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.
Share your favorite sandbox
By this I mean what are your favorite DAW type things that are essentially self contained, older environments like Synergy, Tabletop etc. Or newer things, like Gadget. I think the category includes groove boxes that verge on being DAWs. It could something that can import files via the old fashioned copy/paste (or to be flexible through the Files app). Arguably a sound source in audiobus but not host, arguably a host of the someday fully deprecated IAA host…but not a full participant in the device as modular environment.
Comments
AUM and Loopy Pro:
AUM is a “Swiss Army Knife” and Loopy Pro is great for jamming!
Absolutely both are top tier must haves. And are sandboxes that can host all the toys. Loopy Pro blows my freaking mind.
I use AUM to back channel into the more enclosed DAW tools that only have IAA entry, like the old school Retronyms Tabletop
Beatly Pro 100%
No doubt. Keeps getting better and better.
If Caustic falls in this category, then that gets my vote.
FLSM for me
(What i had in mind when i started the thread)
Cubasis is a full DAW tho, not just a sandbox/groovebox
AUM / Koala / Hammerhead / Egoist / Groovebox and often apps like Nanoloop as a challenge to see how much can be squeezed out.
It does have minimal IAA facility but the only thing I use that for is to sync FLSM with other apps in AUM, record the second app as a wav file and import the wav into FLSM.
They’ve made significant improvements to the iOS version and although it has its quirks I like it a lot and with FLSM I’ve stopped wishing for audio tracks in NS2.
It’s got the closest to NS2 MIDI editing that I’ve seen, a simple but useful Slicer, very good time-stretch and the IL team is very responsive on the forums.
For me it’s a winner.
Any sandbox that cats don’t come near to…
I don’t really work that way anymore, I use AUM. I do still use some Favorites like Gadget, Cubasis 2, IMaschine 2, once in awhile though.
Im2 is fun but a bit dated, you can export the samples and use them anywhere, however I think the sounds are only 16bit.
Gadget
I'd be happy to restrict myself to using these "sandboxes" for a while, if only for getting the best possible out of the current app choice.
There are so many powerful "sandboxes" now, all capable of producing great sounding full songs!
Groove Rider, Drambo, Gadget, NS2, BM3, Audio Evolution, Cubasis...
My personal favorites are Gadget, Drambo and NS2, mainly because I find them easy and fun to use.
AUM and MiRack, sometimes together.
The mighty mighty AUXY
Indeed! Auxy Jam is great for composing without losing focus on the music.
Lest we also not forget Endlesss. It’s a great sandbox for solo and collaborative fun.
SunVox, FSLM in no particular order.
I bounce into and out of and back, with this idea. I probably bounce too much. But I do notice that a space with a boundary expands creativity if that makes sense
Exactly my point! 😊
If Drambo counts then Drambo
Auxy Studio I what I meant but I like the jam version too
Interesting that no one has mentioned one of the Electribe apps yet...
Drambo is the ultimate sandbox, I need to use it more this way. 🙃
I do this once in awhile to mix things up.
This is currently my favorite and destined to be an all timer for me. Love loading in random glitchy samples into the preset patterns and seeing what happens.
So many. Lately Beatly Pro but also SunVox, Egoist, Gadget 2, Drambo, Hypertron, Koala, Borderlands, Hammerhead, I could go on. Even the Taqsim stuff, especially drone machine. Just downloaded Drumlab as well and it seems like fun for that.
Also the vastly under-mentioned app Pepp. I love it.
It occurs to me i use Beatmaker 3 as a self contained environment, with the understanding im using all their IAPs, and importing .wav.