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.
Simple setup but issues with app switching
Hello -
I have a simple setup. Just want to use Audiobus for live performing. Controlling three items. Organ, Numa Player, and Lumbeat Jazz Drummer.
Problem: Audiobus is uncontrollably switching to Numa Player. It’s random. The problem doesn’t happen if Numa Player isn’t running in Audiobus.
Any ideas?
I’m a noob here, so please be forgive my ignorance.
Thanks!
Tim
Comments
By "switching to Numa Player", I guess you mean opening its screen in the foreground. Are you loading Numa Player as AUv3, or as IAA?
Could you please post screenshots of your Audiobus MIDI and Audio configurations?
Thanks for your response. I will post later today (hopefully) the answers. Thank you very much!
Tim
By the way, if you have the Audiobus MIDI mapping IAP, it is possible to map a MIDI event (note, CC, etc.) to "Switch To" an app. You could check whether that is the case.
Again, I’m just beginning. I don’t know the difference between AUv3 or IAA. Does the screen shot help at all?
Thank you,
Tim
Here’s the MIDI tab screen:
I’ve chosen Midi channel two for the Numa Player. I have two keyboards, and one transmits on channel two. When I want the Numa player sounds, I’ll use the second keyboard.
Tim
I’ve discovered my controller, a DMC-122 dual manual tonewheel “organ” is transmitting control changes when I move the bass pedal 16’ drawbar. Numa player is responding to that drawbar and coming to the front. If the drawbar is all the way in, no issues. If I pull it out, Numa player comes to the front randomly. I don’t need the Numa player to respond to control changes. Is the Midiflow software suite in my future?
Tim
Hi Tim,
It sounds like you've already found the problem, if the drawbar is sending a CC and causing Audiobus to bring Numa Player forward. I don't believe that receiving a CC would normally cause this (need to check this). Numa Player is an AUv3, and cannot "pop up" by itself.
Which CC# is the drawbar sending? Could you post a screenshot of a MIDI monitor when you move the drawbar? Do the other drawbars send CCs, or only this one?
If you have the Audiobus MIDI Learn IAP, you should check if you've configured that CC to Switch To Numa Player. Tap on the 5-pin MIDI icon, then on the Numa Player icon, select Switch To from the popup, and see if it's already configured.
You distinguish AUv3 vs IAA when you use the Audiobus (+) menu to add an item. At the bottom of the menu, you can select "Audio Units" (AUv3) or "Apps" (IAA). You can tell them on the screen because the Switch To icons at the top include a letter ("A") for the AUv3 and no letter for an IAA. So I can tell that your drummer is IAA, while the others are AUv3.
I don’t think an IAA app can bring itself forward. Make sure you haven’t set AudioBus to bring Numa forward in Audiobus’ midi control.
I suspect, since I have Midi Learn installed, I may have inadvertently created a CC message response. Off to check it now.
Thanks for all your ideas and help.
Tim
There’s a CC24 message being generated by the controller. The one causing the issue is CC33.
Your directions above were VERY helpful.
Also very helpful (above). This is a new “world” to me and I’m grateful for your patience.
Tim
I followed uncledave’s impeccable directions. Guess what I found? In experimenting with Midi Learn I inadvertently configured the drawbar controller to send CC33 to Numa Player. I have no clue how I configured the Numa Player to switch to… but that’s what it was doing.
All fixed!
Back to exploring Audiobus without the exasperating overhead of my own “noobishness.”
Thank you!!!!
Tim
One more comment here. I’m an old guy who grew up playing Hammond organs (sophomore high school through 22 years in the USAF Band program). You all cannot imagine the thrill I’m getting out of exploring this technology and putting it to use as I mentor my grandson (alto sax, he’s sixteen years old) into the world of live music performance.
Great software! Thank you VERY much for the energy and skill you put into it.
Tim
That's good to hear. Surprised that's what it was, but it seemed like the only possibility.
One little catch with AB3 MIDI mapping. The mappings are normally stored in a global Profile which is loaded when you open AB3. You can switch to "Current Preset" under "Profiles" in the upper left. That makes the mappings unique to each preset, which makes more sense to me.
Uncle Dave - I hadn’t noticed the global profile load. I will investigate switching to current preset. Yesterday, during rehearsal, Lumbeat JazzDrummer kept dumping back into AB3. I need JazzDrummer to stay on top to control it for fills, stops, starts, pattern selection, etc. There’s something going on there and I’ll work on it today. Sigh…
Hmmm. Because Lumbeat is IAA, it's running as a separate process (not an AUv3 "plugin"). That means switching is partially under control of iPadOS, so detection of an input to AB3 could trigger a switch.
However, are you possibly tapping on the Audiobus slide-over control that appears when you're in Lumbeat?
Also, check that you haven't MIDI-Learned the switch to Audiobus. It appears at the top of the Audiobus screen when you tap on the MIDI icon.
An IAA app can’t just bring itself to the front.
Other than the “return to host” function or tapping on the AB palette, I am skeptical that AB is bringing itself to the front or that the OS. I don’t believe AB can bring itself to the front without user interaction.
Btw, pretty much every feature of lumbeat apps can be accessed via midi (changing patterns, triggering fills, etc).
Gentlemen,
I cleared my setup and started anew. I considered that I might be causing the switch from JazzDrummer to AB3 by touching the slide-out. Once I had a viable and correct setup, I used that saved profile after AB3 was started. So far, so good. No switching from JazzDrummer to AB3.
JazzDrummer startup never works, as I’m sure you know. I follow the directions to switch to JazzDrummer, swipe it away, go back to AB3 and it restarts automatically and runs fine. According the message, this is an IOS bug. Another rehearsal tonight should reveal if the problem is gone.
BTW, I triple-checked the midi data being sent using Midiflow analyzer - there are none being sent to JazzDrummer from my keyboard controller.
Espiegel: Those available midi commands within JazzDrummer will become part of my setup as I get more familiar with this new (to me) technology. Those commands look like they could become very important/handy for live performance.
Thank you!
Tim
@Tim_T : I find that most IAA apps should be launched manually first.
Very good. I’ll try that next. Thank you!
Very true.
Starting the apps manually definitely eliminates some issues. Thank you, guys.