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.
I have fully stepped toward ios music production.
Hello everyone, I've been here a while so I thought I would introduce myself. Sorry for the title, Bill. I hope it made you smile rather than frown.
What a stroke of luck it has been, to decide to dip my toe in these waters around about 4 months ago. Every aspect of music production has layers and layers and layers to it. There's so much I know that I don't know and there's also, I imagine, a boatload that I haven't even heard of, never mind know nothing about. I guess that's part of what excites me so much about this stuff. It makes me spring out of bed every day and that's worth every penny I've spent on the ten million apps I've bought so far. I may buy one or two more before I'm done...
It's clear, to me, that this place has a wealth of experience and knowledge, that's either stored behind the site's search function or in the heads of every one of you. I really enjoy reading your opinions and experiences and taking in the knowledge that's shared here.
Thanks for sharing, I look forward to soaking up lots more of your knowledge.
Comments
My favourite period of musicing was when I had very little understanding of what's what and how is it done... my favourite instruments are things I don't fully understand... sure you can be more effective but it's way less fun. Even the most creative of us are led by their "narrow" mind when "in the knowing"
Have fun!
I've been using ios too as my main platform for recording. In some ways it's simplified what I do. I just hook up old synths and process with FX and record all in AUM. It is easy to get side-tracked by all the great apps out there but researching on this site has helped me chose what I use. My set up now reminds me of my early recordings using 4-track tape studios...just easy to get ideas down without thinking too much. The quality of the apps and FX are brilliant too.
Thank you, both.
I really do believe that less is more, especially right now, at this stage. But there's so much more and buying stuff to fart around with is a great way to put off learning how MIDI really works when I want to do that thing that does the thing.
Actually, you've just reminded me that I was going to get a field recorder type thing. Just for quickly capturing stuff when I'm out and about and for recording vocals easily etc. Or maybe I can just use my phone? Anyone tried both?
Here's my progress towards a basic workflow:
I've tried Beatmaker3. I was really looking forward to getting this app. I had tried iMaschine and iMPC Pro before this and I liked the pads and I liked the relative ease of use. I had no idea how the very basics worked at this point. I was hoping that BM3 would have a similar workflow to other MPC-alikes and it does but it felt a bit like a 10 storey house that started off as a room and then had everything tacked onto it. It's probably me but I felt like I spent so much time trying to understand how the signal flowed and getting my music into that and fitting myself to the flow of it that I just stopped having fun. So, I changed over to...
AUM. What an amazing app. I just have fun with this and it has a huge depth but it also allows me to make music without having to navigate those depths before I do.
There's loads more to this, of course but I will just add that I print out the manual of everything I get and have them in folders so I can have that on my knee whilst I am using the app. RTFM is no joke!
@ashh welcome to the iOS world. It changed me 100% . I have lots of hardware drum machines etc that quickly i stopped using when I realised the power of iOS production on devices (ipad&iphone) which I can fit in a rucksack or pocket & travel anywhere with my studio. It is mind blowing & extremely addictive too. Will never go back to desktop DAW.Not that Iam knocking desktop but that mouse index finger thing is boring to me now. Quick question whats RTFM?
Do you feel like an ipad, say, synth app can challenge a physical synth, @stormbeats?
RTFM is read the frickin manual.
@ashh I’am more a sampling type dude as you can see in my profile pic with my good old vintage akai s950 sampler but another iOS Plus is you can use midi controllers / synths etc with iOS . Drambo app now has gone further & found a way to attach older synths that do not have midi using CV Gate , though I do not use synths for what I do but find the app developers have brilliant minds. I know what RTFM is was just waiting to see if you would be rebel and say READ THE F*CKING MANUAL.
cool
Some of the ios synths are fantastic. I use one of those little Novation launchkey midi keyboards with the knobs midi mapped to a few controls ….I now have quite a few hardware synths that I don't really use anymore. I've enjoyed sequencing my Mother 32 via Drambo though.
i’m all in on ios, fully to be precise 😌
ever since i sold the op1 (worst purchase in history for me) and used the money to buy a new ipad pro about 2 years ago i haven’t looked back at the hardware world, and i had a lot of it. ..sold it all (just about) and bought apps , many many apps with the loot. ios has everything i need and now with aum, mirack auv3 and drambo it just keeps getting better and really is everything i wanted. good to see you’re enjoying it... there’s nothing like it , i know ios music making will advance and i’ll keep up but i don’t see myself leaving the modular aum workflow
Take a look at Zenbeats. Currently free on mobile. Between ZB and Auditor for editing samples etc. I’ve really stepped away from most other apps. It’s the only app with audio tracks that I don’t find totally annoying (most of the time).
I spent all of last summer researching field recorders, and also experimenting with recording stuff on my phone. In the end I settled on a Seinheiser Ambeo Headset, it's a pair of earbuds with binaural microphones built-in, which are really good.
The big advantage (apart from the great sound quality) is that I can record straight into Audioshare on my iPhone. Using a standalone field recorder leaves you with a cataloguing problem: lots of recordings to sort through and name etc after the fact, whereas with the phone you can simply name them there and then.
Welcome! There's lots of fart smellers here.... wait no that's not right.
I am constantly straddling the fence of iOS and Desktop production. I know they can co-exist. I don't care. Bought Reason again on sale for the nth time and have yet to spend more than 15 minutes with it proper. Yet spent an hour with AUv3 MiRack yesterday...
There is a wealth of knowledge here
and I think by and large most people are super helpful and friendly. Enjoy your stay!
Hey, welcome and thanks for starting a gung ho iOS thread. Bill did what was right for him but it is kind of a downer to dump on iOS in this particular forum. Just doesn’t feel right.
I just completed my 14th album in two years having had no desktop experience. I am primarily a jazz improvisor and the ability to simply get the shit down and out the door was handed to me like this fantastic gift upon my discovery of it via Jordan Rudess. I mean I was trying to produce music using a Casio workstation! That little screen, Jesus!
My early tracks had a lot of production flaws, but being able to plug in acoustic elements with a touch was miraculous to me, and none of the user unfriendly, costly, mouse driven aspects of using a computer. And now my instrument choices easily incorporate synths as well as effects.
I will never go to desktop, even tho I can get better acoustic results there. iOS has a bit of a homemade feeling to it and I like that. Fuck gloss, IMO. We have had way too much of the shiny shit. Our ears could use some home cookin. Just my opinion, of course. To each his or her own. And for those who attempt to find sonic equivalence, I see the value in that, too. Skeptics who think tablets cannot match desktop eventually seem to forget (or never heard of) Univac. I mean, a whole room of vacuum tubes, with the attendant overheating, and nowa mobile phone can do a thousand times what that behemoth did.
So again, welcome to a great platform and keep on keepin on.
Thank you for the smile. I needed that!
Welcome @ashh and hope you enjoy your journey.
If I was starting out with no gear I would definitely go all ios. I can't imagine being feeling that I was missing anything sound-wise (mostly). But I've got a pretty big investment in hardware (I'm sure modest by most standards) and just love the tactile nature of all of it. I'm pretty seriously happy putting my hands on keyboards and twiddling knobs and all that.
However, I do find myself more productive on ios. I do get way more done and what I'd call completed. That is not always my goal though - Music is exploration for me as well so getting stuff done is not always my end game.
This is exactly what I am hoping for, from the ios world. I have friends who swear by their Macs but then they haven't tried out the iPad and iOS moves so fast that even if they had 5 years ago then they would be using very old information to what is happening today. Thanks for your thoughts.
Sampling is another country that I have only ever seen on a map. Looks like a crazy old place.
Thank you, I appreciate your thoughts. I am really enjoying modern Jazz right now. One of my favourite CDs from last year was Trust in the Lifeforce by The Comet is Coming. That album really blew me away, so fresh and inventive.
@anickt cheers for the info yesterday / Zenbeats. I’am thinking to upgrade to latest iOS & maybe that will improve audio editing in Zen, are you on latest iOS?
Hello fellow newcomer! Regarding audiointerfaces I would suggest try to find a good microphone for your i-device instead of a standalone field recorder. Some years back I tried one of the zooms (H5) and was kind of shocked how noisy it was. The overall feel and build quality of the unit also was quite cheap. I know that a lot of people here seem to like the zoom devices but quality wise I think they shouldn't be any better than an iphone with a cheap mic but are probably more expensive. The Seinheiser Ambeo Headset is definitely worth checking out. The quality is okay. It is very good for recording street noises etc. in stereo and also had quite a significant price drop since it's release. I wouldn't put it in my back pocket though. The build quality is also not very good in this one but so far mine keeps working.
I have a Tascam field recorder that I got (on sale) for about $70 and I like it a lot. I tried the zoom ones and did not like them nearly as much.
I see no reason why that would have any effect on audio editing.
I also went for a tascam field recorder back then. $70 sounds like a steal!
It really depends on what you want to do with it. I needed an allround solution so I spent a little more money, but if you just want to give field recording a try and integrate some backgrounds in your mixes I think ios microphones will probably give you more for your money (although the ambeo is the only one I know).
Yeah it was the Tascam that I was thinking about. The cheaper one. It looks quite robust but I could just get an IK mic and see how that suits. I dunno. I'd be carrying around an extra bit of kit either way. If that's the case. I guess battery use could swing it.
Yes, it is always difficult to buy new equipment. I can spend weeks or months on research
@LinearLineman couldn’t agree more... home cooking is what we need more of. everything is over produced these days and to polished..i like that live in concert sound and grit
Yes - on a 2019 standard iPad
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I followed the exact same path. AUM sold me on the iOS platform for music. Then I bought a ton of instruments and effects. iOS is a fantastic creativity tool for generating new ideas. I still finish stuff in Logic, though. iOS DAWS are just not there yet.
Yeah I find myself changing over to Ableton to get certain stuff done but, if I'm honest, that's more about my need to use what I know rather than any particular issue with iOS. I look forward to the time when I am able to make an informed judgement call about which path to take.
Yes, it is a chore, isn't it.
Take a recent example, I'm thinking about getting a hardware synth. Off down the rabbit hole goes I and most of me is still down there.
One thing that iOS really spoils is my gauge of what software is worth. I guess that there is much more behind the curtain with Mac and PC software but when the end result is the same then I am very reluctant to spend more than it costs for the iPad version.
First world problems!
Nice contra-thread to the other.
While i myself still "need" my mac tools since they simply do not exist (yet) on iOS, i must say that without iOS i never ever had started with creating music/sounds myself. So it was my entree to the whole thing years ago. So i am thankful to the iOS developers and once i might get the kind of tools i still miss there is a chance i could imagine to go back to full iOS also. Why not. It just depends on your tools you want and also the workflow and also how you are able to adopt to another workflow or willing to use workarounds sometimes.
At the end there is too often kind of a this vs. that. Its all music creation and sound design at the end and one tool from the platform inspires me often to do things in the other and vice versa. It all works great together.
ALL platforms evolved a lot in the latest years, more so the available tools. They are just harder to find in growing market. Most important never trust the internet and do your own research
And also very important, if you are happy and having fun with what you have, do not change anything. Life is too short!
I love iOS music making.
It’s great that it can be so many things to so many people. I enjoy it most for enabling me to make music when I otherwise wouldn’t be able to.
Some of my favourite iOS apps are the tech equivalent to me of picking up a guitar and strumming. Sometimes I just want to play an instrument. Firing up something like Groovebox allows me to just play with minimal friction (and no option paralysis!).
But I also love desktop too. The latest updates to Reason and Logic are really fantastic. So much great content and reason in a rack is exactly what I always wanted from Reason. Liveloops in Logic are better than I expected and I’m loving it so far.
It’s all good.
But I can honestly say I wouldn’t be finding time to use logic if I didn’t have iOS to generate inspiration in the first place.
So true. I actively try and keep myself within that zone. But that's the challenge with computer music making.