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.
Jasuto in the current age of ios synthesis (2020)
Hello to you experimentors and mentors. Does anyone still use this app? Jasuto was never on my radar until I started to get more interested "modular" apps. I put modular in quotes as I'm not particularly into the popular modular synths on ios as I cannot seem to warm up to using virtual cables with my fingers on the screen. Just is too fiddly.
However, I REALLY like the sounds I hear from this in the samples I've heard. And I dig the motion recording you can do with it. I like that fact that it seems easy to dig into and does not look overwhelming. I also really like the looks of the sequencer. The thing that intrigues me (and other apps - Borderlands, TC-11, TC-Data, Samplr) is that they seem to wish to take advantage of what makes making music on this platform so unique. I'd like to embrace that. I like the idea of being able to build something visually - it's like combining learning styles.
Is there anything that checks the boxes of what I've described in this day and age besides Jasuto? Let's talk.
Comments
I’m with you on all points. The apps that really take on the touch platform are remarkably few. (Add the brilliant apps developed by our forum’s gentleman host to that list...)
I also really appreciate that the newer device’s power caught up with the app: Jasuto really pushed it, cpu wise, and now runs comfortably on my last two machines.
You mentioned Jasuto motion recording, I think that feature is unique among iOS modulars...Reactable and Rotor (touch centered again) can record performances in which objects move (I think), but there’s not the same depth
For non-skeuomorphic iOS modulars, definitely take a look at zMors if you haven’t already.
@Littlewoodg Nice to know I'm not alone.
For non-skeuomorphic iOS modulars, definitely take a look at zMors if you haven’t already.
It looks like there are little cables on zMors. Do you (the user) need to drag and drop them like in, say, miRack? If so, that's a no go for me.
Your post makes me want Jasuto more. Heck it is only $4.99. But, man do I have alot of apps along the try-and-buy-trade-route.
Jasuto is plenty of fun for 5 bucks...
I have to put in the word for SunVox here too, about which words fail me. Tons of fun and a world unto itself for the price ($6)
zMors has "wires" but they don't bother me the way pretend cables do, they move and connect by way fingertip buttons and the connecting visuals feel digital rather than fake physical if that makes sense.
Yes, I still use it, but not on a daily basis.
I tend to think there are two types of modular apps: high level modulars where you wire together full modules (e.g. miRack) and low level modulars where you have to build everything from smaller components (e.g. Audulus, zMors and Jasuto).
I personally use miRack more because it's a lot quicker to get complex things going (which is what modular is all about for me). The lower level modular apps require more time building all the bits together.
That said, you have more control of the lower-level modulars; with something like miRack you're at the whims of the module makers and if they didn't implement something you wanted, you're often stuck or have to do some really circuitous routing. Of course, a professionally implemented module probably does things that amateur synth builders wouldn't think to do, or couldn't achieve, so there's a tradeoff.
I wouldn't exactly characterize Jasuto as "easy to dig into." It's a lower level modular and it has its own quirks in its design, so you really have to read the manual if you want to get anywhere. Once you know the quirks it's pretty quick to get around, but you still need to know how to build your synth!
You still have to wire things together (not by plugging virtual wires into virtual jacks; you either go into the Edit menu, or you can turn on auto-wiring, but that is solely proximity based and can be fiddly when you have a lot going on).
Jasuto hasn't had a ton of updates in the past few years. It was updated to 64 bit, but that's about it. IAA-only, no Ableton Link, no Files support, still chock-full of deprecated APIs (e.g. old Dropbox and SoundCloud). Like Marcos, the Dev of Samplr, Chris was hired by Apple and stuck in a weird place regarding making his own apps, but he has indicated he wants to add to it in the future....
Still, Jasuto is unique.
As mentioned, there is the fact that it is designed with the paradigm of a touch interface: The level of signals between nodes is controlled by the distance between the nodes. So you can really play it by moving the nodes around with your fingers. And since, there's a motion recorder, so you can record and playback these movements, either looped, as one shots, triggered, etc.
It has FFT/iFFT nodes for frequency-domain spectral manipulation. I'm pretty sure none of the other modular synths have this ability. This allows you to go well beyond the typical "analog modular" types of sounds.
It has some powerful sample manipulation features, including being able to draw your own waveforms.
It's unique and quirky. If you like some of the crazy sounds you can get out of it (especially the sample manipulation stuff), it's well worth it. For these reasons I do still use it and plan to get more out of it soon.
This is an incredibly tame patch that doesn't even show two of the features I touted! It was done solely to show the motion recording. Mostly I use Jasuto for weird sample manipulation....
Tip for getting samples into Jasuto: you can use the General Pasteboard or Audio Copy:
-Copy the sample from your source (e.g. AudioShare)
-In Jasuto create a new Sampler
-Open the empty sampler node, give it a name, and go to the Edit menu and select Paste
Having something like iFunBox is useful however, for file preset management. E.g. creating new folders, copying, deleting, etc
Thanks for this great post!
Downloaded, got the basics sussed with my lunch. Brilliant.
rrarrow hasn’t been updated in 5 years but still works. It’s got a limited number of modules which are all color coded and can be fit together sort of like building an audio train set. All of the sliders can be controlled and automated via MIDI. You can easily get all sorts of modulation and feedback loops going. It’s fairly straight forward to figure out versus other modular apps yet still offers a wide array of possibilities. Make sure you have a good brick wall limiter if you start experimenting with feedback loops.
it’sa cool app but def requires some patience and modular thinking.
personally i find mirack to be the best to ever hit the modular realm, the wires are easy to drag and you can resize the window to make it all fit.
plus its so rewarding for not much more effort than it would take to start figuring out jasuto to set up more than basic synths. also soon to but auv3 😎
Big fan of Jasuto from way back here but as others have said MiRack is now my go to for modular adventures. I still fire it up now and then for nostalgic giggles and an atypically strange appreciation of a basic but functional interface.
I can’t find it in my heart to delete it, this must count for something ...
Jasuto is now missing in the App Store as well as in my purchases, so don‘t uninstall it if you really like it. I really like it and therefore I would like to know if anyone already upgraded to iOS14 and noticed any problems with Jasuto?
Glad to see Jasuto back is back to appstore (and "my purchases" to redownload), though without update. No idea how it works on latest os.
I love playing around with sounds and stuff in it.
Looks like Chris considers making new Jasuto, but asks for possible donations/crowfunding from interested.