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.
Pharaoh’s Dance generative workflow + Miles Davis’ solo, ZOA, Senode, SWAM
Generative. Phrases, not just notes. Staying in control. Musical. ZOA and Senode (x8) orchestrated this 5 minute piece in real-time - the only thing actually played was the SWAM trumpet solo. Ok, the Senode graphs didn’t code themselves and StaffPad is in the mix for some transcribing. It’s all in the video and the YT description (except for the MOZAIC AUM show plugin sequencer needed to screenshot everything firing off randomly). Hasn’t been a weekend project.
Thought it was fitting to use generative techniques to cover a track that owed so much to post-production editing that allegedly, it was not recognised by someone who had played on the sessions.
I’d like to credit @GeoTony ‘s piece ‘Let It Rypdal’ for getting me interested in applying these tools to a 70’s jazz classic.
Comments
That's a major technical achievement to program all that and make it work, and it also happens to be my kind of music too. Now I need to hear Let it Rypdal. @GeoTony can you share a link? I must have missed it the first time.
Anyone here into Eddie Henderson? This is what the ZOA piece reminded me of:
Awesome as usual Andy! @AndyHoneybone
Thanks for the interest @Wrlds2ndBstGeoshredr , track is here
Excellent work! I can see Steve McQueen in a black polo neck and thin black leather gloves cooly twiddling the dials on a safe in a multi screen montage as simultaneously we see the security guard walking down the corridor toward the room we know he is in, and a convoy of police cars bounce down San Francisco streets converging on the building from every angle… channeling not just Miles Davis, but Lalo Schifrin too…
Boy Andy, I can’t believe my simple piece inspired you to do this mind boggling creation. Technically mega impressive but it also happens to sound pretty good as well. Top work 🙏
Very nice, thanks.
Thanks to all for listening and especially to those who kindly commented (and on YouTube too):
@Wrlds2ndBstGeoshredr
I’d not heard Eddie Henderson before - seems like ‘Realization’ came 3 years after and featured 3 of the musicians that had played on ‘Pharaoh’.
@Edward_Alexander
I’ll take awesome - let’s hope I can keep it up.
@Svetlovska
You are legendary as much for your prose as your sounds. Thank you for sharing your visualisation so perfectly.
@GeoTony
Well, inspire me you did. As I commented about your track last June, ‘The use of generative sequencers in something as free-blowing as this is an eye-opener. Thank you for showing me the possibilities.’
Definitely has the Bitches Brew vibe. I didn’t actually notice the Pharoah’s Dance reference in the title until I started listening, then it all came back to me. Nicely done!
Senode! I will have to fire that up this weekend. I haven’t touched it in at least three years.
Thanks @paulieworld. This is the first time I’ve rendered MIDI to audio for mixing (to stay in sync with the video) - I think I read that you assemble your pieces from audio clips? It’s got a lot to recommend it although 1GB+ project files come as a bit of a shock.
Yes, I start out with MIDI data playing various synths then I freeze it to audio in Cubasis. The end result is the same, but the final mixes go really fast. Usually just a few seconds. If I want to change something, I just tweak that bit and freeze it again. I discovered that a while ago after waiting and waiting for a final mix to take place. Rendering MIDI data with synths, especially with any sort of automation just takes forever!
I was digging your track a lot. I listened to Bitches Brew later that night. It’s nice to know that there are still a few of us left to keep the tradition alive.
😳🤯
Impressive use of multiple Senodes. Also I'm partial to bass clarinet. ( I think that's what it is )
A true melding of technology and musical content. Wonderful (as alway). Lol, the trumpet was the best part!
What a vibe cool
I need a tutorial of this, hahaha. Sounds amazing!!!
BTW, big Rypdal/Miles fan here. So any generative/60's,70's Jazz iPad AUM and whatever app, im IN! Where do i get more of this? haha
Thanks one and all for your interest.
@Cracklepot - sorry about your head
@Stochastically - yes, bass clarinet - instant Bitches Brew.
@LinearLineman - such a heartening comment. I always hope for my pieces to transcend the enablers. Miles’ solo is a lesson in itself. A challenge to transcribe (where’s ‘one’ gone) and to play (not going to pretend it was one take).
@BerlinFx - Probably the closest to drone that I’ve done. Freezing a generative performance of course means you don’t get to share any of the variations - I must have listened for hours and the random placements constantly caught my ear.
@Raimundoarriagada - very happy to have found like-minded folk for this flavour of jazz. There’s a bit of an essay on the workflow and app inventory in the YouTube description if you’ve not seen it.