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.

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Audiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.

AB or AUM rack ( an idea )

edited September 2019 in General App Discussion

What if AUM or AB was set up similar to how mirack or vcv rack is set up .

Not meaning that you connect the synths and effects via patch cables ...

But that just like you load up a module, you load up an audio unit. Arranged in any order you prefer , and able to see your entire set up on one screen. Rather than seeing an icon of the app you actually see the whole app in a small version. A useable version

Perhaps when you want to adjust a synth’s parameters, when you tap on the au it pops out into a bigger size, and maybe you could leave it like that until you double tapped it back into the rack so you could have multiple synth’s out simultaneously .

Similar to Audiobus the mixer would be on a separate screen to provide more real estate for each.

You could still arrange effects on the same racks as your synth’s but the patch cables would still connect behind the scenes like in AUM.

You could adjust synth parameters while using things like xsequence ( is x2 an au??)/ KB-1 / rozetta / spa and all the rest

I think this would be a great way to work without traditional time line / clip sequencing like how we do in AUM and Audiobus .

Still not a daw but that awesome iOS modular workflow we have come to enjoy

These are my thoughts if anyone wants to develop it tho, please adopt them 😎

Comments

  • edited September 2019

    Could be nice with all the AUParameters in a list form on the 'back' of the device for easy patching & routing :)
    But the 'cable mess' is something I'd rather replace with text fields like Source->Destination similar to apeMatrix.

    Who knows, maybe some day apeMatrix will get 'AU Parameter routing' similar to its audio/midi-port routing.

  • Being able to access all your instruments and effects from one screen like an actual studio hardware set up changes everything imo, scrolling , resizing , constant app bouncing... it’s all a work flow killer. But this kind a set up would be the opposite and get ya in the zone similarly to vcv , mi and even gadget in a lot of ways

  • I really like the workflow of AUM and find it pretty cool for doing live setup and manipulation. But, I would really like to see something like MainStage on iOS. I don't mean the UI design of MainStage. I hate the skeuomorphic thing. But, something where you can design your own UI layouts into the effects and synths and audio routing for songs and then organize them into setlists would be really useful.

  • edited September 2019

    @NeonSilicon said:
    I really like the workflow of AUM and find it pretty cool for doing live setup and manipulation. But, I would really like to see something like MainStage on iOS. I don't mean the UI design of MainStage. I hate the skeuomorphic thing. But, something where you can design your own UI layouts into the effects and synths and audio routing for songs and then organize them into setlists would be really useful.

    Camelot Pro might be this when it gets effects.

    I do like the idea of being able adjust more parameters from the touch screen without switching windows. I'm not sure if more graphical elements would slow down things like screen recording. I've been struggling with this since upgrading to iOS 13.

    For more hands on control, I'm thinking a second device using something like Sonic Logic or Lemur might be better.

    Another workaround is using Xequence Pads AU and using it faders as midi controllers for different parameters across other AUs.

  • Something like Carla in Linux . There is also InGen

    No need to watch the whole video but you get the point

  • My favorite- from FL Studio. Touching an app zooms it. The only “wires” shown are for signal flow and where one plugin controls automation for another. Flipping to the parameters is always one click away. I would love something like this for iOS, except no floating windows for me thank-you. I’m firmly rooted in Audiobus’s way of displaying one at a time but always being able to flip between them with a touch or two. For me it’s the only way to go on the small screen of mobile devices. I just can’t deal with the window diving and resizing in AUM anymore. But - I know - I’m somewhat the exception in that way.

  • I’m talking something like this, but obviously where the synth’s fit the rack haha quick screen cap photo edit

  • @reasOne said:
    I’m talking something like this, but obviously where the synth’s fit the rack haha quick screen cap photo edit

    Interesting, yeah, apps with phone UIs could work like this.....or miRack could support AU and then this is 90% there. :) Kind of like Reason.

  • @Michael described something similar to what you describe in some thread in which we discussed speculative future versions of AB.

  • @lukesleepwalker said:
    @Michael described something similar to what you describe in some thread in which we discussed speculative future versions of AB.

    @Michael would make this concept 1000 times more magical than anything I can envision

  • @auxmux said:

    @reasOne said:
    I’m talking something like this, but obviously where the synth’s fit the rack haha quick screen cap photo edit

    Interesting, yeah, apps with phone UIs could work like this.....or miRack could support AU and then this is 90% there. :) Kind of like Reason.

    Ya I wonder if aus could adapt, basically how they fit into AUM with resize but honestly the AUM workflow is hard when you’re trying to mess with multiple things at once as the apps always default back when you switch back n fourth, but I totally think this concept could be the future

  • @reasOne said:

    [...]

    Ya I wonder if aus could adapt, basically how they fit into AUM with resize but honestly the AUM workflow is hard when you’re trying to mess with multiple things at once as the apps always default back when you switch back n fourth, but I totally think this concept could be the future

    The AU spec has provisions for the host to ask the AU what size UI's it supports and then offer a size that the AU would be compatible with. It doesn't really get used as extensively as it could be. It could get fairly complicated trying to support lots of different size choices.

    The AU definitely can use the current size of the window it's in to change how it displays itself.

    Most AU's can be controlled through their parameters directly and don't even have to have their UI. That's what makes the MainStage way of doing things pretty powerful from a user workflow perspective. The user can select what parameters are important for them to control live and then the host can present a set of parameters for all of the AU's that are being used as if they are one instrument that is laid out the way the user wants them.

  • I just want to see all my stuff on one screen like gadget kinda..
    All the sizing and scrolling and remembering if a synth is to the left or right or whatever kills the flow, but maybe this is just unfeasible, but audiobus is close, if I didn't have to have a whole page dedicated to just one thing but yet maybe get 4 things per page ? I dunno oh well lol

  • You can have specific AU windows pop up in maximized state by the touch of a hardware controller button, just set up the midi mapping for these actions (I'm most familiar with AUM here, but I think AB has the same). Should make for a fast work flow?

  • I had this idea too and this actually made me try developing for iOS 😉 I would love if some already settled and clever developer do this, it’s definitely not that easy to make an (stable) AU host 😂
    I was in touch with Jonatan (AUM developer) and tried to push him this direction, he’s considering “window layouts” concept, which is a bit similar, but not exactly this.
    Also this is the reason why I always loved Reason the most from all desktop DAWs - the device rack layout is so much fun, it’s like having hardware on the desk and fiddling around. Imagine this with MIDI AU plugins...

  • Have the rack layout, and then for each AU be able to define your common control parameters.....and in 'shrunk' mode you see a module style strip with just those 4-5 controls on it, this could all be done in a host app and using AU Parameters...
    Then have a long press or tap or swipe or whatever gesture to open the whole AU.

  • This all sounds good. Certainly got me thinking. I do want to dramatically revise the AB UI at some stage (the separate MIDI/Audio screens has always felt a little off to me), and this sounds like a step in the right direction. Keep it up.

  • edited October 2019

    yeah, I was imagining something in this vein a while ago. To my mind, the flow makes more sense from top down than it does left to right. Sort of like the reason setup, but in this case the signal flow goes from top to bottom (source, fx, output). Each channel having its own "rack".

    I think it would be taxing on the cpu though. Sometimes having a couple GUI's open in AUM or apematrix causes problems. I can only imagine a whole screen of them could present problems. Hopefully as the hardware gets more capable, something like this can exist.

  • edited October 2019

    Agreed, its about the workflow. Sometimes there is too much swiping, tapping etc to get where you want. Thats one reason I still enjoy standalone mode.

    @reasOne said:
    I just want to see all my stuff on one screen like gadget kinda..
    All the sizing and scrolling and remembering if a synth is to the left or right or whatever kills the flow, but maybe this is just unfeasible, but audiobus is close, if I didn't have to have a whole page dedicated to just one thing but yet maybe get 4 things per page ? I dunno oh well lol

  • @hibjshop said:
    Agreed, its about the workflow. Sometimes there is too much swiping, tapping etc to get where you want. Thats one reason I still enjoy standalone mode.

    I’m not entirely sure there’s a truly elegant solution to that on a small screen... in many cases I think any navigation is too much. I guess making your own UI from the params you need for that session, so it’s all on one screen is the way to go.

  • @Michael said:

    @hibjshop said:
    Agreed, its about the workflow. Sometimes there is too much swiping, tapping etc to get where you want. Thats one reason I still enjoy standalone mode.

    I’m not entirely sure there’s a truly elegant solution to that on a small screen... in many cases I think any navigation is too much. I guess making your own UI from the params you need for that session, so it’s all on one screen is the way to go.

    I totally agree. I think it's hard to comprehend how hard it is to make usable touch controls with so little screen space. The controls actually have to be pretty big to have any sort of satisfying feel.

    A configurable scene with the parameters the user needs from each of the AU's would be great. Combine that with MIDI mapping to those controls and you'd have something nearly ideal for me.

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