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 StoreAudiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.
BM2
This may seem like a crazy question ... but when I bought BM3 i completely passed by BM2 for discovery. Is it still relevant? I read in another thread that it is still a very worth app?
What vital functionality is lacking betwixt the two? Just considering the options and thinking ...
Your opinions are always vital.
Comments
BM2 is currently the only full DAW on iOS that can slave to MIDI sync as far as I know.
Inter App audio? Looks like no way to use external (ios) synths, unless I'm misreading the write-up?
Audiobus compatible? Gotta be ...
And is Universal!
Gotta admit I got more from BM2 than from BM3 within the proportional timeframe I owned both
Hmmm that makes me think.
@mAxjUlien
"but for those who have a hard time with BM3 and like Nanostudio you have BM2."
Can you expand on this, because it piqued my interest as I'm a new convert to NanoStudio. Big time.
Ah ok, got it. I would/will have a hard time letting go of all that potential (BM3) but will have an easy time embracing all that workflow (BM2). Thanks again!
It suprises me that BM2 was one of the first apps that I got but it just never clicked with me. I think maybe I just got distracted and didnt stick with it long enough or I had uninstalled it and was unaware of important updates. Feels like I missed out and would have got along with it.
BM3 though was an instant love. It just takes a bit of practice to get over the hump of the screen diving. Getting to places may take two or three (or four!) taps but once your brain does these steps with one batched thought and your muscle memory just kicks in it is fantastic and more than any other iOS app I have used is well worth the initial investment.
If you've ever wanted to create a sampler instrument with NS1's EDEN synth, you'll be delighted using BM2's sampler which is almost as powerful as Virsyn AudioLayer.
EDEN: 1 sample per program
BM2: almost any amount of samples can be mapped to key ranges and velocity ranges.
You can also just use its sampler as a synth: Poly/Legato/Portamento, separate volume and filter envelopes, LPF+HPF with resonance and key follow, Two syncable or free-running LFOs routable to volume/pitch/cutoff/resonance, an almost unlimited amount of layers and zones...
The MPC-style sampler is also more powerful than TRG-16: 8 banks of 16 pads inside one instance, supports slicing beats to both pad samples and pattern data, has LP and HP filters and coae/fine tuning too, ADSR for each pad, mute groups, various live playing modes, live quantisation of hitting pads always in-beat etc etc.
And yes, slave-sync to MIDI clock.
hehe Just when I make my mind up. hehehehehehe Good problem to have I guess.
Truth be told here ... i'm unsure if i'll need all the sampling capabilities in BM3. I'm more of a synth guy, well want to be more of a synth guy. Not really into, at least at this point, creating a sampling lib (hence my no interest in the new Virsyn app) and more interested in using and tweaking synths and available sounds to build my silly music.
But, if I find I do go that way, i've already purchased BM3 (there she sits ...) so I can reload and come back to it.
The other side of this ... one more thought ... is that BM2 will likely be unsupported at some point? Probably at some point Matt will need to close it down due to dev time available. New OS comes out and I'd be dead in the water, so to speak. May already be, dunno.
btw - you've really been a help here @mAxjUlien
I use about 1% of the sampling capabilities and 1+ year into Bm3 have only copied a few commercial sample libs for drum and ethnic sounds. I am also not into creating a sample library and for the most part I use the sampler to edit large realtime jams or process synth bits from AUs. If the sampler did not allow me to load in and edit "samples" of 0-60min in length I would have far less interest in BM3.
Interesting approach. I guess I've seen you doing this in a vid and now that makes more sense. Thanks.
Ok, sorry to be so dense, but is BM2 audiobus/AUM compatible? In other words, would I be able to load in any of my precious ios synths?
For me BM2 was far better than BM3. It was very simple to add instruments (in separate tracks), better midi editor , cleaner layout etc but it lacks IAA effect support.
You can load IAA instruments but can't route external effects . The build-in effects are very weak (but very light also!)
Also BM2 was AB friendly . Could route audio and use BM2 as a multitrack recorder. BM3 doesn't load on AB3.
@Korakios - all very encouraging with the exception of external effects. Not a deal breaker but poo!
I think I have made up my mind. Thanks to you all for contributing to this discussion.
Both it is then!
Well ,none I'd say.
BM2 only if you are on an old ipad 2/3
BM3 better wait for 3.1 update.
But it's just a subjective suggestion
Tru dat. What is it about 3.1 for you?
Yeah, I'm using an old iPad 2 (sometimes). No go on the newer iPads?
So now, the inevitable question - what IAPs do you all recommend? Here we go ........
I have not bought any IAP. If I were just on iPad I would probably get a sounds.com subscription.
Hey. No one told there's a BeatMaker (original) for $4.
Maybe the correct path for a newbie is Original, 2 then 3:
Like Elementary, Middle and then High School.
I could have learning BeatMaking from the "basics" and avoiding the "nuclear physics" (pronounced "New-Ka-Ler Fizzies" while in the Elementary levels).
You senior students are supposed to help the newbies out.
Original BeatMaker only up to iOS 10, it's not 64 Bit