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
@Ailerom as @mjcouche has pointed out, there is no way to synchronize Cubasis with Xequence at all, so if you want / need to use audio tracks in your project, it would be best to just load some kind of sample player in your audio host (Cubasis, AUM, etc.) and then trigger the samples at the correct position in the song by drawing the corresponding notes in Xequence. If the samples are reasonably short (say, < 30 seconds), it's actually quite workable... you just have to make sure to not start your song in the middle of such a "trigger note", because then your audio either won't trigger ("Chase notes" off) or trigger at whatever position you're starting playback ("Chase notes" on).
Let me know if you need any other info
The samples will be the major part of the songs I do. As in multiple guitar tracks that go from start to finish. The transport of X can't be locked to that Cubasis transport stop/start?
Sorry, no way to synchronize the two apps at all I'm afraid.
If the main thing you do is full-length audio tracks, then it might be better to stay inside Cubasis (as much as I hate to tell you)
Or sync with Beatmaker 2
(Not 3. only 2.)
Well that's disappointing. I was set to buy it think I'd found a better way to program my drums and bass tracks. I don't get the point if there is no sync between Xequence and the host. What do people use it for then?
Xequence does sync with other stuff.
The problem is no DAWs besides Beatmaker 2 syncs to midi including song-position.
Maybe I got lost here for a moment... But that's what I understand you guys want.
Note to self: re-read this topic tomorrow, not at 1 AM
Xequence is a linear timeline based midi sequencer with excellent features and a really nice to use piano-roll editor. So ... people use it primarily for ... midi sequencing. You want to coordinate with audio tracks. That can be cobbled together, but isn't generally easy with the other tools available on iOS. It all comes down to timeline and sync. For instance, AUM can sync start, stop, and tempo with it (via Link), but doesn't follow Song Position Pointer (SPP) which means you can't start in the middle of a song in X2 and have AUM jump to that point in it's timeline, even though it does have a timeline. Cubasis can't slave sync to anything. etc. etc.
If you want to work with both audio and midi with the least amount of hackarounds at this point, you're best off finding a DAW you can live with.
Thanks. What I was really wondering was, if it makes no sound and can't sync with anything what is the point. Even if I only used instruments in AUM or Cubasis I would still want it to playback from wherever I am working. Maybe I am misunderstanding something. Is it such that instruments are really only hosted in AUM or Cubasis and that's about it as far as X2 is concerned?
Yes. You can use X2 as a way to sequence apps in other hosts. X2 is playing the notes and automation for apps hosted elsewhere. That could be something like AUM that doesn’t have a sequencer of its own, or as an alternative piano roll for something like Gadget if you’re. Or crazy about it’s sequencer.
I like to use it with GR-16. I generate the ideas in GR-16, then record all the tracks’ midi into X2. Once in X2 I can arrange the patterns song-wise a lot more conveniently than in GR-16’s song mode. I can also refine patterns in the piano roll easier (IMO) than in GR-16.
It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, it it’s excellent tea nonetheless.
@wim Thanks
If you’re working with a small amount of audio (just a vocal for example) you can always dump this in a sampler and trigger it (have done this before).
Pretty much anything achievable in a daw can be done in X2 and a mixer (how it was done in the old days after all).
If you want to stay away from a daw and the sound imprint that entails (😬) then it’s perfect.
From what I read in the forum iOS daws have their issues so it’s down to personal preference.
Where I’ve found Xequence 2 invaluable is when using it to sequence hardware alone. Occasionally I like to work on projects with artificial limitations as creativity will always go in new directions by limiting your options. This workflow takes me back to working with Cubase on the Atari ST, but with a far less linear workflow.
I work in a similar manner with Five 12’s Numerology 3 on macOS (Numerology is step sequencing environment for macOS).
I would of course love to see a Xequence 3 as a fully fledged iOS DAW with AUv3 hosting but I also wonder if elements of Xequence 2 could be reconfigured as a set of MidiFX tools. The end game being a modular set of plugins for automation to support Atom 2 (and suchlike). I understand that Automation is promised for Atom 2 at some point in time but options are always a good thing.
Most of my recordings have programmed drums and bass, an occasional synth or percussion. The remaining 10 to 20 tracks are audio.
I'm still thinking there may be a place for X2 though. If I can program the midi and then export to Cubasis, rather than program there. I don't really enjoy the midi programming in Cubasis.
Manipulating note and cc data is very fast in X2 and exporting midi files is straightforward.
Don’t know how well or if Cubasis imports though…
Be interesting to hear how it goes if you put it in your workflow.
Midi programming in Cubasis sucks major ass
sorry for the language
I bought Xequence because of that.
I know @SevenSystems made it because he disliked programming Gadget. But gadget is a paradise next to Cubasis (at least for me in an iPad Mini)
@senhorlampada I haven't ever thoroughly tried MIDI editing in Cubasis, but I was immediately thrown off by the inability to create linked clips, which is kinda a show stopper for EDM in my book... (not sure if a clip can at least be looped?)
@Ailerom exporting MIDI from Xequence to Cubasis once you're finished editing and arranging should definitely be no problem, a lot of testing has been done to ensure that works as flawlessly as possible.
Thanks for the input. I'm just watching as many tutorials as I can at the moment. It's not the cheapest app and I really don't want to buy it and not use it.
Sure, make an informed decision!
Let me know if you have any other questions.
There isn’t a way to activate slide over mode with aum and xequence is there?
No, the "slide over app" needs to explicitly support this (and the corresponding extra layouts for their user interface, etc.) -- Xequence doesn't, so it can't be slid over anything else. And AUM doesn't either AFAIK, so it can't be slid over Xequence or other apps either (unless I'm mistaken, then please someone correct me)
Cool, good to know, I just thought the other day to try it and couldn’t, but wondered if it was just user error 😁
I find the iPad screen so small that I struggle with even 2 AUv3 windows open next to each other in AUM
The most convenient and productive way to me is swipe with 4 fingers between AUM and Xequence
I always use a “dummy” Audiobus project to get use of the sidebar. Instance of Xequence in midi slot and AUM in audio slot but not connected to anything ( I used to incorporate AB properly but it’s not currently stable for me).
Well, now that you ask. Any sales planned?
I was more referring to technical questions
but yeah, there's a sale planned once that damn next major update is finished! (it will take some time though, so I don't recommend waiting!)
I guess I don't have any needs for the AUs, but i'm tempted to get them to motivate you
I was just being cheeky but thanks for the update.
Apologies if this has been discussed already, but does Keys support microtonal tuning? Specifically the ability to use/edit EDO and split an octave into more or less than 12?
EDIT: and would this also be reliant on the synth being controlled supporting microtonal tuning? Or can any AUv3 synth play microtonal scales?
Standard scales only.
Random X2 question @SevenSystems
When adjusting velocities in the clip editor, is there a place where the velocity number is displayed? I can’t find it. I’m just guessing on the velocity …half way is 63, top is 127, but how to set say 85 (unless I’m completely missing the number display)