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.

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Audiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.

Anyone using a MIDI breath controller?

After watching an old YouTube video of David Sancious playing with Sting I quite fancy getting myself a breath controller.
Anyone here using one with their iOS apps?
If so, which one and how to do you like it?

Comments

  • I have a Casio Sax DH200 (black), same as the DH100 except for the color.

    It's a very responsive controller (faking sax reaction) with an initial attack translation to velocity and blow intensity to channel aftertouch.
    The latter made it immediately 'playable' to many synth patches back in the days, but is not as flexible as today's use of CCs.
    It's not difficult to change pressure to CC by a midi translator, though, and such an app is useful anyway to generate multiple CC ranges from the single original pressure signal.
    There's a tappable (octave) range switch and a single octave switch as on sax.
    2 modes of note entry: recorder scheme and a Casio specific one.

    The internal synth is pretty good in faking a sax (it's not sample based) and there's a powered speaker built into the end of the horn.
    Tbh this would be a brilliant instrument if Casio had added an additional sensor for lip pressure (left as an exercise for the user...), but they may have underestimated their own product.
    If you can score one for 50 bucks it's a no brainer, up to 100 would be ok.

  • If you want to keep your hands free:
    https://www.tecontrol.se/products/usb-midi-breath-controller

    There is also a more expensive version including a "bite" sensor, just fyi.

    The USB is class compliant which is important when using it with an iPad.
    You can also find USB host to MIDI out converters on ebay, if you like DIY then you can add a tiny power bank and a Bluetooth MIDI dongle, put everything in your pocket and stay wireless.

  • @Telefunky said:
    I have a Casio Sax DH200 (black), same as the DH100 except for the color.

    It's a very responsive controller (etc.)

    +1! I love playing my Casio horn; I bought the DH-200 when it was first introduced, and have used it with all types of synths & racks, recording either midi parts or ‘live’ performance audio. It is a good choice for a breath controller, but be aware of a common problem - which may be used to your advantage.
    As the years go by, many Casiohorns developed severe glitching and absolute horrendous noise would come out of the built-in speaker. MIDI function was not affected, so not a problem if that’s all you needed, just turn the volume off. Could also be a bonus if you are into freejazz phreakout stuff. Or playing in Henry Kaiser’s band.
    The problem is a particular transistor, from a defective batch, it has deteriorated over the years. It’s a simple fix with a $5.00 replacement, and you can find the schematic and How-To directions on the googletron. I had to do it with my black dh-200, and recently found an afflicted silver dh-100 in a music shop marked $40, I offered $30 which they accepted - yay!

  • I'm really looking forward to buying a WARBL, but I've not used it yet. There is a FB group for electronic bagpipes that really seems to like them. https://www.facebook.com/groups/electronicbagpipes/

    https://warbl.xyz

  • Just a heads-up. If you’re using NS2, I’ve read over on their forums that recorded MIDI from it is noticeably “steppy” with a breath controller. Live play is fine, but the recorded automation is somehow quantized to too few automation points. Hopefully to be addressed at some point, but no indication of when.

  • @amarok said:
    As the years go by, many Casiohorns developed severe glitching and absolute horrendous noise would come out of the built-in speaker. MIDI function was not affected, so not a problem if that’s all you needed, just turn the volume off. Could also be a bonus if you are into freejazz phreakout stuff. Or playing in Henry Kaiser’s band.
    The problem is a particular transistor, from a defective batch, it has deteriorated over the years. It’s a simple fix with a $5.00 replacement, and you can find the schematic and How-To directions on the googletron. I had to do it with my black dh-200, and recently found an afflicted silver dh-100 in a music shop marked $40, I offered $30 which they accepted - yay!

    Same here, I also bought mine for $30 because of this error (which was already documented, but knowledge hadn't yet spread).
    But the culprit was a capacitor that didn't fit circuit demands (or aged too fast), simple to replace.

  • @wim said:
    Just a heads-up. If you’re using NS2, I’ve read over on their forums that recorded MIDI from it is noticeably “steppy” with a breath controller. Live play is fine, but the recorded automation is somehow quantized to too few automation points. Hopefully to be addressed at some point, but no indication of when.

    Interesting. I have to try that.

  • @rs2000 said:
    If you want to keep your hands free:
    https://www.tecontrol.se/products/usb-midi-breath-controller

    There is also a more expensive version including a "bite" sensor, just fyi.

    The USB is class compliant which is important when using it with an iPad.
    You can also find USB host to MIDI out converters on ebay, if you like DIY then you can add a tiny power bank and a Bluetooth MIDI dongle, put everything in your pocket and stay wireless.

    Yes I have my eye on this (the more expensive model which sends up to 4 CCs at a time).
    Seems like a very cool way of controlling synths, in addition to the more obvious wind/brass instruments.
    Am hoping that Heavy Brass one day gets full MIDI control of its various expressive functions like growls and falls, etc.

  • heshes
    edited February 2020

    I have an Akai EWI USB that seems to work well. There are some good you tube videos with info on how to use, including quite a few by a guy named Bernie Kenerson. On Thor, I think he usually maps breath to amp gain and also to a low pass filter. He has videos for several synths, but here's link to one of his Thor videos to give you an idea, you can go to around 06:30 in the video where he illustrates one way to set up a patch:

  • Here's a video showing impressive use of Tecontrol breath controller on a synth, albeit on a PC not on iOS:

  • Synths are easy to map.
    Building sample-based, breath-controlled instruments a la SWARM engine (Sample Modeling Brass etc) on iOS is much more of a challenge, but I think that combining AudioLayer with some genius StreamByter or Mozaic scripts could open up a few ways.
    AL only has a few MIDI controllers mapped to a few functions but it's better than nothing.
    Examples for using controllers separately:

    • ModWheel to Layer A/B crossfade
    • FootController to Filter Cutoff (by Envelope depth)
    • PitchBend to Instrument Pitch
    • Breath to pitch/filter/volume LFO depth
    • Velocity to Volume

    Of course I'd rather re-map a few controllers to let the player's breath strength control filter cutoff and have her bite strength control LFO depth, for example.

  • I have a DH-100 which has had a missing mouthpiece since I bought it. Just noticed that there's a 3D model available by Milo Tsukroff.

  • Have been using SWAM iOS brass instruments with various wind controllers. I am a poor keyboardist so I didn’t like the results using a keyboard. I decided to add my TEC bite 2 controller to my Xkey 37 and I liked the results. SWAM has a preset for breath control as opposed to wind control. There is also a button for breath in the settings. The manual only indicates that it adds a note on when breath is applied. This might help me learning the keyboard as it sounds pretty close to what I get with a wind controller. Sometimes even better.

  • Thanks for sharing your experience @3dog.
    Wold you say the additional bite sensor is worth it?

  • @rs2000 said:
    If you want to keep your hands free:
    https://www.tecontrol.se/products/usb-midi-breath-controller

    There is also a more expensive version including a "bite" sensor, just fyi.

    The USB is class compliant which is important when using it with an iPad.
    You can also find USB host to MIDI out converters on ebay, if you like DIY then you can add a tiny power bank and a Bluetooth MIDI dongle, put everything in your pocket and stay wireless.

    Very cool!

  • I use an Akai EWI-USB with a Yamaha wireless MIDI adapter. Works great with iOS particularly with the SWAM samples or some of Patchman music presets for Korg M1.

  • @rs2000 said:
    Thanks for sharing your experience @3dog.
    Wold you say the additional bite sensor is worth it?

    For me the breath controller adds much more expression than just a keyboard when it comes to controlling SWAM ios brass sounds.. I also have an MPE keyboard but prefer using a non-mpe keyboard and the TEC together as opposed to just he MPE keyboard.

    I also used a EWI Solo to control GeoSWAM and simply set it to send CP out on Channel 2.

  • @3dog said:

    @rs2000 said:
    Thanks for sharing your experience @3dog.
    Wold you say the additional bite sensor is worth it?

    For me the breath controller adds much more expression than just a keyboard when it comes to controlling SWAM ios brass sounds.. I also have an MPE keyboard but prefer using a non-mpe keyboard and the TEC together as opposed to just he MPE keyboard.

    I also used a EWI Solo to control GeoSWAM and simply set it to send CP out on Channel 2.

    Without doubt. My question was more about "breath controller" or "breath controller plus bite sensor".

  • Without doubt. My question was more about "breath controller" or "breath controller plus bite sensor".

    Don't understand your comment. The TEC Bite 2 is a breath controller with a bite sensor. My TEC controller mainly went unused for 4 years until SWAM on ios. Unfortunately my bite sensor flaked out so I started using the nod sensor to control vibrato. Dealt with the mfg and ordered a backup and new bite sensor.

    Looking for a way to add breath control to other apps but have not found anything like the built in preset on all the SWAM ios apps. Tried controlling the vol of apps with the breath controller but it sounded awful.

  • I have an Akai EWI USB, but it took a bit of getting used to, as the keys are different to what I was used to. There’s less effort involved in making an embouchure than there is for a reed mouthpiece, but it’s not really possible to do certain tongue articulations.

    It’s very versatile, but it’s not a good controller for all sounds, only certain ones.

  • @3dog said:

    Without doubt. My question was more about "breath controller" or "breath controller plus bite sensor".

    Looking for a way to add breath control to other apps but have not found anything like the built in preset on all the SWAM ios apps. Tried controlling the vol of apps with the breath controller but it sounded awful.

    >
    If you have AUM you can map any cc to the volume fader making ANY midi synth respond pretty well to breath, if only for just volume. Create a channel with any synth, IAA or auv3, map your ewi to both the synth and MIDIcontrol. Then assign cc2 to Volume in the channel’s midi controls.

  • edited April 2021

    @fprintf said:
    I'm really looking forward to buying a WARBL, but I've not used it yet. There is a FB group for electronic bagpipes that really seems to like them. https://www.facebook.com/groups/electronicbagpipes/

    https://warbl.xyz

    The WARBL is great. I have been working with the maker on the firmware (it’s open source) so it can be used well with geo-swam and other things. It can be configured in many different ways, and because it uses optical sensors for the finger holes, you can do smooth and natural bending and portamento by using “half-hole”, finger-rolling or finger distance techniques, which is really nice for expressiveness that you can’t get in other wind controllers. Plus it’s super portable...

  • rcfrcf
    edited April 2021

    @sonosaurus said:
    The WARBL is great. I have been working with the maker on the firmware (it’s open source) so it can be used well with geo-swam and other things. It can be configured in many different ways, and because it uses optical sensors for the finger holes, you can do smooth and natural bending and portamento by using “half-hole”, finger-rolling or finger distance techniques, which is really nice for expressiveness that you can’t get in other wind controllers. Plus it’s super portable...

    I've had a WARBL for a few months now; I can confirm that it is incredibly expressive when using slides/finger shading/half holing over the optical sensors; and this makes for very natural finger vibrato and bends too. Everything I ever wanted in a midi wind controller, and that's speaking as an on and off whistle player for 46 years. ;) I was considering getting a Genki Wave Ring to strap round the end, for mapping extra CC parameters such as the SWAM trumpet mute etc. The Ring is a little expensive though, and the WARBL is plenty expressive enough on its own. I have a Casio DH500 too, it's not been used for years and now needs a repair.

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