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.
AUM Link: Handling, usage and perspectives
Sry for the noob Q.Having downloaded and installed this wonderfull app I need to ask ?
How do I enable /activate Link ?
What can I do with Link ? Is MIDI sync available IAA enabled apps as well as for AUi/AUfx apps.
Can I perform Start/Stop from AUM UI ?
Thoughts/help please.
Comments
Tap the tempo in the upper left corner, then the three dots in the menu that shows up.
This will open the Clock Options, where you can enable Link and do some other settings.
AUM syncs IAA and AU extensions using host sync (start/stop and clock signal), something that's been available from the start but unfortunately not implemented by all apps. It's very similar to Link, but is local within a host and not between devices etc.
I see very little need to add MIDI clock to AUM, now that we have Link (and already had IAA host sync). But if you really need it, there's apps that bridge between Link and MIDI clock, for example to sync external sequencers and drum machines.
AUM bridges between IAA/AU host sync and Link, when AUM syncs to link all hosted nodes will also sync to it (if they implemented sync correctly), via AUM.
@j_liljedahl: But can AUM start/stop the whole Linked train, a la the AB master stop/start button? (The main deficiency of that AB button being no MIDI control.)
+1
I also have concern about Audiobus Remote, does it becomes useless with AUM replacing AudioBus ?
I mean I wish I could use Remote with AUM instead of AB...I'm affraid AUM+AB to have AR on top would increase latency...
@j_liljedahl Thanks for the reply
As for the MIDI sync q I actally meant sync to Link ... For IAA / AU hosted apps that is.
I guess the other option would be to apply a "mute all tracks" instead of trying to use the start/stop button?
No, unfortunately Ableton Link has no start/stop/rewind, I wish it did.
However, AUM does send host transport state to all hosted IAA nodes and AU extensions, so if they just listen to that they will be started from AUM (and can then sync to Link or the host clock).
I'm still not sure I understand the question, sorry. AUM can sync to Link (enable it in Clock Options), and hosted IAA/AU apps can sync to Link too, or they can sync to AUM (if they have implemented listening to the host sync).
Could we keep AUM related questions within the existing threads? There's at least 4 running at the moment and increasingly difficult to keep track of the information. Thanks
thanks for the tip, and for a great app
))
Exactly. So this is a way to sync any (non Link) IAA or AU app to a Link session. Thank you very much.
Don't understand link. Does aum set the tempo so say, Ispark picks it up? Thnx
Huh, I must be doing something wrong, because I've got Loopy as a hosted IAA node, but it doesn't respond to the AUM transport state...
@j_liljedahl Rather than start a new thread, I'll just ask here:
So that video on here, that showed AUM running 3 iSEM extensions, I'm unable to get that working on my iPad Pro (iOS 9.2.1)
If I play more than 2 or 3 notes, I get crackling and shorting. EDIT: The levels are NOT running hot.
The MIDI is routed correctly, and all 3 extensions are being triggered fine, but any more than 2-3 notes and it gets glitchy, even at 44100 / 512. Tried rebooting.
My question: is this an unrealistic expectation of the apps or is the iPad Pro somehow being throttled?
Yes, if the IAA or AU app listens for host sync!
In Loopy Settings > Clock Sync > Inter App Audio Sync > ON
I just tried that here, and Loopy did respond for me. Even to tempo changes. Make sure to enable Inter-App Audio Sync in Loopy's settings!
Are your levels from the iSems running hot? Try reducing the iSems volume outputs and see if the crackles stop.
Ah, I think I know what the issue is. I'm using a beta version of a new build of Loopy that @Michael sent out to solve some issues with loading sessions in Loopy with Link enabled. When I enable Link in this version of Loopy, it disables Inter-App Audio Sync... Ah well, hopefully it'll get worked out somewhere down the line.
dbl posted.
There haven't been hard and fast conventions set up between developers on how to deal with circumstances where multiple sync options might exist at the same time. Jonatan has been promoting what I think is the best way... IAA sync wins if the host is providing it (since it is sample accurate and has timeline transport), otherwise Link, otherwise MIDI clock. Apps may have their own toggle options to enable/disable each one, which should be respected within the app, of course. Because Loopy is an IAA host (behind the scenes it is, that's how Audiobus output slots work), it does have to pick which one to actually use, so the behavior you describe is probably OK regarding it toggling modes. AUM is cool because it can use Link to sync itself, but then serve IAA sync to any nodes it hosts. Perhaps Loopy can do that too one day... Sync will never be easy, will it?
Link is the only sync solution with a consistent implementation that is somewhat enforced by a party that creates the solution. If it is turned on, all other sync options need to follow or ideally be disabled by the developer. An app cannot be a Link peer and a MIDi or IAA sync slave at the same time.
IAA Sync is rarely implemented well and Midi sync on iOS is just a train wreck.
Any developer who properly implements Link syncing should also be able to implement IAA sync correctly. And more importantly, IAA sync actually has an absolute timeline position and transport repositioning/stop/start. But yes, a client must choose its exclusive sync source to use at any given time. And if IAA transport with position and tempo is provided (not all IAA hosts provide it), and an absolute timeline position is meaningful, or if they want to be controllable for start/stopping from the master, IAA should be the highest priority (unless disabled by the user in the app's settings).
Every developer should be able to implement every technology properly if the documentation is done well and if he or she gets the support needed by the provider of the technology. That's why IAA sync and Midi sync aren't reliable enough. Otherwise we wouldn't be here talking about why they don't work so often.
It's not an issue of the skill level of the individual developer.
Note that IAA sync, which is the same as AU host sync, has been used on the desktop for many many years before IAA came to iOS. Perhaps Apple thought it wouldn't need any further introduction since it's already established on the desktop. I'm not sure why so many devs missed it, but maybe because most devs added IAA support as a side effect of implementing Audiobus, where host sync has never been part of the mechanism.
That's exactly the reason.
The sole reason why IAA is widespread today is that Apple forced us to switch to it from Mach Ports and thus forced us to get everyone on the IAA bandwagon as well. Before iOS 8 IAA adoption was abysmal for exactly that reason.
Sync wasn't something we wanted to tackle back then, because we knew the master/slave model of MIDI and even IAA just doesn't work for the workflow we had envisioned. The sync standard that we would have implemented would have worked similar to Ableton Link, but we chose not to go forth with it, because we didn't want to compete with Ableton - two new sync standards would have hurt the community.
Which brings me to the idea that competition is always good. It's not. Not in an environment where everyone relies on everyone else playing nice together.
Spot on ! The only reason MIDI itself has been so successful is that ALL the major players in the synth world were involved in it's creation
One question, in order for Link to become a true standard does it not need to be provided on hardware synths and sequencers too ? Until that happens universally will we not always need a link to midi/midi to link bridge ?
If you look at the history of the video format wars it is easy to see how competition can adversely affect the development of technologies.
There is a bridge app for that, made by Alexander Randon. It syncs hardware synths to Link, not the other way around. Going the other way (MIDI to Link) would introduce the shortcomings (drifting for example) of a 30 year old standard to a sample accurate sync technology like Link.
Here is what I recommend to EVERYONE with AUM.
Before you post something or make a thread for every nuance or misunderstood setting, play with it.
Digital Music Masturbation.
You can't break it and you will only learn on what works.
This is a complicated app with a complicated LINK scenario on top of the fact properly and most efficiently implementing with your Audiobus flow. There are in ways new things that will be revealed even to the developer as the public at large dives in.
Patience. .............................................
Also, Link as it stands is only really usable for live performance, as it does not have absolute timeline repositioning or transport control. Until they add it, it honestly isn't interchangeable with the other sync standards. Yet.
(Note that I'm just trying to be fair, my apps are better suited to the Link model anyway!)
I think Ableton Link is absolutely amazing great and I really hope every developer will implement it. I also think there's a role for IAA/AU host sync. These are two quite different scenarios. Ableton Link is great for sync between devices and live jamming. Host sync is needed when you want to have control over the transport (play/pause) and the timeline (rewind, locate to another time). Host sync is also the only alternative when it comes to Audio Unit extensions, as far as I know.
So, my point is that I don't see Link and host sync to be in competition, not at all! Rather the other way around: if a developer implements one of them, he'll have a much easier time to implement the other as well. I've written about it here: http://lijon.github.io/ios_audio_sync.html and even the Ableton developers has read it and liked it.