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.

Ondes (Olympia Noise Co.) got an update-now 'Ribbons'

Why? I don't know. Seems the only technical update is for Audiobus. The rest is the color scheme, icon, and the name. It's a quality app though, if much more niche than Patterning.

Ribbons : Expressive Electronic Instrument by Olympia Noise Co.
https://appsto.re/us/PW0H1.i

Comments

  • Yeah I saw that on FB , they said "After several years of no one being able to pronounce the name of Ondes, our expressive synthesizer app (d'ailleurs, les Français, bien sur), we've decided to change the name!

    "Ondes" is now "Ribbons."

    https://www.olympianoiseco.com/blog/ondes-is-now-ribbons/

  • edited May 2017

    Actually I was searching an app able to recreate a didgeridoo and this app is a good choice : the circular saw ( modulated with the cutoff or depth) preset is fantastic :) .Even if a didgeridoo is more complex .thanks for the update .

  • Hooray! This was one of my favourite apps but it had a few too many "quirks." Like refusing to work with AB2 exactly half the time on iOS 10

  • edited May 2017

    Bought this ages ago, after seeing Doug demo it. Not really used it much since, due to quirks and the ever present allure of newer toys. BTW, I don't get the new name. Ribbons sounds more like some fashion app.

  • Ribbon Controllers have been hip on synths ever since they were invented ;)
    The sounds of Hitchcock's Birds were entirely played on such things, part of the Trautonium instrument...
    http://www.doepfer.de/traut/traut_e.htm

  • I always liked the old name. Never used it much due to poof crashes. Maybe time to give it another shot.

  • MPE mode with model 15 is utterly sublime!

  • Aside from the built-in synth in Ribbons... as a controller does it offer anything unique over using Thumbjam or TC-Data? Or, is the synth portion and control the main attraction here?

  • edited May 2017

    Just watched another, older demo video of this. Looks like more closely akin to Shoom with it's control, oscillators, filters, etc. Only, unlike Shoom it can control external synths as well.

    When used as a midi controller for external synths, does the oscillator, filter, effects, etc. apply to the external synth, or exclusively the internal synth? Looks like LFOs can be externally mapped, but I'm guessing everything else other than pitch bend is strictly for the internal sound engine.

    Looks like the overall combination may be unique. Thinking of picking this one up. There were complaints of crashing in previous versions. Can anyone confirm if this latest update is rock-solid stable now?

  • @skiphunt

    Wondering the same and it seems that the midi out part only supports an on/off switch for volume and the modwheel.

  • edited May 2017

    Hey, to answer my own pre-purchase questions for others who may be still considering (now that I've purchased it)

    There were early on reports of crashing, but I have had no problems at all with this new build. It's very stable and never even the slightest hiccup.

    I wondered if the filters, oscillator, etc. have any effect on external synths controlled via midi. I haven't figured out what exactly is the deciding factor, but some external synths are indeed effected by the various controls in Ribbons. I tried a couple synths (can't remember which ones for certain) but they were only effected by pitch and note position. None of the other controls seemed to do anything to those. However, some synths DID have effect from the various delays, oscillator, filters, amp, LFOs, etc. I just tried the beta synth Mood, and ALL of Ribbon's extra filters, etc. effected it's sound. Pretty sweet combo actually. UPDATE: I was wrong... the filters, LFO's, etc. only effect the internal synth, NOT the external ones connected via midi. I thought it did, but it was because I didn't have the internal sound's volume all the way down.

    Only one minor complaint is that it doesn't have a background audio switch. I'd use the switch after I get a nice drone going, as it controls a synth like Mood, then I want to switch over to Mood to mess with it's parameters.

    You can get around this of course by simply loading Ribbons in AUM or AB, etc. but it'd be nice if I didn't have to do that.

    I just checked and as of this writing, it's still on sale. Glad I bought it. :)

  • @skiphunt The app's description of midi capabilities in the App Store sounds suspiciously like MPE support. Have you tried turning on MPE input in Animoog's Midi settings and seeing if Ribbons can control its polyphonic pitchbend etc.? I'd be into getting it if it would allow a longer "throw" with the onscreen keys compared to Animoog.

  • @aaronpc said:
    @skiphunt The app's description of midi capabilities in the App Store sounds suspiciously like MPE support. Have you tried turning on MPE input in Animoog's Midi settings and seeing if Ribbons can control its polyphonic pitchbend etc.? I'd be into getting it if it would allow a longer "throw" with the onscreen keys compared to Animoog.

    I haven't tried that yet. I don't completely understand MPE to be honest. I tried using Geoshred with Model 15. I used the MPE setting in Geoshred, selected MPE and a 24 setting for pitchbend.. honestly, I couldn't really tell that much difference from single channel. Must've had something set wrong. Will try later with Ribbons and Animoog. I'll let you know unless someone else beats be to it. :)

  • @aaronpc said:
    @skiphunt The app's description of midi capabilities in the App Store sounds suspiciously like MPE support. Have you tried turning on MPE input in Animoog's Midi settings and seeing if Ribbons can control its polyphonic pitchbend etc.? I'd be into getting it if it would allow a longer "throw" with the onscreen keys compared to Animoog.

    I tried Animoog with MPE set and a range of 24 and 96. I really couldn't hear much difference in the control than with single channel. So, I tried GeoShred with MPE set and MPE set in Animoog. Still, I couldn't hear much difference between MPE and single channel play. Maybe it's because I don't know what to look for, but maybe someone else could chime in. Or, you or someone else can tell me what to look for to verify if MPE is working or not. I went back and forth a dozen times and didn't hear much difference with MPE using Ribbons OR GeoShred.

  • edited May 2017

    It's not MPE, specifically, each played note needs its own Midi channel, up to 10 I believe. I use the network session for multiple channels, since each Session has 16 channels.

  • @Ocsprey said:
    It's not MPE, specifically, each played note needs its own Midi channel, up to 10 I believe. I use the network session for multiple channels, since each Session has 16 channels.

    Would you mind describing exactly how I'd set up GeoShred to control Animoog via MPE and what it should sound like so that I'd know for sure I had it working? I've followed all of the instructions I can find and demo videos, so I'm fairly certain I have everything configured correctly, but I'm not hearing anything that sounds much different from single channel.

  • @skiphunt said:

    @Ocsprey said:
    It's not MPE, specifically, each played note needs its own Midi channel, up to 10 I believe. I use the network session for multiple channels, since each Session has 16 channels.

    Would you mind describing exactly how I'd set up GeoShred to control Animoog via MPE and what it should sound like so that I'd know for sure I had it working? I've followed all of the instructions I can find and demo videos, so I'm fairly certain I have everything configured correctly, but I'm not hearing anything that sounds much different from single channel.

    Have to hope someone else chimes in, sadly I've not GeoShred or Animoog!

  • MPE is a lot of things, but the main thing is that each note can have separate and distinct pitch bend, and/or modulation. You know how the blades work in Animoog— slide your fingers up and each note does it's own thing? Like that. It can be much more expressive than having all notes affected by a single pitch and modulation wheel.

  • @aaronpc said:
    MPE is a lot of things, but the main thing is that each note can have separate and distinct pitch bend, and/or modulation. You know how the blades work in Animoog— slide your fingers up and each note does it's own thing? Like that. It can be much more expressive than having all notes affected by a single pitch and modulation wheel.

    Ribbons is very expressive with Animoog fo' shizzle, but I can't tell if it's any more expressive with MPE settings. Sounds very close to the same to me. It might sound slightly different with MPE set in Animoog, but if it does it's so subtle that I couldn't tell if it was my imagination or not.

    Ribbons is fairly expressive. I like it. But, I'm not one of those people who thinks that just because I like it, everyone else has to as well. LOL ;) It's just when I like something, I kinda feel obligated to share the info. Often, when I discover something I like, I'm tempted to keep it to myself... but at the same time, I'd like the dev to also get rewarded for fine work. This one is one I'd almost like to keep to myself.

  • Funny quip, when I was testing this I didn't know Ondes existed, and thought it was brand new, didn't know until the announcement of the name change, doh!

  • I have a feature request for this fantastic app.

    I would really love to see MIDI for the synth parameters, either with set CCs to note or custom mappable.

    Just because whilst I like the presets, i would feel more encouraged to edit them or make my own sounds if i could map these functions to an Expressive E Touché to play alongside the touchscreen for notes, glide and velocity. It really open up the power.

    Sure I could just use Ribbon as a MIDI out for another synth but I really like the synth engine.

  • Can Ribbons receive any midi, even if just notes? I like the synt engine but it seems there”s no way to send it even notes. In modstep it doesn’t show up as destination. On one demo I watched it was clearly automated. I”m new to iOS so maybe I’m missing something basic!

  • @ElectroHead said:
    Can Ribbons receive any midi, even if just notes? I like the synt engine but it seems there”s no way to send it even notes. In modstep it doesn’t show up as destination. On one demo I watched it was clearly automated. I”m new to iOS so maybe I’m missing something basic!

    I don’t think so. None of the Olympia apps have MIDI in as far as I recall.

  • @oat_phipps said:

    @ElectroHead said:
    Can Ribbons receive any midi, even if just notes? I like the synt engine but it seems there”s no way to send it even notes. In modstep it doesn’t show up as destination. On one demo I watched it was clearly automated. I”m new to iOS so maybe I’m missing something basic!

    I don’t think so. None of the Olympia apps have MIDI in as far as I recall.

    Damn! Not even slaving tempo on Patterning???

  • edited February 2018

    @ElectroHead said:

    @oat_phipps said:

    @ElectroHead said:
    Can Ribbons receive any midi, even if just notes? I like the synt engine but it seems there”s no way to send it even notes. In modstep it doesn’t show up as destination. On one demo I watched it was clearly automated. I”m new to iOS so maybe I’m missing something basic!

    I don’t think so. None of the Olympia apps have MIDI in as far as I recall.

    Damn! Not even slaving tempo on Patterning???

    It does via AUM so I imagine it might with other devices but haven’t checked. I’ve just wanted to drive it with MIDI before since it is my sample repository.

    Buy it either way it’s a top 3 music app.

  • @ElectroHead said:

    @oat_phipps said:

    @ElectroHead said:
    Can Ribbons receive any midi, even if just notes? I like the synt engine but it seems there”s no way to send it even notes. In modstep it doesn’t show up as destination. On one demo I watched it was clearly automated. I”m new to iOS so maybe I’m missing something basic!

    I don’t think so. None of the Olympia apps have MIDI in as far as I recall.

    Damn! Not even slaving tempo on Patterning???

    No, most parameters on Patterning can receive ccs , but I haven”t tried to slave sequencer or start stop yet.

  • @oat_phipps said:

    @ElectroHead said:

    @oat_phipps said:

    @ElectroHead said:
    Can Ribbons receive any midi, even if just notes? I like the synt engine but it seems there”s no way to send it even notes. In modstep it doesn’t show up as destination. On one demo I watched it was clearly automated. I”m new to iOS so maybe I’m missing something basic!

    I don’t think so. None of the Olympia apps have MIDI in as far as I recall.

    Damn! Not even slaving tempo on Patterning???

    It does via AUM so I imagine it might with other devices but haven’t checked. I’ve just wanted to drive it with MIDI before since it is my sample repository.

    Buy it either way it’s a top 3 music app.

    Thanks for the replies. I’ve already got Patterning and love it! The most fun drum sequencer I’ve worked with and I’ve tried / have.quite a few.

    What I want to do is slave Modstep to Octatrack, have Modstep sequence two external synths, and have Patterning transport and tempo, and preferably some ccs slaved to Octatrack. That’s for midi.

    On the audio side, 6 audio outs to iConnectivity2 into a mixing desk or sound card on main DAW..4 channels from Patterning and two from other iOS synths. Before trying this, I’m getting familiar with Modstep, Patterning, Cassini and Ribbons and flux fx , (considering others). Anyway, I bought Audiobus thinking that will deliver for audio routing, but maybe AUM is more suitable.

    Anyfurther tips would be much appreciated!

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