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.

Song Of The Month Club - October 2019

2

Comments

  • @Elvisthenrodent said:
    @richardyot

    Thanks for your comment, do you have some ideas to polish the sound more towards 2019.
    I'm new to this stuff, definitely grew up during the days of early techno and still stuck there😁.

    I guess even current techno is still pretty raw (Charlotte de Witte etc) but EDM in general is much more layered and melodic than the stuff from the 80s and 90s. More synths, more pads, more varied rhythms etc...

  • Firstly, thank you for your feedback. It really does mean a great deal to me and I’m quite happy that my references to 80’s pop and house fit with what I was going for.
    Your track had many intriguing and ultimately really wonderful elements that I enjoyed. I haven’t heard much from this genre or style before but I think it is very well produced and shows a lot of maturity in your musical abilities because it is able to continue with the evolving ambient pads and spaciousness. The bass line, while seemingly simple, fit the drum pattern and flow of the song and I thought that the vocals and FX really tied it all together. > @richardyot said:

    My entry this month, lyrics in the spoiler.

    The track was initially composed in Gadget (Warsawa is all over this), with the vocal tracking, additional instruments and final mix done in Auria. I mixed up a bunch of ideas, with ambient and soundscpapey things and indie vocals, but going for a paranoid vibe rather than a chill-out one. The slide guitar is inevitably reminsiscent of How Soon Is Now, but that wasn't intentional.

    Far from home
    And nowhere to escape to
    And I’m so alone
    I cannot seem to find you
    I’ve lost my way
    I cannot find the way home
    I’ve gone astray
    I want to find my way home

    I can’t the find the way home
    Cos I’m as lost as you
    There’s so much doubt inside me
    I don’t know what to do

    In my dreams
    I’m always running from you
    So it seems
    But where am I going to run to?
    I’ve lost my way
    I’ve gone astray

    I can’t the find the way home
    Cos I’m as lost as you
    There’s so much doubt inside me
    I don’t know what to do

  • @orchardman said:
    So I think we are all countried out for a little while. Something a little bit different from us this month. Heavy Brass and Amplitube Fender pack to the forefront on this one.

    This track has a great arrangement and I think each instrument really fits well into this context. I really liked the guitar tone in this tune during the verses and I thought that the way you panned the brass and the delayed reverb left and right was done very well. Great job.

  • edited October 2019

    Haven't checked in lately.... Scanned through tracks to date - need a good listen still so I can constructively comment.

    I finally managed to complete another track (slow year this year). Not my best to my ears, but I like it - or I wouldn't share! I'm still 100% on the PC these days. This one was loosely inspired by Ivardensphere in terms of style and also mixing/mastering, though somehow a twang of country snuck in even though I don't like country music. Well, that's my style: just going where the music takes me.

    Lots of synths on this one, including those doubling as guitar sounds. Even managed to sneak a little of my hardware SE-02 synth in, though it should be pretty indistinguishable with the quality software synths (Hive, Repro, Diva, Omnisphere and several Kontakt instruments). Warning - it's meant to have some bass to it. I think I tamed it just enough to match the style I was going for on that aspect, but watch out if you have a subwoofer.

    EDIT: Hmm. Clearly I don't post tracks enough anymore since I can't get the bandcamp preview to show up. What's the secret for formatting?

    callforsubmission.bandcamp.com/track/innervue

    Well, here's Soundcloud, then, since BC is being annoying
    https://soundcloud.com/profile4djs/innervue

  • Something silly for October.

    I used the Launchpad app to create the track. Then I ran it through the Lurssen Mastering Console app to add some warm.

  • @vitocorleone123 very intense and good atmosphere. I found it catchy and intriguing till the end.

    @orchardman Thank you very much (and still thinking about following the Wales-Pyrenean country path :-)

    @DavidEnglish Very original and surprising. Kind of electronic Zappa ironic stuff! Enjoyed it!

  • edited October 2019

    Triple J - a ‘youth’ radio station (whatever that means) in Sydney - is in the final stages of a remix competition. The stems they made available were from RÜFÜS DU SOUL’s new track New Sky.

    This is my version of the song. I didn’t want to do yet another dance remix so I turned them into a rock band. When I set out it was going to be a full on shoegaze version, à la Ride, but it never quite got there and ended up how it is here.

    Most of this is real guitar plus plugins (Iris 2, Diva, Blue3 mainly) in Logic but I did use Volt on iOS for the intro sound (recorded in NS2 FWIW).

    The only part that is performed by RÜFÜS is the vocal.

  • @richardyot said:
    My entry this month, lyrics in the spoiler.

    The track was initially composed in Gadget (Warsawa is all over this), with the vocal tracking, additional instruments and final mix done in Auria. I mixed up a bunch of ideas, with ambient and soundscpapey things and indie vocals, but going for a paranoid vibe rather than a chill-out one. The slide guitar is inevitably reminsiscent of How Soon Is Now, but that wasn't intentional.

    Far from home
    And nowhere to escape to
    And I’m so alone
    I cannot seem to find you
    I’ve lost my way
    I cannot find the way home
    I’ve gone astray
    I want to find my way home

    I can’t the find the way home
    Cos I’m as lost as you
    There’s so much doubt inside me
    I don’t know what to do

    In my dreams
    I’m always running from you
    So it seems
    But where am I going to run to?
    I’ve lost my way
    I’ve gone astray

    I can’t the find the way home
    Cos I’m as lost as you
    There’s so much doubt inside me
    I don’t know what to do

    This is great. Really nice. It strikes a nice balance between being dark and being accessible. The mix is good to my ears.

    My only thought would be to have less of the breathing at the start - I like it but less is more. :)

  • @vitocorleone123 I really like this, interesting and varied with themes that weave in and out so the balance between novelty and repetition is just right.

    The melodies are hooky, the beat keeps the toes tapping, and there are lots of fun and funky details to enjoy. Good arrangement and production too, and the ending is great as it takes the track off into a new direction before returning to the main theme. It's not easy to write a really compelling instrumental but this one succeeds IMO.

  • @DavidEnglish said:
    Something silly for October.

    I used the Launchpad app to create the track. Then I ran it through the Lurssen Mastering Console app to add some warm.

    I like the quirky main theme, it's fun and engaging, and the drunken chords and wobble bass add to the quirky feel. The little stabs and glitchy drums are also pretty cool, I could imagine this on an Avalanches album.

  • @qryss beautiful track, love the guitars, love the atmosphere and love the vocal as well. You did a great job with the remix, lots of craft and creativity in there, and it goes amazingly well with the vocal, you could swear that it was always meant to be like this.

    The production is great, and the track has a wonderful ebb and flow, lots of variety and it feels like a journey, particularly the guitar crescendo towards the end that really helps to take the intensity up for the final section. Great job - hope you win the remix competition. And great playing as well :)

  • edited October 2019

    @richardyot it's been some time since I dialed in - I like the overall dark, electro feel of the piece. I enjoy your signing, as always. I was wondering if you'd consider a version B of the track where you maybe use a talkbox now and then (not something that'll make you sound like Daft Punk) or some distortion to emulate that and see what you think. I almost get that effect around 2:38 with the distorted synth. Probably a more solid suggestion would be to try and bring back the breathing from the intro somewhere in the middle (or end?), just one or two breaths.

  • @JoHe I liked it - kind of a downtempo (ok maybe i don't know my genres well) abstract piece. I agree with Richard about how the song really came together around 1:40ish... could the part before that be shortened? What if you chopped most of it off? This happens to me: I make an intro I like, I have people tell me to chop it all, I cut as much as I can stand, which isn't all of it :-) As it stands, I do think it'd be stronger with most of that removed. I'd also like to hear some more phrases from your friend.

  • @Kitusai Very cool, minimalist piece. Different in a good way. I'm still pondering it. If I had to come up with something, I guess I'd ask if you'd tried a dark, droning sound to fill in the gaps half way through or thereabouts, but not something that'd distract from the rest.

  • edited October 2019

    @orchardman So... I vote to forget that country stuff and do more of THIS. B) Seriously. Or maybe not forget it, but put it on a shelf for a few tracks. Mixing it up with something different seems inspirational based on this track. Had to consider how to crit this one. I came up with 2 minor things with some effort.

    1) I found myself wanting a tiny one or two note flourish on the very last bits of the main horns half-way through the track and beyond - they're awesomely present in the mix and sound great, but they do get just the slightest bit predictable.

    2) the kick wasn't mixed to what my ears wanted to hear... i guess i was looking for it to be more centered than left, but it was also maybe a little too hollow sounding or something. I wouldn't want it to take away from the rest of the track, but maybe that was it - it was standing out a tad too much to me because it didn't sit right in my mind.

  • @DavidEnglish Silly, maybe. Fun? Yes! I say do another if you can. Guess I'd say what I said for someone else - what if the intro were a little shorter? I liked the funkiness a lot, and the beats really matched well. I liked the overall production. As someone making instrumentals himself, it can be easy to be tempted to see how far you can carry it (I've carried it too far before and am always nervous when I get to something like the 5min of the one I submitted this month) - but I think you pretty well nailed it for overall length. Well done.

  • @qryss I agree with @richardyot - not knowing the original artist, this sounds like it's The Song it's meant to be, which means the remix is fantastic. I love when remixes take a song in a new direction that isn't something the original artist would probably ever do. It's OK to us little/no iOS music here... I haven't made an iOS track in awhile, as I went on to invest in PC software. So, honestly, this artist should bring you into the sudio. That could've easily been on the radio.

  • @richardyot and @vitocorleone123 - thank you both very much for taking the time to review my offering to the club. And thank you both for your comments! It’s wonderful to be able to get considerate feedback from people such as yourselves in an environment like the ABF. That you both say nice things is the cherry on the cake. :)

    A lot that I have learned right here was applied to this remix: last year I upgraded my headphone selection following specific posts here and many comments on mastering - and especially paying attention to LUFS - were also invaluable (the latter mostly from you, @richardyot ).

    On another note, I found it massively useful as an exercise to have stems from an artist I love a lot to work with. Having the vocal (and the song, really) already done meant I could focus on the rest of it so much more creatively - and it was thrilling just to be working with Tyrone Lindqvist‘s voice. Being a competition it had a time limit too which concentrates the creativity.

    So I would recommend downloading stems from competitions like this even if it’s just to work with as an exercise. There’s one for the recent Flume / Vera Blue song right now - go and get the stems from here! You’ve got 19 days...

  • edited October 2019

    @vitocorleone123 Finally got to listen to your track (busy last few days!). I liked it a lot - while I try to resist the temptation to liken people’s work to others it did put me in mind of a wild mashup of the Human League and the Sisters of Mercy (Floodland / Gift era - actually Gift is The Sisterhood but close enough).

    I was immediately drawn to the cimbalom sound - always a favorite of mine from growing up with Kodaly - but I would have loved to have heard it dirtied up a little bit. Maybe run through SDDR or something like that. Actually Synth Warmer or similar might have been good for all the synth sounds? The groove of the track had a nicely sinister feel to it but the sounds were a bit too clean to go further in that direction. Does that make some kind of sense? :)

    I felt the track was always waiting for something to happen. My suggestion would be to take the vocal from around 3:20 and to work that up into a chorus à la Sisters of Mercy. They (and The Mission after them) were great at making verses and choruses that had the exact same bassline and chords. You could also start with a bit of it as a taster...

    Just my two cents but a great set of sounds and a real feel to the track. Nice mix, too.

  • @Kitusai This is amazing. I don’t know how you make all those sounds but they are incredible. For me, this evokes people like David Sylvian, Talk Talk, Frank Zappa - all the people who dare to be different but who have a strong, unique sense of music and expression.

  • edited October 2019

    @qryss I enjoyed a lot your rocking mix and I share the feeling of @richardyot "you could swear that it was always meant to be like this." The guitars with Iris2 are just amazing. The global mix is absolutely consistent (l'ensemble est tout à fait réjouissant). Bravo !

  • It’s been a bit hectic this month so only now catching up with my comments;

    @JoHe nice haunting intro although it was getting a bit repetitive by the time the pianos come in. The middle section is pretty with the 80s piano sounds and synth textures. Ultimately though, like a lot of instrumentals it doesn’t really go anywhere.

    @Faland a little one dimensional for me, it needed some contrast in rhythm maybe drop the beat in some sections. I liked the spacey sounding synth sounds and I felt the horn like stabs could be a bit higher in the mix.

    @FunkMachine this one as a nice 80s vibe with lots of interesting things going on. I’m not a big fan of windy sounding synths so by the end I was finding your main synth sound a little grating.

    @mrrain a little too ambient for me. Although the initial sound has some atmosphere It doesn’t really go any where after that.

    @Elvisthenrodent this one took me back to the 70s listening to the floyd and Tangerine Dream only it was missing the melodic parts. It felt like a very long intro rather than a complete track.

    @vitocorleone123 you definitely through everything but the kitchen sink at this one. Lots of really interesting synth sounds and really nicely produced. For me it was a little too long, I’m not sure the main melodic theme was enough to carry for the full 5 minutes. I didn’t get the country vibe either I’m afraid.

    @DavidEnglish a quirky little number that somehow reminded me of playing space invaders as a kid. Some interesting synth sounds and rhythms but like a lot of the instrumentals on here this month ultimately it doesn’t really go anywhere.

    @qryss loved this. Really professional sounding production with some great instrumentation. Great job.

  • @richardyot said:

    @JoHe said:
    This thread is a nice idea. I'm happy to contribute. I remixed a song of an old friend of mine. I only took her voice and main synth line. Drums, Piano, hornsn and synth arpeggio was added by me. I used ableton and NI Kontakt for this remix. Cheers

    The best bit by far for me is the break that comes in at 1.40, it's really musical and interesting to listen to, and provides a nice contrast with the rest of the song. Nice choice of sounds with the synth textures and accents contrasting with the piano.

    I was expecting to hear a bit more from the vocal, it seems to just be "oooohs" and doesn't offer much in the way of melodic interest - it gets a bit monotonous playing over the length of the track with no variation.

    Fascinating take. I happen to disagree. I think it would be really ordinary with vocals, and that the interest comes in the textures and the subtle build. But this is kind of right in my wheelhouse. Really nice stuff @JoHe.

  • edited October 2019

    @orchardman Thank you for the nice comment - I just wish it was my own song and not a remix! I quite liked your song but I did think the mix could do with some work - not just the balance but the sounds. To my ears, where they could sound authentic they sound synthesised. Possibly just running them through an amp sim might help. Can I suggest you listen to this track? It’s not a million miles away from yours in spirit and instrumentation but the mix is quite different. I hope it’s useful as a comparison.

    @Elvisthenrodent I know it’s not acid but my suggestion for how to make 2019 dance music that has just a few instruments like yours would be to listen to some of Nina Kraviz’s sets for inspiration. Perhaps this one:

    (Check the reverb on the kick In the first track! You can duck reverb like this with Kleverb, by the way...)

    Nina is just amazing. #gushingfan

  • edited October 2019

    @orchardman
    Thanks for your opinion, you are right their should be more variation in the song, creativity let me down halfway i guess.
    I really wanted to finish something for once and not start a new project in cubasis and let this die out. Tangerine dream, i'll have to check them out.
    For the moment i don't always get the apps to sound like what i'm hearing in my head so i need loads more practice.
    Your track is very nice btw, nice fender crunch and good atmosphere.
    @qryss
    I stopped listening to electronic music in 2004 or something and started playing guitar then, so i have a large black hole in my electronic music database :) . Will listen to the set today, everything nowadays sounds smoother i guess. When i listen to stets of new techno dj's, some parts of the sets would have been labeled as trance in my days. Thanks for your tips and i'll hit the play button now.

    Thta's a nice set, has some chill moments too. She has skills i must say, stumbled on this cornrow thing that blew up in her face. I don't understand all that stuff, getting old i guess.

    @JoHe
    This is a really nice track, positve vibes all over the song.

  • @richardyot
    I really like the beat and noise-like background at the start. The opening feels like an indie movie that’s about to cue up some important plot element. Didn’t expect the voice to suddenly enter or the guitar twang. Nice progression of sounds. Lyrics are a good mix with the overall tone and changing direction of the instruments. Especially like the ebb and flow of the piece. Very cool track.

    @Kitusai
    Love the slow-motion feel. Vocal has a nice tentative quality that’s both spooky and intriguing. The mechanical sound adds to the overall effect. The shortness of the track leaves you wanting more. Reminds me of the intricate, nostalgic boxes of Joseph Cornell.

    @orchardman
    I particularly like the instrumentation, which reminds me of the brass-heavy songs of the 1960s. Vocal and lyrics work well. I haven’t heard your other tracks, so I don’t how different this one is, but if it’s a new direction, it’s remarkably polished for unexplored territory.

    @JoHe
    It has a terrific opening with a mechanical fluttery feel. Takes off nicely when the drumbeat is introduced. Good backbeat and tempo. The piano works well to change up the track, while not seeming to be too far afield. The last section with the fuller instrumentation and increased volume seems well earned and satisfying. The wind-down is also well constructed with glimmers of earlier passages. Very nice indeed.

    @FunkMachine
    Back to the time machine, Mr. Peabody. This one has a wonderful and playful nostalgic quality. You’ve really captured both the feel and the instruments of an era. Has a nice toe-tapping beat, which helps to sustain it throughout the musical transitions. A track that will always deserve one more listen. Loved it.

    @mrrain
    This is the kind of slow, ambient track that I like to do, so I know how hard it is to get it right. I especially like how the overall sound is placed inside your head when using headphones. The music itself evolves well, as does the placement of the sounds in the pseudo 360-degree headspace. The binaural location of the various waves of sound is remarkably good. The visuals also work well with the track. Very impressive.

    @qryss
    Nice opening with the stringy, twangy guitar. The vocal blends in well with the space left open by the instruments. Nice transitions move the track along at a good pace. A little hard to hear the lyrics in a few places. Might slightly remix vocal or instruments with the flow of the lyrics in mind. Good build-up at the end.

    @vitocorleone123
    I like the heavy bass combined with the unexpected tinkly piano. Nice driving beat with good transitions that add variety without losing the overall feel. Keeps coming up with surprisingly new instrumental sounds that play both inside and outside the main theme. Love the occasional vocal effects. Good final section where all the elements come in for a full crescendo. Despite its length, this one stays interesting throughout by continually playing against expectations.

  • This one started out on iOS GarageBand and got finished in Logic pro

  • @richardyot said:
    My entry this month, lyrics in the spoiler.

    The track was initially composed in Gadget (Warsawa is all over this), with the vocal tracking, additional instruments and final mix done in Auria. I mixed up a bunch of ideas, with ambient and soundscpapey things and indie vocals, but going for a paranoid vibe rather than a chill-out one. The slide guitar is inevitably reminsiscent of How Soon Is Now, but that wasn't intentional.

    Far from home
    And nowhere to escape to
    And I’m so alone
    I cannot seem to find you
    I’ve lost my way
    I cannot find the way home
    I’ve gone astray
    I want to find my way home

    I can’t the find the way home
    Cos I’m as lost as you
    There’s so much doubt inside me
    I don’t know what to do

    In my dreams
    I’m always running from you
    So it seems
    But where am I going to run to?
    I’ve lost my way
    I’ve gone astray

    I can’t the find the way home
    Cos I’m as lost as you
    There’s so much doubt inside me
    I don’t know what to do

    Thank you for this track I enjoyed it a lot. I listened to it from beginning to end and enjoyed it all the way. Good job!

  • Hello,

    Long time no see... :) Here's my latest track...

    Hope you'll like it !

    I'm listening to yours, and preparing my comments...

  • edited October 2019

    Don't get mad at me, this is my honest opinion, I don't want to hurt people, I'm just sharing MY feelings...I'm not famous or even having any authority in good taste...
    You may hate my tracks, no problem :)

    @richardyot hmm, not sure about the voice, the grain is okay, but seems out of tune to me sometimes. Production is okay, but I've listened tracks from you I've been much more into...Sorry :(

    @JoHe I really liked the break, but then, it never really push things. Too bad, the ambiance is interesting, it sounds a bit unfinished to me.

    @Kitusai I really like the production, it's very clear and very original, congrats !

    @orchardman I'm really not into rock...I can't be objective, it's quite neat, but I don't feel anything...Sorry :(

    @Faland ah ! There's really things love here, and so much I hate !!! The beat is great but I hate the kind of theremin theme, then there's too much stuffs...Oh my, I'd love to try a remix of this ! :)

    @FunkMachine well, it's funny, well done in a house style, not particularly original, not good, not bad...Hmm...Sorry :(

    @mrrain I like the ambiance, maybe it might be shorter, or having more evolutions, but it create a nice feeling, well done :)

    @Elvisthenrodent ah, acid ! Well, a bit simple... seems coming directly from the 90's, the beat should get a bit more of swing and variations. At least you didn't add thousands of sounds which is good, keep going ! :)

    @vitocorleone123 I like the intro, then it just going in different directions, I lost the track. Did you create the midi with the sounds and synths or are they samples ?

    @DavidEnglish funny construction, I like the theme, original, nice ambiance, would polish a bit more...Sounds a bit unfinished which is too bad. Keep going ! :)

    @jimmy well...Not super funky... :wink: nice voice, nice production, very impressed by the sound, very clean and pro ! Then, I also must admit as a non rock guy, it's not really my cup of tea...

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