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.

Composing in AUM (share tips and techniques, learn new ideas)

edited March 2016 in App Tips and Tricks

Thought this deserved it's own thread. Audioshare has long been my main hub on iOS, and with it's release AUM has now become my main destination for composing on iOS. Certainly not a knock on the other options, it just seems to work the best especially with it's integration with Audioshare.

However, wrapping my brain around AUM's toolset has taken some adjusting, as I'm mainly been someone who has worked with a traditional desktop DAW setup.

If you have tips or ideas, please share them here!

I'll start, with my basic training wheel setup: two channels, with two apps routed into AUM.

May seem overly simple, but I'm on iPhone and AUM gives you one channel per screen, and besides if you choose the right apps you can do quite a bit.

Right now I'm playing around with SunVox and iElectribe. The advantage is both apps can loop patterns, and both can store and play multiple patterns, with SunVox even allowing full song mode.

I slapped on AUFX: Space onto iElectribe's channel to tweak the sound a bit, and look forward AU controls coming, hopefully soon for the AUFX series.

So that's just three apps to branch out to from AUM, and actually I'm just leaving the reverb as is.

As for the mix, it's rather simple to throw together a handful of patterns in the two apps and get to rockin', or getting jiggy wit it. Or something. :)

Have to say AUM is refreshing to use, and almosts thrusts you into making music, denying you the opportunity to endlessly tinker with editing and MIDI.

Hope to hear what others might have to offer!

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Comments

  • Loving AUM as a sketchpad for song creation, finally feeling unconstrained within the iOS environment. @1P18 Interesting you mention avoiding the endless MIDI tinkering. I use it in conjunction with modstep which for me is the perfect companion. Pretty simple stuff so far, patterning for drums, viking for bass and mitosynth for pads or keys. Also playing around with resampling drums and changing timing with the file player, one of my favourite features :)

  • edited March 2016

    Actually with that simple setup I mentioned I could theoretically tinker away in both SunVox and iElectribe. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the whole live aspect of it is what is different, with the final endpoint of a work in AUM being an audio file. Whereas in a traditional desktop DAW you can make changes to a final endpoint, which undermines it being a final endpoint, and potentially opens the door to that endless tinkering.

  • @1P18 I agree with this aspect. I have often been too safe/chicken to 'go live', been too keen not to fail (albeit in the aloneness of my own living room). This has helped and to some benefit already.

  • You can do some pretty crazy routing if you have the right apps, but one tip I've found helpful if you are trying to achieve a complex routing is to start at the end of your desired chain and work backwards, sometimes this helps you identify how your chain can be most efficiently setup.

    Currently I'm running my input apps into Audiobus with AUM as my output, then I set the outputs for those apps to four ports within studiomux. This lets me send each app to Ableton live on a different track where I have effects set up and run the outputs of those tracks into my iPhone for recording. That way I can pick up my iPhone anytime and use the recorded loops.

  • I route synths and rhythm staff on AB (to take advantage of state saving) and all the mixing and fx is within AUM . But can't record any serious live jamming cause of crackling when switching apps .

  • @Korakios said:
    I route synths and rhythm staff on AB (to take advantage of state saving) and all the mixing and fx is within AUM . But can't record any serious live jamming cause of crackling when switching apps .

    Same but for crackling

  • Haven't discovered a workflow with AUM yet.

    It's a great app but that "thing" just hasn't clicked.

  • I think it's a great sketchpad and practice tool. I've never been scared to commit to sounds early on, so that aspect of it also gels nicely with me. For a final mix I would still go to Auria though, but what AUM is doing is really opening up all of my myriad effects apps, and allowing me to do a lot more "stuff" to my noodlings in Loopy. Once AUM gets proper loop recording I can also cut Loopy itself out, and record my noodlings in full 24bit glory for further mangling.

  • edited March 2016

    If you are noodling in an app outside of AUM and come up with something useable, send it to audioshare, you can then easily find it again later for use within the fileplayer in AUM, I was sending audio direct from iSpark to Launchpad via Open In , then wanted to use AUM to do a mix of the sounds on my launchpad pads to get levels balanced, and couldn't find the drums and had to re-export them again, this time to audio share.
    Many of you Audioshare old hands will do this already, but I am new to audioshare.

  • Yep, AudioShare is the hub for all my iPad music making, and the ultra-smooth integration with AUM makes everything easier. (Especially with 'open in'). I've been looking for a way to create quick song sketches that I could bring into Auria without any hassle, and AUM makes that not only possible but completely seamless.

    (And though not directly related to workflow, this afternoon AUM and AudioShare helped me sample and process 60 Alchemy sounds that I'll be bringing into Mitosynth... all in under an hour. So very cool.)

  • @richardyot said:
    I think it's a great sketchpad and practice tool. I've never been scared to commit to sounds early on, so that aspect of it also gels nicely with me. For a final mix I would still go to Auria though, but what AUM is doing is really opening up all of my myriad effects apps, and allowing me to do a lot more "stuff" to my noodlings in Loopy. Once AUM gets proper loop recording I can also cut Loopy itself out, and record my noodlings in full 24bit glory for further mangling.

    Exactly. I have often (somewhat) laughed at myself for all the effects apps I have collected, but now suddenly feel like rich man etc in the easy-apply choice department. Then files automatically into AS and off to Auria....

  • mega synth layering..... so far my favorite thing to do is layer 4 or 5 synth apps, and bus effects, and use the midi keyboard to trigger all at the same time. by adjusting channels volumes , and envelopes of the synths and/or effects, I can make massively huge, and textures synth sounds!! it's amazing!! love this app. Also, I can hit save, and instantly save everything, then I hit open and it loads everything back up and I can start playing whenever I want. fantastic!
    p. s.
    please add a mod wheel to the midi keyboard in future update

  • @Korakios said:
    I route synths and rhythm staff on AB (to take advantage of state saving) and all the mixing and fx is within AUM . But can't record any serious live jamming cause of crackling when switching apps .

    Yer, i get the crackling too when switching apps. Seems to crackle even more when iKaossilator is involved. (Air1, latest IOS)

  • edited March 2016

    @yaknepper said:

    @Korakios said:
    I route synths and rhythm staff on AB (to take advantage of state saving) and all the mixing and fx is within AUM . But can't record any serious live jamming cause of crackling when switching apps .

    Yer, i get the crackling too when switching apps. Seems to crackle even more when iKaossilator is involved. (Air1, latest IOS)

    have to mention it's not AUM fault ,but the crappy iOS when multitasking on load . GUI should run on gpu on low priority and leave the cpu alone...

    Edit: disabled motion&transparecy did the trick. (iOS 9.1 air)

  • Anyone tried running their setup in Low Power Mode to see if it somehow shuffles priorities in a way that removes the crackle? Counterintuitive, I know, but stranger things have happened.

  • edited March 2016

    I haven't experienced any crackling while working in AUM with 3-4 input apps and as many fx in the mix. On the contrary, I find switching between apps seamless. My device is an iPad Mini 2 and I'm still on iOS 8.4.1. My most favourite feature is how amazingly Audioshare is integrated in AUM. Being able to record each instrument on individual channels then export them to my DAW is simply priceless. And the "rest" of what this app can do is HUGE!

  • edited March 2016

    I made a few presets ready to go:

    Modrum-bassline
    Egoist-cyclop
    Mersenne-Lorentz
    Drumjam-Thumbjam
    Sector-THESYS

    Then I collect some audio tracks(trimmed in audioshare) and open an empty preset to effect them eavily with the AUFX and apefilter/dedalus, add a new synth if needed, then record the master, playing live with the built-in low-pass filters.

    Having a blast !

  • @richardyot said:
    I think it's a great sketchpad and practice tool.

    That's what I've doing every day since I got it. I put Chordbot or Sessionband or an audio track on track one and an instrument on track two. I can have fun and experiment with musical ideas and effects while putting my next song together.

    One thing I've found AUM useful for is to compare instrument sounds or patches from different apps, as it is easy to put a few up at the same time.

    I expect I will use AUM more than any other app, but once I am done polishing my song I don't think I will incorporate it into my recording with Auria. Not that it couldn't be useful, just that I don't want to tax my system resources.

  • @eross said:
    mega synth layering..... so far my favorite thing to do is layer 4 or 5 synth apps, and bus effects, and use the midi keyboard to trigger all at the same time. by adjusting channels volumes , and envelopes of the synths and/or effects, I can make massively huge, and textures synth sounds!! it's amazing!! love this app. Also, I can hit save, and instantly save everything, then I hit open and it loads everything back up and I can start playing whenever I want. fantastic!
    p. s.
    please add a mod wheel to the midi keyboard in future update

    This has been my most productive use for it. I set up effects on sends though and can then tweak which synths are going to which effects. With midiLFO the evolving texture thing goes further by automating effects sends and panning. I'm absolutely ready for AUFX: Dub as an AU. I can't get enough of that little box of wonder.

    I also generally go the AB->AUM route as mentioned above because of state saving.

  • Question about AUM, does it record the tracks separate or just the mixdown?

  • @Retzilience said:
    Question about AUM, does it record the tracks separate or just the mixdown?

    It records whatever channel you set it to record, it's up to you to set a mixdown channel ;)

  • @Retzilience said:
    Question about AUM, does it record the tracks separate or just the mixdown?

    you can record the tracks separately or send tracks to a mix track and record that etc

  • @pierre
    @Carnbot

    That's lovely!
    My workflow might be greatly improved.

    I compose mostly doing live sessions and using segments either as a final piece or as a sketch to rebuild it while improving, being able to lightly tweak and improvise while recording separate channels (or a mixdown) in a hub without having Auria running along sounds like heaven.

    Sucks that I missed the discount deal by 1 day.

    Thanks for the prompt reply.

  • @Retzilience said:
    @pierre
    @Carnbot

    That's lovely!
    My workflow might be greatly improved.

    I compose mostly doing live sessions and using segments either as a final piece or as a sketch to rebuild it while improving, being able to lightly tweak and improvise while recording separate channels (or a mixdown) in a hub without having Auria running along sounds like heaven.

    Sucks that I missed the discount deal by 1 day.

    Thanks for the prompt reply.

    It's perfect for that workflow. I sequence stuff and also play live bits and like to mix it all together. This is the best way to do it for me on iOS so far.

    Yeah frustrating to miss the sale, but it's worth every penny and more, you won't regret buying it :)

  • @Carnbot said:

    @Retzilience said:
    @pierre
    @Carnbot

    That's lovely!
    My workflow might be greatly improved.

    I compose mostly doing live sessions and using segments either as a final piece or as a sketch to rebuild it while improving, being able to lightly tweak and improvise while recording separate channels (or a mixdown) in a hub without having Auria running along sounds like heaven.

    Sucks that I missed the discount deal by 1 day.

    Thanks for the prompt reply.

    It's perfect for that workflow. I sequence stuff and also play live bits and like to mix it all together. This is the best way to do it for me on iOS so far.

    Yeah frustrating to miss the sale, but it's worth every penny and more, you won't regret buying it :)

    I suspect Mister Carnbot is right as regards value. I am also still discovering different benefits/ways to do things with the functionality of AUM far beyond what I first thought/bought it for. A very creative app.

  • @1P18
    Had a quick bash at the sunvox/aum dance (just nuts, shit-hot and dead sexy). Many thanks. (MANY). This with a GD vocal patch from Animoog. next time will try iElectribe per your OP. the mindblower being that this configuration can happen on iPhone...including the GD vocal Animoog...

  • @Littlewoodg
    Apps with song mode are nice to work with because you can potentially have one long massive and varied phrase going, and not have to really switch to that app.

    A small tip for apps that can loop phrases, like say Figure or Alchemy:

    You can cut the tempo in half on those apps, relative to what you're working on in Aum, to get a longer phrase going.

  • I like egoist as a drum machine in AUM because of
    1.the pattern chaining
    2.good IAA sync
    3.the fx sequencer in random mode, for a never repeating pattern

  • edited March 2016

    @1P18 said:
    @Littlewoodg
    Apps with song mode are nice to work with because you can potentially have one long massive and varied phrase going, and not have to really switch to that app.

    A small tip for apps that can loop phrases, like say Figure or Alchemy:

    You can cut the tempo in half on those apps, relative to what you're working on in Aum, to get a longer phrase going.

    Tried Elastic for this, like iElectribe has that song mode and the extensive automation. Killer. The Sunvox piece is exciting because it has it all, samplers, synths and drum synths...and may become multi timbal, multi midi-in in a coming update (dev expressed interest on his forum) this would be amazing in AUM and Modstep....

    Thanks for the tempo tip, clever stuff

  • @pierre said:
    I like egoist as a drum machine in AUM because of
    1.the pattern chaining
    2.good IAA sync
    3.the fx sequencer in random mode, for a never repeating pattern

    +1

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