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
@Franketti
"Cruel times" - I sat down with an espresso to listen to your track and one minute into the listening I had to put some vanilla ice cream into my beverage.
I like the cool flow of this track and how the different instruments weave in and out. Some really nice melodies in there too. I like that the voxwaveform really added to the feel. All in all there's nothing cruel about this track despite the cruel times we are in. Really good work.
@vitocorleone123
"Platelets" - Really solid bass sounds and bass lines in this one. I loved the female vocals that come in the chorus and I like the arpeggios as well. However, after I listened to this track a number of times still I really couldn’t make out most of the audio samples related Covid-19 except in a few instances. I wish I were able to though. Perhaps it is my headphones. During the breaks the drum rolls sounds fantastic and every time I wanted the drums to make a real impact right after the breaks but they sound drowned out. Other than that, good job! (Right at the end after the person says 'just breathe', what's the sound that is heard?)
Re: your comment to my track: Thanks so much for your thoughts. The guitar is the patch called 'Guitar 1' in Darwin.
@audiblevideo
"Underwater, with some hope" - This was very interesting to me because I do have AUM and have tried to do live-sessions and failed miserably. Also, curiously, I have not seen any of the apps and effects that you have on there. I enjoyed the jam very much - though it was a bit long for me. Made a note to look for AUM jams on Youtube now.
Thank you all for sharing your music. It was lovely to listen to them.
@spyrogaia
Thanks for taking time and your Kind words.
Thank you @spyrogaia and @vitocorleone123 for listening and commenting. I will be posting some thoughts for others submissions a little later.
@vitocorleone123 the live mix thing is the only real composition I've tried. I haven't come to grips with either to loop based stuff or linear composition. This has lead to several comments on other tracks about needing variation and length. Especially from @richardyot (kidding)
I guess I'll be wading into that realm in the following month(s)
@spyrogaia if you have questions as to what apps they are let me know.
Yup. SC mushes the mix. A/B ing with the original mp3 is quite an ear opener, but my mix was just too quiet. I re-mixed it with an aim to get it louder without squashing everything too much. Compressing was fairly gentle, most of the loudness gain was just from re-mixing.
Louder Mix:
As for mastering, well I don't think anybody should master their own tracks, you're just going to compound the mix errors! So I just put a very gentle limiter (-1db MAX, about -3db threshold that's all) to catch the loudest transients. It came out a lot louder without having to push the limiter. I'm quite happy with that, but may have ruined the mix... My ears are tired so I can't tell.
At least it's not significantly quieter than everybody elses tracks now :-)
It’s not got a huge amount of bass energy so will always sound a bit more brittle and less ‘big’ than a lot of music but that’s fine by me. I didn’t want a bass monster for this song.
I’ve left the first mix on soundcloud For now if anybody wants to compare.
Not mastering your own material is ideal.
I feel I do OK at it because I do things in separate steps (create in one DAW, mx and then master elsewhere), and also I'm also both a UX designer and user researcher, and have had plenty of instances where I'm testing my own designs (also not ideal, but at small companies very real) and not being beholden to my creations. Much.
I'd suggest doing something similar:
1) do not mix (beyond tolerating how it all sound together) and master when producing
2) mix separately, in a different tool, if possible
3) master separately, in a different tool, if possible
4) wait as long as you can tolerate between each step - ideally work on something else in between (ideally not musical) to gain some critical distance
5) use reference tracks and, if you can, tools that let you compare to the reference tracks in more details than just your ears in order to help gain some perspective outside your head
All good tips.
My main point is that you can’t master your own mix unless you have a perfect listening environment that lets you hear the problems with your mix.
If you master on monitors you mixed with then you are probably going to compound the mix errors Due to sub-optimal response.
If you master in a room you mixed in then you will compound the errors in the room. Standing waves, phase cancellation and all that jazz.
There’s a good reason why “mastering engineer” is still a job :-)
What we can do is make the mixes as good as possible and close to what we’d sent to a mastering engineer if we had that luxury.
You can then take your 2 track and make sure the worst of the transient peaks are tamed and that it sounds close in overall loudness to your reference tracks, as per your suggestions.
I don’t think that There’s any point in trying to make your song as loud as a commercial release. You’ll Almost certainly just end up with a really bad, very loud mix.
But there are no rules.
Everybody can do what they like. Worst case scenario (assuming your mix sounds good to you) is that the mix that sounds great on your monitors sounds awful on mine and vice versa
Maybe we should change the word “mastering” to “Loudening”.
But In reality, the word “mastering” has become bastardised so we all end up with our own definitions of what it means. From right to wrong and everything in between
Once upon a time I think mastering just meant make sure the needle didn’t jump out of the groove :-)
@klownshed the loudness wars are over, loudness normalisation on streaming platforms means that there is no point in making loud masters anymore. The world still has to catch up with this though, but it will come.
Compression on the master bus still very much has a place though, but aggressive brick wall limiting is no longer worthwhile.
The louder mix sounds good, you certainly haven't killed the dynamics - it's not squashed and has plenty of room to breathe, and there is a nice contrast between the louder and quieter parts.
I think the new mix sounds punchier and cleaner than the original, as well as being louder.
Thanks for comparing, I appreciate you taking the time to listen :-)
I’m glad you think the mix sounds better too. I did use a compressor on the master bus as you suggested.
I kept the settings petty gentle but it definitely made a difference (2:1, about 2dB gain, slow attack etc.).
The last time I mixed anything before these last couple of tunes I posted in the SOTM threads was for home made CDs to sell at gigs and back then there was no such thing as a ‘LUFS’ ;-)
Anyway, thanks again :-)
Sorry for being so late with some song reviews this month. We had two deaths in the family (both on my wife’s side, with one being COVID-19-related). Lots of Zoom meetings.
@richardyot
Solid beat with a nicely balanced open structure. I especially like the walking bass that peeks through early on. I also like the quiet buildup just before where the organ comes in. Really like this one.
@klownshed
Very cool opening with a majestic surge of voices. Good mix of electronic, clanging, swooping, and bubbling industrial-type sounds. It all gels together quite well.
@iammane
Really like the spacey background vocals. They’re a good complement to the main voice. It’s both heartfelt and innovative, which is a difficult combination to achieve.
@Kitusai
Intriguing gamelan-like opening and ongoing instrumental music. Integrates well with the vocals. Excellent song.
@motmeister
Unexpected combination of bongos and a slightly off-putting strumming instrument. Similarly straddles the border between a more conventional melody and a dissonant exploration of that melody. It all blends together remarkably well. Has the feel of a musical opening for a late 1940s or early 1950s grade-B movie that wants to be exotic, while retaining an experimental edge.
@spyrogaia
Good mix of instruments that jumps up to another level when the brass comes in. Progresses quite well through its musical journey with some surprises along the way.
@Franketti
Nice song with a jazz-like vibe. Bit of a big-brass feel that also adds to the overall sound. Good integration of all the parts.
@vitocorleone123
I like the relentless beat, which is a good representation of a spreading virus. The music and voice news-clips are a good match. Builds up in wave-like movements. The personal ending brings it home and gives the song a deeper context. Well done.
@DavidEnglish thanks so much man, and I’m really really sorry to hear that. I swing from cool to terrified on a week to week basis, everyone is ok here thankfully but it’s still so god damn scary.
@DavidEnglish Thanks for making the time, not just taking the time. Much appreciated, as that's one hell of a month you're having.
Poor time so here are my picks of the month
@Richardyot Beautiful melody and "intimiste" atmosphere. I’m definitely a fan.
@klownshed an Epic EDM music. The sound is impressive. Nice break. Successful.
@iammane I just love it. A very soft song with so beautiful sounds and voices, wow! Your singing is just brillant. If I had only one to pick...
@NemanzgbKaj Excellent tune I love the guitars, Vive le ZOOROCK! Vive les chèvres !
@spyrogaia @NemanzgbKaj and everybody, thanks for the feedback
@NemanzgbKaj I shared with CAAt Claw. We are ready for a Croatia tour :-) (and btw, what said your wife? :-)
@Kitusai Thanks! I wish that was my singing but it’s from a Blocs pack lol... glad you enjoyed!!
Thanks for the reviews! And so sorry to hear about the terrible month you've had.
Your track is an interesting blend of samples and instruments, quite disjointed and experimental - like a musical cut-up, where disparate elements are juxtaposed to make an interesting whole.
The vocal samples have a haunting quality which makes a great contrast against the angular stabbing synths.
Thanks @iammane, @vitocorleone123, and @richardyot. Much appreciated.
Now that June is here, it's good to get a fresh start on another month.
I'll be posting the June SOTMC thread tomorrow
I even went and got my track published. It's fun to see it on Spotify et al, even if no one plays it! I highly recommend the experience if you've never done it before for your music.
Also makes for a great way to be "done" with it.
https://open.spotify.com/track/3ACle3joKQ7YbuloPayLFj
https://youtu.be/EH2NAnhYq0U