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.
App needs, gear needs, what are we doing?
Just sharing my thoughts here:
Trying to fight the monster wave of new hardware and new apps, nowadays the wave of effect apps, a couple of years ago the wave of synth apps, I just found Graham’s perspective somewhat comforting. It also supports my belief since a while, that less is more.
To each their own, but as a an amateur musician, probably worse than many😂, a folder with a few chosen synth apps that do some basic different synthesis types, a few chosen external effect apps and one DAW with internal effects as well to rule them all is probably more than I will ever master. Add to this a workstation that acts as a master keyboard, at least I have my hands full. I also have a full - time job and a family to care about. No wonder my creativity is sometimes suffering.
Graham has a point: if we spend most of our time trying to figure new soft- or hardware out regardless of OS, that limits our creativity. And wasn’t the creation of music, playing someone else’s or making our own what got us here in the first place?
Comments
I often find that trying new apps actually helps to spark creativity, and that the new sounds inspire to create new songs.
I think the best approach to avoid paralysis is simply to set goals and give yourself deadlines. In my case I've been writing/recording/producing at least one full track (including vocals) every month since the start of 2015. It's actually a reasonably modest goal, but I've made sure I've stuck to it come hell or high water, even in times when my personal and work life have been completely chaotic (living out of boxes in temporary accommodation when a house sale fell through for example).
So I'm now 57 months into this routine, and I've actually written around 80 songs and tracks. But I still have time to try new apps and learn new things, I just make sure that this doesn't interfere with actually completing songs. In fact it probably makes my tinkering more focused, because if I find a new app that's inspiring I'll immediately work that into a track.
One thing I do think is essential is a DAW though, I find AUM is fine for testing new apps and plugins, but it's not an environment I can personally use for getting anything finished in. YMMV of course.
You're giving good reasons to confirm why I've preferred to stick with Korg Gadget for composition. The more time I'm spending with many different tools from different developers, the less time I have for composing. I'm not saying that playing with technology is a bad thing, it's just that I've found to have more fun sticking with a restricted but well-learned feature set that is just good enough to realize my ideas.
And when I'm in an uncreative phase I can still play around with miRack now
That video makes more sense in the desktop world where version upgrades for software often cost the same as 10-50 iOS apps.
Hardware can be sold and changing things up every now and then is something I do and will definitely continue. Selling the thing you don’t use so much anymore and getting something else can be a great decision.
Some stuff I will never part with and everything ends up in my DAW of choice, haven’t been tempted to use any of the other options. Switching your main workflow often isn’t something I would recommend doing.
Quite a few people on here have been using iOS for music for over a decade and understandably might have too many apps
Can imagine all the options would be overwhelming for newcomers to the AppStore. Would be taking it slow if I was starting to build a collection.
There are always the collectors but more likely to find them discussing how the latest crack of xyz is more stable than the paid version on other corners of the internet.
Definitely. And I can spot the apps that have done this when listening through my old tracks.
Plus there's an incredible amount of pleasure in getting a new app to explore, even if it ultimately ends up neglected after the initial excitement, but then there's always the joy in rediscovering them again.
Compared to other things, it's a relatively cheap hobby. When I hear what friends spend on gaming, following football/rugby teams, motorbikes etc. my app spending is peanuts in comparison.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts as well!
I was overwhelmed when I counted my bought music apps of all kinds since starting using iPads for music in... 2011 I thank it was for me? 140+.....my first one was Synthstation by Akai.
I would never have bought so many if the pricing had been on Win/Mac- level. It was fun getting them no doubt, I had a blast playing around with new apps for a couple of days then most of them vanished into the inner parts of my iPads never to be opened again. I never needed them in the first place and just bought them for the sake of ”having” or ”oh what the heck I might use it sometime”.
Today, older and (hopefully) somewhat wiser, I stick to at the most 5-10% of the apps I have invested in. Of course, quite a few have fallen of the wagon due to both age and GUI issues (me just not getting along with the app). Early on I also made the decision to go full AUv3 but still, most of my bought apps (DAWs, synths and effects) have little or no airtime in my workflow nowadays.
Today, I feel more creative and relaxed. I don´t longer get a panik attack when opening my music folder loaded with different apps, because there aren’t that many apps there, and the chosen ones complement each other and they all add something different. I always know where to start because I have limited my options!
What apps do I use then, or ”should” one use? Well... it doesn’t really matter.
As long as you are having fun, doing what you want and stay creative!👊