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 Store

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

midiSTEPs2Modstep tutorial

edited April 2016 in App Tips and Tricks

Hi all,

I have given MidiSTEPs a short tutorial for Auria on Auria forum. Today is the time for MidiSTEPs for Modstep!

What is really good about MidiSTEPs as a sequencer? It is good at sequencing a midi phrase then loop that phrase layering up to 4 channels with or not with the same instrument being used. The screen size for note editing is big enough and interface is efficient enough for fingering! At the same time of real-time looping, you can hold that phrase for instant editing for notes! In addition to the precise clock to send and receive midi notes, it allows you to plug 3rd party apps such as SpundPrism, Navichord, Chordup to record the melody and chord without hassling you or hurrying you or pushing you against tempo! You can input next note to MidiSTEPs after 5 minutes rest, it is still being recorded perfectly! The only drawback is there is no timing between notes being input into the grid, so your only option is to change the length and gaps between notes one by one slowly! As mentioned earlier, MidiSTEPs has efficient editing when doing real time editing, it is easy to be melodically within your mind what is needed for next notes to it!

Ok, on contrary, Modstep is so great to combine all apps to sequencing everything together for a whole song , has so many functionalities! It is particularly good at drum apps looping. However, it can not cover such big ambition without sacrificing details! What details, You ask? Well, it is so difficult to manipulate notes on grids! You have to touch this and that to change things and losing sight on what intended to do, so you can not concentrate your mind to a single purpose, which is to fill precise notes on grids! Even though you has 'chase' button on, you have to adjust octavs with circle, you have to take care many corrections with fear on crashes, on unsaved, on every level with apps compatibility issues, on many flips to finish some part of jobs! Yes, I agree on real time performance it shines with hardware synths but to construct song on it; well, go straight to Gadget or Auria could be better option for you! Let's not to say it is of no use on Modstep! It is the biggest achievement to allow you to play hundred apps options.

My goal here is to make myself a better work flow on Modstep to find out how to sequence it with my comfort zone. I like the way of MidiSTEPs, I know the in and out of midiSTEPs. So let's do the work!

Comments

  • edited April 2016

    Ok, 11 photos for your reference!

    Objective: learn how to record your midi melody by using MidiSTEPs, then transfer midi data to Modstep with your Animoog sitting within Modstep IAA channel. All on real time and most importantly, it is at your own pace without timing hassles!

    1 Insert Animoog on Modstep IAA channel 1. Then go to MidiSTEPs to setup midi in and out!
    On MidiSTEPs, set up 'midi out' on channel 1. Then adjust 'midi in' on channel 1 too! Then on Setting - Options - Shift, adjust it to negative 20ms. Then on front page tempo button, select 'midi' to tick 'receive midi clock'. Arrange your moldy notes, you are done.

    2 on Animoog app, you select MidiSTEPs on channel 1 for 'midi in'. Animoog is on Modstep IAA, however; it is the MidiSTEPs control the midi in; your source. It tells what notes to play on Modstep, not the Modstep tells Animoog what to play out!

    3 back to Modstep Animoog track, you select 'midi in' from and 'midi out' to MidiSTEPs on channel 1.

    4 go to Modstep setting page, you can see the photo that Animoog has only the clock being sent on itself. Modstep does not provide any notes for it. If you want further midi cc tweak, you can tick 'CC' on destination letting Mod to control Animoog CC.

    You basically follow the setting photo for everything, one thing important is that Modstep on destination, you allow Modstep to control both MidiSTEPs and Animoog clock, so they listen the tempo of Mod!

    In addition not shown on the photo is that you do not adjust Modstep 'clock delay' on Modstep tempo page (double tap the tempo, you can see it). Leave it zero!

    I do not rely on 'Ableton Link' for timing for this setup. So off it.

    You are done with the setup!

    5 now let's open the Modstep Animoog sequencer window, tick 'chase'. So you can see everything is empty except you fill 8 parts of 16 steps squares. When ready, you see the upper part star and rewind back to default state! You also see the 'play' circle on the middle of right hand size default state!

    Now, press the middle right hand side play button, you immediately can listen the sound pass to ear and top main play button change itself to stop status and right hand play circle changes to 'stop' circle.

    You need to press the right hand side stop circle to stop the Modstep sequencer. But if you want to stop MidiSTEPs playing, you need to press the Stop button on top. The 2 'Play' button function differently.

    Now, back to default state, press red recoding button and 'A' button, you then press the right hand play button to begin the recording. When done, press top stop button to finish recording midi data.

    6 As you can see, you have very beautiful aligned midi data on your Animoog track. You can not do such complex midi notes by hand one by one on Modstep! You must use apps like MidiSTEPs to achieve complex melody. You can setup 16 patterns and 4 layer on same channel with MidiSTEPs for this purpose!

    Now, it's yours, you can do the rest of any tracks follow the methods here!

    7 Modstep developer should modify the internal AU synth midi channel to allow other apps to sequence Modstep AU synth; AUM has built in internal midi channel selection for AU synth. So I am waiting for next update to allow AU synth and iSem being played out by 3rd party tools!

    Cheers

  • edited April 2016

    Photos here....

    Set up IAA Animoog on empty Modstep track

  • edited April 2016

    Photo 2: midiSTEPs 'midi out' on channel 1

  • I can see Doug asking you to join him & his crew on "thesoundtestroom" ;)

  • Photo 3: midi in setting on channel 1

  • Photo 6: now flip to Animoog to set midi in

  • Photo 7 :

    Same with photo 1!

    Now adjust midi in from and midi out to midiSTEPs

  • Photo 8: setting up Modstep setting page

  • edited April 2016

    Photo 9: Animoog blank sequencer page ready for recording, red recording button and A button should be lighting on!

  • Photo 10: press middle right hand play button. When finish, yours should look similar to here

  • Photo 11 Detail view of midi data being transfer back to Modstep

  • edited April 2016

    One more thing!

    Although you can not do midiSTEPs to AU synth and AU isem, you can do like here, just drag off Animoog to iSem to achieve sound transformation, Or You can even play out iSem on midiSTEPS first then do the action by off iSem on midiSTEPs.

    So good luck!

  • @studs1966 said:
    I can see Doug asking you to join him & his crew on "thesoundtestroom" ;)

    I can see Art Kerns smiling now! :*

  • Use this method, you can do Modstep real time track writing at the time you playing all Modstep track, so you do benefit from 2 separate sequencers do a synergistic trial and error test for your melody and chords! I feel comfortable without the time limiting pressure of recording, have beer or coffee, JUST PRESSIT!

  • My head asplode (again). Prodigious work Captain.

  • @Kaikoo2 said:
    I can see Art Kerns smiling now! :*

    This tutorial is great! You did indeed put a smile on my face. Thank you, I very much appreciate it. Hopefully I will also have some official video tutorials soon, they take a lot of time time to make, knowing that first hand is especially why I appreciate the effort you put into doing this. But tutorials from other people are often better than mine since they take the same perspective as the viewer, a user figuring out how to make the app do things who didn't design the app to do exactly what they wanted it to do. Thank you again!

  • @JohnnyGoodyear said:
    My head asplode (again). Prodigious work Captain.

    Hi Johnny and all,

    I have not told you why the midiSTEPs destination 'music' symbol not being selected on Mod setting page.

    If select or tick that music symbol circle, the recorded modstep midi data will rewrite back into midiSTEPs, so your midiSTEPs track data will be augmented, that is important when you playback Modstep midi sequencer. Photo 8 is very accurate to untick that!

    Just in case you guys misuse it!

  • Art, you are one of my hero developer! Keep walking!

  • Hey @Kaikoo2 , what Art says :) Thanks a lot for this!

Sign In or Register to comment.