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.
Recommendations on a Drum Machine App? + Reviews aplenty...
I wrote this list of Drum apps that I've been futzing with and thought I would share my 2c.
I do live looping, so I prefer to stay away from sampler/loopers though of course there's a fine line between what is a "Drum Machine" and what is a "Sampler/Groovebox"...At the very end I list a few apps which I haven't tried yet - perhaps you could help answer a few questions? Heck, I've had to split this post in two just to get it to post!
For me at least DM1 is the king of iPad Drum Apps. If it synced well with LoopyHD I would be a happy camper. But it doesn't. 
Why DM1? It hits home on all of the following:
- A stepwise-sequencer grid which lets you see all 16 or 32(!) beats for ALL nine instruments at the same time and can be changed mid playback/on the fly.
- The ability to drag your finger through the grid to quickly turn on/off multiple pads - not have to tap tap tap every single square.
- Ability to create accented beats by double-tapping on the grid.
- Live performance drum "pads" which are pretty hard to miss
- MIDI Clock Compatibility
- Audiobus Compatibility
- Multiple patterns per song which can be changed on the fly.
- Landscape orientation
- A Dedicated "Mixer" which includes a Master volume control as well as individual pitch/pan/length/vol. settings per instrument
- The ability to change and load in ones own samples and create custom kits from a variety of sources.
- 2 XY-Pad FX controllers, both of which can record automation [This is not crucial to me personally, because I usually use Turnado for my FX, but it is really keen to have]
- A Warp/random function which can quickly be undone.
So that's what I love about it - program is logically divided up into four views: pads/grid/mixer/FX but it ain't perfect /yet/ - A few gripes:
- No triplet/tuplet/glitch-subsubdivision functions [I'm thinking of Pb Drummers excellent implementation of up to 16 slices being triggered per square] -
- Only has 9 sounds at a time, not a more, er, "contemporary" 16.
- It is stupidly easy to accidentally save over a completed project - the "file management" portion of songs n' such is pretty simple and borderline non-extant.
- No Sample "editing" - there's a length, but not like a waveform you can select through. At least, I haven't found that yet.
- Apparently its MIDI is problematic with many apps? I only worry about LoopyHD.
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Comments
Here are my experiences with other apps thus far:
Some of the Competition that I have or have tried: [All are Audiobus Compatible]
FunkBox Drum Machine // By Synthetic Bits, LLC // $5.99
FunkBox is up there with DM1 as a drum machine that many swear by. For me, they spent too much time making the FunkBox interface look "cool" and not enough time using it to realize how bad it is. I have on more than one occasion accidentally changed beats or fast-switched to Loopy because the button to do so is 3 times as big as the live drum pads. While you set up 12 samples per kit, you can only actually use 8 at a time! That's worse than DM1's 9. Thing I dislike the most about FunkBox is that I can't see all of the instruments at the same time in the step grid - either all instruments and half the grid or half the instruments and the complete grid? Setting up custom kits is a slooowww and painful process - It's almost impossible to A/B audition samples. The accent/velocity sliders don't seem to affect all that much and are not particular to each instrument, just that beat. I think it looks really neat, but using it is frustrating.
DrumJam // By Sonosaurus LLC // $7.99
A lot of people love drumjam - I'm not rly one of them. As for a sort of Live playing percussion instrument, I do like the bottom part of the panel, but I like seeing what my instruments are going to do on a step grid. In DrumJam you are selecting various instruments and then guessing which of the 14 of the individual instrument's loop variations will sound good. Yes the loops are grouped together by style, but if you wanted to, say, take out the kick on beat 3, no can do. It's just not that sort of an app. No step-sequencer. So it's really more groove/sampler than drum machine.
Pocket Beats Drum Machine // Dream Engine Interactive // FREE
Great for free but there is no landscape orientation. Using ones own samples = $4.99 IAP btw. The Pro version is $14.99 but I haven't gotten it. I LOVE it's Glitch capabilities right on the grid! Excellent implementation of tuplets and glitchy subdivisions. If this or the Pro version had MIDI I would be a huge fan. But it don't.
EasyBeats 3 Drum MPC, Program Drums // By HUSoft // $3.99
This is a pretty good app. I'd say I'm a fan. My real gripe with it is that THERE IS NO MASTER VOLUME! - You can, of course, get into the nitty gritty of each and every sample, but at days end, I have no control over the level this program puts out. Also, when changing velocity/pitch curves you have to step by step cycle through each instrument with up/down arrows - I mean, this is a touchpad, shouldn't I be able to just touch the row/instrument I want to affect?
Molten Drum Machine // By One Red Dog Media // $4.99
Generally speaking I dug Molten and it fits most, if not all of my "requirements". Unfortunately it is really laggy/slow. Their implementation of tuplets and weird beat subdivisions is pretty admirable. As I recall, auditioning samples was kind of a pain in the butt.
Beat-Machine // By Primitive Digital Software // $0.99
This is an MPC-like app that is in need of updating - Some of the aesthetics are overly simple. Slow loading and kind of laggy. Big place this app dies is that you cannot change the beat patterns on the fly! That's crazy. My Amiga2000 could handle that. Once it's playing, apparently the patterns can't be altered until the machine is stopped? I do love the one-button ability to change the 16-pads to 16 different speed/pitches of what sample is selected. I'm not sure that that can be saved to a performance though. But it doesn't matter since I'm changing things on the fly all the time.
MoDrum Rhythm Composer // By Markus Waldboth // $3.99
I bought this because someone on the Loopy Forum said that by using it's ability to quiet incoming jittery MIDI timing, the hectic clock output from Loopy could be brought under control. That did not work out for me. In and of itself - this thing is a drum synth and its sounds are mostly pretty crappy. No sample uploads - it's not that sort of a program. Also, you can only see the stepgrid for one instrument at a time. Bad sounds + Weak interface = Not recommended.
S4 Industrial Composer + S4 Rhythm Composer // By Sobal Corporation // FREE
For the low low price of free, these programs are both kind of cool. BUT you can't change sounds??, and there's this weird thing where every box on the grid has a forced two velocities. Tap once, it's red, twice it's yellow, three times it's cleared. Plus there's no dragging - Sooo instead of touching a screen twice - once to drag thru 4 squares and once to drag thru and clear 4 squares, I would need to tap my ipad a total of twelve times. Annd, no MIDI sync? Nope.
RealBeat - I don't remember. I think it was like $2.99
Whatever about it really being for a sort of beatboxing application - No MIDI = No go.
Rhythm Pad Free (Drums/Drum Pad) // By JSplash Apps // FREE - No step sequencer grid. This is more a performance app/toy than a drum machine.
Yellofier // By Boris Blank // $2.99 - A sequence of samples, not a drum-set. Cool for what it is, but not what I'm looking for at the moment.
Drum Beats+ (Rhythm Metronome, Loops & Grooves Machine) // By Ninebuzz Software LLC // $3.99 - Just BPM controlled playback of existing loops. Not a drum machine.
DrumsLive – MIDI and touch drums - Hang Drum // By Luigi Ferone // $2.99 [lite version for free] - While it does have some quantization for recording, there is no step-sequence grid.
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Things that might work, but I'm not blowing more money on [I say now]... CAN YOU COMMENT ABOUT ANY OF THE BELOW?
*Praxis Beats Drum Machine // Dream Engine Interactive // $14.99
Haven't bought it [yet]. Looks good, but is there MIDI support? I'm not paying $15 to find out. I think, given my liking of the other Pocket Beats drum machine that I might dig it.
Wowsers. I use DrumStudio the most simply for its realistic sounds and ease of programming. You can get surprisingly complex time sigs going, program fills easily and yes, whack the whole lot through Turnado for beaty joy!
DrumPerfect appears to be awesome too but I haven't managed to spend enough time on that yet. I also really like DM1 for all the reasons you gave. Also been using SynthDrum Pads a bit over the last few months - good fun and now has a step sequencer. WerkBench and Yellofier I rate highly too.
You can A/B audition stuff in FunkBox relatively easy. When you're editing a kit, if you trigger sounds off a MIDI controller, it will only play the sound pre-edit. Editing the sound then hitting it from the dumb EPROM thing plays the post-edited sound. Only after you save the changes would the post-edited sound play back off the MIDI controller.
Oh, and another complaint with FunkBox, it's got a naturally quieter output level than most other apps. Hate that...
I was using FunkBox for drum samples but I've mainly gone to Beatmaker 2 for that. Better/easier editing and kitmaking, still get good MIDI, etc. If DM1 ever fixed its MIDI, I would use it way more.
edit: SeekBeats is awesome, just felt like that should be stated.
Fucking. This. Aghhhhhh.
Funkbox is meant to be more of a accompaniment sort of app then a full on drum machine (like what used to come on a home organ). It rules at that. But yeah, quiet samples.
There is no grid in BM2 but there is a piano roll and a zoom feature. Pretty close but not quite the same.
I like DM1, but miss hat choking.
DM1 is still my go to, but it has so many obvious missing features that I want to bang my head on the wall sometimes
iElectribe is probably my overall favorite though, so many well thought out management features (randomize, copy patch, pattern, etc) and great sound. As long as you want synthetic drums of course.
If you could load samples for each voice, drool...
My first choice is Beatmaker 2. I like a piano roll better than a stepsequencer. It got no drumsynthesis , only sampling, but it can sequence other drummachine apps. If you like drumsynthesis, Stix is nice, or I guess Synthdrum Pads (don't have that one).
And don't forget Korg gadget.... it has a sample based drummachine and one with synthesis, and lots of automation possibilities.
Been using Stroke Machine for drums lately with a mix of imported samples and synthesized sounds. The sound is rough and dirty, just as i like it. The UI can seem a bit confusing at first, but it all makes sence after a little use. This app is still young, and i mostly stay away from the whole midi/sync/iaa thing with this. I export my loops as wavs for importing into whatever project.
Besides that iElectribe has been my favorite since day one...Yes Tarekith, if we could just load our own samples....
Cheers
SeekBeats is awesome, yes, but limited in scope. As many have stated on this forum, 4/4 doesn't suit everyone. All drum apps should include time sig options.
@dokwok said:
Yeah, I found that a totally silly omission in a drum machine.
I love DM1 for exact reasons mentioned by OP and dislike it mostly for the midi sync even though last time I've tried the start stop was working I only had to set BPM manually. Most recently I've been experimenting with seekbeats and it syncs beautifully with Loopy hd but it is more of a synth drum machine so won't cover the same ground as Dm1. Another thing that I'm not entirely sure about dm1 is its pasty sound, that would normally mean that samples aren't very high quality (don't cover the full spectrum) which is particularly noticeable with lack of high end frequencies. They do sound good in their own way I suppose. I particularly like king q4 for those retro grooves.
Anyway, if ielectribe is your thing seekbeats will blow your mind, especially at the price.
Also the developer does hang around this forum and is quite responsive to suggestions, issues etc. which is always nice.
No surprise here, but my favorite is still Different Drummer because it is fun and very flexible. Still, for a more standard drum machine sound, DrumPerfect is my favorite....although it's miss representing it to refer to it as a standard drum machine, given the human feel and great sounds you can get from it .
Here's a very recent example of what can be done in Different Drummer...
I've been working pretty hard on the update for Beat-Machine and it's almost done. It's faster and easier to use now because it's laid out more like DM-1. I updated the sampler with 3 types of time stretch / pitch shift like the old MPC (but with a better algorithm). You can import songs from your ipod lib and stretch / shift / chop them to pads. I also added a drum synth and song mode. I'll update the sequencer in the future, because it's become obvious to me that it's just too simple compared to the advanced features that the sampler now has. 16 levels performances are saved to the pattern and you can edit the sequence while it plays but only one measure at a time. I wrote some code that loads and plays General Midi files but I'm gonna have to program a piano roll on the screen or something, hope it's not too hard.
@dreamless Were you able to optimize the audio, so it works better with other apps? Thanks.
Cool! Looking forward to checking it out @dreamless! :-)
Great question @mgmg4871! :-)
Yeah there are less dropouts now, especially when running in the background. The reverb and filters are still CPU hungry though, especially if you've imported 24 bit samples with a high sample rate. Cuz they sound good.
Thanks @dreamless I can work around the effects.
Cool! Thanks @dreamless!
@dreamless song mode! Congrats. Looking forward.
@dreamless I'm glad you are still developing the app. Don't know why but from your previous posts I sensed you were a bit disillusioned with it? I just had another play with it and I think this could be THE mpc style machine everyone is waiting for. I am a big fan of BM2 but honestly can't wait to stop using it just for the drum machine. So yeah, totally welcoming the news that you're still developing it. Cheers...looking forward to the update.
@dreamless good stuff, looking forward to this update. Song mode at last.
@b0bert0, thanks for your OPs! I think it would be great to see a few more threads on here that have such a comprehensive overview of the sub-genres of music apps that most of us are knee-deep in...
There aren't too many other places where users with dozens of high end music apps sit around talking shop, so a good place to do an overarching review of related/sub-genre apps from time to time.
One of the great things about this forum, IMHO, is that AudioBus, by its nature, acts as a nexus point for diverse creative works in sound via countless music apps in IOS, and it's forum has naturally evolved to reflect this eclectic nature. How's that for geeky sentence of the day :-). Good stuff!
Wow @b0bert0 you've really described our current drum machine situation really well. @dreamless can't wait for the update.
I remember some time ago Amidio the Devs of Mint.IO ( which is a groove box with three very basic synths and an eight track drum machine,that played back samples with a four part sequencer,with notes than can be edited on the fly,even if it was fiddly,no midi sync ) had said
they were in the process of developing a state of the art drum machine. I think it was late last year but I've heard nothing since.
The Amidio team were always... sigh....I'll just leave it as a sigh of frustration. They bring something out, and then disappear with no communication...then bring something out, and then disappear with no communication. Their most recent comment before disappearing again had something to do with everything being on hold.... I never liked their attitude (disappearing and not communicating)...but I dislike Retronyms a lot more. ;-)
By the way, as I go back and read the update list @dreamless just posted, I feel very positive about the potential of the app. It pretty much will have everything that I've wanted in an app!!! I'm really excited about the update! Any estimate on release time @dreamless?
Amidio has focused their concentration on IOS games. They left Pearl Guitar unfinished, with no response to emails.
Typical.....unfortunately.....
@dreamless said:
Sounds great,are you also planning to support IAA (or AB2)?The nice integration in Cubasis is what makes me most happy about DM1 now.
@Crabman Agreed! I actually have something to love about IAA! :-) It works great for drum machines!
:-)
Sounds like Beat Machine might get a look from me after reading @dreamless' post.
I've been really frustrated at the limitations of iOS drum apps. I'm a drummer first and foremost so, if I can't get my actual playing into my project, I want an app that's fully featured and intuitive. DM1 is the only app I currently use, but it's still lacking in several areas.
Some of the electronic-based apps (iElectribe, Stroke Machine) are appealing, but I haven't seen enough info to justify the pricing.