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
The video made me curious about automating tempo to emulate a real drummer. Has anyone tried this and is it worth looking at?
yeah a little push and pull is a good method to use on drum tracks and not uncommon. and of course it's the only way to do this.
I think he was trying to convey something else
I always do this. I don't do dance music, so it is basically a requirement.
Easy for a basic approach in Korg Gadget and Patterning 2. And almost adequate in Modstep (no ramp up down). Easiest and most powerful in Reaper.
I woudn't say I don't quantize though. I just don't quantize 100%. I record almost everything live, i.e. I play the instruments or midi, don't mouse in.
I quantize the 1s almost always. I often also find that what ends up being the most groovy is clarifying which beats are pushed and pulled and quantizing the rest. That gets to why a swing knob/slider is a joke. That is just one push/pull pattern. In looking at songs I've written or covered, there are hundreds of patterns, pushed or pulled odd beats, pushed measure, straight measure,....really anything you can think of.
Why do you suppose backing tracks are so lifeless?
Btw, This is why I had absolutely no interest in the latest drum sequencers here. Quantization is baked in = no groove
Show me any credible musician, with incredible timing, who prefers to use quantization on their main instrument. It’s a crutch
Like autotune — beloved by people who cannot sing
There are several methods of quantization. Not just "to take the life out of a track". I will often completely quantize a drum track. Or a very rhythmic keyboard part - something that is motoring along. Turn off quantize (or don't quantize) a melody line. Will manually move notes to get just the right push or pull (like @Multicellular said above).
It is a tool, a very good one. But I try not to use that tool for everything. Otherwise - ya know, hammers and that ole analogy.
Quantization has its place and is, I suppose, a defining characteristic of certain styles of music and that’s fine. There is a lot of it that I like.
BUT good musicians..musicians whose work moves you modulate rhythm and tempo in ways that are quite complex and can’t currently be achieved by simple tricks...other than the trick of taking the time to play your instrument. Listen to any of the great drummers or bass players or rhythm sections and you’ll notice that even when playing to a metronome, they do some things outside the click (for instance, keep the kick completely synced to the beat and pushing or lagging the snare or vice versa) and without a click they’ll make small adjustments that impact the sense of tension and release.
Unfortunately, society has changed in such a way that live music at clubs and coffee house, etc is something that people experience less frequently than at some times in the past while hearing recorded quantized music everywhere. So a lot of people don’t realize what they are missing.
Quantize, then add a groove. Best of all worlds, or something.
techno can be great with off the grid beats. It's more about knowing which beats need to be on the grid, and which should be off. In most styles there are going to be some beats which must be on the '1', or whatever - and other beats which can push and pull..
I'm in the Multicellular camp as well, the slightest pulls and pushes in the right places makes a world of difference to me and that's with non-quantized beats, but quantize when it's called for and as a tool it has it's place
Only “producers” use quantize. I have yet to meet a single serious musician who uses it on their main instrument. Probably worth it to join some drum circles to get things going. And to listen to music outside of electronic genres...
Here’s one problem with being a quantize person: you will never be able to play with other musicians in any kind of traditional context. You’ll be poking around on your iPad when everyone else is playing ukulele.
That’s why people make fun of DJs, fyi. (And I love dance music)
This is why I love Koala rather than Pulse. When I realized Pulse was tied to a (64th note) grid, immediately asked for a refund. Can’t use that for nothing funky!!!
Seriously, I bet. For real, I’m encouraging people in this thread to keep trying to go without and to join drum circles along the way...
Quantised/unquantised. It all depends on what you are trying to achieve. If you want make music like James Brown you better not quantised your shit. If you like using a 909 quantise is cool.
@Max23 Am I right in thinking that improvising with others is difficult as a result as well?
it all really depends on what you're after, for example like Trevor said if you want to funk like James brown you nah wanna quanitize mon, but if you want to groove like Neo soul it can be done bwa!... like this
now this clip is about swing, but he's only swinging the hats and everything else is hard quantized and the head still nod mon.
and Trevor I have never seen so many L's in a name you are truly blessed sir.
😂. Yep I tend to spell out my surname to people in day to day life alot.
Logic has some cool tools for quantize, I like the Q-strength, the percentage it quantized, you can dial in how on-the-grid you want it to be. There’s another one that is like a Q window, where it only quantizes notes outside of a certain tightness, and leaves the tight ones alone.
I also like 100% quantize but a short delay (either to the midi or a delay plugin like Sample Delay) to put drums or something ahead or behind the beat. And groove tools are excellent, like Reason’s regroove mixer.
Little timing things are a very artistic part of music, it really isn’t the same as randomization. It’s something good players and good groups do naturally. Electronic music programming people have to do it cognitively and deliberately.
Sometimes I just hit quantize though