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.

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Audiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.

SWAM CELLO - VIOLA - VIOLIN - DOUBLE BASS OUT NOW

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Comments

  • @Paulo164 said:
    Does anybody knows of an app that would transform the full iPad surface into an bow surface ?

    • X axis : speed = Expression (Ch 11)
    • Y axis : bow position or bow pressure
    • Z axis (on 3D devices) : bow pressure

    In fact, what Finger Fiddle can do but with MIDI out. We could play the notes with a physical keyboard and control the expression with this app. That would be great !

    "midimittr" is free, and connects midi over bluetooth between your iPhone and your iPad. Ordinary pairing won't work. "miditure" is also free, and has an xyz pad option (z is pressure sensitive) that is easily mapped to expression, bow pressure and vibrato. Make sure your iPhone is 8 or later to get pressure sensitivity. Not sure which iPads have this or not.

    While you could play both miditure and the SWAM instrument on the same device, I like being able to quickly dive into adjustments as part of the recording process.

  • @_ki said:
    @McD Here you go:

    Fugue Maschine AU sending 4 its notes on 4 midi channels using the Bach Fugue preset. Feed into Mozaic Midi Filter to mute/unmute the channels. Mozaic output feed into the 4 available SWAM string AUs, each filtering for a single input channel.
    Two CC-LFOs from Rozeta LFO modulate the expression and bow position of all SWAM AUs simultaneously. Without a doubt, the instruments would sound way better if they were given their own expressions based on the played notes.

    The AUs are panned from left to right in their UI and use their internal Reverb. There are no additional FX.

    I tried to swap between different instrument combinations and short solo parts.

    The video does not feature my new script. The Fugue Maschine preset uses 4 notes / instruments nearly permanently. For the script to shine, either fewer notes played simultaneously or more output slots (ie 6 SWAM instruments) are needed to create opportunities for unison assignment.

    😁❤️❤️❤️

  • @Charlesalbert said:

    @_ki said:
    @McD Here you go:

    Fugue Maschine AU sending 4 its notes on 4 midi channels using the Bach Fugue preset. Feed into Mozaic Midi Filter to mute/unmute the channels. Mozaic output feed into the 4 available SWAM string AUs, each filtering for a single input channel.
    Two CC-LFOs from Rozeta LFO modulate the expression and bow position of all SWAM AUs simultaneously. Without a doubt, the instruments would sound way better if they were given their own expressions based on the played notes.

    The AUs are panned from left to right in their UI and use their internal Reverb. There are no additional FX.

    I tried to swap between different instrument combinations and short solo parts.

    The video does not feature my new script. The Fugue Maschine preset uses 4 notes / instruments nearly permanently. For the script to shine, either fewer notes played simultaneously or more output slots (ie 6 SWAM instruments) are needed to create opportunities for unison assignment.

    😁❤️❤️❤️

    Lovely!

  • Having used string and orchestral sample packs for nearly 20 years and never been really satisfied with the results, these Swam instruments are light years ahead.
    With some careful practice, they can sound excellent.
    The Geoshred Clarinet, Sax and Trumpet are excellent expressive sounds too.

  • McDMcD
    edited May 2021

    @_ki said:
    @McD Here you go

    Some of the voices sound like accordions. But maybe only in the upper end of the range. It’s almost un-natural for this type of instrument to be played without the human’s input for vibrato and attention to attacks and releases. Automation a perfect player will require a lot of special thought to map controls to context.

    Thank you! @Gavinski is backed up on projects so this helps set expectations. I’m going to pick up the cello and maybe the violin if the cello gives me chills. Eventually the full set. sWAM’s idea of a bundle discount is 15% based on the brass bundles so $12 off of $80 is what I expect. No consideration of already purchased products so buying one means $80 is best case.

    Just to compare I loaded 4 GeoShred instances with 2 GeoViolins and 2GeoCellos and a Mozaic script to generate 4 parts:

    https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/CpxY2W82uscymuFU7

    SWAM strings are NOT universal and GeoShreds are and they are $15 each. 2violins and 2cellos can cover the range of a string quartet for $30.

    The trick with GeoShred is to use channels 2 or greater to fool the MPE checking code.

  • Sometimes the viola sounds like a pipe to me😂😂😂 Scottish pipe

  • These demos, unfortunately, are not doing it for me. Perhaps one or two of the experienced MPE members will string us along.

  • @Charlesalbert said:
    Sometimes the viola sounds like a pipe to me😂😂😂 Scottish pipe.

    Yes. Probably similar reed vibrating system to the classic accordion internals.

  • @mjcouche said:

    @Paulo164 said:
    Does anybody knows of an app that would transform the full iPad surface into an bow surface ?

    • X axis : speed = Expression (Ch 11)
    • Y axis : bow position or bow pressure
    • Z axis (on 3D devices) : bow pressure

    In fact, what Finger Fiddle can do but with MIDI out. We could play the notes with a physical keyboard and control the expression with this app. That would be great !

    Try Pen2Bow. Maybe not the answer you’re looking for if you can’t use or don’t have an Apple Pencil. But you may want to check into it. I can’t remember if fingers are allowed

    Excellent ! I just watched a YT video by its creator and this app + SWAM strings just turns you iPad into a real violin (almost... ;) ).
    Do you know if the Apple pencil is mandatory to get a sound out of SWAM or can we play also with a finger (and limited features, obviously) ? Thank you again.

  • @cphollis said:

    @Paulo164 said:
    Does anybody knows of an app that would transform the full iPad surface into an bow surface ?

    • X axis : speed = Expression (Ch 11)
    • Y axis : bow position or bow pressure
    • Z axis (on 3D devices) : bow pressure

    In fact, what Finger Fiddle can do but with MIDI out. We could play the notes with a physical keyboard and control the expression with this app. That would be great !

    "midimittr" is free, and connects midi over bluetooth between your iPhone and your iPad. Ordinary pairing won't work. "miditure" is also free, and has an xyz pad option (z is pressure sensitive) that is easily mapped to expression, bow pressure and vibrato. Make sure your iPhone is 8 or later to get pressure sensitivity. Not sure which iPads have this or not.

    While you could play both miditure and the SWAM instrument on the same device, I like being able to quickly dive into adjustments as part of the recording process.

    Yes, I have Miditure. It's very nice but does not translate the movement velocity into Expression, as can Pen2bow.
    Thanks anyway.

  • I’m with @LinearLineman at the moment. Not sure I have heard enough to suggest it is significantly better than the GeoShred SWAMCello and Violin + ThumbJam and others for me. Love to be proved wrong though…

  • @Charlesalbert said:
    Sometimes the viola sounds like a pipe to me😂😂😂 Scottish pipe

    @LinearLineman said:
    These demos, unfortunately, are not doing it for me. Perhaps one or two of the experienced MPE members will string us along.

    I think the thing with swam and physically modelled instruments is they sound incredible when played properly and with feeling on a way that sampled instruments never can. Motion is captured rather than just the static.

    But when they’re just fed into a midi sequencer or whatever they sound dreadful because it’s the equivalent of a really bad short looped sample or something where the duration of notes is very synthesised.

    It’s all in the playing. And the reverb. I think anyway. They’re also unbelievably enjoyable to play. :)

  • @wingwizard said:

    @Charlesalbert said:
    Sometimes the viola sounds like a pipe to me😂😂😂 Scottish pipe

    @LinearLineman said:
    These demos, unfortunately, are not doing it for me. Perhaps one or two of the experienced MPE members will string us along.

    I think the thing with swam and physically modelled instruments is they sound incredible when played properly and with feeling on a way that sampled instruments never can. Motion is captured rather than just the static.

    But when they’re just fed into a midi sequencer or whatever they sound dreadful because it’s the equivalent of a really bad short looped sample or something where the duration of notes is very synthesised.

    It’s all in the playing. And the reverb. I think anyway. They’re also unbelievably enjoyable to play. :)

    This 👍

  • _ki_ki
    edited May 2021

    The demo video was done with the Beta apps, but i don‘t expect that the sound of the store version will differ.

    I just tried with added vibrato automation. Sorry i didn‘t think of it and as i‘m lacking experiences with classical instruments. I only noticed that something is off. And i also got the accordeon impression while listening :)

    The Double Bass and Cello already sound very nice and natural, i like the attack and the release phase when their first and last note is played. A big part of the artificiality of the Viola and Violin was due to the lack of any vibrato.

    .

    As an reaction to the comments, i added a saw-tooth shaped, synced vibrato to all of them and the overall impression got better. But there are still times where i get a pip lie impression, especially if more of the higher pitched instruments are playing.

    .

    Another thing that might cause this unnatural feeling is the fixed LFO CC-11 expression identical to all instruments that i applied.
    When i manually ‚play‘ the expression slider for the violin, and follow the feel of the melody and development over the course of the track, it sounds way better. For the SWAM strings, it‘s not the velocity that has the most influence on the amplitude and sound, its the expression CC. (For instance to get an slow string like attack for long notes, the expression needs to start super-low and then slowly rise)

    Therefore i agree with @LinearLineman and @wingwizard that a person capable of playing an MPE instrument with individual and fitting expressions will produce sounds that better represent the quality of the SWAM instruments and that these simple attempts perhaps don‘t work at all for complex and delicate instruments like strings.

    .

    The intial request of @McD was „just feed some Fugue Maschine midi into the AUs“ and do a video. But without any expression or bow changes, the result was sounding super stiff. That’s why i added the LFO CC automations.

    The current version with vibrato LFO is better, but still not realistic over longer parts. Even if i now additionally manage to record individual CCs following the notes and sounding more natural - thats only to my untrained ears. People with a little knownledge on how the real thing sounds will easily find stuff i‘m not aware of. So, i don‘t know if it would make sense to post an updated video with vibrato and simple recorded expressions.

  • Related to Pen2Bow:

    @Paulo164 said:
    Do you know if the Apple pencil is mandatory to get a sound out of SWAM or can we play also with a finger (and limited features, obviously) ? Thank you again.

    This app requires the pencil.
    If you happen to have an Apple Pencil and SWAM (or GeoSwam) instruments, I'd definitely recommend this app.

  • @Paulo164 at least in Auv3 I was not able to make any of the “animations” appear with just my finger. But if you are going to use it like that I would just suggest using the “virtual bowing” part of the SWAM instruments themselves. At that point it is an xy pad that you still need to use a keyboard with anyways - and Audio Modeling’s keyboard is very well done.

  • McDMcD
    edited May 2021

    Thanks again @_Ki... your demo told me what I needed to know.

    Now, Id love to hear a demo made by @ion677 (nate_d_farrell) but that will take some time
    to surface. Something like this:

    Top that for versimilitude.

    Like a good guitar, tapping the potential of these apps requires a good pair of
    trained hands. The pencil might help with the audible artifacts of bowing but
    the beauty comes from key nuances that comes from gestures.

  • 4 strings, 2 brass, some effects, 4 atom 2 and pen bow and my cpu fries at 90 percent 😂😂😂

  • @Tim6502 said:
    Related to Pen2Bow:

    @Paulo164 said:
    Do you know if the Apple pencil is mandatory to get a sound out of SWAM or can we play also with a finger (and limited features, obviously) ? Thank you again.

    This app requires the pencil.
    If you happen to have an Apple Pencil and SWAM (or GeoSwam) instruments, I'd definitely recommend this app.

    Totally agrees. Forgot that I have this app and is perfect here.

  • @McD I’m waiting a few days before I pick these up - if I did a demo can I use the betas?

  • McDMcD
    edited May 2021

    @mjcouche said:
    @McD I’m waiting a few days before I pick these up - if I did a demo can I use the betas?

    Now that the product has dropped... I can't see why not. Good demo's help the vendor.
    Bad one's probably hurt the vendor.
    Many vendor's make bad demos, IMHO.

    Let me know what controller you use and how it's configured.
    I went for the Cello and can't find a decent way to control it yet.

    GeoShred gets me the closest but it isn't doing the slides and the vibrato controlled by wiggling on the note isn't working yet.

    And Pen2Bow only seems to make sense on yet another iPad feeding midi to the iPad running SWAM Cello. But maybe I'm just doing it wrong.

    Anyway, right out of the box you are confronted with a puzzle to get the right configuration for some pleasant playing. The tapping of notes sounds cool but I want that gliding sound of the romantic cellists with control of vibrato on demand.

  • @McD said:

    @mjcouche said:
    @McD I’m waiting a few days before I pick these up - if I did a demo can I use the betas?

    Now that the product has dropped... I can't see why not. Good demo's help the vendor.
    Bad one's probably hurt the vendor.
    Many vendor's make bad demos, IMHO.

    Let me know what controller you use and how it's configured.
    I went for the Cello and can't find a decent way to control it yet.

    GeoShred gets me the closest but it isn't doing the slides and the vibrato controlled by wiggling on the note isn't working yet.

    And Pen2Bow only seems to make sense on yet another iPad feeding midi to the iPad running SWAM Cello. But maybe I'm just doing it wrong.

    Anyway, right out of the box you are confronted with a puzzle to get the right configuration for some pleasant playing. The tapping of notes sounds cool but I want that gliding sound of the romantic cellists with control of vibrato on demand.

    I am also super interested. Got some decent sounds but far from realistic expression

  • @Charlesalbert said:

    @McD said:

    @mjcouche said:
    @McD I’m waiting a few days before I pick these up - if I did a demo can I use the betas?

    Now that the product has dropped... I can't see why not. Good demo's help the vendor.
    Bad one's probably hurt the vendor.
    Many vendor's make bad demos, IMHO.

    Let me know what controller you use and how it's configured.
    I went for the Cello and can't find a decent way to control it yet.

    GeoShred gets me the closest but it isn't doing the slides and the vibrato controlled by wiggling on the note isn't working yet.

    And Pen2Bow only seems to make sense on yet another iPad feeding midi to the iPad running SWAM Cello. But maybe I'm just doing it wrong.

    Anyway, right out of the box you are confronted with a puzzle to get the right configuration for some pleasant playing. The tapping of notes sounds cool but I want that gliding sound of the romantic cellists with control of vibrato on demand.

    I am also super interested. Got some decent sounds but far from realistic expression

    What were you using as a controller?

  • edited May 2021

    @espiegel123 said:

    @Charlesalbert said:

    @McD said:

    @mjcouche said:
    @McD I’m waiting a few days before I pick these up - if I did a demo can I use the betas?

    Now that the product has dropped... I can't see why not. Good demo's help the vendor.
    Bad one's probably hurt the vendor.
    Many vendor's make bad demos, IMHO.

    Let me know what controller you use and how it's configured.
    I went for the Cello and can't find a decent way to control it yet.

    GeoShred gets me the closest but it isn't doing the slides and the vibrato controlled by wiggling on the note isn't working yet.

    And Pen2Bow only seems to make sense on yet another iPad feeding midi to the iPad running SWAM Cello. But maybe I'm just doing it wrong.

    Anyway, right out of the box you are confronted with a puzzle to get the right configuration for some pleasant playing. The tapping of notes sounds cool but I want that gliding sound of the romantic cellists with control of vibrato on demand.

    I am also super interested. Got some decent sounds but far from realistic expression

    What were you using as a controller?

    Roli Seaboard and pen2bow.
    Recording in atom 2.

  • @McD @Charlesalbert

    Here you go. This is the beta SWAM apps with the Artiphon Instrument 1, with vibrato mapped to aftertouch and expression mapped to tilt (of the whole instrument). Keep in mind this quartet (quintet?) just learned how to play their instruments and this is their first time playing together. A quick project on lunch break with some brief mixing, Pro-R, and Lurssen at the end.

    https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/JJ3pQ7vo1rgNpbcb7

    This piece doesn’t do sliding, so I may do another at some point but I have to get better with it. The lowest setting the Artiphon goes to is 12 (for pitch bending/ sliding). Maybe @Masanga can help me if there is a better way.

  • Something that I have noticed is that one of the keys to making the SWAM instruments sound better than samples (besides working on phrasing and nuances of the individual notes) is adjusting the vibrato. A lot of the presets, imo, have the vibrato set in such a way that it calls attention to the non-human aspect. It is a combination of varying the vibrato speed AND using it judiciously with feeling (i.e. leaning into the vibrato on held notes as the note sustains and having none on short notes and making sure that the vibrato modulates and doesn't stay constant). This is particularly true when playing more than one instance at a time.

    Also, when playing multiple instances, one wants to make sure that each instrument is set up a bit differently not just with the parameters like vibrato but also the timbre. Our ears are subconciously pretty sensitive to this -- that's why when Jimmy Page has those big guitar arrangements, each guitar will have very different settings.

  • @espiegel123 said:
    Something that I have noticed is that one of the keys to making the SWAM instruments sound better than samples (besides working on phrasing and nuances of the individual notes) is adjusting the vibrato. A lot of the presets, imo, have the vibrato set in such a way that it calls attention to the non-human aspect. It is a combination of varying the vibrato speed AND using it judiciously with feeling (i.e. leaning into the vibrato on held notes as the note sustains and having none on short notes and making sure that the vibrato modulates and doesn't stay constant). This is particularly true when playing more than one instance at a time.

    Also, when playing multiple instances, one wants to make sure that each instrument is set up a bit differently not just with the parameters like vibrato but also the timbre. Our ears are subconciously pretty sensitive to this -- that's why when Jimmy Page has those big guitar arrangements, each guitar will have very different settings.

    Totally agree.

  • I sometimes try to set the pitchbend so that I can do vibrato by waggling my finger on my morph. Many years ago I saw Dream Theater in concert and noticed that on a "trumpet" solo that Jordan Rudess was using the ribbon on his keyboard for vibrato rather than a mod wheel or aftertouch. It let him give nuance to the vibrato that gave it a realness in spite of the sample or synth patch not being super realistic itself.

  • @mjcouche said:

    Here you go. This is the beta SWAM apps with the Artiphon Instrument 1, with vibrato mapped to aftertouch and expression mapped to tilt (of the whole instrument). Keep in mind this quartet (quintet?) just learned how to play their instruments and this is their first time playing together. A quick project on lunch break with some brief mixing, Pro-R, and Lurssen at the end.

    https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/JJ3pQ7vo1rgNpbcb7

    This piece doesn’t do sliding, so I may do another at some point but I have to get better with it. The lowest setting the Artiphon goes to is 12 (for pitch bending/ sliding). Maybe @Masanga can help me if there is a better way.

    Wouldn't dare – that sounds lovely! (But why a low PB setting for sliding – wouldn't you want to use the highest granularity available, which on the Artiphon is 48?)

  • @Masanga said:

    @mjcouche said:

    Here you go. This is the beta SWAM apps with the Artiphon Instrument 1, with vibrato mapped to aftertouch and expression mapped to tilt (of the whole instrument). Keep in mind this quartet (quintet?) just learned how to play their instruments and this is their first time playing together. A quick project on lunch break with some brief mixing, Pro-R, and Lurssen at the end.

    https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/JJ3pQ7vo1rgNpbcb7

    This piece doesn’t do sliding, so I may do another at some point but I have to get better with it. The lowest setting the Artiphon goes to is 12 (for pitch bending/ sliding). Maybe @Masanga can help me if there is a better way.

    Wouldn't dare – that sounds lovely! (But why a low PB setting for sliding – wouldn't you want to use the highest granularity available, which on the Artiphon is 48?)

    I must not be understanding the PB setting. To me, it sounded that the higher I set it (going from 12 to 48) made it so that I had to slide further for a change in pitch. May have to fool around with the pitch bend range on the SWAM side.

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