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 Store

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

first MIDI note with lower velocity has degraded audio on Ruismaker Noir

Using Ruismaker Noir on my new iPad mini with either apeMatrix or AUM, whether I use an external MIDI controller or the built-in keyboard to play a sound, it works normally. But the next sound after that is cut off or cut way short or something (the point being that it sounds abnormal and bad, like a glorified click) if that next note has a lower MIDI velocity than the preceding MIDI note. Notes of increasing MIDI velocity have no problem, only decreasing velocity. It happens every time, in either AUM or apeMatrix, internal keyboard or external controller. It's not just Ruismaker Noir, but another app I tried that I don't remember at this moment. I haven't yet seen the problem in apps that aren't velocity sensitive (e.g. Hammond B-3X). Even if I play a note, then wait--seconds or minutes--that next note of lower MIDI velocity is negatively affected. I've tried with various built-in patches, namely Basic Kick, Basic Kick (Crushed), and Sharp Snare, among others.

I've tested this over and over again because it just seems so odd, carefully gauging the velocities I play my external controller with. The built-in keyboard is easy enough to gauge velocity, being proportional to how far up or down you touch the keyboard's key. My interface for the controller is a Korg plugKEY, but that's not relevant if the internal keyboard also manifests the problem. Is there anyone with a suggestion or who can verify if they get the same behavior, at least with Noir?

Comments

  • Noticed a sharper attack in Ruismaker Noir on the 2nd note with lower velocity, but it doesn't sound broken. Possibly the way the velocity modulation on the amp or filter differs, when going from a loud note to a quiet note?

    Not hearing it in Phasemaker, Troublemaker, D1, Sunrizer, Laplace, Syntronik, Synthmaster Player, Synthmaster One, Unique.

  • Thanks for being so through. I'll try some other apps more methodically. From your list, I have Laplace. It's just such a weird glitch given that everything else works as expected. It does kill my project, which is to make a fully synthesized drum kit for my drum controller, which has 30 triggers. It seemed like such a straightforward thing to do once I finally received my Korg plugKey, but this one glitch kind of kills it when every other trigger sounds wrong. I just can't imagine what the problem is, but I wonder now if it's something in the timing of the way my controller sends MIDI note off almost immediately after it sends the note on.

  • Check what your MIDI controller is sending using a free MIDI monitor like mfxMonitor or MIDISpy.
    Which controller are you using?

  • I'm using a Zendrum. It's great at what it does (super-sensitive for drumming with dynamics), but rather inflexible in other ways. I need to use a BomeBox to re-map it and filter it for certain devices, so I'm going to have to deal with the problem using its native monitoring and utility software with my iPad, which will be a pain.

  • Wait, I'm an airhead: I ruled out the issue of the external controller because I get the problem with the internal keyboard. The internal keyboard lets you vary MIDI velocity by where you touch the key vertically. And it's not an underpowered iPad because it's the latest model iPad mini with the A12 processor. I use other apps with no problem that are known to work badly on older processors, like Jamm Pro and MazeTools stuff.

  • edited April 2020

    OK, I just tried making a new patch in AUM without the external controller and plugKEY attached, and it worked fine. Then, when I attached the plugKEY, the external controller still had the glitch, but the internal keyboard continued to work without a problem. I then got exactly the same behavior on my iPhone. So it's an issue of the way either the plugKEY MIDI interface or the external controller's MIDI timing interacts with these apps. I'm thinking it's an issue with Audiobus itself because most MIDI notes work fine, just this lower velocity issue, and the controller is a simple device that only does one thing: send MIDI note on/off, and it's never had any issues with the tons of hardware I've used it with over the years. I do have another MIDI interface on the way, so I'll be able to rule out the plugKEY.

    More info: I get exactly the same glitch using a Keystep, so it's either the plugKEY or something with iOS.

    @Sequencer1 did you use the internal keyboard, or an external controller with an iOS MIDI interface?

Sign In or Register to comment.