing matrix in Cubasis? As I understand it, midi fx come before the midi notes not post... or am I wrong?

    Maybe a solution would be to use something like Atomic in the first midi slot (this would have the melody line), then Cality in the second (to process) and record that to the track in

    I can’t see any way to do this in Cubasis, which is a shame, no where near the routing power or AUM. I’d love to know if you can record post midi fx, but even using midi channels via Audiobus, no chow.

    Blueveek’s other app suite Midi Tools has a plugin called MidiBus. In Cubasis, I use that to send recorded midi through stuff like Cality, and then re-record it on to a separate midi track.

  • I've been looking into "Negative Harmony" and it strikes me there's an App
    waiting to use these concepts. A really simple explanation from an astute Italian
    guitar professori:

    In practical terms, I select the scale reference and everything is reflected around the axis as I play on a MIDI controller. It could apply the concepts along the lines of a 2 or 4 beat context floating between what I play and the negative instantiations.

    A programmer will get this.

  • @McD - agree - Ive been waiting for an IOS neg harmony app....
    Some great simple stuff takes forever for dev's to find.
    Luckily I have a script in Reaper :)
    I recommend to others the Jacob Collier Youtube talks on Neg Harmony.
    A great tool in the musical arsenal.

  • @Mayo said:
    @McD - agree - Ive been waiting for an IOS neg harmony app....
    Some great simple stuff takes forever for dev's to find.
    Luckily I have a script in Reaper :)
    I recommend to others the Jacob Collier Youtube talks on Neg Harmony.

    So good but I decided a developer would need the Cliff Notes video because coding takes concentration, focus and a clear use case: cut to the part about
    making this an algorythmic concept.

    While I have the mic... coders need to consider poly-rhythms or even non-aligned layering of patterns to make the generators sound less robotic.

    Watch this for some out of the iPad thinking about patterns and timing:

    It's long but there's more than one App asking tone coded using these ideas.

  • @mcd - that video is helpful - although I'm more interested in what I can do with active/stable notes right this second. I'll have a think

    While I have the mic... coders need to consider poly-rhythms or even non-aligned layering of patterns to make the generators sound less robotic.

    I love polyrhythms and have plans for something interesting........(but will be later in the year - I'm pretty busy at the moment)

  • @osc101 said:

    @skoptic said:

    @osc101 said:
    In Cubasis, I have a prerecorded midi segment and I want Cality to modify it and record that to a new track.

    I understand how this is possible in AUM, but not Cubasis. Can Cality do this or is this a limit to the midi routing matrix in Cubasis? As I understand it, midi fx come before the midi notes not post... or am I wrong?

    Maybe a solution would be to use something like Atomic in the first midi slot (this would have the melody line), then Cality in the second (to process) and record that to the track in

    I can’t see any way to do this in Cubasis, which is a shame, no where near the routing power or AUM. I’d love to know if you can record post midi fx, but even using midi channels via Audiobus, no chow.

    I was just trying my proposed solution and it does work. Use Atom in first midi fx slot and enter Notes (in Atom). Load Cality or Rozeta in next slot etc.. Output can be recorded in Cubasis midi track and used as a normal part.

    I wish the Cubasis routing matrix was more flexible so this kind of thing would be native, but this solution does open up some interesting creative possibilities.

    I also wish Cality had a more robust probability engine. For example, a knob to control chance of random Notes (from scale) injected in to loop.

    Thanks :) I’ve not used Atom in Cubasis, but will try this out :)

  • @pagefall said:

    I also wish Cality had a more robust probability engine. For example, a knob to control chance of random Notes (from scale) injected in to loop.

    how do you mean? Describe it in action. I might be able to add something if it fits....

    So let's say I have an arpeggio of four notes in two octaves running up/down. For simplicity, let's define these notes as C,E,G,B (Cmaj7). Since Cality already has scale detection (C major), it should be smart enough to know that the other members of the scale are D,F,A. Cality also already has interval defined in musical note values (1/16,1/8,1/4 etc..). So, a knob that will randomly inject a note in the set note value for the scale based on random probability.

    Rozeta has something similar with the bass line applet, but with note order.

    The idea here is that you can loop a melody and apply slight random variations over time to keep the loop interesting. Think using a slow LFO assigned to filter envelopes. Certain kinds of music benefit from this randomization and it is a time saver with production.

  • @osc101 said:

    @pagefall said:

    I also wish Cality had a more robust probability engine. For example, a knob to control chance of random Notes (from scale) injected in to loop.

    how do you mean? Describe it in action. I might be able to add something if it fits....

    So let's say I have an arpeggio of four notes in two octaves running up/down. For simplicity, let's define these notes as C,E,G,B (Cmaj7). Since Cality already has scale detection (C major), it should be smart enough to know that the other members of the scale are D,F,A. Cality also already has interval defined in musical note values (1/16,1/8,1/4 etc..). So, a knob that will randomly inject a note in the set note value for the scale based on random probability.

    Rozeta has something similar with the bass line applet, but with note order.

    The idea here is that you can loop a melody and apply slight random variations over time to keep the loop interesting. Think using a slow LFO assigned to filter envelopes. Certain kinds of music benefit from this randomization and it is a time saver with production.

    Hmm - that's kind of not how Cality works at all :-) or at least not how I'd describe it....

    It generates random notes according to a tightness or distance to a grid set by the controls and then quantises them to the scale and optional chord.

    HOWEVER between that and the negative harmony stuff above an idea forms - it would be possible to make an app that "listened" to an input stream, did detect chords and then applied variations perhaps depending on a 'fanciness' knob that let it add chord variations, accidentals etc..... Does that sound like an interesting thing to anyone? I'm sure it would develop more features as I wrote it

  • @pagefall said:
    @jonmoore - so timeline for Cality knobs stuff - currently unknown just because I'm pitching for a piece of paid work right now

    If you let me know the specific issue I can maybe shove in a quicker fix for that aspect

    It may amuse all of you to know I've just used double click to reset settings on a knob on an EQ (on my desktop but still :-) )

    I'll use this post for feedback on both Autony and Cality seeing us you linked to this thread.

    Autony

    • Pentatonic scales
    • An ability to define the note range for the generated notes with maybe a way to define that further with % hints e.g. 2 octave range with 10% quadrant 1, 30% quadrant 2, 35% quadrant 3 and 25% in quadrant 4 - quadrant isn't the right word but you no what I mean! :)
    • An option to bridge notes that follow each other into a longer note e.g two 16th notes become one 8th note.
    • Greater variety in the generated sequences, I'm not sure if it's a matter of seed values in the underlying algorithm but I see a lot of repeating note sequences when pressing Generate.

    Cality

    I'm mainly using Cality to re-groove incoming data so I've no feedback ref the Cloud features.

    • Assuming that the Swing algorithm follows the classic Linn Drum canonical reference, it would be good to choose between odd and even swung notes.
    • Velocity and Accents don't make a huge amount of sense to me. Velocity would make more sense as a variance value, on top of incoming data e.g. a velocity value of 10 would vary the incoming vales by + or - 5 (up to a max of 127). Accents weren't making any sense as I couldn't see the impact the Accent parameter was having over the incoming data.
    • However I could see the Accent parameter being useful if it added accents of a specific value above the incoming data but it would only be applied every 'x' number of grid positions (this will help differentiate Accent from Velocity). This could really 'funk-up' incoming polyrhythmic data, by giving greater control over the pulse of the beat, e.g. the accent happens every 5th beat on one data stream and every 9th beat on another (similar thinking drives Audio Damages Axon 2).
    • As above, Pentatonic scales (I tend to enjoy using pentatonic scales when building generative systems as the overlapping notes of new layers tend to have a better harmonic fit).

    The most urgent thing to resolve in both Autony and Cality is the twitchiness of the controls (but we all know that!). The accessibility trick of double tapping with three fingers to access the zoom tool is a good interim workaround but it's a lot of extra steps.

  • edited April 2019

    @jonmoore (not quoting it'll get Huge)

    Knob code - current plan is standardise on Cailty knob code (the code in each is totally different) but add high resolution when you move your finger side to side - ie it moves the value much less. Double click to reset and a long press with a popup to type the value in.

    Pentatonic scales - will add - good idea
    Yeah on the generated sequences - it does need a bit more "random" in it I think

    Swing - yes. Possibly could add control for that - need to think about it
    Velocity is a fixed override the velocity - the intention was to automate it TBH (as in you the user can automate the velocity control to do interesting things to the incoming stream). A relative mode might be interesting too
    Accent should be doing what would describe and it does work for me when I use it. Can you describe what you are doing so I can debug

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