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.

I’m curious, why is GarageBand rarely used by iOS musicians?

I’ve been playing around with it, and it has a lot of features in one spot that would a handful of other apps to replicate. The only thing I find missing, and it’s a big thing, is Ableton Link.

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Comments

  • My personal experience:

    • No way to edit automation
    • Extremely slow editing workflow, mainly due to the frustrating animations
    • Very limited set of editing tools in the pianoroll editor
    • No send effects
    • No insert effects in the master channel
    • No master channel :D
    • No song loop
    • No scales support in the pianoroll editor
    • Very limited and slow arrangement workflow
    • ...
  • What's your data source that iOS musicians rarely use GarageBand?

  • I concur that GarageBand is excellent. Needs automation for my music making needs, so there’s that but more a GarageBand time is certainly on my bucket list. One thing I don’t like about GarageBand is exiting the app to render or save a song. I need a few versions of a song and the saving process in GarageBand kind of freaks me out.

  • @lukesleepwalker said:
    What's your data source that iOS musicians rarely use GarageBand?

    I rarely see it mentioned or discussed in this forum in anybody’s workflows

  • The included instruments and functionality are not too bad actually, even the piano roll is better than some other ones, but it's rather the workflow (not my thing) and the missing synchronisation options that made me delete it.

  • edited September 2018

    I use it a lot and have finished several songs using it. In fact I really like it.

    But I never use it only for its inbuilt instruments. They’re good but don’t sounds the way I’m searching for. So I use mostly AU instruments and effects inside GB. I also use IAA mainly for apeMatrix and AUM which allow to use Rozeta stuff.

    I think GB needs to be thinked like a tool, like all other apps. If you see its GUI, animations, choice of colors, it has a toyish feel, and seems to be song creation oriented. But it’s a real DAW with lot of hidden features, and a lot can be done with it. Exactly like with Blocswave.

    Some features misses but there are sometimes some workarounds with AB, IAA or various AU/apps: AB/apeMatrix for using midi AU plugins, Midi link sync for using Link, RouteMIDI AU for midi out.

    It has some bugs here and there, is not fixed often by Apple devs, but has became pretty stable and mature considering AU rendering. A real DAW experience IMO with nice touchscreen implementation. Can’t be beat on iPhone IMO.

    Some tracks I made those last months using GarageBand on iPhone with various AU and IAA apps, they don’t sounds « GB » I think:

  • I use it for my band recordings and does the job even with more of the drawbacks described (being some of them just think different workflow impossed by Apple.

    The thing is I’m considering buy an old mac (2011) just to import projects into logic, recover Mainstage (I miss you darling) and get Ableton/Traktor for the same shot. Obviuosly I considering this option due I found a bargain (and I hope I’m doing the right movement before next week releases...) but not an easy step if you ask me.

    Said that, most of the job could be done with regular windows machine too but what I have clear is there are still dots in the workflow making impossible to substitute the regular pc computer with just an iPad (well you can hire other person studio to do them) and believe I’ve tried but computers or standalone hardware becames unavoidable.

  • I agree with everything @SevenSystems says, but I use GarageBand for all my recording, and love it. The only other recording app I use as much is AUM, but those tracks end up in GB for editing.

    It’s not perfect, but it’s way more powerful than it seems. Cubasis seems to be largely abandonware, and Auria’s interface would look fiddly and outdated on Windows XP, let alone on iOS.

  • @SevenSystems said:
    My personal experience:

    • No way to edit automation
    • Extremely slow editing workflow, mainly due to the frustrating animations
    • Very limited set of editing tools in the pianoroll editor
    • No send effects
    • No insert effects in the master channel
    • No master channel :D
    • No song loop
    • No scales support in the pianoroll editor
    • Very limited and slow arrangement workflow
    • ...

    You basically mentioned most of my "blockers" and it's a pity because GB was my first choice for music production on iOS. I really love it's "sound" - the internal effects, the presets and instruments,... all of it plays well together (and I'm not making some cheesy pop-rock-jazz elevator music, rather the opposite: harsh electronic music genres like jungle, hardcore, breakcore,...)
    Also I am pretty triggered by the "tap selected note/pattern once again to open a menu". I don't like this gesture on the text, in apps where you use it even more often I really hate it.
    Also I should mention that moving between the various screens is really confusing, I never get used to it. I always forgot which icon in the top menu means what, as they're constantly changing. Combined with the slow animated transitions when I click on the wrong one, it's incredibly annoying.

    It's really a missed opportunity for things that can be easily improved. I would even use it much more if it could be used as an IAA source, or at least has a quick export of stems, because the instruments and ease of their use is really a favorite source of music ideas for me.

  • No midi ,no fun ...

  • edited September 2018

    I think GarageBand is amazing, and I write most of my songs with it. The virtual instruments are excellent, and you can flesh out a composition really easily with a combination of the built-in instruments and AU instruments.

    Personal highlights:

    • Alchemy synth
    • Touchscreen Bass guitar: I find it really easy to write nice bass lines with this thing
    • The Electric Piano is awesome, as is the Chords mode which even plays inversions
    • The Drummers, OMG amazing

    The only thing I really don't like is that you can't export stems, so I have to mute tracks and export them one-by-one using the Export Song function, that's tedious and time-consuming. But for actually writing songs GB is the best app on any platform IMO, it's really really good.

  • Love it!
    But hate the lack of stem export (as mentioned before) and the lackluster midi handling.
    Like... I can write a line using the Touch Guitar, but can't even drag the midi notes from it to the keyboard. :angry:
    No need to specify that it can't even import or export midi tracks :disappointed:

    Still use it anyways to sketch the bed for some compositions, or even to write down the strings part of some songs

  • edited September 2018

    I use it or don't use it for the same reasons described above.

    I've also noticed that a relatively high proportion of 'non iOS musicians' use it for a wide variety of 'casual' or utility purposes.

    For example in a group I played with as a session man last year, every member of the band (and it was a trad/country group with personalities to match!) pulled out an iPad with garageband to record each track we jammed out in the rehearsal room.

    Another group I played with, the two main songwriters would send us out sketches ahead of rehearsal that they'd recorded and lightly fleshed out in garageband.

    All guys with very little interest in electronic music or music production in general, but it filled a utility role in their own interaction with music.

  • Without stem export, it’s basics are ehem.......too basic for myself.

    Some love it though and I can see why it appeals in some ways. Judging by GarageBand on the Mac though, I think it’s a pity so many features are missing.

  • @jayfehr said:

    @lukesleepwalker said:
    What's your data source that iOS musicians rarely use GarageBand?

    I rarely see it mentioned or discussed in this forum in anybody’s workflows

    Ah gotcha. I think it's like water. May not be the sexiest drink on the menu but everyone drinks it and washes their hands with it and..

  • In in the same camp. I like it for what it does, and when I need to do something it can't do I just use something else.

    I think the most appealing thing about it is that the projects are totally self contained (minus whatever AUv3 you need) and the file integration is TIGHT (which I'd expect, it being an Apple product and all). Plus I'm not too worried about the app breaking when Apple updates to the next iteration of iOS.

    It's come a long long way. It's really not terrible if you don't need to export stems, don't need to import midi or send midi. You can automate different knobs on the synths, you just can't edit it after the fact which is kind of a downer.

  • edited September 2018

    There's an AU that will let you export/route MIDI from GB, doesn't support MPE though:

    http://www.appouttime.com/

  • edited September 2018

    About stems, here is the tip: just merge each track individually, much faster than export each one of them. Then use Files to copy GB project in AudioShare: all merged audio files will be available as aiff. You can also use AudioShare to zip the project and use its WiFi sharing to import stems on desktop. You can also uses directly airdrop from Files.

  • GarageBand is VERY widely used by people making music with iOS. I get the impression that sometimes people confuse "people that participate in the Audiobus forum" with "people that make music on iOS devices".

    I would dare say that GarageBand is the most-used music-making app on iOS.

    Those of us that hang out here are an unrepresentative pocket of people. We are drawn here because we are the ones that are looking for tools not satisfied by the GarageBand experience--which is a very rich one for people getting started making their own music.

  • @mistercharlie said:
    I agree with everything @SevenSystems says, but I use GarageBand for all my recording, and love it. The only other recording app I use as much is AUM, but those tracks end up in GB for editing.

    It’s not perfect, but it’s way more powerful than it seems. Cubasis seems to be largely abandonware, and Auria’s interface would look fiddly and outdated on Windows XP, let alone on iOS.

    ....??? "Cubasis seems to be largely abandonware..." ???!!?! Cubasis has been getting regular updates since it came out, and I'm sure will continue to get updates ... so not sure why you state that.

  • It’s got electrolytes.

  • @janosax Has all the pro tips for GB, straight up :) that is a stellar tip

  • GarageBand may be disfavored here, in this very small subset of iOS Music superfans, but it's clearly the most widely used DAW across ALL iOS users, or least I think it has to be. I think a lot of the dislike of it as a "hardcore" DAW comes from legacy reasons that no longer apply. So, people remembered from 2013 that had ____ issue with AudioBus, or it didn't support certain MIDI features or AU as fast as some of the other ones did.

    But it has been updated over the years and one thing I like about it is that because it's not afraid to appear casual, it has some great features (the AI drummer comes to mind) that are useful to more advanced musicians who nonetheless may be less advanced in certain aspects of putting a song together.

    The primary reason I went away from it is that it's not my favorite U.I. for audio track recording, and I didn't like the guitar amps and effects offered within the program, so I became conditioned to look elsewhere for that. But it does quite a lot for a program that most of us have sunk somewhere between $0 to $5 over our entire time on iOS.

  • edited September 2018

    @icsleepers said:
    @janosax Has all the pro tips for GB, straight up :) that is a stellar tip

    Thanks ;)

    About low animations, GB becomes sluggish when 1 there are too much processing 2 iDevice becomes hot. This is why I merge everything as audio while I create my tracks when things starts to get slow. I also use a fan cooler for my iPhone at times (lol). Even in apeMatrix while using lot of AU GUI openings become slower. It’s a good practice IMO to always render as audio on iOS all along a track creation. Even on Ableton I freeze things very often even if my laptop has a powerful i5. It’s more visible with GB, it’s true that it could be really nice if they could improve that. Concerning workflow, once you learned the GUI and all shortcuts I find GB surprisingly fast to work with, and assuming you merge tracks from time to time. Also I find positive that options are hidden, a good alternative IMO to having lot of buttons everywhere, kind of « AUMness » here, helps focusing on what you hear and not what you see.

  • Things that frustrate me in GB.
    -having to record into its piano roll, I'd much rather record what I'm playing thru AUM or Ab3 into loopy, cubasis, bm3 etc. I don't like the workflow inside.

    -switching between screens, it's just weird.

    -parameter controls are limited, for example I love the guitar instrument but you can't adjust the attack or how you play the strings, muted, soft, ... It always just hits the string like you're using a metal pick lol.

    -master channel??

    Things I like...

    -free
    -alchemy
    -universal Song sync
    -that performance fx screen
    -all the synths it comes with

  • I use GB extensively, there’s just rarely anything to discuss about it here :smile: I come here to learn about AU

  • edited September 2018

    @reasOne said:
    Things that frustrate me in GB.
    -having to record into its piano roll, I'd much rather record what I'm playing thru AUM or Ab3 into loopy, cubasis, bm3 etc. I don't like the workflow inside.

    -switching between screens, it's just weird.

    -parameter controls are limited, for example I love the guitar instrument but you can't adjust the attack or how you play the strings, muted, soft, ... It always just hits the string like you're using a metal pick lol.

    -master channel??

    Things I like...

    -free
    -alchemy
    -universal Song sync
    -that performance fx screen
    -all the synths it comes with

    Quick tip when you use guitar in chord mode: put your left thumb in the red squared zone in the screenshot and you will have mute sounds!!! Unfortunately doesn’t work in others modes. Similar feature on fretted ethnic instruments.

  • People are smarter than you think.
    :D

  • Great tip @Janosax
    Thks ya 😁

  • @Janosax and @richardyot
    Thanks for that feedback and tips :open_mouth:

    BTW, another one regarding touch instruments. If you're using it with the Autoplay function, if you touch the bar with 1, 2 or 3 fingers makes a difference on the riff :smile:

    And if you're using strings, try playing it slow, with a fast stab and just tapping for different dynamics :smiley:

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