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.

Have you taken the Blocs Wave pill yet?

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Comments

  • Never met Henny... But this video seems ... well..

  • edited May 2020

    @RajahP said:
    Never met Henny... But this video seems ... well..

    ...?

    ;)

  • Plus I must say, for all the shortcomings, launchpad with the LCXL is a joy to use. Populating LP with blocs, also a joy.

  • Guys, thank you for this topic. I was searching for some app for audition loops in sync with AUM, and instead got awesome sampler-slicer with endless inspiration. This "impress me" sample randomisation is brilliant. Samper not so powerful like Samplr (missing manual pitching/octave shifting) but it can make job done quickly.
    Looking forward to test it with MiRack, Drambo and stuff in AUM.

  • @despego said:
    Thank you @db909 - I wouldn't use sound packs. I was thinking to use it for firing my own "loops" and try different ideas. But only 4/4 is limited and limiting. I guess it's not for me, then.

    I think this is the crucial point. Those also or exclusively using sound packs will love BW but those of us who want to do our own and don’t have an organised library to simply drop it into BW will likely pass.

    I bought it on release and haven’t used it much since hitting the wall of needing to put the work of organising, tagging, naming etc in. If it’s true that it doesn’t allow for other time signatures makes it not worth the effort to me. Even if I really like the idea of the app. Similar yet different to what samplr does.

  • You guys have piqued my curiosity. I've been trying to delve deeper into using Beatmaker 3. Maybe this is something to check out.

  • Neglected this one recently, reckon it’s time to feed it some new audio chunks, and see what comes out the other end.

  • @supadom said:

    @despego said:
    Thank you @db909 - I wouldn't use sound packs. I was thinking to use it for firing my own "loops" and try different ideas. But only 4/4 is limited and limiting. I guess it's not for me, then.

    I think this is the crucial point. Those also or exclusively using sound packs will love BW but those of us who want to do our own and don’t have an organised library to simply drop it into BW will likely pass.

    I bought it on release and haven’t used it much since hitting the wall of needing to put the work of organising, tagging, naming etc in. If it’s true that it doesn’t allow for other time signatures makes it not worth the effort to me. Even if I really like the idea of the app. Similar yet different to what samplr does.

    So, @supadom would a looper do the job? Like the upcoming version of Loopy? I'm not talking of live looping but adding your own sounds, no matter if it's from a folder on Audioshare or just recorded on site.

    Or maybe I should just practice more with the classic timeline workflow...

    Re: time signatures, nice to see I'm not alone here. It's kind of surprising how often this feature is passed. New apps come out with promises to make all kinds of music but no one tells you that you have to limit yourself to 4/4. I would have spared a lot of time and money if it was included in the description. And I'm not talking about crazy polyrhythms or 17/16... I mean things as simple and common as 3/4...

  • @despego said:

    @supadom said:

    @despego said:
    Thank you @db909 - I wouldn't use sound packs. I was thinking to use it for firing my own "loops" and try different ideas. But only 4/4 is limited and limiting. I guess it's not for me, then.

    I think this is the crucial point. Those also or exclusively using sound packs will love BW but those of us who want to do our own and don’t have an organised library to simply drop it into BW will likely pass.

    I bought it on release and haven’t used it much since hitting the wall of needing to put the work of organising, tagging, naming etc in. If it’s true that it doesn’t allow for other time signatures makes it not worth the effort to me. Even if I really like the idea of the app. Similar yet different to what samplr does.

    So, @supadom would a looper do the job? Like the upcoming version of Loopy? I'm not talking of live looping but adding your own sounds, no matter if it's from a folder on Audioshare or just recorded on site.

    I’m not sure what you mean. Using a looper to create loops from other apps? I’ve done that with current version of loopy as well as AUM and it works well albeit AUM with its integration with AudioShare makes more sense for creating sound libraries.

    If you mean as a sample loop launcher/player I’m not sure. I personally use samplr and Drambo but I’m mostly for live and spontaneous looping so those are my gotos albeit Drambo is still in early stages as far as live manipulation is concerned.

    Or maybe I should just practice more with the classic timeline workflow...

    Re: time signatures, nice to see I'm not alone here. It's kind of surprising how often this feature is passed. New apps come out with promises to make all kinds of music but no one tells you that you have to limit yourself to 4/4. I would have spared a lot of time and money if it was included in the description. And I'm not talking about crazy polyrhythms or 17/16... I mean things as simple and common as 3/4...

    Yes, it’s ridiculous and is an indication of how poor musically mainstream electronic music is. As you’ve said, we’re not talking about some crazy shit but restricting to 4/4 is ridiculous. I wouldn’t blame it on developers though. They respond to market forces and since this adds coding and UI complexity to the app they will often look at whether there is a demand for it and, clearly, there isn’t.

    At this point I guess there is the pro vs casual argument to be made but that’s a rabbit hole in itself 🤔

  • @despego said:

    @supadom said:

    @despego said:

    Or maybe I should just practice more with the classic timeline workflow...

    Ah sorry I missed this bit. I think it will depend what you’re more comfortable with. I find the timeline a bit restrictive but also haven’t explored how setting loop markers might work for a spontaneous (transport running continuously) jamming. I personally find it too time consuming prep wise. I’m happy to put work into preparing a tweakable template(s) that will cover most of my user cases and leave it at that. Then when I feel like making music from scratch you load it up and you’re away. So basically no song mode.

    If you like constructing/arranging a track then DAW is probably where your heart is and that’s where you should invest your time. Drambo Beta just got a song mode so maybe you should take a look at that? No timeline or piano roll though :)

  • @supadom said:

    @despego said:

    @supadom said:

    @despego said:

    Or maybe I should just practice more with the classic timeline workflow...

    Ah sorry I missed this bit. I think it will depend what you’re more comfortable with. I find the timeline a bit restrictive but also haven’t explored how setting loop markers might work for a spontaneous (transport running continuously) jamming. I personally find it too time consuming prep wise. I’m happy to put work into preparing a tweakable template(s) that will cover most of my user cases and leave it at that. Then when I feel like making music from scratch you load it up and you’re away. So basically no song mode.

    If you like constructing/arranging a track then DAW is probably where your heart is and that’s where you should invest your time. Drambo Beta just got a song mode so maybe you should take a look at that? No timeline or piano roll though :)

    Well, I'm not sure either 🧐
    I guess it's because there are so many ways of making music. I usually play over chord changes, 2, 3 or 4 and then different sections. In this way looping a couple of bars kids of limits me. When I think of groovebox is to put this chord changes in loops and then move from one to the other to see how they work together - but maybe something like suggester would be more suitable.

    Or arranging these chord changes in a time line and listening... maybe something I have to work more with.

    I understand the problems of time signatures. If only I could know beforehand, I would spare the effort. For instance I wouldn't hijack this thread making questions and getting off-topic (sorry).

  • If you can live with just ¾ Or 6/8 as alternatives to 4/4 then GarageBand liveloops is the best option and even allows you to record your liveloop arrangement into the timeline. Each loop can have its own fx chain too, and is surprisingly powerful.

    If you need more than ¾ and 6/8 then I’d suggest Nanostudio 2.

    If you want to use a workflow slightly similar to BlocsWave you can load up a load of loops into one or more Slate instances. Set each pad to ‘sustain’ and draw in the duration you want for each loop in the piano roll.

    Not the same as BlocsWave but an option for triggering loops in songs that aren’t 4/4.

    Each pad has independent EQ, Compressor, plus reverb and delay via sends.

    If you want more control, load more instances of your slate loop set and put different auv3 fx on each.

    You can kind of live record clip triggering by tapping pads by enabling record quantising but the playback will sound off even though the midi is recorded in time. I find that I’m happy enough to draw in the loop triggers.

    Just to reiterate, this is nothing like the immediacy of using BlocsWave but will allow you to loop audio In pretty much any time sig. and works on iPhone.

  • edited May 2020

    GroupTheLoop can work with lot of time signature and even mix them for polyrhythms:

    There is also 12/8 and 13/8.

    The trick for fast time signature change is to use 1/4 and ADD clock multiplier mode. You can then create any time signature and loop number.

    Look at loops grid to see beats numbers:

    You can set individual tempo for each group (Link 3 will follow too!!), and you can export all session loops in one unique folder too (Files App including AudioShare). And you can use slide over iPad feature so workflow with AUM or Audiobus is super cool.

    A limitation is 4 loops per group, but you can overdub with undo/redo (saved with session) or merge them with a simple gesture to gain slots (this is where BlocsWave is still interesting with 8 loops slots per group).

    About BlocsWave the unique way to export all your stuff is to create songs and load loops in them then export as ALS for example (BTW you can that way export IAP packs too to use them elsewhere).

  • If you need more than ¾ and 6/8 then I’d suggest Nanostudio 2. @klownshed

    This could be an option, as I don't need the immediacy of live looping and also a way to open Nanostudio a bit more.

    @Janosax, GTL is one of those apps I haven't bought because I wasn't sure of the time signature options. I will keep it on my radar.

    I can't use GarageBand 1, because I'm not limited to 3/4, 6/8 and because I find it extremely slow in workflow. I have logic on my Mac though but sticking to the iPad makes everything much more minimalistic and handy.

  • I have. Very nice to record into it strait to create my own loops.
    I have an Audiobus aum setup.

  • edited May 2020

    One further thought about time signatures in BlocsWave

    You can use it for any time signature (with a few limitations), as long as you can make each bar loop seamlessly. So you need to work out what the tempo should be in 4/4 tempo for this to work.

    This works because, for example, if you have a song in 3 / 4 time at 90 bpm, one bar lasts exactly 2 seconds. So if you can make BW loop in multiples of exactly 2 seconds any bar lengths will work. So you set the tempo in BW to 120 BPM (90/3 = 30, 30 * 4 = 120). Now BW will loop all bars in multiples of 2 seconds, which is exactly one bar of your 90 bpm waltz.

    You do need to make sure the tempo calculates as an integer or you'll have timing errors.

    So you could have a song that's 87 bpm in ¾ time as that would be 116 bpm in 4/4 but you couldn't have 86 bpm as that would be 114 ⅔ bpm in 4/4 and you can't set decimal places in BWs tempo.

    When you import your loops you will need to tell BW the calculated tempo (i.e. tell BW your loops are 120 bpm when they're 90 in 3 / 4).

    BW won't care what time signature your audio was recorded in as long as all your loops are the same signature and tempo. Blocswave will also be able to timestrech any other ¾ loops to fit the project. But BW won't be able to help you find loops that will fit. That bit is up to yours it will assume everything is still in 4/4.

    It will make the user loops section a bit messy and if you like the automatic suggestion pad thing, then this will mess that up too as loops will clash.

  • Forgot to mention, as GTL has also midi triggering, it’s quite fun to use even on the iPhone (Plus/Max) with something like Velocity Keyboard in drum mode to trigger groups change and loops recording actions (takes simple and hold taps). Helps not using apps switching all the time (not an issue on iPad with slide over).

  • edited May 2020

    The attraction for me with Blocs, like similar apps such as Egoist, is the potential for random happy accidents.

    Working on my own, by composing in the standard manner, I find myself automatically repeating the same old years learned riffs and cliches.

    So 90% of what I do now comes as a result of randomising synth sounds and blocks of audio, and mixing together audio stems that were never designed to sit together.

    Stops me getting bored with my own stuff, as aside from the odd bass or lead line, I’ve little idea what will emerge at the end.

  • @MonzoPro said:
    mixing together audio stems that were never designed to sit together.

    Quite a few songs I’ve finished used elements I was using in a different tune.

    Now my only problem is I end up with the same parts in multiple songs.

    Which is a much better problem than not having any songs :-)

  • I wish it had more wave editing lengths and more edit features.
    Also I wish I could use it like an instrument along with launchpad inside aum.

  • @MonzoPro said:
    The attraction for me with Blocs, like similar apps such as Egoist, is the potential for random happy accidents.
    Working on my own, by composing in the standard manner, I find myself automatically repeating the same old years learned riffs and cliches.

    +100 here! We've developed all kinds of mannerisms peculiar to us. Avoiding it is tough. Having your sound is all good but sometimes we just want to get away! :)

  • @jameslondon74 said:
    You guys have piqued my curiosity. I've been trying to delve deeper into using Beatmaker 3. Maybe this is something to check out.

    Here’s a good video that shows how you might use them together:

  • @klownshed said:

    @MonzoPro said:
    mixing together audio stems that were never designed to sit together.

    Quite a few songs I’ve finished used elements I was using in a different tune.

    Now my only problem is I end up with the same parts in multiple songs.

    Which is a much better problem than not having any songs :-)

    Worked for Zappa!

    Yeah I have to be careful not to use the same bit of audio twice, though I sometimes cheat by slowing it down and retuning it :)

    @Artj said:

    @MonzoPro said:
    The attraction for me with Blocs, like similar apps such as Egoist, is the potential for random happy accidents.
    Working on my own, by composing in the standard manner, I find myself automatically repeating the same old years learned riffs and cliches.

    +100 here! We've developed all kinds of mannerisms peculiar to us. Avoiding it is tough. Having your sound is all good but sometimes we just want to get away! :)

    Definitely. I’ve got a whole stack of properly composed stuff that I can’t be motivated to finish, as it just feels like hard work. Boring and predictable. If I was getting paid, maybe.

    Whereas my randomised, thrown together mixes are fun to make, and I end up with something I actually want to listen to.

    I can stick on an album from a few months back, and not remember any of it - it’s as if I’m listening to someone else’s music!

  • @MonzoPro said:
    The attraction for me with Blocs, like similar apps such as Egoist, is the potential for random happy accidents.

    Working on my own, by composing in the standard manner, I find myself automatically repeating the same old years learned riffs and cliches.

    So 90% of what I do now comes as a result of randomising synth sounds and blocks of audio, and mixing together audio stems that were never designed to sit together.

    Stops me getting bored with my own stuff, as aside from the odd bass or lead line, I’ve little idea what will emerge at the end.

    That is what I love about audio chopping on desktop with Samplitude, just taking huge wavs and mashing jams and such together. Its like hearing yourself through a prism.

  • @AudioGus said:

    @MonzoPro said:
    The attraction for me with Blocs, like similar apps such as Egoist, is the potential for random happy accidents.

    Working on my own, by composing in the standard manner, I find myself automatically repeating the same old years learned riffs and cliches.

    So 90% of what I do now comes as a result of randomising synth sounds and blocks of audio, and mixing together audio stems that were never designed to sit together.

    Stops me getting bored with my own stuff, as aside from the odd bass or lead line, I’ve little idea what will emerge at the end.

    That is what I love about audio chopping on desktop with Samplitude, just taking huge wavs and mashing jams and such together. Its like hearing yourself through a prism.

    I haven’t got that, probably need to put it on The List.

  • @MonzoPro said:

    @AudioGus said:

    @MonzoPro said:
    The attraction for me with Blocs, like similar apps such as Egoist, is the potential for random happy accidents.

    Working on my own, by composing in the standard manner, I find myself automatically repeating the same old years learned riffs and cliches.

    So 90% of what I do now comes as a result of randomising synth sounds and blocks of audio, and mixing together audio stems that were never designed to sit together.

    Stops me getting bored with my own stuff, as aside from the odd bass or lead line, I’ve little idea what will emerge at the end.

    That is what I love about audio chopping on desktop with Samplitude, just taking huge wavs and mashing jams and such together. Its like hearing yourself through a prism.

    I haven’t got that, probably need to put it on The List.

    It is a bit of a standard design timeline daw beast but I started with it when it was tiny tiny and just got to learn the relevant (to me) bits incrementally. The audio clip editing is it’s real bread and butter strength that I just haven’t seen elsewhere. I rarely use midi, but just the audio chopping/mixing is lovely.

  • @Janosax thanks for those generous posts. Def. food for thought there....I need to dig out GTL again :)

  • @AudioGus said:

    @MonzoPro said:

    @AudioGus said:

    @MonzoPro said:
    The attraction for me with Blocs, like similar apps such as Egoist, is the potential for random happy accidents.

    Working on my own, by composing in the standard manner, I find myself automatically repeating the same old years learned riffs and cliches.

    So 90% of what I do now comes as a result of randomising synth sounds and blocks of audio, and mixing together audio stems that were never designed to sit together.

    Stops me getting bored with my own stuff, as aside from the odd bass or lead line, I’ve little idea what will emerge at the end.

    That is what I love about audio chopping on desktop with Samplitude, just taking huge wavs and mashing jams and such together. Its like hearing yourself through a prism.

    I haven’t got that, probably need to put it on The List.

    It is a bit of a standard design timeline daw beast but I started with it when it was tiny tiny and just got to learn the relevant (to me) bits incrementally. The audio clip editing is it’s real bread and butter strength that I just haven’t seen elsewhere. I rarely use midi, but just the audio chopping/mixing is lovely.

    I’ll keep an eye out for sales. Seen the price drop a couple of times recently, but not enough for my wallet. Otherwise I’ll stick it on a birthday list.

  • @MonzoPro said:

    @AudioGus said:

    @MonzoPro said:

    @AudioGus said:

    @MonzoPro said:
    The attraction for me with Blocs, like similar apps such as Egoist, is the potential for random happy accidents.

    Working on my own, by composing in the standard manner, I find myself automatically repeating the same old years learned riffs and cliches.

    So 90% of what I do now comes as a result of randomising synth sounds and blocks of audio, and mixing together audio stems that were never designed to sit together.

    Stops me getting bored with my own stuff, as aside from the odd bass or lead line, I’ve little idea what will emerge at the end.

    That is what I love about audio chopping on desktop with Samplitude, just taking huge wavs and mashing jams and such together. Its like hearing yourself through a prism.

    I haven’t got that, probably need to put it on The List.

    It is a bit of a standard design timeline daw beast but I started with it when it was tiny tiny and just got to learn the relevant (to me) bits incrementally. The audio clip editing is it’s real bread and butter strength that I just haven’t seen elsewhere. I rarely use midi, but just the audio chopping/mixing is lovely.

    I’ll keep an eye out for sales. Seen the price drop a couple of times recently, but not enough for my wallet. Otherwise I’ll stick it on a birthday list.

    Yah every couple years they have a crazy 90% off sale!

  • edited May 2020

    So the consensus is ... use block waves with your own loops. Don't buy the factory loops.

    If I don't have a library of loops (yet) can you use factory ones and chop somewhere else (by exporting from blocs wave?) for instance in Audioshare, and send back to blocs wave? Sorry, I'm just trying to figure out some flow here. Or send from blocs wave into egoist and really get crazy?

    Can anyone do all this without getting a red face of shame from just using someone elses hard work? I come from the angle where this was all very taboo and looked down upon. However, the other night I loaded up blocs wave with factory stuff and had something extremely grooving and then put my own voice over and had blast with my new band.

    Noob stuff and writing it sort of helped.

    Also, when we say "loop library" is there any reason not to assemble all of this inside of an app (audioshare) or should this be done in a folder on the ipad desktop? Or does it depend (probably) upon where you can access them from whichever app you are using?

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