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
And again @ everyone else: If AUv3 hosting some day appeared in Xequence, trust me that it wouldn't introduce the tiniest bit of instability or sluggishness for MIDI use, as long as you simply don't use AUv3 plugins
I see "Slave to MIDI sync" is very high in the poll as well... @crony probably registered twice in order to vote
Gotta admit that SysEx may be interesting. But it's been like 15 years that i've dealt with it last time.
And it was probably to dump my patterns from some grooveboxes or something
So I guess i'm obtuse regarding that
Oh well, I tried.
Looking forward to being proven wrong!
I'd make a smarter move by suggesting this...
Why don't you include a generic button on each instrument that leads to your favorite AUv3 host ?
Into your global settings you would choose any of major hosts (AUM, AB, APEMatrix...is there others ?...) or even better, I don't know if that case makes sense, but having a different host depending on the patch ? (a crazy synth patch+effect on APE Matrix dedicated to an instrument into X2, then a "regular" synth of AUM, then something else into AB...)
As you'd have discussed with @j_liljedahl some magic recipe, it would have given you a way to switch directly to AUM focused on the right channel (as with his internal user shortcuts, but even clever as it would be direct...)
The cherish on the cake would be that into AUM a X2 icon permanently seen on screen would switch back to X2.
Done.
You're welcome my Master
Yeah, that would all be possible by using custom URL schemes... it is already possible to switch between arbitrary apps that support Audiobus, just not at the channel level (though that could be easily added as additional info in the URL).
If @j_liljedahl added a parameter to AUM URLs that can target a certain channel strip by MIDI channel, I would consider adding such a button, or maybe adding double-tap on the instrument header on the instruments screen to switch to the host.
There would be no need to choose your favorite host because you already do that when selecting the MIDI destination... so that could be automatic.
AUM could then just use the Xequence Audiobus URL to offer a button to switch back to Xequence, but the devil is probably in the details and this would have to be well-designed and thought out before development I think...
A big feature for me would be the ability to record poly aftertouch data.
Do any apps have this atm?
Auria does it at least.
@SpookyZoo aftertouch is recorded, don't know about poly aftertouch, never used that yet...
@SevenSystems with a feature like this, (switch 2 AUM) in a marketing point of view, you'd increase AUM and X2 sales by connecting these 2 apps with almost no dev at all...
Then you could concentrate on major midi improvements that would give you some lengths of advances into midi IOS sequencers...
Yeah, I think Poly aftertouch is probably a huge task.
You have the new Launchpad X right? That has Poly AT.
Good to know. I hear Auria's midi implementation can cause some frustation. Is that still the case?
I think I probably bought every midi app released since 2011 and Xequence (1 &2) is the only one that has ever given me that 'warm & fuzzy' feeling when using.
@SpookyZoo THANKS for the reminder !!!!
@SevenSystems you modified the latest X2 not to stop all Link while loading a new song right ???
That's super cool, as I can load a new song on different iPad, then use the play button on it, and he gets back into Link next cycle !
On the previous versions, after loading a song it would stop everything (Link in all hosts...so AUM)
Now it would be super nice if the stop button into X2 would stop only the instance of X2...In fact it would just need not to send a stop to Link I guess. (?)
I think the Auria midi implementation is fiddly and has to be learnt, but once learnt it has worked pretty solidly though I have to admit. When it comes to preference though I'd much rather use Xequence for piano roll. Sadly it doesn't sync (hence my vote) so I currently can't use Xequence instead of Auria for midi. As I need to be able to use IAA (for Bias FX and also DrumPerfect Pro) and I most definitely need odd time signatures, and the ability to change time signatures within a tune, Auria is pretty much the only DAW I can currently use though.
I also think that lots of other things would be better to add to X2.
Cannot understand why so many seem to like this mixer idea.
Would be the last i would add, or even only to a different App (Xequence Audio)
Right. I might have missed what it actually is btw. I mainly tested for, and checked, aftertouch and it being recorded, but as I think about it I notice you say "poly aftertouch". If that means different aftertouch levels per notes in a simultanous chord: no, Auria does not do that. Sorry. My mistake. Terminology confusion etc.
AU hosting!!! Make it a DAW, baby!!! I haven’t bought Xequence 2 yet, because i couldn’t get into the multi-app setup paradigm of X1. A self-contained Xequence 2 solution would be an insta-buy.
No, ver 2 still don’t.. would be nice if we are not getting Au... All the other AU midi Recorders/Players have shut down further development..
Au.. please.
Ah, yeah. Sounds like it does Channel Aftertouch, not poly. Thanks anyway.
The issue of taking the DAW path is not what you've said: that step #1 is super easy and won't cause pain or distraction. The risk is that once you step on the path, you'll get 10x the number of people on threads like this, all complaining about Xequence's lack of DAW features. "This DAW product is USELESS to me without x, y, and z." How can you possibly ignore them? They paid you money! ... So now development priorities get bogged down making the world's 2,000th DAW that nobody needed, and the core MIDI stuff--which is what everyone loves Xequence for in the first place--goes sideways. All the passionate users get frustrated at lack of progress on the above list...not to mention future dev opportunities to tie MIDI into new products/technologies/etc...
No to bloat, yes to sync!
(voted accordingly)
I’ve always wanted to try Xequence out as a well featured but lightweight and simple to use ‘Satellite’ MIDI sequencer running alongside My PC DAW.
I can imagine others have similar reasons to wish for MIDI sync.
Hahaha!
@pete12000 I have to agree. Except for the “they paid you money, how can you ignore them?” bit. Products should always be purchased for what they are at point of purchase, not what they could be. That’s called investing, and has much more considerable risk. I don’t think it’s fair to put this on developers unless they explicitly do so (as in NS2).
@SevenSystems while I would love to see audio tracks from you, keeping Xequence as it is would be extremely important , which as you describe could still be achieved.
I also like @wim ‘s idea of the piano roll as an AUv3 - keeps with the modular feel of the brand. I’m no brand director though, and will fully support you in your future development.
Photon captures it and plays it back, fwiw.
As long as electronic musicians use sequencing hardware (and it has celebrated a surprising comeback recently), operating the hardware and having software that follows is just a natural thing.
But only with the recent BM3 sync slaving update I've seen how great it really is.
It's working better than Ableton Live in this regard, no joke.
The Roland Sound Canvas app has a ton of SysEx controllable parameters in it (I believe you can coax it to spit out SysEx as well). Take a look at the manual for the SC-8820 hardware to see all the MIDI implementation details.
@SevenSystems : thanks for this opportunity to steer the next stage of Xequence. Just a delicate question, though: I had the misfortune to buy Xequence the day before you released Xequence 2. Obviously don’t begrudge you the extra income for this excellent program, but the poll makes me a little wary of the move to Xequence 2 I was about to do next payday after feeling that I have now at least got my moneys worth out of Xequence, and can afford and justify the move to 2. Are the features under consideration here conceived as an update to Xequence 2 (in which case I’ll take the plunge) or for a Xequence 3 ( in which case I’ll hang on)? Thanks!
I think adding the ability to host AUv3 Instruments/Effects might make the most sense from a perspective that Xequence2 is a midi track creation, and midi editing tool. It would make the app a simpler, faster production tool, for setting up and laying down midi tracks. It would free the App from dependance on external sound sources for those who want to quickly open the App and begin working on their ideas.
It would also be nice if users had the option to export any internal AUv3 tracks as audio files, mix-downs, or a stems, so audio generated within Xequence, could be saved to files, for later import into other Apps and DAWS, including use for creating audio files that could be externally edited to create loops.
Another addition that I think might standout. Would be adding the ability to host more than one AUv3 synth per track. Maybe just two synths per track to ease CPU use. That together with an ability to route and mix the sound from those hosted synths through AUv3 effects various ways to provide an AUM-like in-App sound creation capability. I think that would be really cool.
That all sounds fun and reasonable but I suppose that adding AUv3 instrument and effects support will be like opening a can of worms. Not because it's necessarily difficult to add an AUv3 interface but because of everything else that people would very likely expect to follow up. Like audio and MIDI routing, at least barebones channel strip features in the mixer, AUv3 display fixes for plugins that "do their own thing", standardized mapping of AUv3 parameters, fixing what some AUv3 developers support and others don't etc etc.
I'm not against it but I can imagine that this is such a biggie that the second and third votes in the poll won't be implemented at all in the foreseeable future...
Anyway, I'll let @SevenSystems be the judge.
You just described NanoStudio2 (without Obsidian/Slate). I already have it.
You just described DAWs. I already have (all of) them.
You just described capabilities/reasons for using AB/AUM/Apematrix. I already have them.
What I don't have is a midi plugin/app that can record midi longer than 40-odd bars (hello Atom), in a "regular" timeline, and play it back, in sync with AB/AUM/Apematrix or any other audio host such as Auria etc. What most DAWs do not have is the awesome piano roll that Xequence has. Sadly there is no sensible way to using both Auria/AUM/AB for audio, and Xequence for midi, in sync, today.
In theory ModStep (RIP) and Genome (RIP) can sync, and are quite focused on midi sequencing (though they both use "scenes" or "clips" or "patterns"), but they have a multitude of other problems and the updates are coming in at a pace that make tectonic plate movements seem a tad rapid.
Just my £0.02
This!
@RajahP thanks for replying I was feeling left out :-(