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
All bets are off once an app goes to Beta. There's simply no way to predict how long that process needs to take. If there were, then beta testing wouldn't be necessary. I think all that's being said is the app will be ready for beta testing very soon.
When?
Knowing how well Michael is at coding/making apps - I'm sure the beta will be running quite smoothly when it's first released and therefore a short beta.
I really love the workflow of Group The Loop. I could see this working really well for ambient work.
The thing with GTL is loop length is fixed to measures, isn't it? Or am I mistaken?
Loopy is great because you don't have to be restricted to measures or any particular loop length or coordination if you don't want to be. For ambient type stuff this is ideal IMO.
Other than that, GTL has a some things that I really like that I wish were present in Loopy.
GTL workflow requires fixed length and measures but since I have a bad day for assumptions it will be better summon @jmarshallgtl to arise answers.
For ambient I'm with you Loopy is the king... things like start/end point change with two finger rotation is just genius
Most of the GTL improvements were planned for Loopy Masterpiece but well you know... so patience now it seems being in alpha-near beta phase finally! I understand it's hard to know how many time it will get but I was asking more an opinion as short... what was the shortest beta of an iOS app? The longest was BM3 probably...
@hisdudeness read the whole tread for see my mistake.
Oh don't get me wrong, LoopyHD is what I love using as well...but since GTL wasn't mentioned in the thread, so I thought I'd offer it up.
I find both well suited for the mellowness I craft on these slabs of glass
GTL is indeed a great piece of work. Love it.
thanks for this informative video, was just what i was looking for.
Such great work. Sold me on my first @brambos app after one viewing.
Quantiloop is the best imitation of a Boss Looper pedal. It also hosts AUv3 apps in standalone mode making it a type of DAW. Works really good with a Bluetooth MIDI pedal
like the BlueBoard. GUI looks like a picture of hardware which many hate because the controls end up being too small... but Bluetooth helps. Lot's of options to cycle through
what a button means with multiple presses.
In manual mode (I think it's called that) recording starts when you hit record and stops when you hit stop. No need to predefine length. And loops within groups can be different lengths. So definitely a possibility.
Just in case my reply to the initial post is missed, I'll reply to this one too... Non fixed length looping CAN be done in GTL, in manual mode.
AND... further to my above 2 posts, in GTL there's heaps of midi control available too. And multiple functions can be assigned to one control etc. It seems to me that GTL is a little under-represented in the looper stakes. It may not turn out to be the answer to the OP's prayers, but definitely the best for my workflow. And if you need different sections (like verse/chorus/bridge scenarios) you can switch between easily, it's tops.
Yup manual mode as free loops. Thanks for remember me that
Yup too advanced bindings with cycle functions on different presses with multiple options (+ > ...), dedicated bpm by group
Also AUv3 fx support for clip fx and input and IAA directly with AUM (no need for AB3 if you haven’t it or don’t use it in your workflow)...
But I still believe LoopyHd + AB3 is the king for ambient and AUv3 instruments setups.
OP here. I've been busy with work, not able to respond yet. But grateful for all the ideas.
@rs2000 I'm working on an answer for your 'thought experiment: "What would a delay plugin have to deliver in order to match your requirements?" This might be the way to go.
And clearly I need to take a closer look at Loopy. I was trying to avoid using AB3 as an additional layer (I do need AUM). I've started to learn Loopy and like it. It is deep!
I already have lots of controller--all USB into a master hub into iConnect 4+. What I can't do with all hardware is have four or more separate loopers and independent level in/out controls of each. Requires a separate audio mixer and lots of audio cables (I'm running everything in stereo to capture stereo effects coming from the Eventide factor pedals).
Short answer to all of you who said "stick with hardware" is that what I want to do is not possible with hardware.
Steve
ThinAirX.com
Loopy is a "Masterpiece" of IOS coding. Collect the whole set! Trade them with your friends.
Of course you will need to trade IOS devices.
Time to start a "Waiting for Loop-doh" thread.
Also there's something new coming up that looks like it would be worth considering.
https://forum.audiob.us/discussion/comment/739457#Comment_739457
the thread, before this post, is about an arpeggiator. but the devleoper has a 'creative looper' coming...
You could also try recording into 4Pockets Multitrack in AUM then set each of those loops into a separate instance and track in AUM then mute/unmute, with effects, them as you see fit.
Or you can try Living Memory's Auditor FilePlayer which gives you Fade IN/OUT times and more.
OP here. I've studied all your comments. Thank you for taking the tie. Not surprisingly, Loopy got the most recommendations.
I looked up some of the loopers I haven't already tried. Should I try Enso? I've seen the crash reports, but then somebody said it's better now. (Same question for Dubstation 2, by the same developer).
I originally wanted to avoid using AB3 because when I first tried to integrate it with AUM and host different loopers and synths, all I got were crashes and apps that refused to load (sometimes). I'm going to try again. Especially since so many of you say how stable AB3 is, I need to stop blaming AB3 and find the problem. There's a chance something is crippling my iPad (iPad 6, lots of resources, dedicated to my music). Ghost apps?
I thought Ostinator was the way to go, but I can't install more than one instance. And now I see the warnings that as an IAA app, it might not survive the degradation of IAA. Not reassuring.
The one feature I really need in a looper is the ability to loop sustained tones--phrases with long delay tails--without getting the dreaded click. Ostinator has the cross-fade feature, which is exactly what I want. Question: what other loopers handle this well, maybe with a similar cross-fade?
Steve
ThinAirX.com
The one feature I really need in a looper is the ability to loop sustained tones--phrases with long delay tails--without getting the dreaded click.
This may not be relevant to your workflow, but I had similar issues when using the Loopback plugin in Mainstage on my laptop, as my style is quite reverb dependant. I got around this by having the reverb on a send. My guitar channel was dry, but fed into that send, and the Loopbacks did as well. So the loops didn't have the reverb 'baked in'.
@SimonSomeone
I am aware of this approach. The problem is I use delays in the Eventide PitchFactor that are integral to my sound. I'd like to design a setup, or find a looper, where I don't have to worry about it. If not, I might have to make some compromises to avoid the dreaded click.
Does Loopy have a built-in cross fade? Even 10 milliseconds would avoid the click (but still create an abrupt chop).
Yes, Loopy HD has the cross-fade magic to avoid clicks. it is not an adjustable cross-fade.
Best way to deal with this is to not end a loop with a stop/play, but end with an overdub. This way tails wrap around and your loop is truly seamless.
But ... loops all still end up being multiples of a certain number of bars and are sync’ed together, don’t they? Or am I missing a way to have loops of completely independent length? I’ll admit I’m not very well versed in GTL.
My experiments in GTL are still a bit limited, but I just did a recording of (approx values) a 10 second loop, then a 3 second loop, then a 12 second loop, all in the same group, and they all looped to their own length. There was no metronome, and I'm pretty sure they just started and stopped right on my command without quantising to a bar length.
Humm ... not my experience. There is an indicator of the number of bars for each loop and every one is a multiple of the others for me, no matter how randomly I record. The user guide seems to indicate this is what happens too, but I could be reading it wrong.
I’ll try some more.
Did you turn on manual mode?
I think it's intsant record mode that does this. I get the feeling this still may not be what you want, as per the last point in the section below (from the online documentation). But the loops can be longer or shorter than the first loop, by an undefined amount.
Instant Recording - Recordings can be punched in/out instantly. Loops are automatically truncated/extended to remain in sync with the session tempo.
•Turn off the main CUE button located at the top of the screen.
•Start the session playing by pressing the main play button in the top left.
•Pick an empty loop space and tap the + symbol followed by the record button.
•The loop will instantly start recording, tap the loop again to stop and begin playback.
•You do not need to be exact when punching in/out recordings. Loops will be automatically truncated/extended to syncronise precicely with the tempo and other loops in the session.
https://www.grouptheloop.com/documentation.html#Record