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.
Using Loopy Pro in AUM as a control surface
I have been once again obsessed with the idea of a nice AUv3 customisable controller that can be loaded within AUM.
Much as midi has its limits. For example I think the oscillator knobs in Fundamental but think they're too small. I can make a nice big midi slider to control them, except I can't. Because the 128 steps offered by midi only gives me a tiny fraction of what's available using the in-app knobs, small as they are.
I'm enjoying the sliders in Xequence AU:Keys but am wondering if the consensus now is that Loopy Pro is probably the best tool to set up a customisable AUv3 control surface. Is anyone using it for that? If so could you share your workflow or thoughts on what is possible? I have so far only a superficial understanding of Loopy Pro. One major reason is that large chunks of the manual are still unwritten, and when it comes to deep apps I'm a bit OCD about working through the whole manual part by part to make sure I really understand everything.
Comments
I have one suggestion regarding the low resolution of MIDI CCs. In AUM, you can MIDI map Pitch Bend to any AUv3 parameter. That means you have access to 16 high-resolution controls, one for each channel. It may take some scripting or software to set this up, but it is possible. Of course, you need to block these messages so they don't actually bend pitch in a synth.
Thanks Dave, scripting is definitely not my thing but I wonder if any of the Mozaic heads would fancy tackling it. Or what software could do it and what steps would be involved exactly? I love midi but am not that good with the deeper 'behind the scenes' tools.
Also I would be wanting to get high res, simultaneous control of all 8 oscillators in Fundamental, if that complicates things even more....
Depends what one wants to do. For example, using an external controller with incremental encoders, a script can accumulate the increments in a 14-bit value that can be sent as Pitch Bend. An acceleration curve for faster knob turns makes this usable, while preserving high precision. Or, a script could implement a virtual LFO, and transmit the value as Pitch Bend.
In addition, some apps have built-in MIDI mappings that accept the MSB/LSB pairing of 2 CC messages (CCs 0..31 are paired with 32..63). So, a script could convert an incremental controller input into a high-resolution CC pair. Examples of these apps are ID700 and the Moog synths (Model 15 and Model D). I've done this in StreamByter for an incremental controller and ID700.
Thanks for the response, this shit is WELL above my pay grade unfortunately, I respect and admire your knowledge of the arcane midi arts 😂
Was looking back at an old post from aleyas about this. Some parts, again, I find a bit confusing. Can I use some knobs in ivcs3, for example, to get perfect high res control of the oscillators in Fundamental?
This is something that often triggers me too! I have found a way to work around it though..but not really.
Remember that post I made last month about the 'AUv3 synths that are also music effects'?
The problem is that CC modulation is too coarse.
My solution was to find apps with audio input, that have native modulation options. So.. native control triggered by external events.
For example, instead of using a midi envelope to control the cutoff of SugarBytes WOW filter, I'd use the filter in Synthmaster (or model 15, or Volt, etc), and use its native envelope to control it instead. No more steppy envelopes.
The new FAC phaser sounds great. It does have some native modulation, an LFO.. but, it doesn't have an envelope, and key tracking would need to be done over midi too - 127 values.
Solution: Drambo has a phaser, and plentiful native modulation sources. Route keyboard pitch to the phaser freq, and you've got smooth as silk key tracking. Could even add slew, or a rise/fall lag processor. I get irritated just thinking about how that would sound with midi CC instead!
I know it's not a perfect solution, but it may it may work in some cases.
..I wish more FX apps would include a midi triggerable envelope generator to give finer resolution modulation without resorting to CCs. The iVCS3 VCA does it. Those new filter fx like the polyvoks often include envelope followers, but those are a great deal less reliable or flexible.
as far as I know loopypro isn midi able in out as auv3MIDI - yet
Ah, really? OK thnx
Am I right in understanding btw, that if I wanted to use an app that can send NRPN to control the Fundamental Oscillators, I would have to use Fundamental in standalone rather than hosted by as an AUv3 in AUM?
I see TV-Data has 14-bit midi support. Does that mean I could easily set it up for high res control of any parameters? Would I, again, have to send to standalone apps rather than using AUM? What if I was using apeMatrix?
Loopy Pro works perfectly as AUV3 midi controller in AUM, midi in and out.
Sexy looking session! Especially the Loopy instance. So is there enough info in the manual currently to figure out easily enough how to put something like that together or was there a lot of fiddling involved?
I guess it still doesn't solve any of the high res midi probs we discussed earlier but certainly looks like a great auv3 setup.
If you use Koopy as the host , you can have high-res control of AUv3 parameters. You don’t have to stick to low-res MIDI. Loopy’s widgets can directly control any AUv3 parameters at full resolution.
Basically, you create in Loopy Pro any knob, slider and assign a midi parameter routed to AUM port like on screenshot, then you assign CC or other midi message in AUM via built-in midi control and exposed AUV3 parameters for example.
In this template above, all Loopy Pro, LK and Koala scenes are synced by midi, and Loopy Pro can trigger some specific actions in those apps like recording and muting, changing scenes, but also tweaking some AUM channel mixer or AUV3 parameters values. All in one!!!
I’ve gone that route because I’m so used to AUM and it’s so stable, it was easier that way for midi apps too. But perhaps Loopy Pro is more stable now with complex setups in standalone mode, I have to explore it again.
Good point!
That's pretty neat idea to use Loopy Pro as an AU controller. Need to give this a try. Prefer working in AUM as well.
Thanks! I'm definitely veering towards high res solutions, as much as I love AUM, so I might first have to finally start learning Loopy Pro and using it as a host. This does look great though
I just tried and still LoopyPro has no midi output either at AUM or drambo host. It has midi in.
But inpired by your post @Janosax I discovered this possibility and you are right, it was probably alerady possible from months. So thank you !!
Ok better to know now than later.
Any of you knows maybe If loopy pro can be controlled by launchpad in auv3 mode like LK can?
I can control LoopyPro standalone by launchpad but under auv3 I have no connection with launchpad, but LK still is able to be controlled.
I need to get into Loopy Pro. The amazing music you can make with it. Once September comes and kid gone to primary school, it's Loopy learning time.
BUT BIG NEWS in the Loopy world.
Beardyman has officially endorsed Loopy Pro as part of his core setup alongside Touch OSC
Announced on his Discord channel
Gorkblorf 😁😁
Loopy has midi out but it is non-standard. It sends its midi out via the host’s midi out port. So, the midi sent via loopy AU in AUM comes from AUM Destination port.
Loopy doesn’t look at non-host ports for midi input in the AU.
This is the kind of cools things that can be done here:
Initial live performance some months ago, everything by sax and midi NMSVE:
Can I ask more simpler say this to me, please.
I just cannot understand why LK is able to be controlled, Atom2 also in auv3, but LoopyPro cannot? Is this on roadmap or already working? I use launchpad mini mk3 so fully supported.
This is very well organised and deep thinked intelligence, and sax is the king.
thank you for posting this, very inspiring energy, informations
I have no idea whether this is planned for the AU,
So i have fundamental 2 hosted inside loopy Pro and made 8 sliders which I'd like to use to control the frequency of the 8 oscillators in Fundamental. I can't quite figure out how to do that though, or how to view Fundamentals parameters' list inside Loopy. I think this is not covered by the manual yet though could be wrong. Any advice or link to a resource that shows me how to do that?
This video brings valuable knowledge, and is pleasure to listen how sax dominate and lead in live beat oriented performance.
Mini wireless controller DIY for 65$ plus shipping, which is smaller than hand and iPad compatible - so no WING but this one is probably for my melodica world. At least I know it exist. Mucous Gracias 🙏
Those apps listen to Core MIDI even when they are running as AUv3. Core MIDI is the MIDI that all apps can see when they are running stand-alone, the normal MIDI. This means you can only selectively route MIDI using the MIDI channel.
An AUv3 should really not do this, it should only listen to MIDI specifically routed to it by the host. This is what Loopy Pro does. It allows much more selective MIDI routing, since you can make an app only receive MIDI from a script, route MIDI between apps, etc.