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.

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Audiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.

VB3m and Audiobus. Im confused.

Sorry, im sure this is basic stuff, but im very, very new to all this ipad music stuff.
I have iM1 and VB3m that i just want to switch between, manually, and played from my Yamaha MODX.
Before i got Audiobus i was doing this by closing one, and opening the other. It works, but a bit clunky.
Anyway, heres the issue im having.
I can set up iM1 fine, but Vb3m seems to be a nightmare. First off, i want both on midi channel 8. Both the apps are set for this, and my MODX is transmitting on ch8. iM1 works fine.
VB3m will only work on Ch1. If i set it up using the midi section instead of audio then it works ok, but this seems clunky as well as i have two faders and lanes for this. Is this because of the type of app? Does this type of app need the extra midi control?

Again, apologies for the newbie question, ive only had it for a couple of hours.
Running iOS15 on ipad pro.

Comments

  • The best way to configure a synth is to add it to an audio lane, then go to the MIDI page, add the controller as input, and route the output to the synth. Select "Instance A" to connect to the copy already loaded. The Mixer will then show the controller (the fader affects velocity) connected to the synth. This way, Audiobus looks after interfacing the controllers to the synths, and they don't need to bother with CoreMIDI, VirtualMIDI, etc.

  • Thanks for the reply. Thats what ive done with VB3m, and yes, it works, but ive not had to with iM1. Im guessing one type needs the extra midi step and one doesn't? IM1 works fine with just an audio channel.
    I guess i have a lot to learn.

  • @dave_bass5 said:
    Thanks for the reply. Thats what ive done with VB3m, and yes, it works, but ive not had to with iM1. Im guessing one type needs the extra midi step and one doesn't? IM1 works fine with just an audio channel.
    I guess i have a lot to learn.

    It sounds like iM1 is connecting direct to the system CoreMIDI. This is not actually a good thing, since it's receiving all the random MIDI data that may be circulating, and filtering it using the MIDI channel. If you connect it using Audiobus MIDI routing, it will only see the data from this specific controller.

    Incidentally, you didn't mention whether you are running the apps as AUv3 or IAA. IAA can behave differently depending on how they are started.

  • Thanks again. Im using this is a very, very basic way. The only data getting sent to the ipad is note, velocity, mod wheel and one other controller. The iM is used just for its Harmonica patch, in two songs. The rest is all VB3m with me manually changing the drawbars etc from the screen.
    Im not sure how to run the apps in different ways. Audiobus is just doing its thing. Im just struggling to understand why VB3m wont respond on midi channel 8, only channel 1, unless i use the Midi routing method. I suppose as im only connecting to the ipad i could just get my synth to transmit on channel 1 anyway. I cant remember why i needed it on 8 to start with.

    As i said, this is all very new to me so apologies for sounding a bit vague.

  • @dave_bass5 You run an app as AUv3 or IAA determined by whether you select it from the list of Apps or Audio Units, as in these pictures.


    From what I read, it looks like iM1 is not AUv3, but it is aware of Audiobus. Do you launch it from Audiobus, or do you start it separately, then connect Audiobus to it?

  • @uncledave said:
    @dave_bass5 You run an app as AUv3 or IAA determined by whether you select it from the list of Apps or Audio Units, as in these pictures.


    From what I read, it looks like iM1 is not AUv3, but it is aware of Audiobus. Do you launch it from Audiobus, or do you start it separately, then connect Audiobus to it?

    Many of the Korg apps always listen to connected MIDI hardware and h to be only way to workaround that is to set the app to listen to a specific MIDI channel.

  • Thanks for the posts guys.

    IM1 isnt the problem here, its VB3m, although neither are a problem as such. Id just like to see VB3m using just the one lane like iM1 does, and responding on the channel its set for. Its probably OCD lol.
    Audiobus needs me to launch iM1for the first time, but will connect to it automatically if its open if first.
    I have to select VB3m and iM1 from different lists, and neither appears in both.
    My MODX is set to only send relevant data, as listed above. Patch change etc are all disabled.

    Seems i have a lot to learn regarding the different types of audio systems, although i dont plan on doing much more with it. I was just looking for a more elegant way to switch between the two instruments.
    Not sure if using Audiobus is any better really. Id like to find a way to hit a button to switch between the two but cant find a way of doing it in one go. Id have hoped Solo would work but it doesnt, unless im missing a setting.
    For what its worth i was also trying out Keystage 2.0 but much prefer Audiobus. Plus its a lot cheaper.

  • @dave_bass5 said:
    VB3m will only work on Ch1.

    Make sure you're running the current version. The first release was fixed to channel 1, the ability to change that came in an update.

    Also, IIRC, VB3m always responds on 3 channels. If the main organ sound is set for channel 1, then channel 2 is used for the lower manual and channel 3 is used for bass pedals. If you change the main channel from 1 to something else, the others move accordingly. The fact that it is always "listening" on three channels is worth keeping in mind to avoid possible conflicts, depending on how you're using it.

    @dave_bass5 said:

    For what its worth i was also trying out Keystage 2.0 but much prefer Audiobus. Plus its a lot cheaper.

    But when you used Keystage, were you at least able to get it to do what you want?

    @dave_bass5 said:
    I have iM1 and VB3m that i just want to switch between, manually, and played from my Yamaha MODX.
    Before i got Audiobus i was doing this by closing one, and opening the other. It works, but a bit clunky.

    The "brute force" method of just running the two apps can work--you don't necessarily need something to host the two (Audiobus/AUM, Keystage, Camelot Pro, whatever)--but that doesn't mean you have to close one and then open the other. You can keep them both open, set them for different MIDI channels, make sure background audio operation is turned on for each of them, and then each will play whenever you transmit to it (you can even split/layer between the two, since your MODX has that capability).

    @dave_bass5 said:
    First off, i want both on midi channel 8. Both the apps are set for this, and my MODX is transmitting on ch8.

    Putting them both on the same channel is throwing up a bunch of unnecessary obstacles in this scenario.

    MODX is an excellent 8-zone MIDI controller. There are different ways to do these things, but here are my suggestions:
    It's best to ONLY use MIDI channels 9 through 16 for your external devices (that's an easy way of preventing them from being triggered accidentally, since by default, the keyboard-playable MODX sounds only transmit on channels 1-8). I'd use the Zone Master function in the MODX to create a single Part that triggers iM1, and another single Part that triggers VB3m, and just load either/both of those Parts into any Performance where you want to use those external sounds. Again, these Parts should have their Zone Master function enabled, set to transmit on some channel in the 9-16 range, with your apps set to those same channels. The Parts themselves can be in any location in a Performance (that is, the Part that uses the Zone Master function to trigger, say, iM1 on channel 16 can, itself, be located in Part 4 of a Performance, or wherever you'd like it to be). You can use those Parts over and over again in as many Performances you want. If you put both Parts into the same Performance, you can use Scenes to switch between iM1 and VB3m, just by having the Scenes place one part or the other (or both, or neither) under keyboard control (KBD CTRL). This is more than I've done personally, but I think it will do what you need.

    There's a lot of good info about this kind of thing at https://yamahasynth.com/learn/montage/zone-master-faq-mastering-montage

  • Thanks for the long reply.
    I should have posted back ages ago to say im all up and running and love AB3. Ive ended up using a different controller to play the ipad, and this leaves the MODX free to work as a stand alone.
    Ive since stopped using VB3m, but only because i got B-3X to replace it.

    Its taken me a while to start using AB3, but now i use it all the time.

  • In the last 24 hours ive switched to AUM lol.

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