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.

DM1 gets on the bus

Just saw this on my update list. I'd make a link, but I don't know how to.

Comments

  • Here is the link:
    https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dm1-the-drum-machine/id431573951?mt=8

    Anyone tried it yet with audiobus?

  • Is this the iPad version as well? I just updated the iPhone one. I'm at work, but will go for a quick bathroom break and try it out!

  • Yep ipad version as well, have been waiting for this best drum app in my view. Works really well with loopy through the bus

  • It's both versions.

    The iPhone version might have a - temporary - hiccup which means you'll have to launch it manually the first time you connect it to Audiobus. But this might be fixed very soon.

  • That's correct, Sebastian - exactly what I had to do.

    DM1 works as you'd expect, but I can't see any option for MIDI clock sync, which is a shame. I really think that, going forwards, all Audiobus apps should start supporting this as a basic standard! I know it's a lot more work, but still...

  • We're working on it....

  • Much as I love both Audiobus and DM1, I'm not certain that the DM1 developer has thought the integration through. I agree on the point about missing midi clock and more importantly the best feature of DM1 negates the the need for Audiobus at all - if you export your patterns/songs directly to Dropbox, DM1 gives you the option to either export a final mix down or (and this is far more useful) as seperate tracks. So if your using one of the better quality mobile DAW’s you can then fx/eq/compress each individual drum instrument or sub group of instruments. Far more flexible than recording directly via Audiobus and dare I say it the workflow is far smoother too.

    I think we're reaching the point now where app developers are adding Audiobus integration strictly to give themselves a sales boost. Sorry if this sounds a little harsh but Audiobus integration alone without any considerations as to the workflow benefits to end users isn't really good enough.

    Granted this is DM1s first outing with Audibus integration but going forward I really hope developers don't just plonk Audiobus integration in without thinking it through.

  • I'm waiting separate tracks recording too. Is it possible on iPad? I mean, can we expect that in future?

  • edited January 2013

    They listened to our complains on their FB page and made it iOS 5.1 compatible instead of ios 6 only, like the previous version.

    Thanks for that Fingerlab!

  • Just update and its not showing up in AudioBus , would try the workaround when I get home.

  • edited January 2013

    This is cool. Just playing beats manually into loopy will be fun.

  • @jonmoore That is a good point. Exporting as seperate tracks is a great feature. I noticed on the iphone version it doesn't say anything about importing sounds, is this iPad only feature?

    I've come to the conclusion that until AB lets us chose if the input goes through effects or not, I don't really need a AB compatible drum app. Writing the beats elsewhere and importing them into your daw works much better IMO for the time being. And when i think about it, I've never ever recorded the drums at the same time as anything else in my life.

  • @Ryan,

    I couldn't say as I only ever use my iphone as a controller device, I've removed most of the music apps accept for those that were designed as iPhone user experiences (and ones without significant compromises) as I find the cut down UI's of universal music apps very frustrating to use. I also personally find that DM1 is great eye candy but really lacking in many areas (too many to mention here). The reason I have it is because it was a free download just before Xmas and I was intrigued as to what everybody was raving about. The most frustrating thing is that it has some wonderful features too but in the main they're features that are secondary to my specific workflow requirements.

    Great for a free app though! :)

  • @jonmoore Sadly, it's $6.99 now.

  • edited January 2013

    Personally, DM1 is my favorite groovebox app (with Electribe a close second... if only I could load my own samples into those ROM slots it would certainly take the top spot).

    It has a fairly good sequencer, supports enough time signatures, offers automation of pitch, velocity, pan, and sample length...

    Actually, it kinda feels like ReDrum to me, with a full-screen sequencer and it's own fx bus. And the included kits (some 80+) are top contenders for the best that come included with any groovebox app on the ipad. (the jake rock kit is the closest I've found to a nice BIG live kit in a groovebox)

    And it has a plethora of export options, and now Audiobus. DM1 over FunkBox or MoDrum any day of the week, for almost any price.

  • Yes!!! DM1 is awesome and i haven't played with it much since audiobus launched.

  • No midi sync? Unbelievable

  • Isn't it?

  • @uglykidmoe you can import your own samples via iPod Dropbox or iTunes import but you can't audition the sounds before loading them in which is a bit of a missed opportunity as it would make it a slicker feature.

  • @DaveMagoo true but I typically put together a pattern with at least one note on the track which I'm selecting a sample for which will playback as soon as the sample is selected. The process is pretty instantaneous, so it's almost just as good as having a preview in the menu drop-down.

  • as much as I love DM1, I really wish there was a way to sequence drums without quantization.

  • Correct me if I'm wrong here, hypoetical, but if you just use DM1 pads through audiobus into loopy or MTDaw there is no quantization, right?

  • @boone51, that's correct. I believe hypoetical is more referring to being able to move the notes on DM1's internal sequencer by fractions of a beat, thus allowing for the "humanized" feel.

    Sorry @hypoetical if I spoke incorrectly.

    At any rate, playing dm1's pads through audiobus into MTDAW will not quantize your playing

  • @boone51 youʻre right and iʻve thought about doing that. however i do appreciate DM1ʻs mixing options and it would be great to be able to sequence everything and then tweak to my liking. at the moment what you suggest is my only option.

    @uglykidmoe not entirely incorrect but that would be a sweet option to have!

  • i've tried a few experiments with DM1 (iPad version) and MultiTrack DAW, through Audiobus. I set both metronomes to the same tempo, and it turned out to be amazingly easy to start DM1 on the downbeat and have it stay in time with MT DAW's metronome, even over the course of a nine minute song. Maybe clock sync isn't as important as I originally thought it was.

  • Digital BPM counters ought to be fairly accurate nowadays. If you start out in time they shouldn't really drift much.

  • True, that. Even at 240 BPM there was no noticible drift at all. Zooming in on the wave form I found the beats were perfectly aligned from start to end. It may be stating the obvious, but even if one doesn't start DM1 in perfect time, it is a simple matter to drag it over and line it up after the recording, with snap disabled and using the zoomed waveform as a guide.

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