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
@Crizzy said:
That's true, there aren't any great videos showing MTS in action - which is part of the reason it hasn't caught on. I have NanoStudio and Gadget, but not Cubasis.
To me, the brilliance of the MTS MIDI piano roll is the sheer convenience. It has controllers and the step sequencing grid all in one app, and then those MIDI elements control your synths via IAA or AudioBus for recording.
But it's not the "best" MIDI editing grid, at least not yet. One feature it lacks (at least as far as I can tell, PLEASE correct me @papertiger or @Littlewoodg if I am wrong), is that there is a "draw" mode (shown by the little pencil bottom-left next to the solid box and dotted box...but you add one note to the grid and then you have to hit the draw button again to add another one. Whereas in Gadget, you just touch crap all over the screen and make notes, and then double-touch to delete. To be fair, Gadget is very nice, but it is not a MIDI editor - it's a MIDI-like sequencer within itself. And neither Gadget nor NanoStudio have audio tracks to record external synths, so they aren't true DAW's the way that MTS is.
There is a "snap" feature, which is great, and as long as you zoom in a little bit, the touch-and-drag works just fine for both moving notes (touch left side of note bar) and lengthening them (touch right side of note bar).
It also has note previewing, both as you move a note to a new place, or if you touch the piano roll. So, I find it to be a "good" MIDI editor, though not the best one until they allow you to add notes to the grid more quickly with the "draw" feature. I will request that to the developer again today on his forum, though I believe I have before.
(For those who are new to this app, it also records MIDI data and generates the notes on the grid, both from external synths and even some monophonic audio parts (like a simple guitar riff...pretty cool).
@Coloobar
I had underrun when using IAA as well, apps would "play" via MTS keys and scrubbing but fail when the midi track was actually played or recorded. It seems the dev addressed this by going deeper into AB compatibility, the synths I had underrun with in IAA now are very happy in AB.
Two things on the midi editor: you don't only have to touch the little draw button to draw you can also tap-drag from far screen left in the midi editor, to the right, and the selection moves across the different icons to that draw button. So I've learned to tap in the vertical keyboard on screen right, roughly on the note I want, then drag to the spot on the timeline and then tap again putting the note into place. Next note same thing, tap on the keyboard, drag, tap in place.
Also - the notion that one must tell the daw to draw each time u want a new event is a deliberate choice the dev made- he talks about it in his forum. He said, in so many words, that he found accidental note adds more irritating than having to activate "draw" each time. Having similar experience in every iOS daw editor, off and on, I get it.
Also I think he may be ambidextrously oriented - a lot of his GUI design, including midi editing, assumes you use both hands on the tablet. The tap drag thing above is one handed, and something the dev designed in, but when I use two hands instead, it's quite fluid...
It's a pretty idiosyncratic application, in certain ways. Which makes sense in that the guy first coded it as a PC application 13+ years ago, it's indie, he's a team of one etc. I like that, enough to buy the PC version, which is equally brilliant and idiosyncratic and packed with features. And a bargain.
Agreed that the draw feature should stay enabled. That's been my biggest peeve.
@Littlewoodg said:
Good stuff. Though I'm a little bummed that he wanted it that way with draw on purpose. False notes happen all the time on a grid like Gadget, yes, but I never mind because you just drag the "extra" notes into place. Or double-click to delete. It basically just makes draw useless unless you are recording MIDI data live and just want to add "one more note". Half of the issues I have on there are because I've selected one of the three "modes" and don't realize it. (i.e., I try to drag and move the timeline but draw a "lasso" box instead).
However, you pointed out a workaround I didn't know about if you can just drag notes from the piano roll onto the grid. If I understood right, that could be a nice alternative. Thanks!
Finally, totally agree on your first point on underrun & IAA. Yesterday I had a 8-track MIDI part programmed. I could hear the "sketch" of the song using just the MTS Instruments (some of which are actually okay if you tweak them!). One-by-one, I used those MIDI tracks to power SoundFonts or other apps, to improve the sound of the track. I would capture this as live audio using AudioBus. No slowdown or audio issues, even with Arturia iSEM, which often gives me RAM issues! And this was on an iPad2.
Really like the DAW as a whole, and want to be clear that when we are critiquing the pluses and minuses of update 1.5, 1.6, etc....these are free additions to an already great app.
@StormJH1 said:
You are welcome. It's tap-drag from screen left, then tap again to put the note into place. It works the same with a mouse on his loop/desktop version. Tablet style, you can also use your left hand to hit the draw button, right hand to place the note. Im such a nerd, really.
The trick above from @Littlewoodg actually resolves the issue for me. There are different ways to do "note preview" in MIDI grids. This one is just a little different, but works just as well. Touch the vertical piano on the left side and slide over to the grid. This activates the "Draw Note" icon by itself. Touch the grid again where you want the note and it appears.
So, yes, it's two or three presses instead of one, but if you use note previewing anyway (as I do) to sound out the note you are adding, then it works well. I was just going nuts having to press the mode button every time.
P.S. - I'm renamed the thread "tips, tricks, and updates" and date-stamped it for the last update - I will bump this anytime there is a feature update to discuss, or if someone finds it and wants to ask one of us "can the app do _____?" or has another question. I think it's a good resource given that the app is $30, but promotion for it is largely "word of mouth".
@StormJH1
Thanks for this thread, it promotes a great app, and it's helpful also because with this app (like any deep DAW) one really needs to read the manual, and not everything is necessarily in there (it usually is but is sometimes hard to find or figure)
Thanks guys, I guess I just have to try it out to see if this agrees with me. I bought Cubasis because everyone praises it as having an exemplary interface, but going to it from NanoStudio I just found it clumsy, and still do after half a year.
There are too many details to mention: having a select mode instead of simply selecting with one finger and scrolling and zooming with two, keeping one button pressed while dragging a note vertically, another one for dragging horizontally, the unpredictable zoom that never gives me a good overview while allowing me to edit notes comfortably at that zoom level - it's all too much of a hassle. So probably no amount of information is going to give me a clear idea of how it really feels to work with MTS. I must be strong and wait patiently for a sale.
@Crizzy I found Cubasis to be clumsy too. I prefer BM2 to Cubasis, and Bm2 GUI has a bad rep on this forum so go figure...but the one screen mode in MTS is really fast and direct. And the feature set is nuts and keeps growing...
Double post
I wound up getting Multitrackstudio based off this thread and like it a lot. Getting used to the workflow, which is a bit finnicky but works well once I get used to it.
A question for anyone. Is there a pre-roll for recording? Can't find it for the life of me if it's there.
@Calcutta: there is no conventional pre-roll, that is: you have to build it yourself. Create a click track and use that as your pre-roll. This means you start the recording, listen to the click track for one or two measures and start to play your instrument.
Cool, figured that was my option but wanna be sure, thanks!
Hope they add that some day
@CalCutta said:
Cool! Glad you are enjoying it. As said above, there is no pre-roll but the first measure is numbered 0 instead of 1 and I always assumed that was the reason. It also does punch or sound on sound recording.
Let us know if you have any specific questions or issues.
I actually started the thread to help answer questions, but I actually have a few for anyone that has the expansion pack. I have not bought the extension $20 U.S. yet, but probably will at some point both to support the product and to have all the features. Here's what it includes:
The Extension Pack (available as in-app purchase) adds these features:
Up to 32 tracks.
Mixer and effect automation. (see manual)
Convolutor effect with Vintage Reverbs.
Dynamics effect, supports sidechaining.
Transposer effect.
Vocal Tuner effect.
Audio pitch shifting in track editors.
Much of that is only of moderate interest to me - I might use over 16 tracks, but rarely, and I don't do vocal work (though that sounds pretty cool). The transposition and effects stuff may be useful.
But in terms of convolution reverb, I have a bunch of apps that do that, but none of them work in real-time to the point where I can play a live guitar through them and do the impulse response (IR) thing with cabinet simulation. I wonder if MTS's guitar amp simulator (which is just okay) into a convolution reverb effect would run better, since MTS's stuff is all so tightly programmed.
Anyone have the Expansion Pack that can let me know what they think of these add ons?
Hey StormJH1
I have the expansion, and use pitch shift in audio, convoluter, and automation in every thing I've been doing. The pitch shift allows some fun with pad and melody WAV: lay out a clip, copy and shift up a third or down a fifth and lay it down . The convoluter sounds good with "straight" IRs and is a great tool for sound design if you load counterintuitive IR...the sound with guitar cab into convoluter is very cool with me, teen of the seventies that I am, I get tones I love
@Littlewoodg - Thanks for the endorsement! That's a cool idea with the pitch shifter, as well, hadn't thought of that.
The IR guitar cab thing sounds so promising - I know it's quite popular on desktop computers, but it should basically be illegal with an iPad2. It works well enough to get an idea of it, but not well enough to rely on. Given how fluid MTS is, however, I'd have to think that their internal convolution plug-in works better than, say, trying to run AltiSpace through AB or IAA.
@StormJH1
Short answer, where any expansions are available for MTS, the entire package is well worth it, if only to kick $ back to Mr Bremmers for the last huge update.
Long answer, the included stuff just works, and as you said about tight and fluid software, the onboard effects are resource conservative, and to my ear, they are not a compromise. I do use some of the many available IAA and AB ready effects inside MTS, some in concert with onboard. And I do own the available out board convoluters, and they're way cool. But MTS stuff is solid, interesting, and if you want to save CPU for your instrument, a smart play.
I bought the IAP mainly to get the 32 track expansion, but I just tried using the convolutor with my guitar and Ampkit+ (and some custom cabinet IRs loaded in the convoluter) and I'm happy to report that there's no more lag than what I get running just Ampkit. I disabled the cabinet simulation in Ampkit so I could just use the custom cabinet IRs.... so it may even have less lag then it did before, hard to tell. The convolutor is pretty barebones in terms of bells and whistles, but as far as cab sims goes it works great (runs 100% wet by default).
Great reports guys! I will get the add on, just need to space out the larger app purchases a bit. Thanks for the strong recommendation though, not that I had any real doubts.
@StormJH1 I hear what you're saying.....I think we need some kind of app-laundering service that flattens out these expenditures to (beloved) inquiring minds
New update v1.7 released. This one comes just a few weeks after the last one, but focuses mostly on workflow improvements and bug fixes.
The change I like is "Open In" using external Audio or MIDI files. This was conspicuous absent before, though it was pretty easy to switch over to AudioShare and grab the files using the big import button.
Second photo below shows a screenshot of what happens after "Open In". You can dump the tracks into a current project, or start a new one. Nice.
Don't forget the preset system that has been added to all effects and internal instruments. Big feature for me personally!
@Maarten said:
I actually was going to buy the expansion pack in the next few days, so I haven't seen that yet. How does it work - save your own presets, or does it come with a bunch included?
@StormJH
It's yet another user-requested feature from the MTS forum that the dev implemented, build a kit in Matrix with imported samples and save as a kit. Works with onboard effects as well- save the effects from a given track, with settings, as a reusable fx preset...
Mr Bremmers, the dev, is an updating machine.
@Littlewoodg said:
OH! It saves Matrix kits now? I was actually one of the ones who suggested that to him when he first released Matrix! I was in the process of creating some .sf2 files with drum kits as a workaround for that (the program stored .sf2 imports, but not samples previously).
After doing some researching and writing to Giel, was quite disappointed to find that unlike (I think, because I don't have) Cubasis and Auria, MTS doesn't do multichannel recording from different Audiobus chains. So, for example, I can't have SECTOR and Seekbeats synced and each recording into a separate track in MTS. Instead, MTS only records the mixed Audiobus output.
To me it made sense that I should be able to record apps as if they are separate instruments playing together, especially in MTS since it's designed after a tape interface. I was wondering if anyone else has found this to be a limitation, and if so, if you've devised any efficient workarounds?
To be honest, I had not really thought about that as a limitation, since that's rarely something I would attempt with an iPad2. However, having read how many people do like to record multiple lines through AudioBus, I can completely understand how that would be a dealbreaker for some people.
It is worth pointing out that, for better or worse, Giel has always intended MTS to be a "one thing at a time" workflow. That's evident by the display, which really isn't designed to show a whole bunch of soundmaps for all of the tracks at one time.
This is been the longest time where MTS development has been quiet. Not really "concerned", since he added so much in short time and things are "working" better than they had previously. But with the announcement of Auria Pro and (presumably) Beatmaker 3 coming this year, there will be more alternatives.
Multichannel recording seems pretty basic, though? Getting multiple instruments in one take, and then doing individual track editing later. And I suspect this is possible in MTS with virtual MIDI and external instruments, just not with Audiobus multi-routing. Well, I requested the feature anyway
I still have Live if I want to get busy with stuff. For iOS, I'll probably stick with MTS since I love the software, and it's super convenient for iOS recording. Just a little less so than I had thought...
Got word -
"It’s on the list, but I don’t think it will be in the next release."
Good enough for me tho!!