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.
Xequence Feature Poll: What major addition would you like to see next?
To let the user community participate in the decision process, I just wanted to drop this quick poll so people can have a voice and I'm more aware of how to use the available development time accordingly!
If I've missed anything, just let me know and I'll add it to the poll (if that's possible...)
Thanks and sorry for the noise!
- What would you like to see next the most?134 votes
- Chord pads14.18%
- Integrated mixer with AUv3 synth and FX (inserts/sends) hosting39.55%
- MPE support (keyboard, recording, playback & editing)10.45%
- Slave to MIDI sync (clock/start/stop/continue/SPP)15.67%
- SysEx support (recording, playback & editing)  2.99%
- Tempo track  6.72%
- Time signature track10.45%
Comments
Erster
Thanks for the opportunity to give a voice for direction!
MPE support would be great!
One reason i stopped using Xequence was it didn't have a return to host button, not sure why this feature was difficult to add? Maybe Xequence 2 has this? if not that would be a required feature i like to see.
@SevenSystems
Integrating AUs into the system, definitely. I could then ditch AUM and use X2 on its own.
(I will not comment on anything until I get a few more votes in... in order not to bias the result! )
Dropped my vote already. But would add some tool to generate (random) or create manually chord progressions based on a root+scale
That tool is in the Pianoroll edtior => "Insert" menu => PolyHymnia it is "quite random" but it works! (just increase the Polyphony from 1 to 3 or 4...)
@SevenSystems to clarify
Sysex support = midi control of elements ? (like mute, select an instrument ? I guess it's an introduction of the concept...)
Tempo track = an instrument that defines a tempo that is changing in real time during the song ?
Time signature track = an instrument that can change the time signature during the song ?
Also, does slave to midi sync may include at some point an external midi control of it ? (even if slaved)
I know it's not the time for asking for live looping feature...gnnnnrkkzkzf...ok...I shut up...
AUM is already so good. Would there be a benefit in replicating the functionality?
If not, I'd prefer to see continued focus on MIDI sequencing: slave/Master flexibility, tempo track, time signatures, etc.
Sure!
I was rather referring to support for recording / editing / playback of generic SysEx data. Not external control of Xequence by SysEx. External control via MIDI in general is something that is still under consideration, but I haven't included it in this poll because it's not such a "big" feature.
Yes! Essentially you would have a track that can have clips as usual, and each clip contains a single controller lane, which controls the tempo.
Yes, see above
If slave to MIDI sync was added, then a tempo track would be almost trivial to add as well, so the two features would actually probably come together!
Hush hush, back into your corner
Ok I voted for the clock...
Sorry for the majority but OMHO "Integrated mixer with AUv3 synths and fx" would be the worst direction to take...
There's nothing like AUM (or AB), there's nothing like X2, that's why there's 2 apps, that's why there are both so great...(one doing exactly not what the other does)
like @pete I'd also prefer to see continued focus on MIDI sequencing, so voted for the clock
My main use of Xequence is for song writing so would love to have audio tracks one day to stay in the app for singing
Audio tracks are also an addition that is on the list, but they would almost certainly go along with AUv3 hosting and the mixer (necessarily!), so you could also have voted for AUv3
Dang maybe I should have voted for that too! I voted the clock.
@crony believe me, if an audio engine came to Xequence, it would be lovely as well
@SevenSystems
Will never top the poll, wasn't even my first choice but damn, I'd love to have that feature in Xequence. I'd use the heck out of it.
I currently have to use a combo of SysexBase, Snoize and SublimeText2, airdropping between iMac and iPad to get sysex stuff done.
Xequence is so smooth, I'd love to see how you would implement this Sysex feature. Even if it was a separate app.
BTW, if you did ever consider making a separate Sysex app. My top bizarre feature request would be to take 2 separate .syx files and highlight their differences. This would make reverse-engineering .syx files of Synth Patches a whole world easier.
You complete tease! Drool
...
Sorry, I can’t see any benefit of this other what AUM already brings, with all super advanced midi mapping that comes free of bugs and keeping X2 light and tight.
Also consider that you may have with AUM a complete synths/fx autonomous environment that you can plug/unplug/load super fast and ergonomic.
I’m going to send you some screenshots of my midi config Into AUM to have a better view... 😉
@SevenSystems of course i believe you can make this, but so many midi things still have to be done omho with this magnificent X2...
Stay away from AUv3, please bring live midi functions, so we can move over modstep, live, any step sequencer, whatever...
If you going for this, as it seems, please add an option to completely turn off anything related to AUv3.
😁
Audio tracks are also an addition that is on the list, but they would almost certainly go along with AUv3 hosting and the mixer (necessarily!), so you could also have voted for AUv3
oh ok thanks I get it now so +yes for audio
OMG 😳❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🙏☝️😌
Ugh.
I don't like the looks of that poll. I'm almost positive AU hosting, etc. is a bad area to focus on. (See "history of ModStep".) Tons of effort and potential for instability only to enter into an area already packed with competition in catch-up mode. Constantly at the mercy of Apple's screwups and the screwups of plugin developers. I can hear the time-suck sound already.
There's a hideously boring book called "Blue Ocean Strategy" I had to study for work. The concept is simple though. The best odds of success aren't found by swimming in the same patch of ocean where all the other sharks are feeding and competing for food (Red Ocean). It happens by finding a patch of Blue Ocean where there's food without competition.
But - I got no skin in this game, and if anyone can hold their own in the red ocean, it's @SevenSystems.
Was thinking about this and it really does ring true. I love Xequence for it’s simplicity yet its depth in features and ease of use is second to none!
I would 1000% rather see an Xequence AU Piano Roll & Timeline. One instrument per instance. Sync from the host, with option to unsync, midi recording, midi import, midi export.
That's total Blue Ocean right there.
+1 (and voted accordingly)
I too think AU hosting and audio tracks, two things I have a multitude of apps to select between for handling, most of which are extremely mature and capable, is not the route forward for X2, which IMHO is the best piano roll (along with NS2) on iOS.
I strongly believe X2 should continue to focus what sets it apart from the rest, and enforce that, not trying to become what the others already are. I already have all those other apps, and I feel no specific need to ditch AB/AUM if they are required today.
+1 😊👍 This is what we really are missing on IOS!
+1 on that too. Sadly not an option in the poll.
+1
Although midi slave would be awesome
Agree on the blue ocean thing. A one developer daw is basically impossible to release and maintain without major missing features, as has been proven time and time again. Even with a team it’s seemingly incredibly difficult!
I hope if it gets AU it gets forked and we can keep a version without...it is just perfect for MIDI only.
It would definitely be one of the easiest, if not the easiest, feature on that list to implement... Unfortunately I don't have a lot of hardware that sends/receives SysEx, so I would either have to implement it "blind" or maybe look for apps that use SysEx, however strange that may be?
(hope the power doesn't go out while I'm typing all the replies now... I'm in Ireland which doesn't have an extremely stable power grid, and it's very stormy, I'm exactly on the coast, and my UPS is back in the other home
The biggest advantage would be something that's not AUM's fault at all: There would be no more app switching necessary, at least if you stick to a simple, conservative workflow (i.e., no MIDI plugins, as those wouldn't be supported, at least not immediately).
Another would be: everything is in one single project file, and restoring (loading) that project always works 100% reliably.
I know, I know...
Any Xequence instrument would work just as before, except that the "Select MIDI Destination" menu would now be a "Select instrument type" menu, where you could still choose any MIDI destination, but also "AUv3 instrument" as an additional option. That's really it. If you don't want to use it, you don't. It won't use up hardly any resources (trust me, I would hate giving up Xequence's "lean-ness" as much as anyone else.)
@wim, noted everything you said, and you said it well The thing with AUv3 hosting (and possibly audio tracks) is that it is incidentally (I think we got enough votes now that I can talk freely!) also highest on MY personal list. The other big thing about it is that it would be much, much easier to sell that way -- it would be a simple "all-in-one" environment for creating music (sans the plugins of course), and I'm sure that is much more comprehensible than MIDI routing. So I would suppose the potential target group -- even in a crowded market -- would be several factors larger that what it is now.
But nothing is set in stone anyway! I'm just taking a sniff of the atmosphere, so to say.