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.
Taïga – Digitakt, Microfreak, NTS-1 Jam
Snowy afternoon AUM Jam; external synths through Mixbox, Other Desert Cities and Bleass Granular; Digitakt using various Samples from Mars which I picked up in the BF sale (also Audiolayer and Samplecrate to manage them, but I ended up not using them in this recording).
I feel my setup is finally coming into place and I’m starting to make actual music. Mixbox truly makes a difference, especially on the Microfreak! My favorite chain is the Channel Strip (boost 300hz), Saturator-X, and Spring Reverb. Still need to spend more time with mastering but I liked how this ended up sounding.
Thanks for listening and for comments!
Comments
Sounds like actual ambient music to me and I like it a lot. Very evocative and the title is appropriate. I'll try your chain with the Microfreak
@yokotate thank you very much! Someone in this forum commented that the saturator alone is almost worth the price of Mixbox. A bit of a hyperbole (as they intended) but it’s true. The saturator brings any instrument to life, and it has so many settings and sweetspots that makes it go a long way.
After recording this I spent a lot with rymdigare. Another endless source of sonic transformation and with such a beautiful interface.
Sounds fantastic. Love the fade-in beat. And is that the microFreak at 2:00 or so swooping in so ominously?
Thanks!
That would be the NTS-1, I don’t remember which osc, maybe the stock triangle. The microfreak is doing the underlying arpeggio that’s heard throughout the track. I change the envelope to make it sound more like a pad or like a pluck depending on the other voices. The main running melody is a sample in the Digitakt.
Can I ask how you’ve set this up? I can never get the Digitakt sync to where I’m happy.
@ExAsperis99 Of course—thanks for asking!
I have a USB hub connected to the iPad (Air 3). A 4-channel interface; NTS-1 and microfreak on channels 1 and 2 of the interface, Digitakt on channels 3+4. (Sometimes I use an audio-out from the interface back into the Digitakt for resampling but not here). Minilab MKII.
The Digitakt is the “brain,” it sends clock and transport to AUM via Audiobus (otherwise AUM cannot sync to clock; this is key). AUM takes the interface channels in and out to a master bus which I record. Each channel with its own Mixbox strip and Busfri for the very noisy NTS-1 when connected to the hub.
Channels 1-4 in the Digitakt are percussion, 5 and 6 are bass and melody using samples. 7 and 8 have some ambience loops. Midi A goes to NTS-1 and sometimes I use B for the Microfreak, but for this one I was playing on it directly. One thing I’ve done, although not in this case, is map the CC channels of the NTS and MF in the microfreak to p-lock them and so on. Much fun to be had with this.
The beauty is I can play and record each part with the Minilab set to channel 10 for auto-route: this is the most important function. I had versions of this using Drambo and GR-16 but the Digitakt streamlines everything so much.
So with this set up I still have three under-used audio channels (since I could program all the percussion in two channels only and one of the two ambient loops is not super essential), and 6 MIDI channels to do anything I want, including iPad synths or loopback for the Digitakt. But I can’t keep track of so many components at the same time.
For the main melody on channel 6 I used the Digitakt’s step record function to program this 64 step noodling melody in C minor with some random explorations to F minor, and then throughout the performance I adjust the chance parameter to make it more or less busy.
On the Microfreak I used the arpeggiator with the spice and dice to have similar variations on the density of the arpeggio, and the envelope to make it sound plucky or as a pad, as I mentioned above. In AUM, the microfreak goes through Other Desert Cities and Bleass Granular, which I only remembered at the “outro.”
I recorded a melody for the NTS-1 (recording live to MIDI A with the Minilab) but I ended not using much of it, instead I played it live as a bass like the swooping moment you caught. I agree that that’s perhaps the most effective part of the recording.
After I had all the parts sort of coming together, I did a couple of practice runs and then recorded from the master bus in one take. Most of the “performance” is the usual mute in and out of parts, changing arpeggio patterns, envelopes and filter settings in the microfreak, and doing the all-amazing, always-great never-fail, control-all thing in the Digitakt for swells and drops. The conducting thread in my mind is the chance parameter in the main melody (sparse or busy and balance with the other parameters).
After I recorded the jam I ran it through Wavebox where I used EQ/Limiter/Compressor to glue things in a little bit. This is the first time I’ve tried Wavebox, but I didn’t really like how it handles AUs (they’re either on or off and you can’t really adjust things or A/B. Then you have to “apply it” to the file and export it anew).
I’ve watched a lot of Oora music and Aldo Jam videos on youtube to come up with this set up, and this is one of the first times I’m sort of satisfied with the result. I call the Digitakt my “magic box.” Just endless, fantastic things come out of it all the time. I’m waiting for Loopy Pro to be stable enough to start incorporating some live resampling tricks and designing a control surface for everything. I’ve had lots of fun using Loopy with GlitchCore to scramble loops like the Octatrack does (this is keeping me in check for GASing after one!).
Ok that was a bit long but it’s nice to track back on what I did. It makes me think keeping a sort of diary is not a bad idea. I think that’s it. Let me know if I can clarify anything else!
@ExAsperis99 what part of your set up are you struggling with?
For me this sounds a lot like old school electronica, Klaus Schulze and friends. Nice 👍
I’m also thinking of buying a NTS-1. How are you using it? There are so many oscillators out there… are you using some? I wonder also if it could be a nice effect processor for the MicroFreak (which I also own). BTW, did you see this: https://ruismaker.com/korg/
I realize I was trying to make AUM the brain, and not the Digitakt. Also, I was resisting using AB3, which has fallen out of my workflow, but it's easily accommodated, and the sync is kind of marvelous. Is there a way to control the AUM transport from the DT? Yes, I just realized. If AB3 controls the transport, then the Digitakt transport controls AB3 which then controls AUM.
OK, how long has this taken me to figure out?
Wow @krassmann I take that as a big compliment—much obliged!
I love my NTS-1. I’ve had it since April or so, and I use it almost daily in all sorts of configurations. I downloaded all the free things I could find (including the great Ruismaker osc) and the Roll-log customizable plugins which are pay what you want.
I haven’t gotten into the paid ones but I expect they will be fantastic. I’m just more than satisfied for the moment with the ones I’ve found and haven’t finished exploring and learning some of the weirder ones (there’s sequencers, randomizers, drones, etc). There are other drum sequencers out that I haven’t tried, as well as two oscs that let you load samples and wavetables. The effects are all incredible and totally transform the microfreak. One of the problems with custom oscs is that you have to do some menu digging to access the extra parameters and these are not available over MIDI, so a lot of the time I end up getting the sounds I need with the stock ones. The VPM (from the Prologue) is great.
I’ve noticed that there aren’t as many new custom oscs and effects. Everything came out in 2019 and it’s been stalled since then. It does seem a bit complicated to program but somebody is writing a guide as their Uni project and it’s well documented. When I get a break from work I’ll try to learn it, as it looks like a good intro project to get started with C++ and DSP.
I got it mostly to pair with the Microfreak which is a classic combo and enough reason to get one. They go hand in glove. But I often find myself using it as a synth by itself. Recently I’ve just been processing the Microfreak through the DT or in the iPad, although if you want to go full screen-less that’s the ticket. It is very noisy when connected to a USB hub, so you either have to power it from batteries or the wall and control it through MIDI cable, or use Busfri. It is perfectly clean when used by itself.
Since it’s this tiny DIY kit it is a bit delicate. I had to exchange my first unit (no questions asked) after the headphone jack came undone, and I’m always afraid the microUSB port is going to die any time. All of this is solved with accessories: I bought L-shaped 1/8’’ cables and I have my eyes on a USB cable that comes apart like a magsafe which should take care of the problem.
I ended up getting the SQ-1 to sequence it and it makes an amazing portable setup that I love taking with me on hikes or outings to the park. It never gets old and it’s much easier to use outdoors than the iPad.
The Microfreak can control the NTS-1 over midi cable using the each one’s proprietary adaptors or making a TSR Type A to B converter cable (cut in half and cross the wires). So this turns the NTS-1 into a second oscillator for the Microfreak. There is a port of the Plaits oscillators so they blend and work well together (although they do sound different).
An external controller and sequencer is a must—the little keyboard is a bit quaint IMO. I have the Minilab and it works wonders because you can map all of its 16 encoders to all the parameters and set the little box on top; the whole set up is almost like a Monologue with all the extra digital goodies and effects processor for about the same price. However, the Minilab has no built-in arpeggiator and no real MIDI out, only USB, so you have to go through a host. Similar controllers in the same format have MIDI out, arpeggiator, but less encoders… With the Digitakt it’s also perfect: a dedicated oscillator that works seamlessly over MIDI and can be p-locked to your heart’s content.
For alternatives, depending on what you want. You’ve probably seen the Zoom CDR 70 paired with the microfreak as well, which looks really good, if you’re looking for a dedicated effects box. If you’re looking for a battle monosynth that you can use on stage, this one is not it. A Monologue or Microbrute might be better for that. Other portable synths that I’ve thought of as alternatives within the same price range if you include the sequencer are the Volcas, but none of those is as versatile as the NTS one. I’m really drawn to it being “open” since it feels it never will get old.
So, I think I love it and you probably will too. If it’s not a big economic effort for you, I’d say go for it!
Yes, using the DT as a brain was my main motivation to get it. It changes everything.
For sync: AB3 takes clock and transport from Digitakt and sends it to AUM. You have to load a dummy effect in AB3 so it doesn’t reboot, but otherwise it just disappears in the background. Microfreak and NTS-1 are connected in chain through MIDI cables, because AUM can only send clock out to one device at a time. Click-Play-Bam-Jam! I haven’t done the extensive testing that ABF users are known for but I haven’t had sync issues so far.
Edit: DT as brain, AUM as mixer. Maybe AUM is almost co-brain since it handles half of the midi routing, and once you have it set up like this it’s not hard to use additional sequencers in AUM for other things.
Thanks @dvi for this extensive answer. Actually I’m thinking of two different use cases for the NTS. At home in my bedroom studio I think I want to use it as an experimental synth and explore the oscillators out there. Maybe sample some of my creations and then use them in my tracks. And the other use case is for my live setup, that consists of my iPad, Uno Synth, MicroFreak, Arturia BestStep Pro and a Behringer UM22 audio device with two channels. The BeatStep Pro has got two melody tracks and one drum track. Usually I’m using the iPad for drums, samples and effects. I wonder if the NTS could make the iPad redundant by running the Ruismaker oscillator for the drums and as an effect for the MicroFreak. Is it possible to use the Ruismaker oscillator and at the same time process effects on the audio input but not on the drums?
@krassmann for the first use yes, it will be right at home
For the second use case, sadly not at all. First, The NTS-1 is monophonic, even with the Ruismaker osc, so you can’t have super complicated drum parts. For that, the iPad or a dedicated drum machine are the way to go.
Second, the effects are applied to everything in the device, so if you use it as an effects box it will also affect its internal oscillator. You can route where in the chain the external sources come in (after mod, delay, or reverb) but not the other way around. Maybe a Volca drums?
Okay, I see. Thanks that helps a lot in the decision making.