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.
DAW Alternatives: A Guide
Someone recommended this so I figured I’d start here. Feel free to add your own tips and tricks. I’ve definitely included some personal opinions here. Your mileage may vary.
Essentials:
AUM - Hosting and Routing
Xequence 2 - MIDI sequencing
Alternatives:
Audiobus - Quicker app switching and IAA syncing (I consider this optional based on my personal needs)
NanoStudio 2 - I’m told this can be an alternative for Xequence 2 but I haven’t tested personally
You’ll use your midi sequencer to create your tracks. Feed the MIDI into your AUM channels loaded with instruments and FX. Enable recording on your AUM channels and hit record. For more advanced mixing, route your channels to various busses, including a master before recording.
If desired, use AudioBus to host Xequence 2 and AUM. Some like this for the state saving and easier switching between apps. I personally find it to be an unnecessary step.
For audio, you can use the file player in AUM or something like multitrack recorder.
Edit: Specifically for mixing and mastering, I have found ToneBoosters apps to be wonderful with AUM. I take my stems and load them into AUM channels on the file player. I route to busses where appropriated.
Each channel or bus has TB EQ set to some modified preset appropriate for the channel. I then route it all to a Master that has TB EQ as a pre and TB Barricade as a post. I may also add ReelBus before TB Barricade if I want that tone on the Master.
The TB EQ on the Master is set to the band limit template and widened to cut off the extreme lows and highs (low cutoff starting at 35-ish Hz; high cutoff starting at 12-ish kHz. All TB EQ’s are set to AI assist, no latency, and HQ.
TB Barricade is set to the Loudness Meter LKFS preset. I turn on my Limiter and Compressor. Compressor ratio is usually around 4. I set my dither to 24 bit TPDF and check True Peak. I usually use the Analog Tape model with auto-release and makeup. From there, I adjust the gain on the limiter to give myself 1-2dB headroom as monitored on the output bar to the far right.
Comments
If you host in Audiobus you will probably also want AUM for effects and routing. The process is you host the apps you want easy access to in Audiobus (synths, sequencers, etc). That also includes IAA/Audiobus apps, and feed these to AUM's audiobus inputs. Then you can do all the mixing, complicated audio chains, etc in AUM, while still being able to quickly access your apps.
For Audiobus switching, Audiobus remote is highly recommended. This means you can switch apps from your phone/other device.
Nanostudio's advantages over Xequence 2. It can host MIDI AU3s (though recording from them is a hack currently), and has tempo ramping and time signature switches. You can also use Nanostudio as a groovebox this way if you want.
Xequence 2's advantage - better support for swing.
So, cobble together Nanostudio and Multitrack Recorder using AUM as connective tissue to get your "DAWless" setup?!
So you have a platform, or workstation, if you will, to arrange MIDI and digital audio... um....
DAWless is, very much, a nebulous term, but I would argue, at a minimum, it means not using any tools to build out arrangements. The idea is to create music and build out arrangements in realtime as you're playing the instruments, not by editing on a computer screen.
The purest, most honest, expression of DAWless is a pile of hardware that you play in real time. Play a beat into a drum machine, latch an arpeggio, etc. to build up a track.
Perhaps you could argue using pattern based sequencers (like Quantum, Fugue Machine, Rozeta, etc.) with pre-made patterns is DAWless, assuming you are manipulating those in realtime (changing notes, transposing, re-timing, etc.) to create your song.
But when you start using tools that allow you to arrange everything together into a song; when you're using linear tracks to craft the overall flow of your song, I think that's kinda missing the point. No, it's not the same as a monolithic piece of software, but it's fundamentally the same. Instead of one massive app you're using 3-4 smaller apps. Perhaps this could be called "Modular Sequencing"?
Isn't NS2 considered a DAW?
If not, then this is open to BM3, which I use for scene/sequencing AUM.
I have a Monostation as clock/sync/transport to BM3. Also Midi pattern and/or Audio to AUM and or BM3.
BM3 has the drums/ scenes
AUM has the instruments + FX. Cannot receive midi clock though (WTF I hate this)
I try to keep it stooooopid simple with the monostation + Drums in BM3 + 2 synths max and separate sendFX in AUM (Reverb + Delay + Chorus).
This is not constructive to the conversation. Entirely unnecessary and does not help others who are trying to learn the methods I described.
Working in “stages”.
Why on earth would you prefer hosting instruments and FX in AUM when you're using BM3?
That would be a real workflow killer for me.
Sorry, I wasn't trying to offend, I just thought this was going to be a discussion of "DAWless" techniques, rather than a discussion of how to replicate a DAW.
And I think it is constructive because it's important to understand what the objective is if you want to find a solution. I make use of pattern based sequencers to create tracks and have posted many examples and guides to alternative sequencing techniques, but it seems that's not the objective of this thread.
State saving in Audiobus is essential for those who forget to save things.
AB3 + AUM is a perfect combination here. Have yet to lose a thing using this setup.
Recipes or tutorials for various ways of making apps work together effectively as an alternative to a single DAW could be very useful, and this thread could become the basis of some good Wiki articles if people approach it from that perspective. I plan to do at least one when I have time. I'll hold fire until I do have the time to do it right though.
The objectives and pros and cons of a recipe, stated up front, seem like they'd be useful as well.
Specifically for live jams. I can cc control... well... anything, anyhow.
https://www.instagram.com/datgood_1981/
Aaah got it. CC control works great in AUM indeed.
BTW, it's been a while but have you been able to fix those Minilab encoders in any satisfactory way?
Oh wow, you were following my horror story, thanks for asking. Lol
At the end of 2018 someone at Arturia shipped me a free main board which I installed. However it only fixed 8 of the encoders and not the full 16. It was ok because I simply used them as ADSRs or Filter/ADSR, but they were still occasionally jumpy.
So technically, I've NOT fixed the problem. I still do love the ML2 in concept. It's by far the most versatile mini 25 key IMHO.
I've moved on to a Keystep. Much different workflow. I'm hoping Novation drops a (non-mini) Launchkey 32
Sooooooooooooo... now that Drambo is out... things are gonna change again.