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
Haha, this is how it goes. Feature requests already, after not much time with the LE version
We have to accept these things are they are, not how we would have them be. Otherwise it's a mess of frustration and dinking about waiting.
If you didn't buy it yet, maybe hold off on Gadget for now. It might well be a waste of your money. The Korg sale isn't anything special fyi - they happen frequently, so don't worry about that. Maybe watch tutorials of what you're most interested in and figure out which advice is best tailored to you personally. I'd have pointed you at Nanostudio 2, so you might want to take what I say with a grain of salt.
Actually not sure. I'm not a Gadget power user. Not a fan of its blocky sequencer or the ifx in general.
Also a note on these sales - you're only saving money if you would have bought it anyway.
I really recommend AUM workflow, and you can also achieve a similar workflow with apeMatrix and Audiobus, so recommend having all these hosts for different workflows. I think these give the best experience on iOS. I echo the statement above that it's not a platform best for arranging and finishing, but generating ideas and parts. You can of course finish things with it but you'll have less control than a desktop daw with more frustrations.
With AUM + Audio units you can build your own sequencer, groovebox/mixer and what you can build with it advances with time as more types of AUs are released. And yes limitations in this workflow can give excellent results and get you in the zone, over working with a daw. Also working with external gear and this setup is great too.
AUM is the only workplace I actually use in ios, yep it lacks midi recording which I wish would be addressed by having built-in midi and audio looper which would be enough.
DAW's on ios dont really work well for me so I link AUM to Ableton Live on the PC if any of my doodles are worth a go at mixing.
Soon an app called Drambo will be released which is like an sampler/sequencer with built in VCV rack minus the wires.
It's a all in one solution but not a DAW.
From my experience there are broadly two types of ways to approach any new software (this applies on the desktop as well, and not just to music software):
There are those that have specific expectations of how an app should work, and expect the apps they use to conform to those expectations.
Then there are those who are willing to adapt to the way an app is designed, and learn new workflows and if necessary make compromises in order to be productive with less-than-perfect apps.
People who fit more in the first category than the second usually get very frustrated with iOS workflows, and generally are much happier if they combine iOS with the desktop in some way.
This. Well said!
Well, I disagree with that simplification because I fit in the second category and think iOS is best when combined with a computer. Also there are no perfect apps anywhere
I think it's really down to what type of music you want to create and how much control you need. It's not a good idea to expect iOS to do everything well, touch screen can't do that. If it could everyone would be doing everything with touch screens and they don't, no one would buy any hardware. It's not about ability to be adaptive learn and new workflows, you'll need that to create anything interesting on any platform.
I like experimenting with advanced workflows which can be very complex, too complex for iOS on it's own. If you're similar to that type of person I don't think you'll get on with iOS daws for example.
I think it's impossible to give any specific app advice to the OP. The apps on the iOS platform are so diverse and they are so great in number that it's near impossible to say which is suitable for who. And which app you should use for a specific genre. It all comes down to personal preference; what works for you.
allthough I'm a rock/doom gitarist kind a guy, I really enjoy Korg Gadget, it's instant inspiration for me and the midi implementation isn't basic at all in my opinion. That said I don't like fiddling with to many apps (although I have plenty) so AUM and AB really don't appeal to me at all; too much app switching. So I stay clear of those apps. I like Gadget and Auria pro and I like their limitations and trying to find a way to make them work for me.
Probably best advice is find the tool which appeals to you the most, which gets you making music instantly and try not to focus too much on shortcomings. As someone said earlier, there are no perfect apps.
That's been my hunch and the reason I haven't bought any of the iOS DAWS. I've considered, then looked at videos and read posts and realised that with all the limitations, why bother learning a new DAW which I know will be less powerful than Cubase 7 on my desktop? @Carnbot, thanks for indirectly confirming my hunch: I feel like I've saved myself a lot of time and money not touching iOS DAWS. OTOH, I picked up ApeMatrix yesterday to expand "modular" capabilities in AUM. In all I must have spent almost a £100 on apps I soon realised didn't like, or didn't work for me. But it could have been a lot worse! And I don't regret it. AUM is great fun and pretty open ended with Rozetta and/or an external sequencer. I'm getting lots of material out of it that I'm pleased with: riffs, perc parts etc. for playback and further processing. Discovering a couple of months back that AUM via AB slaves well to external midi clock and transport has opened many, many possibilities.
The main issue with ios apps is more often than not they are released a little half baked like the OP mentioned, many have bugs which is not really acceptable when you charge money IMO. For the hardcore it is a really nice little niche where users can help the developers in the evolution of the software but for a user who just wants to use a tool straight off the bat and complete a project ios can fall short.
Heh, I find BM3 clunky but I still use it twenty hours a week and love it. (Shruggy shoulders)
Yeah I don't get hung up on clunky, I'm a happy Auria user 🤘
I think the only way to figure it out for yourself on iOS, and this applies to pretty much all the heavy duty / hardcore / super nerd / evangelical iOS fans is unfortunately to spend spend spend and mutate your expectations settling in to something you probably didn't initialy think you wanted or envisioned (maybe I am projecting there).
For me this whole thing has been about wanting to make music mobile on the go while commuting and comfortably on the couch with as little back and forth to desktop as possible, if not simply completely removing desktop. In that process I came to grips with what I even want out of a music hobby, and yes it will always be a hobby for me. The dream of it being more is as dead as my Amiga.
Anyway, ramping up the iOS music experience is definitely a process and when done thoroughly, exploring all options likely always an expensive one. One persons dream piano roll and plethora of synth modulation options is another persons shackles and dog on a stick.
I’ve been searching for my perfect iOS music workflow since 2013. It still doesn’t exist. I investigate everything that comes out and try what seems promising. The only systems I’ve completed many tracks with are Gadget and Nanostudio 2, and then only by making peace with their limitations. I keep at it because, even with the limitations and compromises, I find my mobile device more pleasant to work with than my Windows computer.
The ipad has even changed my musical interests and I am far more ‘beats’ influenced than I used to be. Just obeying the whims of BM3 I guess. Hell I don’t even change the default 90 bpm any more. Whats that BM3? Coming my Dear...
Over time it probably can be called "expensive" of course, but comparing to the desktop I still find the iOS pricing cheap. I mean for the entry fee of one single desktop software you can get a boatload of iOS apps. The thing is, if you go the desktop software route you still wish for diversity and multitude and all of a sudden you've bought a handful of software that are really good at what they do, but you are now counting costs in several 100's (regardless of currency) quite quickly. In that regard, exploring on iOS is a lot cheaper though it, as most things in life, come with trade-offs.
If we are talking hobby or enthusiast level (which being iOS I assume so) then desktop is super cheap. 60$ for reaper, tons of free vsts with a steady stream of cheap plugin boutique sales that pretty much kick iOS app butt. If a person can just control their salivating for the super high end like Omnisphere and Komplete (which clearly are a totaly different level of stratosphere than anything on iOS) I think your hobby dollar goes way further on desktop.
There is another option that no-one has yet mentioned...turn around...run...and don't look back
This was covered on page 1 by @richardyot
Oh, missed that LOL
GB has basic volume automation. There are ways to achieve pan automation - even though it is missing (watch Pete Johns videos).
On iOS there is no one perfect solution that meets all your needs. Even Cubasis (my fav DAW), GB, FLSM, Gadget, Auria, etc are not perfect and have shortcomings/glitches.
That is like aiming to become fourth in the local wheelbarrow race. No one does that. And that is not me taking the piss of the very competent Reaper (I've paid for it myself). Just saying if you start the race, you usually aim to get the best tools money can buy that you can afford, and it'll quite likely be more expensive on desktop than on iOS.
You’re not missing anything iOS sequencing is definitely a klunkfest. But it can be a delightful way to pass down time instead of watching tv etc.
But if you really want to get ish done stick to the desktop 😎
'The best tools money can buy that you can afford.'
What you can afford would not change from desktop to iOS. That would be a fixed amount. People can't afford to spend more because of the platform, that comes down to their budget/life. So what value are we assuming here?
When i think of how far $200+ goes in both camps I easily stand by what I said. Maybe at the sub $50 total something like NS2 or Gadget would be unmatched on desktop?
@AudioGus : Never knew that NS2 didn’t have swing quantize . I imagine they’ll remedy that in the future though .
Well reaper is free on desktop
Yah it has a free trial that doesn't expire but they do expect you to pony up 60$ at least.
I have to admit I never use reaper 🤗
Does it not ?
You are right about the maths behind that of course. I'm more saying "if you are looking to get 3-4 great synths" it'll be let costly on iOS than on desktop. Yeah yeah, I know, there is freeware etc...but I'm talking about the stuff where you have a view on what it should sound like, not just "here's a handout, be happy". So if you set out to get, say, one each of a competent subtractive synth, additive synth, wavetable synth, a granular and perhaps one sample based sound source, it is quite likely going to cost less on iOS than on desktop. Or, if we should draw a hard line in the sand, go purchase the FabFilters on desktop, let me know what it'll cost you, and tell me how much more than the FabFilters you would ALSO get on iOS for that same desktop price of the FabFilters.
Just saying one can be clever about where to put the hard earned cash. We are quite lucky on this platform so far. Possibly due to lack of complete and simple solutions a.k.a trade-offs (see previous posts in thread).
Note that it is under the 'record' tab and not the 'play' tab.
My understanding is that swing becomes embedded in the recording quantization phase as opposed to being adjustable in real-time on the fly. In order to adjust that swing you would need to re-quantize it at a different swing setting here after the initial ‘swing-ed (swung?)’ recording...