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.

Infinite Looper/Aleph Looper 2.1 update -- more loops, Launchpad, and MIDI fixes! And morestickers!

1234568

Comments

  • ^ scroll to the last post in the GTL thread

  • Ok so it doesn't look like yesterday's post is coming back from the moderators any time soon... :neutral:

    So I just wanted to mention a couple of things I'd come across using IL with GTL (with Link).. (I'll try and remember)

    1. When I press play in IL the first bar mysteriously seems to count up to 6 beats.. (whilst playing the first beat of bar two) then it pauses in silence for an instant and then goes off to where it should be.. about beat 3 of bar 2.. this seems to occur pretty much any time the track has been stopped and I press play.

    2. I was trying to make a standard basic song structure

    • Intro (Section1),
    • Verse1 (Section2),
    • Chorus (Section3),
    • Verse 2 (Section 2 again)
    • Chorus (Section 3 again)

    but I couldn't seem to get the Song mode to repeat Section 2 again... maybe I was doing something wrong but the option just did not seem to be there to repeat the section. I had to get round it by creating a new indention Section4. Then a Section 5 that was the same as section 3... Surely there must be a better way.. it seems messy to me.

    1. In trying to control GTL via IL I wondered if it might be possible for IL to have a set of (user definable) "Instant MIDI Commands" that were automatically transmitted when you launch a new section. These can be used for things like changing patch or volume on your synth app, or getting a looper like GTL to also switch to the next section / group.

      1. To follow on form above a "CUE" style option would be nice so that when you manually foot switch IL to the next Section it waits till its played through the longest loop in the current section before changing.
  • @busker said:
    Just a few small requests:

    • It seems that the 'Internal Synth/ IAA' toggles revert to on when reopening a project where they had been disabled.
    • It would be handy to have the patterns for each instrument automatically numbered from 1 to 8, as when an individual pattern column is scrolled up it is easy to lose context as to where you are in the index. (Even better would be nameable patterns).

    I agree! I don't use them so it would be nice to not have to mute the Internal Synths on every track each time I open IL (or it crashes).
    Pattern names on screen would be very nice as well.

  • Am I correct that IL doesn't have a swing feature? This really hampers those of us who play jazzy stuff!

    @SecretBaseDesign for what it's worth I agree with @ricksteruk above. I do believe that IL is the only iOS midi looper with midi controller sections or scenes that can be controlled with one button for Next and one for Previous. This is tremendously helpful for musicians with an instrument in their hands and four buttons at their feet. It's not feasible to use a launchpad or other 16 to 64 button controller to move between sections or scenes with an instrument in your hands. I do believe IL could fill a niche that Modstep and BM3 leave vacant simply by building on what's already here, as @ricksteruk has suggested. I also think it would be helpful to allow for tempo changes per section--the chorus of a tune should pick up the pace a little, right? (This is well designed and implemented in Modstep.)

    In general, iOS needs an app that allows us to pre-build a set with a bunch of MIDI stuff...

    Thanks for reading!

  • @lukesleepwalker said:
    Am I correct that IL doesn't have a swing feature? This really hampers those of us who play jazzy stuff!

    No swing right now -- but it's likely to happen in the next release. The plan is to have this be something you can toggle on or off per track, and a song-wide swing amount.

    @SecretBaseDesign for what it's worth I agree with @ricksteruk above. I do believe that IL is the only iOS midi looper with midi controller sections or scenes that can be controlled with one button for Next and one for Previous. This is tremendously helpful for musicians with an instrument in their hands and four buttons at their feet. It's not feasible to use a launchpad or other 16 to 64 button controller to move between sections or scenes with an instrument in your hands. I do believe IL could fill a niche that Modstep and BM3 leave vacant simply by building on what's already here, as @ricksteruk has suggested. I also think it would be helpful to allow for tempo changes per section--the chorus of a tune should pick up the pace a little, right? (This is well designed and implemented in Modstep.)

    In general, iOS needs an app that allows us to pre-build a set with a bunch of MIDI stuff...

    And WRT @ricksteruk on song sections -- the way to do that is to create a new section, for each verse or chorus. I had thought about having some way to indicate that two sections were supposed to be identical, but it just seemed to be too complex in terms of user interface -- no good way to explain it.

    The way I normally work, I create the verse section, get that sorted out, create a chorus section, get that sorted out -- and then if I need more copies....
    1) Select the verse by tapping on it in the list
    2) Tap "add new section" -- that creates a new section, with all the right loops already enable.
    3) Need a chorus? Tap the chorus section, and then "add new section."
    It's pretty quick, and gets the job done. You can then tweak the individual sections if needed, to add in what you want.

    I'll look into tweaking the tempo per section, and maybe having a way to send out MIDI patch changes at the start of a section -- I think I could do that through the section edit dialog, and have the UI still make sense.

    I'll probably add in support for MIDI bank select and patch select to individual tracks, so if you're talking to external MIDI equipment, you can have that stuff sent automatically when a song loads.

    Thanks for reading!

    Happy to hear people are getting a kick out of the app!


    Also -- the Link synchronization weirdness with GTL -- still some work for me to do on Link integration. Link has a global "beat clock" that tells you what measure you're supposed to be on -- and depending on when/where the play button is pressed, it may be a few measures before things line up where they're supposed to. I'll try to look into this, and see if I can figure out how to make things work better. GTL is my favorite guitar looper, so I'm kind of motivated to get it right. (And there's a bit of motivation to add audio recording to Infinite Looper -- I roasted a bunch of coffee in the past week or two, so you never know what will happen.)

  • Take a look at Navichord Link I think in he menu there's an option to link at phase, 1 bar up to 16 I think. I'll check.

    But inf Looper doesn't link up fast enough.

    @SecretBaseDesign said:

    @lukesleepwalker said:
    Am I correct that IL doesn't have a swing feature? This really hampers those of us who play jazzy stuff!

    No swing right now -- but it's likely to happen in the next release. The plan is to have this be something you can toggle on or off per track, and a song-wide swing amount.

    @SecretBaseDesign for what it's worth I agree with @ricksteruk above. I do believe that IL is the only iOS midi looper with midi controller sections or scenes that can be controlled with one button for Next and one for Previous. This is tremendously helpful for musicians with an instrument in their hands and four buttons at their feet. It's not feasible to use a launchpad or other 16 to 64 button controller to move between sections or scenes with an instrument in your hands. I do believe IL could fill a niche that Modstep and BM3 leave vacant simply by building on what's already here, as @ricksteruk has suggested. I also think it would be helpful to allow for tempo changes per section--the chorus of a tune should pick up the pace a little, right? (This is well designed and implemented in Modstep.)

    In general, iOS needs an app that allows us to pre-build a set with a bunch of MIDI stuff...

    And WRT @ricksteruk on song sections -- the way to do that is to create a new section, for each verse or chorus. I had thought about having some way to indicate that two sections were supposed to be identical, but it just seemed to be too complex in terms of user interface -- no good way to explain it.

    The way I normally work, I create the verse section, get that sorted out, create a chorus section, get that sorted out -- and then if I need more copies....
    1) Select the verse by tapping on it in the list
    2) Tap "add new section" -- that creates a new section, with all the right loops already enable.
    3) Need a chorus? Tap the chorus section, and then "add new section."
    It's pretty quick, and gets the job done. You can then tweak the individual sections if needed, to add in what you want.

    I'll look into tweaking the tempo per section, and maybe having a way to send out MIDI patch changes at the start of a section -- I think I could do that through the section edit dialog, and have the UI still make sense.

    I'll probably add in support for MIDI bank select and patch select to individual tracks, so if you're talking to external MIDI equipment, you can have that stuff sent automatically when a song loads.

    Thanks for reading!

    Happy to hear people are getting a kick out of the app!


    Also -- the Link synchronization weirdness with GTL -- still some work for me to do on Link integration. Link has a global "beat clock" that tells you what measure you're supposed to be on -- and depending on when/where the play button is pressed, it may be a few measures before things line up where they're supposed to. I'll try to look into this, and see if I can figure out how to make things work better. GTL is my favorite guitar looper, so I'm kind of motivated to get it right. (And there's a bit of motivation to add audio recording to Infinite Looper -- I roasted a bunch of coffee in the past week or two, so you never know what will happen.)

  • edited September 2017

    Idk if I shared this with you guys but the new update of GTL will bring interesting tools that could help in this kind of workflow (working with song parts). I check the forum everyday waiting for Jack saying "it's alive" :bawling:

    http://forum.grouptheloop.com/index.php?p=/discussion/116/finally-some-new-features-of-gtl-snapshots#latest

    In other side of things I wondered time to time to hack some of the novation launch series into different things from launchcontrol xl mk2 to launchpedal... anyone interested? It will be useful to use even launchpad app as backing tracks and let regular footpedal free for GTL looping or IL... :smirk:

  • @SecretBaseDesign said:

    @lukesleepwalker said:
    Am I correct that IL doesn't have a swing feature? This really hampers those of us who play jazzy stuff!

    No swing right now -- but it's likely to happen in the next release. The plan is to have this be something you can toggle on or off per track, and a song-wide swing amount.

    @SecretBaseDesign for what it's worth I agree with @ricksteruk above. I do believe that IL is the only iOS midi looper with midi controller sections or scenes that can be controlled with one button for Next and one for Previous. This is tremendously helpful for musicians with an instrument in their hands and four buttons at their feet. It's not feasible to use a launchpad or other 16 to 64 button controller to move between sections or scenes with an instrument in your hands. I do believe IL could fill a niche that Modstep and BM3 leave vacant simply by building on what's already here, as @ricksteruk has suggested. I also think it would be helpful to allow for tempo changes per section--the chorus of a tune should pick up the pace a little, right? (This is well designed and implemented in Modstep.)

    In general, iOS needs an app that allows us to pre-build a set with a bunch of MIDI stuff...

    And WRT @ricksteruk on song sections -- the way to do that is to create a new section, for each verse or chorus. I had thought about having some way to indicate that two sections were supposed to be identical, but it just seemed to be too complex in terms of user interface -- no good way to explain it.

    The way I normally work, I create the verse section, get that sorted out, create a chorus section, get that sorted out -- and then if I need more copies....
    1) Select the verse by tapping on it in the list
    2) Tap "add new section" -- that creates a new section, with all the right loops already enable.
    3) Need a chorus? Tap the chorus section, and then "add new section."
    It's pretty quick, and gets the job done. You can then tweak the individual sections if needed, to add in what you want.

    I'll look into tweaking the tempo per section, and maybe having a way to send out MIDI patch changes at the start of a section -- I think I could do that through the section edit dialog, and have the UI still make sense.

    I'll probably add in support for MIDI bank select and patch select to individual tracks, so if you're talking to external MIDI equipment, you can have that stuff sent automatically when a song loads.

    Thanks for reading!

    Happy to hear people are getting a kick out of the app!


    Also -- the Link synchronization weirdness with GTL -- still some work for me to do on Link integration. Link has a global "beat clock" that tells you what measure you're supposed to be on -- and depending on when/where the play button is pressed, it may be a few measures before things line up where they're supposed to. I'll try to look into this, and see if I can figure out how to make things work better. GTL is my favorite guitar looper, so I'm kind of motivated to get it right. (And there's a bit of motivation to add audio recording to Infinite Looper -- I roasted a bunch of coffee in the past week or two, so you never know what will happen.)

    Great to hear! We can pitch in and send more coffee if it helps... I think the fact that you are a guitar player helps to ensure your apps consider that use case, so thanks for that!

    The new design in IL is terrific by the way. So easy on the eyes. Makes a difference when spending long hours in the app.

  • @lukesleepwalker said:
    The new design in IL is terrific by the way. So easy on the eyes. Makes a difference when spending long hours in the app.

    Glad you like it -- but as you might expect, I've gotten some emails from people who hate it, and want me to switch back!

  • @SecretBaseDesign said:

    @lukesleepwalker said:
    The new design in IL is terrific by the way. So easy on the eyes. Makes a difference when spending long hours in the app.

    Glad you like it -- but as you might expect, I've gotten some emails from people who hate it, and want me to switch back!

    Yes, please, I am one of those. Aestetic subjective opinion indeed, no intention to hurt feelings, but I do think it was way more coherent and straight to the point the way it was before. I wish there was at leadt an option to go back.

  • @Philippe said:

    @SecretBaseDesign said:

    @lukesleepwalker said:
    The new design in IL is terrific by the way. So easy on the eyes. Makes a difference when spending long hours in the app.

    Glad you like it -- but as you might expect, I've gotten some emails from people who hate it, and want me to switch back!

    Yes, please, I am one of those. Aestetic subjective opinion indeed, no intention to hurt feelings, but I do think it was way more coherent and straight to the point the way it was before. I wish there was at leadt an option to go back.

    Can you give an example? I had the opposite reaction.

  • @SecretBaseDesign I also appreciate that IL works in split screen view. I load up IL in one side and sidecar in the other. Works flawlessly with my modified iCade controller...

    Another question: is there a way to set the length of the count out for a section change?

  • Have to say it, the design on their apps is appalling. The worst I've seen for devs that release many apps...

    Failing the minimal approach, unlike klevgrand who know the art.

    An app has to look pleasing to the eye too I feel

    You wouldn't wear badly designed clothes would you?

    Just being honest. I looked at this app and didn't buy because of the design..it's terrible

    Sorry

  • I'm fine with the design, no requirement at all to look fancy (in a music app? any of us who've made music with a desktop have made beautiful things with some REAL ugly beasts!!)

    I quite like the design of IL actually and I definitely prefer the red and black. Cool kind of style that isn't really present much on iOS and a focus on function. No problems here!

  • The new GUI is better IMO
    Some bugs :
    When recording if you select a block it records fine , but if you long press the selected block then new notes are recorded to the top block .
    When you enable the multiple takes mode , notes are recorded fine but if you choose to insert the take you want it doesn't auto play

  • @SecretBaseDesign has his reasons for the way the apps are designed, stated previously, and though I think it may be a missed opportunity, I accept them. I've come to look at it like an army jeep— abundant usefulness overcomes butt-ugliness in this case, so I give it a pass. Though cluttered looking, the text and icons are clear and legible, at least; this is not always something you can expect from Klevgrand products, as nice as they are.

  • @aaronpc said:

    @SecretBaseDesign has his reasons for the way the apps are designed, stated previously, and though I think it may be a missed opportunity, I accept them. I've come to look at it like an army jeep— abundant usefulness overcomes butt-ugliness in this case, so I give it a pass. Though cluttered looking, the text and icons are clear and legible, at least; this is not always something you can expect from Klevgrand products, as nice as they are.

    Fair.

  • By "give it a pass" I mean "use it anyway", btw. Great app.

  • @Dubbylabby said:
    Idk if I shared this with you guys but the new update of GTL will bring interesting tools that could help in this kind of workflow (working with song parts). I check the forum everyday waiting for Jack saying "it's alive" :bawling:

    http://forum.grouptheloop.com/index.php?p=/discussion/116/finally-some-new-features-of-gtl-snapshots#latest

    In other side of things I wondered time to time to hack some of the novation launch series into different things from launchcontrol xl mk2 to launchpedal... anyone interested? It will be useful to use even launchpad app as backing tracks and let regular footpedal free for GTL looping or IL... :smirk:

    yes!!!

  • Screen recording in iOS 11 is really easy, so here's a quick video peek at swing mode...

    You'll adjust the swing amount in the tempo dialog, and you can toggle swing on or off per track (and it'll work with the internal instruments, as well as IAA and external MIDI).

  • Yes! That swing feature looks spot on...

  • @LeonLeroy said:

    @Dubbylabby said:
    Idk if I shared this with you guys but the new update of GTL will bring interesting tools that could help in this kind of workflow (working with song parts). I check the forum everyday waiting for Jack saying "it's alive" :bawling:

    http://forum.grouptheloop.com/index.php?p=/discussion/116/finally-some-new-features-of-gtl-snapshots#latest

    In other side of things I wondered time to time to hack some of the novation launch series into different things from launchcontrol xl mk2 to launchpedal... anyone interested? It will be useful to use even launchpad app as backing tracks and let regular footpedal free for GTL looping or IL... :smirk:

    yes!!!

    What part do you like it?

  • Hello all, newbie to ios world here. Fell head over heals into the abyss after i bought an iphone last month.

    Very happy to have found AL, thanks to this forum, after many failed attempts with other midi sequencers.

    One major thing i have to tackle with this awesome app though, is external midi-sync transport with a midi controller; play/ stop/ record.

    I am trying this with a Korg Nanokontrol Studio. After configurating settings in AL (learn midi cc’s, enable Launchcontrol etc), AL responds to incoming NanoKontrol messages, but behaves a bit weird. F. i. Play only works if i keep the button pressed. Also can’t find the cc# for transport Stop.
    Anybody have an inkling as to how to solve this?

    (My ultimate goal is to have full transport control with the Nano over both Korg Gadget & AL at the same)


  • This is what i’m after, but as one can see AL’s transports are not appearing in the set up.
    If there is something obvious that i’ve missed, then i’d love to hear it, as i’m about to give up on this whole idea and just settle with Gadget.

  • @Markosdee said:
    Hello all, newbie to ios world here. Fell head over heals into the abyss after i bought an iphone last month.

    Very happy to have found AL, thanks to this forum, after many failed attempts with other midi sequencers.

    One major thing i have to tackle with this awesome app though, is external midi-sync transport with a midi controller; play/ stop/ record.

    I am trying this with a Korg Nanokontrol Studio. After configurating settings in AL (learn midi cc’s, enable Launchcontrol etc), AL responds to incoming NanoKontrol messages, but behaves a bit weird. F. i. Play only works if i keep the button pressed. Also can’t find the cc# for transport Stop.
    Anybody have an inkling as to how to solve this?

    (My ultimate goal is to have full transport control with the Nano over both Korg Gadget & AL at the same)

    WRT the start/stop -- my guess is that the Nanokontrol is sending out a note-on-with-volume-zero message when you lift up the key. The transport is designed to toggle play/stop with a single MIDI event, and so it's starting when you press down, and then stopping when you lift up. I'll fix this in the next release; short term, you could get a work-around going with something like MIDI Fire (to mangle the zero-volume-note-on into a note-off message).

    There are a bunch of different transport control systems -- MIDI start/stop, MIDI learned start/stop, Ableton Link, and the Audiobus API. I'm mostly focused on Ableton and the MIDI learn options, but will take a look at upgrading to the latest Audiobus version.

  • @SecretBaseDesign Any new thoughts regarding AU hosting and/or AU midi hosting?

  • Thank you sir! Will investigate your advise plus am also trying different settings in the Nanokontrol Studio software, where one can alter knob cc behaviour per button.

    Incredebly complex routing stuff for a newbie coming from 808 & MPC’s etc. But dang, some of these iOS synths & drums just sound SO good.

    So i’m gonna keep trying until it will work one way or the other (feel that i’m almost there).

    Gadget & Aleph looks like a match made in heaven to me

  • edited December 2017
    • and i’ve tried every sequencer available to iphone i think.

    p.s i too have chosen to focus on Ableton link & midi learn for stabilty & ease of use.

    Also: happy holidays (:

Sign In or Register to comment.