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.

New App - PolyPhase - Beta is open - not mine but seems very cool -

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Comments

  • edited November 2018

    Too many people to quote, so:

    • Hold a snapshot to SAVE, tap to LOAD, double tap to DELETE B)

    • Snapshots aren't saved at the moment, but I will have them be saved if you save ALL TRACKS, good idea!

    • Not sure about more timing sub-divisions, I'll have to see how to calculate dotted notes from MIDI Clock. Having triplets there already makes things sound a little too crazy. When you randomize rate, triplets are chosen at a lower probability than standard rates, however. I wanted things to sound almost always musical, as opposed to giving into our OCD and penchant for specifying the tiny details :smile:

    • Adjustment to all parameters is axis-independent...aka, moving UP is the same as moving RIGHT. Having parameters increment by larger values is a good idea, but I'm not sure what the best way to handle that is. I use 2-Finger swipes on the BPM to address smaller increments, but the Track Properties are too small for 2-Finger gestures at the moment. I will look at how other devs handle this issue (like the Thor suggestion).

    - Remember: any Track properties can be reset by double-tapping and randomized (intelligently) by triple-tapping

    - Known issue: If you have one long note that extends the entire range, the synth won't trigger again properly at the start of the Sequence (it's receives a X_note_off and X_note_on at the same time, which Audio Kit doesn't like). I spent all night trying to address this, and hopefully it's fixed.

    - Known issue: If tracks share the same MIDI Channel, there could be a case where one Track sends X_NOTE_ON, but another one sends X_NOTE_OFF at the same tick, causing the note to be stopped short...I need to aggregate all note_offs and note_ons per tick & do note_off's first...right now I am just processing MIDI sequentially starting at the Master Track.

    - Known Issue: inconsistent behavior if "Follow Master" is toggled and the Master is in pendulum mode...should be fixed for next beta.

    - Known Issue: Toggling the top menus, which brings up a modal view, will sometimes cause the MIDI / Audio to lag. You can see this by constantly opening and closing the WIFI menu, for example. I'll need to stop using Apple's fancy modal presentation and just have the menu appear, instead of sliding up. That fixed the issue, although it's not as sleek looking!

    I think that's everything for now, glad you guys are enjoying it!

  • edited November 2018

    @McDtracy said:

    @mekohler said:
    It's daunting at first, but not too bad.

    So to allow testing of your App and use TestFlight you had to submit the App to Apple, right? I'm curious about that process if you could share any details.

    You upload to iTunesConnect and then submit a beta. Apple reviews the beta in 1-2 days and then a public link is made available. I'm not sure what the beta review requirements are...they don't do a full review (which sometimes requires a video of the app working)...they might just make sure it opens and doesn't do anything malicious.

  • I had a large response to all the posts, but the forum says "It will appear after it is reviewed"...hopefully my wall of text wasn't lost!

  • @mekohler said:
    You upload to iTunesConnect and then submit a beta.

    Great. I'd love to get more details as you leave Beta and put the App for sale in the Store and how that process works.

  • @McDtracy said:

    @mekohler said:
    You upload to iTunesConnect and then submit a beta.

    Great. I'd love to get more details as you leave Beta and put the App for sale in the Store and how that process works.

    I have other MIDI-only apps out, so I can PM you the process later tonight.

  • A quick google search says my post is lost, so here goes again (sorry for the spam):

    • Hold a Snapshot to SAVE, Tap to LOAD, Double Tap to DELETE

    • Snapshots will be saved with ALL TRACKS in the next beta, good idea!

    • I will consider other Rate subdivisions, but the triplets already make things sound a little too crazy. When you randomize the Rate, they are chosen with a lower probability. I need to figure out how to calculate dotted notes from MIDI Clock and then see how musical it is. I want things to be immediately musical and not have us succumb to our OCD and penchant for obsessing over the details :#

    • Adjustments to all parameters is axis-independent...moving UP is the same as moving RIGHT. I agree it would be a good idea to implement changing the values by a larger amount, but I'm not sure how to address that yet. I will have to see what other devs do with a small UI (like the Thor suggestion).

    Remember: You can randomize any Track property by triple tapping, and reset by double tapping

    Known Issue: If you have one long note spread across the entire sequences, the synth won't re-trigger at the start...fixed.

    Known Issue: Opening the top modal menus will cause the MIDI / Audio to stutter. You can see this by repeatedly opening and closing the WIFI menu...I removed the fancy sliding presentation and it's fixed.

    Known Issue: Inconsistent behavior when "Follow Master" is toggled and the Master is in pendulum mode...fixed.

    Known Issue: If tracks share the same MIDI Channel, there could be a condition where one track sends X_NOTE_OFF right after the previous track sends X_NOTE_ON, causing an abrupt stop to the MIDI note. I will address this issue later, as I need to process all MIDI at once...I'm currently doing it sequentially starting from the Master Track.

    Known Issue: The top right Help menu has some outdated text...fixed.

    I think that's it for now, I'm glad you guys like it! I'll be working on constant updates and improvements.

  • Ugh, the forum is not letting me post the large reply...

  • A quick google search says my post is lost, so here goes again (sorry for the spam):

    • Hold a Snapshot to SAVE, Tap to LOAD, Double Tap to DELETE

    • Snapshots will be saved with ALL TRACKS in the next beta, good idea!

    • I will consider other Rate subdivisions, but the triplets already make things sound a little too crazy. When you randomize the Rate, they are chosen with a lower probability. I need to figure out how to calculate dotted notes from MIDI Clock and then see how musical it is. I want things to be immediately musical and not have us succumb to our OCD and penchant for obsessing over the details :#

    • Adjustments to all parameters is axis-independent...moving UP is the same as moving RIGHT. I agree it would be a good idea to implement changing the values by a larger amount, but I'm not sure how to address that yet. I will have to see what other devs do with a small UI (like the Thor suggestion).

    - Known Issue: If you have one long note spread across the entire sequences, the synth won't re-trigger at the start...fixed.

    - Known Issue: Opening the top modal menus will cause the MIDI / Audio to stutter. You can see this by repeatedly opening and closing the WIFI menu...I removed the fancy sliding presentation and it's fixed.

    - Known Issue: Inconsistent behavior when "Follow Master" is toggled and the Master is in pendulum mode...fixed.

    - Known Issue: If tracks share the same MIDI Channel, there could be a condition where one track sends X_NOTE_OFF right after the previous track sends X_NOTE_ON, causing an abrupt stop to the MIDI note. I will address this issue later, as I need to process all MIDI at once...I'm currently doing it sequentially starting from the Master Track.

    - Known Issue: The top right Help menu has some outdated text...fixed.

    - Remember: You can randomize any Track property by triple tapping, and reset by double tapping

    I think that's it for now, I'm glad you guys like it! I'll be working on constant updates and improvements.

  • ah great thanks, yeah snapshots work well, this makes a huge difference. And yeah it does have a help screen which describes it, so my bad :)

  • @mekohler said:

    • I will consider other Rate subdivisions, but the triplets already make things sound a little too crazy. When you randomize the Rate, they are chosen with a lower probability. I need to figure out how to calculate dotted notes from MIDI Clock and then see how musical it is. I want things to be immediately musical and not have us succumb to our OCD and penchant for obsessing over the details :#

    perfeeeeeeeeeeect!

  • Also, midi in for master transposition would be very cool :)

    Seconded etc...

  • @audiblevideo said:

    Also, midi in for master transposition would be very cool :)

    Seconded etc...

    CC controls of all Track properties, global transposition, bottom functions, and certain synth parameters will definitely be implemented. Not in the beta, but most likely the first update after release.

  • This reminds me a lot of the great synthesizr. It does a lot in terms of interesting shifting things around and random generation but I really miss a global control over chords/progressions etc.

    Well done man, great protential right here.

  • @mekohler said:
    CC controls of all Track properties, global transposition, bottom functions, and certain synth parameters will definitely be implemented. Not in the beta, but most likely the first update after release.

    Super! Take your time. I personally think you’ve exceeded many people’s expectations. :)

  • Add me to the list of impressed users 😯 this is a really elegant, accessible, and effective generative music tool...

  • @supadom said:
    This reminds me a lot of the great synthesizr. It does a lot in terms of interesting shifting things around and random generation but I really miss a global control over chords/progressions etc.

    Well done man, great protential right here.

    This captures it. Pretty amazing how many cool midi generative tools are coming online at the same time. This one is a good one in the bunch for sure. Riffer has really caught my fancy but this one could be as musical with a little more tweaking.

  • Hrrm, I could move the Key and Scale options beneath the Snapshots, and make each Key a separate button, so you could jump between Keys easily. That's still different than having chords, but it would be a good start. In the future I could add some Scales that filter according to strict 3-4 chord voicings (min, min7, etc), as opposed to every scale degree.

  • edited December 2018

    (deleted double post)

  • edited December 2018

    @mekohler said

    • I will consider other Rate subdivisions, but the triplets already make things sound a little too crazy. When you randomize the Rate, they are chosen with a lower probability. I need to figure out how to calculate dotted notes from MIDI Clock and then see how musical it is. I want things to be immediately musical and not have us succumb to our OCD and penchant for obsessing over the details :#

    Yeah, I hear you there. It's hard to find the balance between coherence and user friendliness sometimes, but you've done very well so far, so I'll trust your intuition. Naturally, merely throwing ideas out there. I'm aware that not everyone has the use for Reich style phasing polyrhythms within a polymeter I'm going for :)

    I realize that it's probably pretty annoying to release something that you've labored over for a long time only to have people bark their wishlists at you..

    buuuuut... might you add a custom scale sort of thingy to the wishlist? <3 (like a little keyboard thing where you tick the notes like in Patterning 2)

  • edited December 2018

    @mekohler

    ah, already been requested but great that snapshots will be saved as a session, hope they get midi triggerable too :)
    actually, this app has some similarities, in a good way, to sugarbytes Thesys, which has a useful pattern sequencer. You could have think of adding a snapshot sequencer one day in PolyPhase :)

  • Besides what I already mentioned I would include, I did add dotted rate values, a UI for Key / Scale next to the Snapshots, Chord Mode (along with the Master Key / Scale), and I increased the range of each Sequencer by 5 notes.

    In Chord Mode you can choose to strictly play the Chord (which could be out of Key), or toggle an option that will filter the Chord with respect to the Master Key / Scale...this let's you play any chord and still sound good. If you play F#Maj, and are in the Key of A Minor, then obviously you won't be playing F#Maj at all since it will be filtered according to the notes of A Minor. If you toggle "Chord Filter" OFF, then it WILL play F#Maj, although it could sound bad :)

    Snapshots will also save all the Key / Scale / Chord options, and you will have the ability to load those values with a Snapshot, or not. If you don't, then only the Sequencer notes and data will load.

    I'm aiming to submit the next beta to Apple next week, so hold tight!

  • @mekohler said:
    I'm aiming to submit the next beta to Apple next week, so hold tight!

    I buy Apps from developer's that participate here. It raises the quality of the Forum to have developer's tell us more about how the Apps are made. I hope you continue to participate.

    WE SHOULD GIVE AWARDS FOR THE EFFORT. "Friend of the Forum (the FoF Award)"

    You sent me a PM with information about your path to getting this App through App's process that is exceptionally generous. I will try to honor your effort by following the roadmap provided.

    I'm definitely buying yet another music generator app when it ships. 2 months ago I didn't have any. It was cheating... now I have more than a dozen. It's just fun building layers of sound without so much hand assembly. Some still enter notes into "Notion" to compose.

    PS - Any chance PolyPhase could fit on an iPhone or does the User Interface become impossible to use at that scale? Just curious really about the decisions made to create an iPad only App.

  • @mekohler said:
    Besides what I already mentioned I would include, I did add dotted rate values, a UI for Key / Scale next to the Snapshots, Chord Mode (along with the Master Key / Scale), and I increased the range of each Sequencer by 5 notes.

    In Chord Mode you can choose to strictly play the Chord (which could be out of Key), or toggle an option that will filter the Chord with respect to the Master Key / Scale...this let's you play any chord and still sound good. If you play F#Maj, and are in the Key of A Minor, then obviously you won't be playing F#Maj at all since it will be filtered according to the notes of A Minor. If you toggle "Chord Filter" OFF, then it WILL play F#Maj, although it could sound bad :)

    Snapshots will also save all the Key / Scale / Chord options, and you will have the ability to load those values with a Snapshot, or not. If you don't, then only the Sequencer notes and data will load.

    I'm aiming to submit the next beta to Apple next week, so hold tight!

    Good stuff!
    increased the range of each Sequencer by 5 notes is really great addition - I'm finding the range a little limiting.
    Master key / scale switching is a winner.

    Ive been using this for days now and really digging into it, and getting silly amounts of really nice output.

    @mekohler
    Often I wish I could see the notes on the left side of each playback track/lane, so when I change a note I can see where to move the note to, and even faint horizontal lines for each note.
    Or a small readout when you drag a note up or down to let you know what note you are wanting to input.

    At the moment I have no idea what note I am putting into any lanes.

  • @mekohler said:
    Besides what I already mentioned I would include, I did add dotted rate values, a UI for Key / Scale next to the Snapshots, Chord Mode (along with the Master Key / Scale), and I increased the range of each Sequencer by 5 notes.

    In Chord Mode you can choose to strictly play the Chord (which could be out of Key), or toggle an option that will filter the Chord with respect to the Master Key / Scale...this let's you play any chord and still sound good. If you play F#Maj, and are in the Key of A Minor, then obviously you won't be playing F#Maj at all since it will be filtered according to the notes of A Minor. If you toggle "Chord Filter" OFF, then it WILL play F#Maj, although it could sound bad :)

    Snapshots will also save all the Key / Scale / Chord options, and you will have the ability to load those values with a Snapshot, or not. If you don't, then only the Sequencer notes and data will load.

    I'm aiming to submit the next beta to Apple next week, so hold tight!

    my wallet has a real soft spot for options based developers... thank you.

  • You can already toggle to see what note the sequencer is currently playing on the left. I personally like having no note info and just go visually by the spacing and shapes (the spirit of the app). I think a good compromise would be to have an option to have the note you are currently placing with your finger (after being filtered) show up on the left as well, good idea.

  • That would be great - just to know what note I am dropping into the sequence

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