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.
Song Of The Month Club - August 2020
What is the Song of the Month Club?
It's a place where musicians come to give and receive feedback on their work. Anyone is welcome, whatever their level of ability.
The spirit of the club is to contribute: if you submit a song for others to comment on, you should also have the courtesy to listen to everyone else's contributions and give as much feedback as possible. Posting a track and not listening and commenting on others is not cool.
The purpose of feedback is to be honest. Essentially you should give your truthful impressions of the song, whether good or bad. Negative feedback, if done in the right spirit and with courtesy, can be the most useful and can help the artist to grow and improve and correct their mistakes.
All submissions are welcome, don't hesitate if you want to contribute. We like all kinds of music and we are particularly fond of vocals (but of course we still love a great instrumental). If you are thinking of experimenting with vocals this is a good place to get started.
We ask that you only post one song per month in this thread - if you're lucky enough to be able to produce more, then please just submit your strongest material
And finally, iOS is not a requirement for posting here. If you've recorded your song using nothing but a ukulele and a Fostex 4 track, that's fine
Comments
My entry for the month, lyrics in the spoiler:
I would say I'm sorry
If we could let it be
I would say don't worry
But you don't want to see
There's nothing much left to say
You didn't want it anyway
I still remember when
We were both younger men
And we would show the world someday
If I tell you somehow
We might be okay
We just have to let go now
And send that dream on its way
You know what you want
Yeah you know what you feel
You know what you want and there's nothing more real
You know what you want
Yeah you know what you feel
You know what you want but now it's not a big deal
There's nothing much left to say
You didn't want it anyway
I still remember when
We were both younger men
And we would show the world someday
Finally posting my first full length iOS only track (recorded guitars through Shure MVi). First rough mix of a track in a soundtrack project for my favorite books, The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis:
As in previous months, I'm using Launchpad to create the music.
This one is more of a traditional type song. It may be less interesting because of that.
I've also added some retro eye candy. I'm trying to recreate the atmosphere of a late night bar or night club just before closing.
You captured the atmosphere perfectly. Very cool. I’d be curious to learn more about your workflow/ samples. Forgive me if you’ve let on about this elsewhere.
Another solid track. I kept hoping for a longer song and a “chorus” - more of a dynamic change I suppose. I still can’t get over how good the drums sound. On every song you put out!
@mjcouche, in this case, I used samples from the Electro Swing Soundpack that you can purchase within Launchpad. It was probably $1.99 US.
I slowed down the tempo of the samples from 124 to 62. That seemed to change everything from a swing- to a more blues-type sound. Next, I spent a minute or two trying out the samples. Then I jumped right in to the play the grid like an instrument. If I mess up, I can always start over.
For me, if I spend too much time learning exactly where the samples are on the grid, the less spontaneous the result will be.
@richardyot Yet another excellent song from you. I interpret the song to be about the falling out of friendship or out of a relationship. The lyrics and arrangement perfectly evoke a feeling of melancholy and longing.
@mjcouche Holy....shit. This reminds me of the Bladerunner soundtrack. Exquisite and beautiful masterpiece. What app(s) did you use for your sound sources mate?
@DavidEnglish Dirty, gritty, funky fun downtempo swing track. I love that 1920s/1930s aesthetic. You're definitely a king when it comes to controlling Launchpad. I never could get along with that app.
@DavidEnglish " It may be less interesting because of that."
WTF?!?!?!
That is definitely one of the best song of the month entries I've ever heard!
Gritty, retro, bluesy and I love the lo-fi production qualities!!!
I envision myself in a smoke-filled south-side Chicago club back in the '30s...
Excellent work!
+1
@jwmmakerofmusic Thank you. Main sound source apps are Sunrizer, iSymphonic, Pure Synth, Neo Soul Keys, BeatHawk, and a Nembrini app chain for the guitar.
That's a beautifully atmospheric piece, perfect for a soundtrack. The intro is gorgeously brooding, the middle section very dramatic, segueing into that lyrical section towards the end, before the climactic finale. Quite a journey you take us on in the space of three and a half minutes!
Thanks! For the drums I sampled my favourite kits from Soft Drummer and rebuilt them in Nanostudio where I can program and sequence them to my liking.
Nice funky jazzy track, all the elements mesh together really well and the vocal in particular is excellent and adds a fun element to the song.
The visuals work very nicely too.
Thanks @richardyot - I hope to get more out soon
I thought I heard Soft Drummer. Very good idea I often forget about - do you just use Nanostudio 2 for sampling or something else?
In this case I just hosted Soft Drummer in Audioshare and soloed each drum. I then sampled a few beats to get all the round-robins.
It’s been a while since I put anything up and this is a new departure for me. I’m looking forward to the comments!
@richardyot Love this piece. Most of your stuff is great but I think this one really stands out. You used to mix your vocals lower and (as you might be able to tell from my track above) I'm a fan of more buried vocals. For me they are just a little too 'out of the mix'.
@mjcouche Pretty epic stuff here. Really, really good and lots of great ideas here - I'd love to hear more. You should really try to get into the soundtrack business (perhaps you are). I pretty much grew up on C.S. Lewis (and then Tolkien) so I hear you on that front.
@DavidEnglish This is very clever and really engaging - the intro really drew me into the track in a way that wouldn't have happened for me if you'd just started with the verse. You certainly captured a feel!
The lead instruments are beautifully evocative and create a lovely melancholy atmosphere. The female vocal is beautiful, although I have no idea what is being sung, so the vocal feels like an instrument, Liz Fraser style.
The production is great, good mix and excellent performances. Beautiful piece.
Thanks, @richardyot. The kind words are much appreciated. I’ll let you into a secret: the singing is an instrument.
I just went through some of your older tracks and an example of the kind of mix with the lower vocal I was thinking of is The Paper King. That’s another great song!
Thanks - I'll have another look at the vocal levels. I confess I did suffer from mix fatigue with my entry this month so it's very likely that you're right about the vocal needing to be pushed back a little.
BTW, what is the instrument you used for the vocals?
https://realitone.com/products/realivoxblue
It (she?) works in the free Kontakt player as well. It’s hard to get flawless words sometimes but it’s really rather cool. My plan is to get an actual singer (I have someone in mind) but I’m going to get three or four tracks that work together first with these guide vocals.
I’m afraid all of this track was done in Logic - no iOS at all this time.
She sings well
It would be cool if something like this would come to iOS actually.
Super nice track and I'm amazed thise vocals are from software, love that style of singing. Please someone make an ios app for this!
Wow a very beautiful song. The vocals are great. May also make me think harder about getting Logic. Reminds me a bit of The Album Leaf. Breezy, moody, and just kind of keeps floating on.
Thank you. I plan to keep working on this one a bit and also the other tracks/ ideas for the first book of the trilogy. It may take a bit of time but this will be my main focus for a while. I’ve spent the last couple of years accumulating apps on iOS and just now getting to use them and put them all together.
I WISH I was in the soundtrack business - don’t really even know where I would get started.
@mjcouche i don’t know if this helps in any way. Worth a watch at least.
Thank you - I’ll have to take a look!
@mjcouche I’ve been listening to The Album Leaf. I really like it - very interesting stuff. Thanks!
It’s quite different, having more of a jazzy origin, but you might like The Necks. One track won’t show their range so you have to listen to a few to understand them.
Thanks for the recommendation! I’ll have to spin some up tomorrow morning.
@Richardyot You have this personal sad-pop style that I love and I’m impressed as your inspiration never falls down each month. Un coureur de fond n'est-ce pas ?
@mjcouche Impressive orchestral piece!
@DavidEnglish I absolutely love this Tom Waits atmosphere! One more drink before getting out.
@qryss Ha, duduk ?! My very favorite instrument. Beautiful atmospheric music.