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.

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Audiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.

iPad volume tanks during show

In the middle of a show, and for no apparent reason, my iPad volume went down to nearly nil. A reboot never brought it back on stage, but I have looked at it since and everything seems fine.

Anyone have this happen?

It's making me a wee bit nervous :/

Comments

  • I don’t do live shows, well, only for my young child and middle-aged cat.

    Which apps were in use and which midi devices were connected?

  • Hardware
    Roland AX-7 into iPad 2017 running iOS12.1.0 via Yamaha BT-MD01 (I updated to 12.1.3 this morning)

    Software
    OnSong (for lyrics and sends MIDI PC to synth apps)
    Korg iM1
    Moog Model D - in use at the time of the incident
    Fingerlab DM-1
    Korg iMono/Poly

  • In live situations, if you stay inside a single app, it's always a good idea to enable Guided Access and block everything you don't need, including the volume buttons.

  • edited February 2019

    What interface? Or was it straight from the ipad's jack?

  • @SevenSystems said:
    In live situations, if you stay inside a single app, it's always a good idea to enable Guided Access and block everything you don't need, including the volume buttons.

    I will look into that but the volume on the ipad itself did not change. First thing I checked.

  • @supadom said:
    What do interface? Or was it straight from the ipad's jack?

    MIDI in via bluetooth. Audio out simply via the headphone jack.

  • @MikeyP said:

    @supadom said:
    What do interface? Or was it straight from the ipad's jack?

    MIDI in via bluetooth. Audio out simply via the headphone jack.

    Do you have any midi mapped to volume in software?

  • @supadom said:
    Do you have any midi mapped to volume in software?

    The volume knob on the keytar maps to the universal midi cc for volume and as such controls the volume on whichever channel is active. Adjusting this had no effect during the incident.

  • Was it plugged in ?
    Sounds like a silly question, but i have seen dirty power supplies in venues do all sorts of strange crap.
    Two rules for me live, if it has a battery use the battery, DI everything.

  • edited February 2019

    @SevenSystems said:
    In live situations, if you stay inside a single app, it's always a good idea to enable Guided Access and block everything you don't need, including the volume buttons.

    OK I took a peek at this - intruiging but I am not sure it will work for my setup as I am often popping between OnSong, the mixer app and the Synth app I am currently using. Will think harder on this tho as I like the idea of it.

  • edited February 2019

    @Turntablist said:
    Was it plugged in ?
    Sounds like a silly question, but i have seen dirty power supplies in venues do all sorts of strange crap.
    Two rules for me live, if it has a battery use the battery, DI everything.

    You might actually be onto something: I almost never have it plugged into power but some synths were drawing so much that I decided for this show to plug it in. There was definitely a ground loop hum in the house system we could NOT get rid of so the power there is a bit suspect. Could certainly have been something related to this.

    RE: Audio: I run audio out from a 1/8" to 2 X 1/4" splitter cable into one side of a stereo DI box and run mono from there to the board.

  • @MikeyP said:

    @SevenSystems said:
    In live situations, if you stay inside a single app, it's always a good idea to enable Guided Access and block everything you don't need, including the volume buttons.

    OK I took a peek at this - intruiging but I am not sure it will work for my setup as I am often popping between OnSong and the Synth app I am currently using. Will think harder on this tho as I like the idea of it.

    OK. Another issue might be a faulty headphones cable / plug that triggers the volume control circuitry. Again, Guided Access takes care of this, but unfortunately -- again -- it limits you to a single app.

  • @SevenSystems said:

    @MikeyP said:

    @SevenSystems said:
    In live situations, if you stay inside a single app, it's always a good idea to enable Guided Access and block everything you don't need, including the volume buttons.

    OK I took a peek at this - intruiging but I am not sure it will work for my setup as I am often popping between OnSong and the Synth app I am currently using. Will think harder on this tho as I like the idea of it.

    OK. Another issue might be a faulty headphones cable / plug that triggers the volume control circuitry. Again, Guided Access takes care of this, but unfortunately -- again -- it limits you to a single app.

    Possible but I think the cable is ok - I will check that tho

  • @MikeyP said:

    @SevenSystems said:

    @MikeyP said:

    @SevenSystems said:
    In live situations, if you stay inside a single app, it's always a good idea to enable Guided Access and block everything you don't need, including the volume buttons.

    OK I took a peek at this - intruiging but I am not sure it will work for my setup as I am often popping between OnSong and the Synth app I am currently using. Will think harder on this tho as I like the idea of it.

    OK. Another issue might be a faulty headphones cable / plug that triggers the volume control circuitry. Again, Guided Access takes care of this, but unfortunately -- again -- it limits you to a single app.

    Possible but I think the cable is ok - I will check that tho

    FYI, I use the exact same type of "Y plug" you described and I've had two fail on me. I always keep a back up with me. Am very interested in whether plugging the iPad in may have had an impact though!

  • wimwim
    edited February 2019

    @SevenSystems said:
    OK. Another issue might be a faulty headphones cable / plug that triggers the volume control circuitry. Again, Guided Access takes care of this, but unfortunately -- again -- it limits you to a single app.

    Good call. I actually had this with a headphone cable once. About eight times out of ten at some point it would cause the volume to go to zero. Although at that time, I think volume could be restored using the volume buttons.

    @MikeyP said:
    You might actually be onto something: I almost never have it plugged into power but some synths were drawing so much that I decided for this show to plug it in. There was definitely a ground loop hum in the house system we could NOT get rid of so the power there is a bit suspect. Could certainly have been something related to this.

    A good battery bank into the charging port of the USB3 Lightning adapter is just good insurance. You never can tell when some runaway background app or process can drain your device. So many places (including my home) have dirty or noisy power. No way I would play live without a backup battery bank plugged in at all times.

    Uggg. Just reading what happened to you brings back too many bad memories of gear failures. 😬

  • Was your ipad microphone ON and were you in Record mode - I think there is an Auto Volume Adjust in iOS if input volumes from P.A Speakers or general noise is too loud -not certain but I dj and have had probs recording videos at my gigs - I get video but no sound if music from venue speakers are toooo loud.Could be an iOS bug/glitch.

  • @stormbeats said:
    Was your ipad microphone ON and were you in Record mode - I think there is an Auto Volume Adjust in iOS if input volumes from P.A Speakers or general noise is too loud -not certain but I dj and have had probs recording videos at my gigs - I get video but no sound if music from venue speakers are toooo loud.Could be an iOS bug/glitch.

    No wasnt in record mode

  • @wim said:

    A good battery bank into the charging port of the USB3 Lightning adapter is just good insurance. You never can tell when some runaway background app or process can drain your device. So many places (including my home) have dirty or noisy power. No way I would play live without a backup battery bank plugged in at all times.

    Ya this is a good call. Might be my next investment

    Uggg. Just reading what happened to you brings back too many bad memories of gear failures. 😬

    Ya it was not fun :/

  • For Live Work an iPad is like an Assault Rifle with some QA issues. Very powerful in the right hands but still a potential "Weapon of Sonic Destruction". Why? It's assembled by the user from parts purchased online.

    I'm not falling anyone for trying to benefit from an iPad for Live Music. I'm just cautious that DIY Integration of Music Systems puts you at fault in case of problems with no one to blame really but you are the integrator that owns troubleshooting but you must outsource the upgrades and repairs to multiple suppliers. Of course, buying a lot of hardware has the same set of issues with respect to interoperability.

    On anther thread I wrote this analogy of the iPad Music Platform and Home Electrical Power Systems:

    Here's the table of iPad Tech versus House Power Systems:

    House Power Box (managing the circuits - 15 Amp or 30 Amp with 1,2,3 Phases)
    Is like the IOS (Apples's Operating System product)

    Power Strips are like DAW's in that they provide some number of 110v ports
    plugging Power Strips into Power Strips is almost a feature of something like AUM/AB3

    Here! Add enough AUv3 until you throw the circuit... then drop one and you're good to go.

    Appliances (devices generating load on the circuits) are the AUv3s

    CAUTIONS:
    Hack the power box and you can provide enough current to melt the house wires and you will start a fire. Apple doesn't really control the current. They just test AUv3's to see if they use more than the current suggested in their standards to avoid fires.

    House Fires are not recommended. Big appliances that draw a lot of current get 30 Amp circuits with wires than can take the high load appliance. A Clothes Dryer for example gets 30 Amp circuit. Colussus Piano is a Clothes Dryer. It throws the circuit on all my DAW's. I run it on an iPhone and into an audio interface to the iPad to record mine.

    So, what is an iPad Fire? It's when the music becomes a loud grating sound of a failed App. You're heard it. Its a total failure of the sound output signal. Annoying. Yes. But imagine if that failing DAW is connected to a stage PA driving 20,000 Watts of power for a rave audience. Some one is going to get sued for the psychological damage inflicted on the dancers. It should be avoided at all costs says Apples Lawyers or we should be able to point to the culprit.

    So, court damages look for the culprit if an iPad Rave goes into the danger zone.

    Apple asks all DAW's to terminate AUv3 for Apps that exceed the RAM requirements and avoid meltdowns of the audio chain. Apple is free and clear.

    The DAW shows they avoid giving any AUv3 plug-in too much resource and manage the system to prevent failures. The DAW is free and clear.

    The AUv3 grabs a lot of RAM and usually gets terminated when too many notes are played or 2 or more copies are loaded up to the DAW. So the AUv3 is free and clear.

    There's NO CULPRIT. Wait. There was a DJ.

    But the DJ hates limits on creativity and fires up some background standalones with the DAW. Mayhem ensues and the DJ is charged with assault.

    You are the DJ. Be a professional and learn your tools and what they can and cannot do.
    Don't ask Apple to allow noise fires and get angry when the just ignore some random idiot without a clue. I'm not calling you an idiot. We are all stupid about something or many things in my case. But when you know something you should slip the newbie a clue.

    Stay out of trouble.

    Here's another type of house fire. Turn your iPad Volume up to the max and open an ApeFilter FX AU and test all the presets with a loud synth. You''ll damage your ears and loose hearing. Is ApeFilter responsible to you for this outcome? Should they not process the settings of the preset because they detect extreme volumes at some killer frequencies?

    Many would say yes. ApeFilter should NEVER cause hearing loss. Apple's free and clear so there's no regulations for AUv3s that push maximum volumes to the output.

    So stripped of analogies be careful what you expect Apple to allow us to do to ourselves and to others with sound. Make safe music.

  • @McD said:
    For Live Work an iPad is like an Assault Rifle with some QA issues. Very powerful in the right hands but still a potential "Weapon of Sonic Destruction". Why? It's assembled by the user from parts purchased online.

    Haha, yeah, this made me chuckle. I don’t know how many £1 eBay usb cables, ccks and hubs I have lying around the house. Some of them have actually worked without fail for years. The thing is, one never knows.

    The truth is: 5 x shit £1 cables = one half decent one. I’m sure I could have afforded a couple with the money I’ve spent but as they say: the poor man buys twice.

    That’s why testing the system thoroughly, disassemble and reassemble it many times if it has many components as if it was a gun, identify weak links and either replace with quality stuff or try and bypass them.

    But this is like telling to a junkie that life without drugs is great. We’re here because we are those people who pay buy 50 apps and use 5% of them. Then patch tie them with a piece of string and risk it all in front of (if we’re lucky or not) 100s of people. Of course I speak mostly for myself and that’s why I find myself building plywood boxes in search for perfection.

    Same rules apply as ever though...practice and substance makes perfect.

  • @McD ... tldr; but ...

    An iPad based rig can be just as reliable as any other rig as long as the setup is carefully crafted, rehearsed with, and all variables are kept consistent. Finding all the variables is the challenge. (The loud venue volume/mic issue for instance ... that’s a new one on me.)

    In fact it can be far more stable. Less gear = fewer points of failure. I would feel more confident performing with my guitar with my iPad and ToneStack than with an amp (especially a tube amp), pedal board, a bunch of power supplies, batteries, patch cables, DI box, dirty power, etc. Not to mention the increased likelyhood of forgetting to bring something, plug something in, tripping over something, physical wear and tear, band mates “borrowing” something...

    I would also know that I could have that identical setup as a backup on my phone in my back pocket, or on another iPad.

    Just like anything, thought, experimentation, practicing, followed by not changing things is the key.

  • Most likely not related to this incident, but I thought I’d mention this just on the chance it may save someone from having erratic volume happenings when least desired:

    Spotify has a bug that sometimes alters the iPad’s volume without any action from the user if Spotify is installed on both the iPad and a Mac (at least). For this reason I need to keep the volume setting in the Mac Spotify at a moderate level, since that’s what it seems to jump to on the iPad.

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