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.

BM3 MIDI import problems

edited January 2018 in App Tips and Tricks

I've been trying to import MIDI files into BM3 with limited success over the last couple of days. Today, the Xequence MIDI export dropped and I've been trying to export a file out of Xequence and into BM3. Here's where it gets tricky:

Attempt 1:
I export the MIDI file out of Xequence with the "Export with track swing" and "Export with track delay" options off. I switch to BM3 and I import it into the Imports folder using Files. Then I drag the MIDI file into the Song view window and it works, except it drops in the separate tracks/instruments from Xequencer (Synth track, Bass track, Drums track, etc.) as beats in the piano roll of the Bank I had loaded. To be clear - the Bass line from Xequencer simply shows up in the Hi-Hat pad of the Bank I loaded and doesn't play the individual notes, instead each pattern from the arrangement shows up as a single note. Synth track is on the snare drum pad, etc.

Attempt 2:
Export the MIDI out of Xequence but I choose "Export only selected track" (I highlighted the notes on the Drums track). I follow the same process to bring it into BM3 as above, but when I drag and drop it onto the Song window NOTHING HAPPENS. It asks if I want to import with/without transposing, I choose without and then it just drops back to a blank song. WTF?!?!?!

I've tried innumerable combinations of these steps (only choosing "Export with track swing), or only "Export with track delay", both of those, neither of those, exporting track only while I've selected the instrument in Xequence, exporting track only with the actual notes highlighted, etc. ad nauseum) and nothing seems to work right.

I tried this previously with a MIDI export from Auria and it seemed to work just fine. Is Xequence the problem? Is it BM3? Still new to BM so I have no idea.

Help!

«1

Comments

  • @dvlmusic: I haven't tested the exported MIDI files with BM3, will do.

    Note: "Only selected parts" means that it will only export selected PARTS (in the arranger), NOT selected notes. So, if no parts are selected, you will indeed get an empty MIDI file. If you would like to use this option, then first select one or more parts in the arranger, and then export.

  • @SevenSystems said:
    @dvlmusic: I haven't tested the exported MIDI files with BM3, will do.

    Note: "Only selected parts" means that it will only export selected PARTS (in the arranger), NOT selected notes. So, if no parts are selected, you will indeed get an empty MIDI file. If you would like to use this option, then first select one or more parts in the arranger, and then export.

    Selected parts like this:

    Or like this:

    I tried both ways and neither seemed to be importable to BM3, however that doesn't mean the files are unreadable. I'm going to try exporting and importing into Auria next.

    Love that you added this functionality! Thanks again - having a blast with Xequence. It's become integral into my workflow.

  • @dvlmusic thanks and glad to see you're putting the app to good use :)

    MIDI files exported from Xequence should import fine in Cubasis and Auria, we have tested both. Although I've just discovered a problem with event timing slightly off towards the end of exported MIDI files, that should be fixed in the next update going out tomorrow.

    Selected as in the first Screenshot. i.e. only selected parts get exported, selecting a track is not enough.

  • edited January 2018

    Ok - I tested the export with "Only selected parts" and was able to import the MIDI file successfully into Auria, so it looks like BM3 is the problem.

    Interesting side note - I exported the drums from Xequence and successfully imported them into Auria. That same file wouldn't import at all into BM3. So then I tried re-exporting the same file from Auria and importing that new one into BM3. It imported ok, but then showed no note data.

    WTF?!?!!?!

    Wow - I can see why people struggle with BM3 so much.

    @SevenSystems Thanks for replying so swiftly - I appreciate that.

  • @dvlmusic to be fair to the BM3 guys, the scope of their app is massive and it's already hard enough to keep a pure MIDI sequencer under control quality - wise. :)

    Will try to investigate what BM3 is choking on, and possibly implement a workaround.

  • @dvlmusic Your attempt 1 sounds like my struggling with drum tracks in BM3, where each drum kit instrument requires it's own pad and still will use only one note for each and any Instrument - contrary to a regular DAW where those notes are all together in one track (and still each instrument uses only one note).
    It seems that this a quite incompatible compared to other DAWs.

    This also means that you cannot exchange a track played by samples simply by a hosted AU / IAA or an external Synth - you would first need to copy the content of all pads into one track.

    @StudioES did give a hint about using Mappings in BM3 instead, but deleted his explanation :/

  • I'm still trying to figure out BM3. I still don't understand how a 16x16 pad grid can be both a drum machine/sample player (one drum per pad) and also a collection of instruments (one drum machine/sampler/AUv3 per pad). Maybe you can't have a sampler per pad, but the concept is throwing me for a loop - WHICH IS IT?!?!?!?!

    Sounds like the MIDI import in BM3 is twitchy and not just for me. I'll keep trying.

    There's a lot I like about BM3, and I can see it's potential ALL over the place. But, like most iOS DAWs, it does some but not all of what I need to do in one place. We'll keep swinging away and see what comes of things.

    Thanks for the help!

  • edited January 2018

    @SevenSystems said:
    @dvlmusic thanks and glad to see you're putting the app to good use :)

    MIDI files exported from Xequence should import fine in Cubasis and Auria, we have tested both. Although I've just discovered a problem with event timing slightly off towards the end of exported MIDI files, that should be fixed in the next update going out tomorrow.

    Selected as in the first Screenshot. i.e. only selected parts get exported, selecting a track is not enough.

    How do you export directly into Auria? Tried yesterday but it didn't seem to work. Had to use Dropbox for the purpose.

    Dropbox is fine, mind you. But what if I want to export a midi track without an internet connection?

    EDIT: Ok I sorted it out. In fact, it's just a manipulation of midi files inside the File Manager app itself.

  • BM3 HAS MIDI import issues. I was drove insane trying to do this. What you can do is record the midi and then you have the notes.

  • @dvlmusic said:
    I'm still trying to figure out BM3. I still don't understand how a 16x16 pad grid can be both a drum machine/sample player (one drum per pad) and also a collection of instruments (one drum machine/sampler/AUv3 per pad). Maybe you can't have a sampler per pad, but the concept is throwing me for a loop - WHICH IS IT?!?!?!?!

    Sounds like the MIDI import in BM3 is twitchy and not just for me. I'll keep trying.

    There's a lot I like about BM3, and I can see it's potential ALL over the place. But, like most iOS DAWs, it does some but not all of what I need to do in one place. We'll keep swinging away and see what comes of things.

    Thanks for the help!

    This. Glad someone else said it! I'm not completely new to this stuff. I was before I started posting here, but that was over 4 years ago...in the time since I've learned a ton about synths, MIDI, and music production (to go with the knowledge of guitars I already have). Though I certainly could be putting in more time on it, I really struggle to understand the flow of BM3. Contrast that to something like Cubasis, which I got the basics of without ever reading the documentation.

    Aside from forgetting how to do basic things (like clearing a preset/track/whatever they call it), it seems really inconsistent. Sometimes you add a rack or AU instrument and it maps out all the pads to notes. Other times, it seems to pick on note (middle C?) and just samples that note to a single pad. Why would I want to do that? Ugh.

  • tjatja
    edited January 2018

    @StormJH1 said:

    @dvlmusic said:
    I'm still trying to figure out BM3. I still don't understand how a 16x16 pad grid can be both a drum machine/sample player (one drum per pad) and also a collection of instruments (one drum machine/sampler/AUv3 per pad). Maybe you can't have a sampler per pad, but the concept is throwing me for a loop - WHICH IS IT?!?!?!?!

    Sounds like the MIDI import in BM3 is twitchy and not just for me. I'll keep trying.

    There's a lot I like about BM3, and I can see it's potential ALL over the place. But, like most iOS DAWs, it does some but not all of what I need to do in one place. We'll keep swinging away and see what comes of things.

    Thanks for the help!

    This. Glad someone else said it! I'm not completely new to this stuff. I was before I started posting here, but that was over 4 years ago...in the time since I've learned a ton about synths, MIDI, and music production (to go with the knowledge of guitars I already have). Though I certainly could be putting in more time on it, I really struggle to understand the flow of BM3. Contrast that to something like Cubasis, which I got the basics of without ever reading the documentation.

    Aside from forgetting how to do basic things (like clearing a preset/track/whatever they call it), it seems really inconsistent. Sometimes you add a rack or AU instrument and it maps out all the pads to notes. Other times, it seems to pick on note (middle C?) and just samples that note to a single pad. Why would I want to do that? Ugh.

    Yep.
    I struggle quite a lot.
    Even considered to still get BM2 instead :#

    But I will continue to try to learn BM3

  • @Chaztrip said:
    BM3 HAS MIDI import issues. I was drove insane trying to do this. What you can do is record the midi and then you have the notes.

    That's the ticket right there. How do you set up the routing for this?

  • @StormJH1 said:

    @dvlmusic said:
    I'm still trying to figure out BM3. I still don't understand how a 16x16 pad grid can be both a drum machine/sample player (one drum per pad) and also a collection of instruments (one drum machine/sampler/AUv3 per pad). Maybe you can't have a sampler per pad, but the concept is throwing me for a loop - WHICH IS IT?!?!?!?!

    Sounds like the MIDI import in BM3 is twitchy and not just for me. I'll keep trying.

    There's a lot I like about BM3, and I can see it's potential ALL over the place. But, like most iOS DAWs, it does some but not all of what I need to do in one place. We'll keep swinging away and see what comes of things.

    Thanks for the help!

    This. Glad someone else said it! I'm not completely new to this stuff. I was before I started posting here, but that was over 4 years ago...in the time since I've learned a ton about synths, MIDI, and music production (to go with the knowledge of guitars I already have). Though I certainly could be putting in more time on it, I really struggle to understand the flow of BM3. Contrast that to something like Cubasis, which I got the basics of without ever reading the documentation.

    Aside from forgetting how to do basic things (like clearing a preset/track/whatever they call it), it seems really inconsistent. Sometimes you add a rack or AU instrument and it maps out all the pads to notes. Other times, it seems to pick on note (middle C?) and just samples that note to a single pad. Why would I want to do that? Ugh.

    I was EXTREMELY luckH and got a Christmas code for BM3, so I'm feeling semi-obligated to sink my teeth into it to figure it out. I like that there are many similarities between BM3 and iMaschine - when I got my first iPhone 4 I used iMaschine exclusively and generated a few hundred demos with it, took the best ones and made an album from them. There's so much potential here - just gotta get my head around the work flow...

  • @tja said:
    @dvlmusic Your attempt 1 sounds like my struggling with drum tracks in BM3, where each drum kit instrument requires it's own pad and still will use only one note for each and any Instrument - contrary to a regular DAW where those notes are all together in one track (and still each instrument uses only one note).
    It seems that this a quite incompatible compared to other DAWs.

    This also means that you cannot exchange a track played by samples simply by a hosted AU / IAA or an external Synth - you would first need to copy the content of all pads into one track.

    @StudioES did give a hint about using Mappings in BM3 instead, but deleted his explanation :/

    You can actually map different samples to different notes on a single pad

  • Thanks a bunch for this, I will try around!

    But I saw the answer from @StudioES shortly and he wrote some other hints as well.
    Sad thing that he deleted each and every posting.

  • As it seems, a drum kit from BM3 has all keys mapped to C3 for any and all instruments.
    If I do not misunderstand, this means that BM3 is not General MIDI compatible for drum kits.
    They did not only separate the instruments to different Pads and patterns, they also messed up the MIDI notes for drum kits.

    Please tell me, that I am wrong.

  • You are wrong.
    You can set the bank to respond to midi on a single channel for drum triggering or multi channel where every pad responds to a different channel so you can play chromatically your samples.

  • @mschenkel.it said:
    You are wrong.
    You can set the bank to respond to midi on a single channel for drum triggering or multi channel where every pad responds to a different channel so you can play chromatically your samples.

    I just loaded a drum kit and the opened the Mappings - and there, it seems like everything runs on C3, not different notes as expected.
    As I wrote, "it seems".

    As I just cannot get my head around BM3, please just tell me if there is an easy way to remap a BM3 drum kit to different notes, as defined in the General MIDI declaration.

    Only then, you can switch between Samples and Synths and only then, your MIDI will be compatible to other Apps.

    I think - which may totally be wrong.

  • Hmmm, OK, so did anyone manage to consistently import a MIDI file into BM3 from ANY app? If not, maybe the thread should be renamed "MIDI import into BM3" or something to make it more generic?

  • edited January 2018

    @SevenSystems said:
    Hmmm, OK, so did anyone manage to consistently import a MIDI file into BM3 from ANY app? If not, maybe the thread should be renamed "MIDI import into BM3" or something to make it more generic?

    Just changed it - not trying to give Xequence bad press!

    :wink:

  • Ok so here is quick video of recording midi notes into bm3. Sorry for sound but you should get the picture.
    https://youtu.be/zoWKgwzu0mM

    Also there is nothing wrong with Xequence..... it’s BM3.
    Here is post I put a while ago on midi import into bm3
    https://intua.net/forums/index.php?p=/discussion/5615/help-with-midi-import

  • edited January 2018

    @SevenSystems said:
    Hmmm, OK, so did anyone manage to consistently import a MIDI file into BM3 from ANY app? If not, maybe the thread should be renamed "MIDI import into BM3" or something to make it more generic?

    MIDI files from Maschine desktop load perfectly, MIDI files from Reaper load perfectly.
    Is Xequence exporting type 1 or 2 ?
    Beatmaker does have issues with a lot of MIDI files.

    Posting here will get you no where though, your best bet is to post on the Beatmaker forum so that testers can test and the developer will fix.

  • @dvlmusic said:
    Just changed it - not trying to give Xequence bad press!
    :wink:

    Now that's what I call "reverse customer service", thanks! :)

    @Samplemunch said:
    MIDI files from Maschine desktop load perfectly, MIDI files from Reaper load perfectly.
    Is Xequence exporting type 1 or 2 ?

    Type 1 (even if you're exporting parts from just a single track).

    Xequence MIDI files import into both Auria and Cubasis perfectly as well, so I have no idea what the problem is... it's probably just the hugely complex and non-standard setup in BM3 that is not compatible with the "normal" linear, track-based format of MIDI files, and there's no really obvious / useful mapping in place in BM3's importer.

  • @dvlmusic: What I almost forgot to mention: Xequence maps instruments, not arranger tracks to MIDI file tracks on export. So, if you happen to have all of your tracks pointing at the same instrument, all tracks will get merged into one track in the MIDI file. Just thought I'd mention it...

    So in essence, whenever you want stuff to be separate in the exported MIDI file, the corresponding arranger tracks have to point to separate instruments in Xequence.

  • @Chaztrip That was hugely helpful. I didn't think to think of BM3 as the MIDI destination and Xequence as the controller. DUH. Awesome - I'll try that later.

    @SevenSystems For this tune I have only 3 tracks mapped to 3 different instruments, so that shouldn't be the issue.

    I fully suspect BM3 to be the culprit here based on all the evidence. Thanks for the help, all - at least I can record it directly now and that works in the short term.

  • I'm not sure if it has been mentioned, but I find the importing of MIDI in BM3 to go smoother when you're in the pattern screen and drop them from browser onto the piano roll on the right hand side.

  • I'll try that as well -thanks!

  • @SevenSystems said:
    @dvlmusic: What I almost forgot to mention: Xequence maps instruments, not arranger tracks to MIDI file tracks on export. So, if you happen to have all of your tracks pointing at the same instrument, all tracks will get merged into one track in the MIDI file. Just thought I'd mention it...

    So in essence, whenever you want stuff to be separate in the exported MIDI file, the corresponding arranger tracks have to point to separate instruments in Xequence.

    I am not sure if I correctly understood.

    If I have 8 tracks, each of them pointing to a different channel of iSymphonic (for example), exporting this would result in all 8 tracks be merged in one track?

    If this is true, I think it would be quite useless.

    The MIDI data has nothing to do with the instrument and instruments (Apps, or just different channels of one App) may constantly change.

    Also, MIDI file Import and Export should allow exchange between Apps - so to export, import in another Apps, change or add things, export again and then re-import in the first App again.

    Hopefully I misunderstood :o

  • @tja: No worries. "8 different channels of iSymphonic" count as 8 different instruments, so your exported MIDI file will have 8 separate tracks. (one instrument = one "vertical box" on the instruments screen in Xequence :))

  • @SevenSystems said:
    @tja: No worries. "8 different channels of iSymphonic" count as 8 different instruments, so your exported MIDI file will have 8 separate tracks. (one instrument = one "vertical box" on the instruments screen in Xequence :))

    Ahhh, I'm relieved :)

Sign In or Register to comment.