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.
Should I hold on to my iPad Air 3 or sell it?
I'm considering selling my iPad Air 3 before its value and battery life (currently 4.5-11 hours on airplane mode depending on CPU usage) keep declining. Although I enjoy the multi-touch workflow in Nanostudio 2, I feel like I'm at a point where I'm fine making music in Renoise or Studio One 5 with a Launchpad Pro Mk 3 (and find myself doing that more often). Sure, the iPad can make a great MIDI controller and a multitimbral synth module, but I prefer most of the software on Windows compared to what you get in iOS, even if more desktop apps are being ported to iOS. Besides, I want my savings to go back up to the desired amount, and I don't want to end up in this snowball of buying more apps (though my spendings in 2022 were much much lower compared to 2016-2017). If I miss my iPad, I am better off getting an M1 iPad or a Microsoft Surface Pro 8/9 with Bitwig. Any thoughts?
Comments
Do the Air 3’s not roughly hold their secondhand price quite well these days? Nice and powerful for most with a headphone socket to enjoy.
They sell for around $170-200. I bought mine in December 2020 for over $340. I understand that it is one of the last models with a headphone jack, which is nice. The iPad 9 is more powerful, but not marginally.
Well, reading your reasoning, it seems obvious you should sell it.
Your phone could probably be used as a nice, touch-centric BT midi controller if you end up needing one later.
Mine's an Android, but once Sunvox gets an update with an on-screen scale piano, I will try to make music with it. And in Studio One, I can always draw poly aftertouch, MPE, and velocity automation for the notes.
I started using iOS music production apps pretty much exclusively in 2015 after I got an iPad Air 2. It held up pretty well for 3+ years but as apps began updating to take advantage of the iPad Pro’s it started to drag and produce clicks, pops & distortion so I knew it was going to be time to upgrade.
I bought an Air 3 right after it was released and for a year or so I dug it and could tell it was performing better than the Air 2. But as soon as heavy CPU apps were used together the paltry 3GB of RAM was really not up to it. I waited anxiously to see the Air 4 specs and was quickly disappointed when it only increased the RAM to 4GB.
Earlier last year I heard the Air 5 was going to come equipped with the M1 chip and 8GB of RAM. I bought one from Sweetwater the day they went on sale. Now the Air 5 is seriously stout. I’ve used some iPad Pro’s several times over the years from friends & family and the Air 5 feels & operates like those. Very fast.
My Air 3 is now my media tablet, using it for streaming etc. But since I transferred everything over to the Air 5 I can still use the Air 3 for music. Unless you need it to add to the fundage of a new iPad I would keep your Air 3. It’s still a very nice tablet.
I decided to keep my iPad Air 3 not only as a backup tablet but also a MIDI controller and a drawing tablet. Besides, I challenged myself to start making songs with only 3 AUv3 synths and 3 FX in addition to the stock Nanostudio or other DAW stuff. I will add more if I am satisfied with the tracks.
Great move. And yes, limitations can be liberating. I still think my early days learning recording in the early 90’s on a Tascam 424 cassette Portastudio were the most fun and rewarding I’ve had.
But DAW’s of course have so much to offer it’s hard to keep it in check. I always try to limit myself to 24 tracks so at least in my mind it’s like what studios & classic bands used for years and produced gold.
What synths or stuff did you use with your Portastudio?
I first got the Tascam 424 which was 4 track and I really just used guitar, bass & drums. But when I got a Tascam 488 mkII 8 track PortaStudio I experimented with MIDI and SMPTE using a nicer pimped up Yamaha PRS and a Korg Triton. Mainly just for pads and Rhodes stuff.