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.

Anyone using Ipad as your soundsource for Keyboard playing?? Advice on Ipad Purchase and apps.

edited February 2019 in Other

Hi Guys, i'm looking to buy an ipad at the end of this month mostly to replace my Keyboard rig at reversals although i would admit going full ipad in future if the quality of sound and stability get there.

Can you please advise on model purchase (most economic solution)

Here is what i need to use:

Piano-Ravenscroft 275
B3-Galileio
Synth- A good all arround synth for pads and leads (havent decided on one yet)
Electric Guitar- A good elecric Guitar + FX for Rythm guitar and lead for metal/djent (havent decided on one yet)
Acoustic Guitar-Real Guitar
Steel Guitar- Steel Guitar
All Arround Instrument- Sampletank & Korg M1

It would be important that the ipad model had the performance capacity to have all this instruments loaded at all times for fast preset change.

Can you also advise on apps options.

Thank you all in advance for any help.

Cheers.

Ricardo Silva

«1

Comments

  • I’m interested in the iPad as a keyboard too, I liked this solution:
    https://forum.audiob.us/discussion/21282/ios-keyboard-rig-complete

    The smart part, is only sending midi to the instrument you are currently playing, so the cpu doesn’t have to process, say 8 sounds, despite 7 of the 8 being muted in your audio mixer, down the line.

    I thought your choices for apps was good, but recommend checking out Thumbjam, for a sampler. I was hunting for a real, modern sampler on iOS, and am really happy with the sound quality, presets, and ability to build multi-sampled instruments in it.

  • @Processaurus said:
    ... recommend checking out Thumbjam, for a sampler. I was hunting for a real, modern sampler on iOS, and am really happy with the sound quality, presets, and ability to build multi-sampled instruments in it.

    Do you have a tutorial on building multi-sampled ThumbJam instruments? I’ve never figured this out.

  • One word of advice - don’t choose apps before actually trying them in the setup you intend to use.

    By this I mean, things change, some apps don’t run together well, updates funk things out. So, the only way to get a setup for live use is by following a few rules:

    1. Set up your iPad correctly I.e. make sure any not needed functions are turned off.
    2. Stick with an iOS / host / app set up that works and don’t change anything once it works.
    3. You will need a way to back it up that does not require redownloading any apps and or new iOS.
    4. Try your set before going live over and over again to see what works and what goes wrong. Remember some apps just don’t like each other at times.
    5. Try to avoid IAA if at all possible as they can leave instances in the background that require restarts.
    6. Don’t overcomplicate things as running too many apps is asking for trouble.

    I only say all this as you seem to be asking for help choosing apps prior to setting up the rig. I think the only way to do it well is buy an iPad and the learn which apps work together how you want by trial and error. Yeah, asking for advice is good, but what works used one way for one person may be a cluster feck of live nightmares for you.

  • Here’s some options I’ve dabbled with:

    1. Korg Gadget with all the stand alone synths, IAPs and Module - works well and gives you easy access to a basic backing multitrack. Module has the piano / keys sounds. Gadget has some great filler sounds and ODYSSEI is one of the best lead synths on iOS IMO (barring the naff tuning slider set up). Pads are iM1 and iWAVESTATION fodder.

    Has some quirks, such as eats your battery etc, but it’s a decent option.

    1. Korg Gadget plus: I used this option jamming (like live playing but with no crowd lol) for a while. I connect any other instruments I want to add in AUM and connect them via Audiobus. The reason I did this was because Audiobus gave the nice sidebar way of switching between Gadget and my live app mixer of AUM. AUM controlled the playback controls of Gadget and any drum machines in itself.

    Worked well depending on how well all the individual apps worked together.

    1. Using a DAW as the mixer setup - gave up on this idea, as it just didn’t work for myself, although I do jam often using BM3.

    2. Using AUM or Audiobus as the mixer setup - works as well as it’s individual components.

    3. Using a few stand alone IAA apps and running some via a midi apps such as genome, modstep etc - I found switching between apps here to be a pain, but it’s probably easier now with ios11. Midi on iOS can be flaky though lol

    4. Using stand alone apps like Sampletank etc - not really tried this beyond Gadget, but I only like that due to the IAP options plus Module.

  • edited February 2018

    @Hmtx said:

    @Processaurus said:
    ... recommend checking out Thumbjam, for a sampler. I was hunting for a real, modern sampler on iOS, and am really happy with the sound quality, presets, and ability to build multi-sampled instruments in it.

    Do you have a tutorial on building multi-sampled ThumbJam instruments? I’ve never figured this out.

    Haha, I did it, but forgot how I did it exactly. I was using samples on the computer that I had recorded a few years before. I just read the manual section on making instruments. If you have a large number of samples, pay close attention to the part about naming your samples, where you can have it automatically load them onto the correct keys, without needing to manually assign the pitch in thumbjam. A tuner can be handy. I used the web upload, to transfer the samples, which worked really easy, easier than screwing around with itunes.

    If you have decent recordings, the multisampled instruments come out really great.

  • @Processaurus said:
    I’m interested in the iPad as a keyboard too, I liked this solution:
    https://forum.audiob.us/discussion/21282/ios-keyboard-rig-complete

    The smart part, is only sending midi to the instrument you are currently playing, so the cpu doesn’t have to process, say 8 sounds, despite 7 of the 8 being muted in your audio mixer, down the line.

    I thought your choices for apps was good, but recommend checking out Thumbjam, for a sampler. I was hunting for a real, modern sampler on iOS, and am really happy with the sound quality, presets, and ability to build multi-sampled instruments in it.

    Thank you for the sugestion, i bought thumbjam a couple of years ago, i like the app, shame it has few instruments, although until i read your responses to my post i had no ideia you could sample with it...

  • @Fruitbat1919 said:
    One word of advice - don’t choose apps before actually trying them in the setup you intend to use.

    By this I mean, things change, some apps don’t run together well, updates funk things out. So, the only way to get a setup for live use is by following a few rules:

    1. Set up your iPad correctly I.e. make sure any not needed functions are turned off.
    2. Stick with an iOS / host / app set up that works and don’t change anything once it works.
    3. You will need a way to back it up that does not require redownloading any apps and or new iOS.
    4. Try your set before going live over and over again to see what works and what goes wrong. Remember some apps just don’t like each other at times.
    5. Try to avoid IAA if at all possible as they can leave instances in the background that require restarts.
    6. Don’t overcomplicate things as running too many apps is asking for trouble.

    I only say all this as you seem to be asking for help choosing apps prior to setting up the rig. I think the only way to do it well is buy an iPad and the learn which apps work together how you want by trial and error. Yeah, asking for advice is good, but what works used one way for one person may be a cluster feck of live nightmares for you.

    Thank you very much for your advice.

    You are preaching to the choir man, i currently work live with a PC and a myriad of vst's and it's work to get everything working together, even in vst world not everything goes well.
    The way you described with apps isn't far the way i work with vst. I do a lot of stress testing before stage and as soon a i get a stable build stress test again if everything works out updates are shutdown for everything including windows, which I must admit as been surprising me since version 7, very stable, i haven't had a single crash and I'm on my third tour with windows based setup.

    I was a long Time Mainstage user but I felt that apple “abandoned” their vision in creating hardware and software meant to be called PRO, these days, at least in the Macbook department it's overpriced outdated hardware money grab only. Honestly the only thing they care about these days are phones and tablets. At least I hope they don't screw up the iPad.

    Don't get me wrong, I love apple, i have bought and sold a lot of apple hardware but at this point i don't see myself investing a single cent in their iMac or Macbook pro lineup. I threw up in my mouth when I saw touch bar on the macbook pro with such dated hardware...

    Anyways, I got really off topic, sorry about that. The reason i ask for advice is to avoid wasting money on apps that don't work well and also not to buy an iPad model that can't run what I need.

    Thanks ;)

  • @Ricardo said:

    @Fruitbat1919 said:
    One word of advice - don’t choose apps before actually trying them in the setup you intend to use.

    By this I mean, things change, some apps don’t run together well, updates funk things out. So, the only way to get a setup for live use is by following a few rules:

    1. Set up your iPad correctly I.e. make sure any not needed functions are turned off.
    2. Stick with an iOS / host / app set up that works and don’t change anything once it works.
    3. You will need a way to back it up that does not require redownloading any apps and or new iOS.
    4. Try your set before going live over and over again to see what works and what goes wrong. Remember some apps just don’t like each other at times.
    5. Try to avoid IAA if at all possible as they can leave instances in the background that require restarts.
    6. Don’t overcomplicate things as running too many apps is asking for trouble.

    I only say all this as you seem to be asking for help choosing apps prior to setting up the rig. I think the only way to do it well is buy an iPad and the learn which apps work together how you want by trial and error. Yeah, asking for advice is good, but what works used one way for one person may be a cluster feck of live nightmares for you.

    Thank you very much for your advice.

    You are preaching to the choir man, i currently work live with a PC and a myriad of vst's and it's work to get everything working together, even in vst world not everything goes well.
    The way you described with apps isn't far the way i work with vst. I do a lot of stress testing before stage and as soon a i get a stable build stress test again if everything works out updates are shutdown for everything including windows, which I must admit as been surprising me since version 7, very stable, i haven't had a single crash and I'm on my third tour with windows based setup.

    I was a long Time Mainstage user but I felt that apple “abandoned” their vision in creating hardware and software meant to be called PRO, these days, at least in the Macbook department it's overpriced outdated hardware money grab only. Honestly the only thing they care about these days are phones and tablets. At least I hope they don't screw up the iPad.

    Don't get me wrong, I love apple, i have bought and sold a lot of apple hardware but at this point i don't see myself investing a single cent in their iMac or Macbook pro lineup. I threw up in my mouth when I saw touch bar on the macbook pro with such dated hardware...

    Anyways, I got really off topic, sorry about that. The reason i ask for advice is to avoid wasting money on apps that don't work well and also not to buy an iPad model that can't run what I need.

    Thanks ;)

    Totally agree about Apple and their direction / cost of MacBook Pro. Hope the IPad Pros don’t end up the same. Personally I use an iPad Air2 and it does quite well. Was hoping to add another, but don’t like the price hike to get a Pro and hate the backwards direction of the cheaper model. Personally thinking of going back to hardware lol

  • edited February 2018

    I’ve been exclusively using an iPad for live keys for over three years now. To be clear, I primarily play bass in this band, And began using the iPad and a controller just for synth bass sounds. As we are a trio, and the iPad as a platform seemed reliable, within a few weeks I started playing bass plus any other keys/synths needed in order cover certain songs.

    Everyone’s needs will be different. I use SampleTank, iM1, Magellan, Heavy Brass and Beatmaker 3 every night. At least two at once, often three. There were several others that I liked and trusted enough to use live, I just settled on these.

    I only use one 61 key controller onstage, bluetoothed to the iPad. In order to split the keyboard I use MidiFlow. Changing a preset in MidiFlow sends all the necessary changes to the other apps (apps must be able to response to midi bank changes for this). I also use OnSong for lyrics. When I’m playing keys on a song, OnSong sends a command to MidiFlow, which sends patch changes to everything else. (Beatmaker 3 is the only one I don’t send patch changes to, because I’m not sure it’s even a possibility.)

    Other than a single midi note hanging about two years ago, this setup has worked flawlessly for me on over 150 gigs.

    Edit: I use and iPad Air 2

  • @Fruitbat1919 said:

    @Ricardo said:

    @Fruitbat1919 said:
    One word of advice - don’t choose apps before actually trying them in the setup you intend to use.

    By this I mean, things change, some apps don’t run together well, updates funk things out. So, the only way to get a setup for live use is by following a few rules:

    1. Set up your iPad correctly I.e. make sure any not needed functions are turned off.
    2. Stick with an iOS / host / app set up that works and don’t change anything once it works.
    3. You will need a way to back it up that does not require redownloading any apps and or new iOS.
    4. Try your set before going live over and over again to see what works and what goes wrong. Remember some apps just don’t like each other at times.
    5. Try to avoid IAA if at all possible as they can leave instances in the background that require restarts.
    6. Don’t overcomplicate things as running too many apps is asking for trouble.

    I only say all this as you seem to be asking for help choosing apps prior to setting up the rig. I think the only way to do it well is buy an iPad and the learn which apps work together how you want by trial and error. Yeah, asking for advice is good, but what works used one way for one person may be a cluster feck of live nightmares for you.

    Thank you very much for your advice.

    You are preaching to the choir man, i currently work live with a PC and a myriad of vst's and it's work to get everything working together, even in vst world not everything goes well.
    The way you described with apps isn't far the way i work with vst. I do a lot of stress testing before stage and as soon a i get a stable build stress test again if everything works out updates are shutdown for everything including windows, which I must admit as been surprising me since version 7, very stable, i haven't had a single crash and I'm on my third tour with windows based setup.

    I was a long Time Mainstage user but I felt that apple “abandoned” their vision in creating hardware and software meant to be called PRO, these days, at least in the Macbook department it's overpriced outdated hardware money grab only. Honestly the only thing they care about these days are phones and tablets. At least I hope they don't screw up the iPad.

    Don't get me wrong, I love apple, i have bought and sold a lot of apple hardware but at this point i don't see myself investing a single cent in their iMac or Macbook pro lineup. I threw up in my mouth when I saw touch bar on the macbook pro with such dated hardware...

    Anyways, I got really off topic, sorry about that. The reason i ask for advice is to avoid wasting money on apps that don't work well and also not to buy an iPad model that can't run what I need.

    Thanks ;)

    Totally agree about Apple and their direction / cost of MacBook Pro. Hope the IPad Pros don’t end up the same. Personally I use an iPad Air2 and it does quite well. Was hoping to add another, but don’t like the price hike to get a Pro and hate the backwards direction of the cheaper model. Personally thinking of going back to hardware lol

    My last two Workstations were Kurzweill K2600s and Kronos 73, both of them with flightacase surpass 30Kg. None of them ( and they are amazing machines) give me the flexibility and sound quality of a Pc or Mac based Rig.

    Again I must say top of the line workstations like Montage, kronos, nord, kurz, etc...are amazing and if you find yourself in a situation where you can combine them with software rig then you are in heaven, but for the everyday musician they aren't the most cost/use efficient setup. I mean lugging these beasts around, insurance costs, backups...

    If a PC or iPad gives me the sound I need I will choose the simplest setup to clone if needed, and lately i have been really amazed at the sound quality of many apps out there, they already beat top of the line workstations in terms of quality, how long till tablets fully replace laptops and desktops, I think it's just a matter of time...

  • @john318 said:
    I’ve been exclusively using an iPad for live keys for over three years now. To be clear, I primarily play bass in this band, And began using the iPad and a controller just for synth bass sounds. As we are a trio, and the iPad as a platform seemed reliable, within a few weeks I started playing bass plus any other keys/synths needed in order cover certain songs.

    Everyone’s needs will be different. I use SampleTank, iM1, Magellan, Heavy Brass and Beatmaker 3 every night. At least two at once, often three. There were several others that I liked and trusted enough to use live, I just settled on these.

    I only use one 61 key controller onstage, bluetoothed to the iPad. In order to split the keyboard I use MidiFlow. Changing a preset in MidiFlow sends all the necessary changes to the other apps (apps must be able to response to midi bank changes for this). I also use OnSong for lyrics. When I’m playing keys on a song, OnSong sends a command to MidiFlow, which sends patch changes to everything else. (Beatmaker 3 is the only one I don’t send patch changes to, because I’m not sure it’s even a possibility.)

    Other than a single midi note hanging about two years ago, this setup has worked flawlessly for me on over 150 gigs.

    Edit: I use and iPad Air 2

    Thanks for the advice.

    Have you found yourself thinking of upgrading your iPad because of lacking CPU / RAM power???

  • @Ricardo said:

    @Fruitbat1919 said:

    @Ricardo said:

    @Fruitbat1919 said:
    One word of advice - don’t choose apps before actually trying them in the setup you intend to use.

    By this I mean, things change, some apps don’t run together well, updates funk things out. So, the only way to get a setup for live use is by following a few rules:

    1. Set up your iPad correctly I.e. make sure any not needed functions are turned off.
    2. Stick with an iOS / host / app set up that works and don’t change anything once it works.
    3. You will need a way to back it up that does not require redownloading any apps and or new iOS.
    4. Try your set before going live over and over again to see what works and what goes wrong. Remember some apps just don’t like each other at times.
    5. Try to avoid IAA if at all possible as they can leave instances in the background that require restarts.
    6. Don’t overcomplicate things as running too many apps is asking for trouble.

    I only say all this as you seem to be asking for help choosing apps prior to setting up the rig. I think the only way to do it well is buy an iPad and the learn which apps work together how you want by trial and error. Yeah, asking for advice is good, but what works used one way for one person may be a cluster feck of live nightmares for you.

    Thank you very much for your advice.

    You are preaching to the choir man, i currently work live with a PC and a myriad of vst's and it's work to get everything working together, even in vst world not everything goes well.
    The way you described with apps isn't far the way i work with vst. I do a lot of stress testing before stage and as soon a i get a stable build stress test again if everything works out updates are shutdown for everything including windows, which I must admit as been surprising me since version 7, very stable, i haven't had a single crash and I'm on my third tour with windows based setup.

    I was a long Time Mainstage user but I felt that apple “abandoned” their vision in creating hardware and software meant to be called PRO, these days, at least in the Macbook department it's overpriced outdated hardware money grab only. Honestly the only thing they care about these days are phones and tablets. At least I hope they don't screw up the iPad.

    Don't get me wrong, I love apple, i have bought and sold a lot of apple hardware but at this point i don't see myself investing a single cent in their iMac or Macbook pro lineup. I threw up in my mouth when I saw touch bar on the macbook pro with such dated hardware...

    Anyways, I got really off topic, sorry about that. The reason i ask for advice is to avoid wasting money on apps that don't work well and also not to buy an iPad model that can't run what I need.

    Thanks ;)

    Totally agree about Apple and their direction / cost of MacBook Pro. Hope the IPad Pros don’t end up the same. Personally I use an iPad Air2 and it does quite well. Was hoping to add another, but don’t like the price hike to get a Pro and hate the backwards direction of the cheaper model. Personally thinking of going back to hardware lol

    My last two Workstations were Kurzweill K2600s and Kronos 73, both of them with flightacase surpass 30Kg. None of them ( and they are amazing machines) give me the flexibility and sound quality of a Pc or Mac based Rig.

    Again I must say top of the line workstations like Montage, kronos, nord, kurz, etc...are amazing and if you find yourself in a situation where you can combine them with software rig then you are in heaven, but for the everyday musician they aren't the most cost/use efficient setup. I mean lugging these beasts around, insurance costs, backups...

    If a PC or iPad gives me the sound I need I will choose the simplest setup to clone if needed, and lately i have been really amazed at the sound quality of many apps out there, they already beat top of the line workstations in terms of quality, how long till tablets fully replace laptops and desktops, I think it's just a matter of time...

    That’s understandable. Even multiple iPads with backups are cheaper and more back friendly. As I’m basically jamming at home, so adding a weighty keyboard is probably the way to go. I really did plan on more iPads, just not sure I feel like throwing more money at Apple gear alone - feels too much like all eggs in one basket. I was looking into Mac Pros too but they really are taking the piss with their current prices in the UK.

  • iOS is also affected by Apple proless strategy. I’m more into dedicated hardware (live gigs) and dedicated recycled machines (old iDevices and laptops) with monofunction (for homestudio purposes).

    I don’t have a pro device but I will not spend any money on these due iOS11 bugs and performance.

  • @Ricardo said:
    Have you found yourself thinking of upgrading your iPad because of lacking CPU / RAM power???

    I’ve not felt my iPad Air 2 struggle in live use running what I listed above. But I am thinking of upgrading any way, mainly for more storage. I will def be getting an iPad Pro with 4gb RAM, but I haven’t missed having it so far.


  • Poor’s man arranger from old (pIV to core2duo) machines.
    Soon more details... :wink:

  • @john318 said:
    I’ve been exclusively using an iPad for live keys for over three years now. To be clear, I primarily play bass in this band, And began using the iPad and a controller just for synth bass sounds. As we are a trio, and the iPad as a platform seemed reliable, within a few weeks I started playing bass plus any other keys/synths needed in order cover certain songs.

    Everyone’s needs will be different. I use SampleTank, iM1, Magellan, Heavy Brass and Beatmaker 3 every night. At least two at once, often three. There were several others that I liked and trusted enough to use live, I just settled on these.

    I only use one 61 key controller onstage, bluetoothed to the iPad. In order to split the keyboard I use MidiFlow. Changing a preset in MidiFlow sends all the necessary changes to the other apps (apps must be able to response to midi bank changes for this). I also use OnSong for lyrics. When I’m playing keys on a song, OnSong sends a command to MidiFlow, which sends patch changes to everything else. (Beatmaker 3 is the only one I don’t send patch changes to, because I’m not sure it’s even a possibility.)

    Other than a single midi note hanging about two years ago, this setup has worked flawlessly for me on over 150 gigs.

    Edit: I use and iPad Air 2

    Your setup is quite similar to mine. Except I am not using Midiflow, just OnSong directly to the apps for program changes.

  • @MikeyP said:

    @john318 said:

    I only use one 61 key controller onstage, bluetoothed to the iPad. In order to split the keyboard I use MidiFlow. Changing a preset in MidiFlow sends all the necessary changes to the other apps (apps must be able to response to midi bank changes for this). I also use OnSong for lyrics. When I’m playing keys on a song, OnSong sends a command to MidiFlow, which sends patch changes to everything else. (Beatmaker 3 is the only one I don’t send patch changes to, because I’m not sure it’s even a possibility.)

    Other than a single midi note hanging about two years ago, this setup has worked flawlessly for me on over 150 gigs.

    Edit: I use and iPad Air 2

    Your setup is quite similar to mine. Except I am not using Midiflow, just OnSong directly to the apps for program changes.

    I can't get either of these setups to work! I've spent damn near $200 just trying to find an app combination that would work. I basically need to load a song in OnSong, have that open a preset in either Audiobus or AUM. I have MidiFlow and MidiFire and have tried setting up both to help in this endeavor. I just want to avoid having to open OnSong, BeatHawk, and an audio player manually and change songs manually in each app. I don't want that long of a delay between each song. It's no biggie at home, but live? No, sounds like a lot of time having other people looking at me and waiting for me to get ready.

    I need to have a sound (mainly from BeatHawk) for my keyboard to play, and a backing track (from AudioShare) ready to play, and a score or lead sheet (OnSong). I want to pick the next song in just one place, I really don't care where, and have the appropriate sound patch and backing track cue up and be ready to go. Everything I have read indicates this is possible, easy even, and yet I've spent all this money and about 100 hours and still can't get the basics in place.

    Both of you seem to have this set up. HOW???????? I'm getting kinda desparate here.

  • I used to try and use all different apps at practice and it was always a pain getting everything set up. Then I found Module. Huge variety of top notch sounds in one app with a set list feature. Easy.

  • edited March 2018

    Few things:

    1) I am not using anything in between the synths and OnSong. OnSong sends PC changes directly to my synth apps via their respective MIDI channels. BTW you have to do some research to find which apps even accept MIDI PC because only a sadly small proportion do. See here for more info

    This is my setup:

    Ch1: Kauldron
    Ch2: FM Player
    Ch3: iM1 1
    Ch4: iM1 2
    Ch5: Magellan 1
    Ch6: Magellan 2
    Ch7: Animoog
    Ch8: Poison-202
    Ch9: Sunrizer
    Ch10:
    Ch11: Galileo 1
    Ch12: Galileo 2
    Ch13: iMonoPoly
    Ch14: Odyssei
    Ch15: DM1

    2) You must have the upgrade in OnSong to send MIDI PC data. You go into the song edit mode and add a MIDI event. There is also a video

    3) I dont use backing tracks but you can trigger them directly from OnSong. https://onsongapp.com/videos/backing-tracks

    I think this is also an IAP though.

    Even if this is not a workable solution for you, setting up your rig to eliminate Beathawk, MIDIflow and others may be a good test to determine if that's where things are falling down.

    Hope this helps - ask me anything. I pretty much had to figure this all out on my own so I understand your frustration all too well.

    Disclaimer: I am a singer primarily so using OnSong as the main control point for all of this made a lot of sense.

  • @MikeyP said:
    Few things:

    1) I am not using anything in between the synths and OnSong. OnSong sends PC changes directly to my synth apps via their respective MIDI channels. BTW you have to do some research to find which apps even accept MIDI PC because only a sadly small proportion do. See here for more info

    I have tried sending from OnSong (and ForScore and BandHelper, all of which have this option) but it did not seem to work. Most of the problem lies in not knowing exactly what to send! Just knowing to narrow it down to PC (vs CC or notes) is actually a big help...

    This is my setup:

    Ch1: Kauldron
    Ch2: FM Player
    Ch3: iM1 1
    Ch4: iM1 2
    Ch5: Magellan 1
    Ch6: Magellan 2
    Ch7: Animoog
    Ch8: Poison-202
    Ch9: Sunrizer
    Ch10:
    Ch11: Galileo 1
    Ch12: Galileo 2
    Ch13: iMonoPoly
    Ch14: Odyssei
    Ch15: DM1

    I've been using just AUM or Audiobus, so theoretically I could send out only one PC. Unfortunately you can't address saved presets this way in either program, or so I have discovered. So this rather screwed up my plan. That's why I tried to reverse it and send FROM AUM or Audiobus.

    So -- sending directly to BeatHawk (or Galileo or any other program) would work. Takes longer to set up, but probably not as long as all the hours I've spent experimenting on this. sob

    2) You must have the upgrade in OnSong to send MIDI PC data. You go into the song edit mode and add a MIDI event. There is also a video

    This seems to be built in to OnSong now. Those options are showing up as 'installed' already.

    3) I dont use backing tracks but you can trigger them directly from OnSong. https://onsongapp.com/videos/backing-tracks

    I think this is also an IAP though.

    That part I've already figured out! It works well.

    Disclaimer: I am a singer primarily so using OnSong as the main control point for all of this made a lot of sense.

    I'm not the lead ssinger, but I'm working with one on a 2-person gig, the dinner club circuit sort of...Thank you so much for your help!

  • While I was typing that I got a response from OnSong support via email. As it turns out, while Ableton can control OnSong, and while you can set a CC in the 'Receive' area, it wasn't programmed in to actually do so. They say it's a bug and will be corrected in the next release, at which point you can open up to 128 different songs via CC.

    And if I end up with more than 128 songs in my repertoire I hope I can figure out how to add extra mappings in some MIDI utility LOL

  • That sounds very much like OnSong being something very interesting!
    Thanks

  • Out of curiosity, why Beathawk for sounds... I always thought of it as more of an arranger than something used as a pure sound source...

  • There are many sound sources out there - BeatHawk seemed to be a fairly economical one.

    Their support has verified a bug I have been experiencing with reverting to the ‘pad’ mode every time I reload a preset in AUM. Once that is fixed I should be happy!

  • Hello folks. Can anyone please give me some advice. Thank you in advance for reading this..

    Back in 2010 i created a complicated live set up using Abelton Live, APC40, FCB1010 and a midi keyboard.. It was mental. I did some shows with it, some big ones too,but I didnt enjoy the experience. It took away from the performance. I went straight back to guitar and voice.

    Recently however Im wanting to expand the show. I will be touring next year as a solo artist and want something a bit bigger

    I've just discovered the immense possibilities of the Ipad on stage. But its all a bit confusing at this early stage for me. If one of you kind people could advise me on how i can achieve the following via the Ipad, (If possible), i would greatly appreciate it. Thank you

    This is what i want to do on stage.

    1. At the start of each song, Trigger a pre recorded backing track.

    2. Whilst the BT is playing, access a drum machine app which i can loop a simple pattern to loop over the backing track.

    3. Access keyboard sounds to play keys over both the backing track and the looped beat.

    4. finally, ideally i would like to have access via a floor pedal to mute and un mute the beat.

    I play acoustic guitar on stage, so a midi foot pedal looks like an option.

    My questions are pretty simple at this stage as Im not great with tech stuff.

    1 Is there an app that has great beats and easy to loop on the fly? I need things to work on the fly real quick as the performance is always the most important. I dont want to spend too much time looking down at equipment.

    1. Can i then go out of that app, and into a keyboard app if i need keys? and have both playing at the same time?

    2. Can the keyboard app play a backing track ? Everything has to be built around and start with the backing track. Whats the best way to trigger and build on a backing track? Perhaps have the BT and keys sounds in one app and the beats looped in another app that I go into once ive started the BT ? If so what apps would you recommend to do this on the fly?

    3. Can I map a footpedal to mute and unmute the beats for dynamics?

    4. Can i attach both a midi keyboard and a footpedal to an ipad at the same time ?

    Sorry that these questions are quite simple at this stage, but im new to this. Thanks a million to anyone that suggests any tips to me. If you could explain it real simple I would appreciate it. Thank you.

  • @JackRubinacci Others have used it more than me, but definitely take a look at the Novation apps, Blocs Wave and Launchpad.

    If you aren’t mixing the drum machine as part of your act, I would just bounce the drum machine beat down, and launch it as a second clip in Blocs or Launchpad. One less point of failure for keeping things synchronized and having to mix the audio together.

    With iOS, the more complex the setup, the less likely it is to work reliably. The smallest number of moving parts the better. Despite the heroic efforts of developers, It is an elaborate cell phone OS, after all- music and audio are not the driving force in its development.

  • @Ricardo said:
    Hi Guys, i'm looking to buy an ipad at the end of this month mostly to replace my Keyboard rig at reversals although i would admit going full ipad in future if the quality of sound and stability get there.

    Can you please advise on model purchase (most economic solution)

    Here is what i need to use:

    Piano-Ravenscroft 275
    B3-Galileio
    Synth- A good all arround synth for pads and leads (havent decided on one yet)
    Electric Guitar- A good elecric Guitar + FX for Rythm guitar and lead for metal/djent (havent decided on one yet)
    Acoustic Guitar-Real Guitar
    Steel Guitar- Steel Guitar
    All Arround Instrument- Sampletank & Korg M1

    It would be important that the ipad model had the performance capacity to have all this instruments loaded at all times for fast preset change.

    Can you also advise on apps options.

    Thank you all in advance for any help.

    Cheers.

    Ricardo Silva

    Ricardo.

    I would just get the 12 inch pro w pencil with 100+ gigs'

    For processing and storage you will eventually need it.............my opinion.

    They are't cheap but worth it in long run.

  • @JackRubinacci said:
    My questions are pretty simple at this stage as Im not great with tech stuff.
    1 Is there an app that has great beats and easy to loop on the fly?
    2. Can i then go out of that app, and into a keyboard app if i need keys? and have both playing at the same time?
    3. Can the keyboard app play a backing track ?
    4. Can I map a footpedal to mute and unmute the beats for dynamics?
    5. Can i attach both a midi keyboard and a footpedal to an ipad at the same time ?

    The good news is that the answer is YES to all of your basic questions. Overall you will probably want multiple apps operating at the same time, each one doing what it does best. The bad news is that it can take some time to find the right apps to do exactly what you want in a workflow that fits your needs.

    Just make sure you find apps that have:

    • Ableton Link - the new standard protocol for keeping apps in sync and start/stop together
    • adequate MIDI control; including PC for patch changes if that is important to you. Many apps say they have "MIDI control" but don't implement PC changes.

    Then you'll want to find the right way to control everything. You can connect as many MIDI controllers to iOS as your USB hub will allow. It will need to be a powered USB hub most likely.

  • @Processaurus said:
    but definitely take a look at the Novation apps, Blocs Wave and Launchpad.

    I've kept away from these Novation apps because originally they didn't allow MIDI learn and MIDI control, unless you have Novation controllers that are pre-mapped. Is that still the case or have Novation opened up MIDI control for their apps?

  • @Hmtx said:

    @JackRubinacci said:
    My questions are pretty simple at this stage as Im not great with tech stuff.
    1 Is there an app that has great beats and easy to loop on the fly?
    2. Can i then go out of that app, and into a keyboard app if i need keys? and have both playing at the same time?
    3. Can the keyboard app play a backing track ?
    4. Can I map a footpedal to mute and unmute the beats for dynamics?
    5. Can i attach both a midi keyboard and a footpedal to an ipad at the same time ?

    The good news is that the answer is YES to all of your basic questions. Overall you will probably want multiple apps operating at the same time, each one doing what it does best. The bad news is that it can take some time to find the right apps to do exactly what you want in a workflow that fits your needs.

    Just make sure you find apps that have:

    • Ableton Link - the new standard protocol for keeping apps in sync and start/stop together
    • adequate MIDI control; including PC for patch changes if that is important to you. Many apps say they have "MIDI control" but don't implement PC changes.

    Then you'll want to find the right way to control everything. You can connect as many MIDI controllers to iOS as your USB hub will allow. It will need to be a powered USB hub most likely.

    Thank you so much for the reply. I really appreciate it

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