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.
What will - what does - Logic Pro on iPad allow you to do that you haven’t been able to do so far?
This is a genuine question and is not intended to suggest that LP isn’t a superb piece of software. Never having owned a Mac or used LP though, I am unsure of the answer to the question. Looking at the Apple LP iPad page, I see some really nice features but I don’t see anything which makes me think, “Oh, wow, that wasn’t possible before, that’s completely revolutionary for iOS!”.
What haven’t you been able to do on iOS so far that LP will now allow you to do? There’s mentions of ‘at last, a fully fledged desktop DAW on iOS,’ but what do people really mean when they say that - I don’t really see, when I look at my desktop software, what it is which people are so desperately missing from iOS (other than very high quality sample libraries perhaps and surely that’s just a question of device storage space limitations)? I’d be really interested to hear people actually quantify what it is which they think puts LP in a different league - and I mean specifics, not just hyperbole.
Is it just current LP users who are thrilled to have the same software they’re already familiar with available on iPad? Is it the quality of the sounds which come with it - be they synths or sample based - and are they really better than what’s already available here on iOS? Is it just that you can achieve so much under the umbrella of a single app rather than moving between apps to reach your final goal? What actually is it?
Yes, I realise there’s going to be a demo period so I can try it myself, but I also mean this question on a broader basis really: what has been holding you back from creating your masterpieces on iOS thusfar? (Masterpieces which you’ll presumably now definitely be able to produce once LP arrives!).
It seems to me that you can already achieve pretty much anything you want to using the available iOS apps and an iPad (with the possible addition of an audio interface and a quality microphone). Yes, you might have to achieve different things in different apps and bring the results together but personally I’m not sure why that would be seen as a problem? On the contrary, I find that can lead to greater experimentation and diversity of result. Of course there will always be new and exciting apps to add to the mix and that’s important, but just what is it which LP brings which hasn’t been possible so far?
Comments
I say this as a person with no current plans to subscribe, but having used the desktop version, I can say that Logic Pro offers:
Most of us have found workarounds or combinations of tools that allow us to create music the way we want, but LP brings everything under one roof. I’m not overly excited because a) I’m enamoured with Loopy Pro, b) I don’t have a lot of faith in my 64gb iPad Air 3, and c) Logic desktop’s workflow and design frequently frustrated me. But it’s definitely a big deal and, I think, good for music makers all around.
Edit: I forgot about FlexTime and FlexPitch, which are probably the only features I genuinely MISS from Logic Pro. Having that built right into your DAW is way, way easier than using a third-party plugin.
Pro level routing/bouncing etc.
But really it’s just about being able to do everything without workarounds and in the one place.
I find LP on desktop to be a little annoying interface wise compared to Ableton but from what I can see, it seems to have been adapted to iPad well.
Garageband already has a lot of great things about it but it’s just a little too limited for my usage. So LP should be the sweetspot.
I've mixed over 160 songs in Auria in the last 10 years, so it's fair to say that music production was already viable on iOS, albeit with some compromises (and I guess for some people the compromises were too big).
So features such as flexible bussing and routing, tempo changes, pro-quality time-stretching and warping etc were already available. Albeit in a DAW that many people had issues with (although to be fair I used it every day with very few problems, I guess I was lucky or maybe I just got used to its quirks).
Logic Pro will likely have more features than any other iOS DAW, although we will have to wait and see exactly what those are. I would imagine flexible routing, tempo changes etc will be there as a minimum. We know the clip launcher will be included, and hopefully all the arrangement features will be there, along with the vast collection of instruments (with nice touch interfaces).
I'm sure Logic is going to be awesome, and with Apple behind it it will hopefully be actively developed. Maybe the main thing it will bring is a DAW that is frequently updated, because the iOS market for indie devs is unforgiving when it comes to big apps like DAWs. My two favourite apps to date were Auria Pro and NS2, and they both suffered in this market.
Q: What will Logic Pro on iPad allow you to do that you haven’t been able to do so far?
A: It will allow me to pay a monthly subscription to Apple for an iOS music program.
Sorry... couldn't resist.
(for the record, I don't like subs but I think this one is great value).
The only other comparable app I have is Auria Pro, but I long since deleted that after one too many lost projects. I don’t have Cubasis, so can’t comment on that one.
For me it’s the potential reliability (hopefully), but mainly the clean-looking UI. I really didn’t like the Auria Pro UI, and other apps such as BM3, NS2 and Drambo don’t suit my workflow.
All down to the trial though: how it performs on my Air 4 (so, is it so good I’ll want to shell out cash on new hardware if it’s a bit sluggish on my older device?), what happens with LPX on desktop (will I now have to pay an additional sub for that too?), and if the actual experience of using it is as good as it looks in the promo vids.
Saying all that though, if Ableton brought out a full iOS version of Live for the same price, I’d probably get that instead.
I’m intrigued by this thread because I’ve never used Logic Pro myself either. Also iOS DAWs have now been around for years and there’s a whole subculture niche that have gotten comfortable with iOS DAW workflows. The look of Logic Pro is GarageBand-ish to me and I’ve never loved that DAW. Looking forward to being convinced this is the winner. (Subscription doesn’t bother me btw).
Excellent thread. I have never used Logic at all and was hoping the other thread would be people chatting about why Logic Pro is something to be excited about, rather than the moan fest it’s turned into.
No matter what you use, it all boils down to talent. Jeff Mills can create magic with just a 909.
Great news for iOS, and for great news for professionals who make a living from all this. That Logic has everything under the roof, well.. I believe it was just a week ago when Buttersynth was released, ‘the synth that can do it all’ and everybody is already talking about something else. Having everything under one roof will bore quickly. Guaranteed. People always want the lastest fx or synth.
For me, I am perfectly fine with my prehistoric workflow as I am from a time where boys and girls had to deal with a couple of hardware units and a tape recorder, and from that workflow a whole dance industry evolved. What I can do now on my iPad I could only dream of back in the 90ties.
Nothing.
I like iOS music precisely because it got me away from the desktop DAW experience. So news of a full desktop DAW coming to iOS doesn’t excite me much.
As a Logic Pro X user on desktop there are no means to make comparison there are no Pro Daw on iOS , it will the first time we will have one.
Do you need a Pro Daw for what you do ? If you just love to play with buttons to buy an apps just to play and fold it and not making music it is not for you. AUM do the job.
If you want to increase the level of what you do in music with an all in box solution with pro databank of sounds, samples, physical modeling and morphing you need to try it free first. At the same time no problem to use AUM and use existing apps and I port on Logic Pro. Music in my hobby but I want to do it great so it is for me Logic.
If you want to be an iOS producer or you are one you need a Pro Daw so you got Logic on iOS and hope you will have the choice to have Ableton coming as a Pro Daw to because you will got the choice as producer to choose what will fit you.
If you are not good and creative don’t expect to be like magic because you use a Pro Daw. But at that price even if you are not a pro gift you with something really great at least have a free try.
It is like having a room with a puzzle of dusty good and craps audio things and a beautiful high tec audio studio with the synth and audio equipment you never dream and the ability to make music even for Hollywood movies.
Never like garage band
Noticed it says in the small print that garage band needs to be installed, I guess for some instruments etc, really hope it doesn’t require jumping back and forwards between the apps
But having never used logic and not enjoying cubasis and sadly not liking zenbeats, am going to be open minded to Logic Pro
Really I guess what I always wanted was a time line in AUM and a few of the other forum requests
But happy to see where this goes
And a month free trial is a fair opportunity to suck it and see, as they say…
Interesting. Well spotted!
I am excited about what it has to offer but I am going to keep an open mind until more is known about the feature set and stability. I have LPX on my Mac so here are the things that may get me paying for this:
Regarding (2) above : I have not seen anyone consider that the new shiny may contain some number of annoying bugs on release. I imagine it has been a massive testing effort for Apple, given the number of audio apps out there. I have seen cases of Garageband not playing nicely with certain apps so there are no guarantees that our favourite plugins are going to work the way we expect. We’ve seen enough of these types of problem over the years with the DAWs we have so it remains to be seen how responsive Apple will be in fixing them compared to the smaller devs who are often much easier to reach and often quickly turn fixes around.
As an NS2 user, the answer is simply audio tracks and 3rd party AUFX automation.
There will definitely be bugs, and Apple can be quite slow to fix them. I also think it's likely that some features from the desktop version will be missing, and this will of course lead to complaints.
We are never getting audio tracks for NS2.
I don’t expect myself at the release that all will work nicely but as it is subscription Apple will surely get automatically a report about what user encounters and it should be more quickly fix . I don’t expect also all the same features they state that you will have a bit less and a bit more than the desktop ones. Some features are not essential at all except for top producers like Atmos so nobody will complain about such features very not common even in other pro Daw.
My big expectation is to enjoy to have all what Pro and non pro need and even more aka a better AUX experience not using this bloody mouse lol .
If you got talent you need just a piano or a guitar or your great voice and a good producer
Or a flute.. God, I hate flutes
Me too at school our music classes was only to play with a cheap plastic flute , I hated that
“As a Logic Pro X user on desktop there are no means to make comparison there are no Pro Daw on iOS , it will the first time we will have one.”
@BerlinFx and everybody else saying this, what specific features make LP a Pro daw versus an ordinary daw? Is it simply Melodyne? Or the professional sound of various effects/instruments/presets?
This forum has espoused LP for years, I’m very curious what makes Logic Pro such a difference-maker?
The “Drum Machine Designer” seems like a winner for me.
There are various problems with various AUV3 drum plugins.. some wont save a kit within a host (standalone mode only) and some have the usual choresome sample management.
Drum Machine Designer doesn’t seem to have that issue. The Drum programming seems to be good too, xOx suitable for fat sausage fingers.
Those aspects are a very big part of my music making enjoyment. This is a fun hobby for me.. if its frustrating I don’t do it.
I have no idea but I hope it hosts and routes midi plugins like Drambo. I wont be ditching AUM or Loopy Pro either.
I’ll give it a try.. I really have zero qualms about spending £5 a month. I pay more for Disney+ to watch kids programmes like the Mandalorian.
The best is to read what it bring to pro music here the link
https://apple.com/logic-pro/
It’s got electrolytes
That sums up most of it for me too.
Hopefully the touch / UX refinement is at least half as good as NS2. Quick Sampler likely covers most of the basics that I used BM3 for. From there everything else is candy/fun/tricks (Alchemy Sampler, Beat Breaker etc), . It really is a shame just how close NS2 got but it just had that remaining 25% (audio) that for me relied too much on workarounds and hacks.
It really is about 'Can all the things just live in one app now?'. ...now watch it not have multi track export like Garageband... hah! Will the old Mac upsell strategy continue even on a subby?
Logic Pro for iPad needs Garageband??
Please, give us a link to this information/screenshot…
Or, it’s just bullshit…
I've just got to the point where I became so frustrated with Cubasis, that I've moved all my projects to Logic. Specifically, the lack of plugin latency compensation.. so if I, for example, stick Knock and a compressor on the drum bus, and stick a limiter on a keyboard/whatever these things drift 10 to 20 ms or whatever out of sync. Which is very tedious to fix. Additionaly the bus/send setup is not properly fully implemented. Automation, and midi editing are a quite messy.
So... I'm just hoping these basic, but quite essential features, are 'in the bag'!
For me the big one will be having everything all in one app without having to resort to workarounds. Linear audio and midi recording, multiple synths and drum machines, all that content, extended export options, etc.
We’ll see if they actually deliver on all that though, too hard to know much based on what they’ve released so far.
I wonder if this means having iMovie installed to be able to use FCP…
It has to be about integration, with that, that already exists and what exists already on iOS, if they pull this off great, but it may be just a cross over to a MacBookPad, which may not be a bad thing.