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.
Comments
Perhaps, yes. It is in some ways a pity that MPE did not get regulated, defined specs which would have to be met to a certain minimum before instruments could be called MPE> @LinearLineman said:
Really hope this works out for you. At the very least, it'll look cool in your living room. I personally love the feel of the seaboard, so as long as the build quality is better than the blocks, you might get many years of stable use and enjoyment from it. Adjusting the curves for strike, glide etc to fit your own style and the type of patch you're playing is really really key, so if something feels off, experiment with that. The main complaint I hear is 'you have to press too hard' but no, you don't, as long as you set the curves up right. Luckily on the Rise you don't need to use the desktop app for that!
@gavinski. Yeah, I bought it for how it will look in my studio. How can I adjust the velocity curve without a laptop? Is that control on the app?
One important thing to note: While it is a very sensitive instrument to trigger/play, to get the full range of velocity expression can take quite a bit of ‘digging' in. In that video I posted earlier, you might notice Marco playing various parts with much more effort.
The benefit of this is that it gives a very wide range of consistent velocities that can be hit. The downside is that playing notes at their highest velocity can take a bit more strength (I think this is what puts many critics off). With time and practice, you’ll get used to it. But as Gavin said, it’s possible to restrict the velocity range, making it easier on the hands.
The other thing is that the pitching can be done in slightly different ways. Using just the finger, obviously. But with slower wider movements you might naturally find yourself intuitively using your forearm. Another method for smaller 'bends' is to place the finger on the note, then rotate the finger/arm clockwise or counterclockwise. Again, you can see Marco use this technique in the video. Mixing up various techniques and velocity settings should not only offer more expression, but also relieve any buildup of strain on your fingers.
Lastly, I know it’s obvious for most, but even though it’s made to look like a keyboard it is laid out sequentially - all the waves are laid out side-by-side. This can add considerable stretch when trying to play certain chords. Just another thing to get used to.
Just approach it as it’s own new instrument, and have fun!
Looking again, it seems they only put faders for 3 of the 5 parameters onboard. What a pain, why didn't they put faders for all 5?
'Adjust the responsiveness of the Press, Glide and Slide dimensions of touch on the fly with Touch Faders. Minimize the controls and RISE 2 responds like a piano keyboard. Or turn them up for maximum expression. You can even adjust macros for each preset as you play with the XY Touchpad'
So note on / off velocity still need to be tweaked in the desktop app.
Indeed, and as they're virtual faders anyway, one single button would have been enough to add that and even a fader for velocity response shape!
Yeah, sloppy - Roli never fail to disappoint 🤷♂️
@LinearLineman
you get your seaboard yet?
https://youtube.com/shorts/hoXebTsyc6A?feature=share
@Danny_Mammy
Indeed, I have. It came from London to US in three days. I must confess I haven’t hooked it up yet. But soon!
looks very ominous! like the monolith...
Haha. The learning curve is what’s monolithic.
How on earth have you still not hooked it up Mike! Are you not gagging to give it a play?
I had the exact same question. When I hear the delivery truck arrive with a new piece of equipment, the entire universe freezes until I have set it up and tried it out!
@Gavinski @jamietopol. It’s a bit sensitive to explain, guys. I’ve put this studio together to inspire me to start playing again. It’s about nine months since I touched any keys because of my wife’s illness and recent death. Everything I’ve posted has been reworked tracks from years ago. It’s worth doing and doesn’t require the will to create.
I’m still in a shut down place emotionally about it. At this point I’m trying to get the Novus 10s going with Pianoteq. I love the Novus action but I can’t believe how crummy the lauded Onkyo speaker system is (maybe it’s me). Also, the Shigeru SK sample set leaves me cold, too. Lol, I paid 15k for a real acoustic grand action and a midi interface. Still, I can use other pianos and create an external speaker system if I want. It’s worth it to leave those digital piano actions behind.
So, one thing at a time seems to be my game plan. Meanwhile I love sitting in my new studio with it’s electric stand up desk and it’s Samsung Frame tv displaying classic artworks. Lol, they’re my favorite parts cause I don’t have to do anything to enjoy them!
@LinearLineman i hope you can get back on the horse soon sir.
Ah, sorry to hear that Mike!!! Yes, I’m sure the grieving process might be long. Hopefully soon it will reach a phase where making music becomes part of it, and maybe even a balm for it. All in good time, big hug, my friend.
@Gavinski , thanks for the hug, bro. It means a lot.
My condolences on your loss, sir.
Enjoy your new studio! I know you'll be back to creating when the time comes. That time will come when it comes.
Thanks @GovernorSilver. I got the Novus to work with Pianoteq today. Much better sound! I'm happy about it. Tomorrow I’ll attempt to hook up the Seaboard. Little by little.
How are you doing with your Osmose?
I put it away - temporarily! - because I'd been preparing for International Musician Summit, organized by Kevin Wilson and his team. I understood that there would be clinics put on by artists who perform/record on keyboard/organ, guitar, bass, and drums. I figured I wasn't ready to receive instruction as a keyboard player so I decided to bring a guitar instead, and spent my practice time almost exclusively on guitar.
As it turned out, I did end up attending two clinics taught by a keys man, because of how the schedule worked out, and I got outed as a keyboard impostor in the 2nd one.
The instructor, Stephen Pender, decided to do this game for all students in the class - all 5 of us! - in which he would play a right hand melody and left hand accompaniment, and then the student had to add to the melody, like completing a sentence. So when I got outed, I had to ask Pender to remind me of the root notes he played on the left hand to go with the melody. He was quite gracious as I stumbled through playing my answering melody and bass line. No regrets though, despite the embarassment.
Not sure about that use of "sensorineural" but I get the point. ;-) There was (is?) actually a company who developed overlays to attach to each key which would sense your position on the key, so you could do things like bend pitch by sliding your finger up and down the surface of the key. I wish I could remember their name. I don't know if it was something that went into production, or was only something I saw on a kickstarter that may or may not have borne fruit. Does anyone here know of this? If it exists, I suppose one might conceivably add this to their Osmose.
deleted
TouchKeys, yes, that's exactly what I was thinking of, thanks!
A number of iPhone models did actually sense pressure... but that feature has been discontinued on more recent models. Apparently it was only on 6S / 6S Plus · 7 / 7 Plus · 8 / 8 Plus · X · XS / XS Max --- and no iPads.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force_Touch