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.
Rock Drum Machine updated v5.2
Rock Drum Machine has been updated with new features :
- iCloud Backups
- New 4 Board Mode for Live Pads
- BPM option for Live Pad Sets
- MIDI Jam Intensity Control CC#1
- Double / Half Groove buttons
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rock-drum-machine-5/id725234217?mt=8
Will publish a video showing the new 4 Board Mode next monday.
Comments
I bought my first 3 apps of yours over the past few weeks.
I got Reggae Drummer, then iBassist, then Soft Drummer.
These apps are incredible. I can’t believe I have been missing out until recently.
Great to see Rock Drum Machine still getting updated. It is on my list of future purchases.
@LuisMartinez bringing in half time / double time while maintaining Link is brilliant. It is a feature I have been wanting in iOS drum machines for a long time. Thank you!
Nice
@LuisMartinez OK, you have got me back into Rock Drummer with this half time drop! Great update!
I think you may have heard this already but I have two requests for your drum apps please
Thanks!
Where are the Double/Half groove buttons? And the 4 Board Mode? I’ve updated but I can’t see them.
P.S. I have found double/half in the ... section. And the 4 Board mode in the Midi section, so all is good.
Does anyone have advice on a "Start/Stop" configuration for these LUMBeats Apps in a DAW that can record the results? I've been wrestling with Link and MIDI Clock approaches in AUM and nothing works. iBassist seems to be the the Master but with IAA only you end up flipping between UI's in AUM and it's just annoying.
Is there a piece of hardware or another App that can be the LINK Start/Stop Master and coordinate transport controls for LUMBeats and a specific DAW?
I suspect the right answer uses AudioBus as the key transport control but I'd love to see a discussion of this issue and better yet a sample "Configuration File" that shows the correct settings. There was a post here recently mentioning putting Navichord into iBassist with a drummer and mentioning using Song Mode but after an hour trying to find the right configuration I just gave up.
Screen real estate is the key... AB3 adds that little transport widget along the edges of the screen.
All clues appreciated.
One more small detail... the drummer seems to respect AUM's transport with LINK enabled in AUM and the Drummer but iBassist ignores it. Is that because iBassist assumes it must be the LINK Master?
If you open AUM first, then open RD and iBassist as IAA in AUM then AUM stays the Link master. I don't think AUM has Link transport controls yet does it? So you need to start/stop using one of the Lumbeat apps or just use the sync bar loop option in AUM to record timed loops?
I'll try sequencing the order to see if it helps.
AUM has a setting that can be found after touching the BPM setting that expose the Metronome options. At the bottom of the exposed Menu there's a "..." line and it exposes the capability to enable/disable LINK and MIDI Clock out. It would be nice if iBassist respected MIDI Clock but that didn't work but it's the secret sauce to make Gadget function as a sound module when using it's Gadgets in AUM. Hit Start in AUM and the Gadget starts playing and recording.
Personally I have always appreciated open standards when they exist over de facto standards that often emerge in a vacuum like LINK did.
AudioBus3 solves my issues. I've loaded all 8 LUMbeats apps into one session and hit start. They all started and I can use the AB3 mixer to decide which Drummers sound best and take a side trip into iBassist to audition different progressions, patterns and bass presets.
Then the whole audio mix can be shipped into any of my DAW's as an audio track.
Yes, AudioBus is the key if you want to use Link Start/Stop.
However, you don’t have to use Link. IAA Sync will work for start/stop in AUM and other hosts, including Cubasis. Just turn off Link in Rock DM and it will respond to the host’s transport controls with no problem. You can leave Link on in AUM if you want.
@CracklePot ... Mideast Drummer! @LuisMartinez, still a great fan and love that jam intensity... very intense!
Hi McD, I was the one that mentioned using Navichord into iBassist and Any of Lumbeats app. The thing with iBassist is that I really wish it had State Recall within AudioBus 3 cause you have to remember to go back to the menu settings and change the Live Midi in stuff in order to have it receive Live Midi note info from whatever source you’re using.
In my case I’m using Navichord which I have setup in the midi page of AudioBus to send only the Bass note via Channel 1 to iBassist. But, there’s a little midi bug in iBassist that will not let the live midi in kick in unless you exit the midi settings of iBassist and go to progression screen then it allows the live midi in chord changes to take effect. Weird but that’s the workaround.
But I even forget it this myself. But once I have this setup perfectly working I have a true amazing One Man Band going where I get the Bass from iBassist and the Generatice feature of the drummers going all in perfect sync using AB3!
But I also realized from trial and error, that to get the best sync also is to use any of the Drummers Count in and or Fill In feature and then everything kicks in in great synchronization.
I know I mentioned that I would upload my AB3 setup, but haven’t had a chance, I’ll try today.
To me personally, it’s my perfect way of recording where I feel like I have real musicians playing along with me, especially being an Electric Guitar player. Although these are virtual musicians, having the Bass and Drumers are like to me the most important ones to get my creativity flowing.
I have the same use case: trying to find something closer to "Band in a Box" for IOS. iReal Pro helps but it requires me to transfer MIDI files out to a DAW get decent sounds.
I'm curious what Navichord provides that the Chord Progression editing already in iBassist does have. Maybe you already have dozens of tunes configured in Navichords so it saves you a lot of time. For me adding more progressions into iBassist might save an extra config detail.
Have to tried the "Chord Out" capability of iBassist to add guitar or keyboard player to the "Rhythm Section"? It's got some nice features for styles that iReal Pro can't simulate: Reggae, Rock, and R&B. They did add a "Blues IAP style" to iReal Pro recently and it's not bad. The sounds also got and update with this IAP for they harder rock styles. If iReal added realtime MIDI our it could become a more useful tool for soloists to use for practice and performing.
It has the extremely deeply forum of chord files for hundreds of tunes.
Will love to get iBassist midi export in the drums..
iBassist seems to be like the legendary Steinberg’s Virtual Guitarist of the iOS world.. Loving it more and more everyday.. and Future Drummer and Afro Latin DM and... 🤤
The way I’m using it is almost as you say but the Chord progression is entered in Navichord in realtime on the screen just as you would when playing an external midi keyboard. So In a way, it’s like playing a real-time Arranger Synth sort of speak.
Only limitation is that for right now I need @LuisMartinez to enable in iBassist the ability to have Live Midi In enabled while also being able to switch Live Pads via program change via midi. Then I would be able to also change iBassist patterns in realtime. This is incredibly useful for realtime playing cause you would be playing a certain iBassist pattern for the verse or intro then switch via midi program change to another for chorus etc while playing all your chord changes in realtime!
iBassist really has become a game changer for me as a realtime player and recorder. Really hope Luis is listening but so far I’ve received no response for the possibility of this option to become available. Hopefully it does as it opens up Lumbeats apps to a whole new group of users and future customers.
@McD as promised here’s a short video clip of Navichord’s amazing Song Mode and realtime chord progression entry. All hosted in AudioBus 3. Navichord’s channel one is sending midi Bass chord data to iBassist via midi channel 1.
iBassist is in Live Midi-in Mode. Although iBassist’s Live Pads are loaded up, Navichord’s Song Mode allows me to free up my hands to switch Live Pads , although I’d prefer to do it via Midi program change, this is currently a workaround.
Navichord is also sending the Midi chord progression data to Z3TA Synth via midi Channel 3 in AB3.
Navichord is also sending Lead Pad midi data via channel 4 to Addictive Synth Pro AU in AB3.
Drums are being handled by faithfull Rock Drummer!
Hope this short video reveals the amazing potential these apps have to create backing songs in a matter of minutes and not weeks.
I thank Dennis @Navichord for such an amazing app, And our dear Michael @Michael for AudioBus3 and @LuisMartinez for all his incredibly powerful apps! These are virtual musicians ready rock nonstop!
Also, please excuse the poor video arrangement as I’m not quite good at video editing and it was hard to align the music with video but hope it gets the message across.
Any comments are welcome.
Video Link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ea2igxl11te6ynl/AB3 OMB PRESET-MM4C.mov?dl=0
Have you tried Xequence (Multitrack Mode) to record all 8 app in one go (Midi)? Pretty amazing.. Then you can import the Midi file into your DAW.. BM3 has that separate channel thingy to mix etc..
Wow. I can see how you've put these pieces together to make a Software-based Arranger Keyboard (with styles provided by the "Lumbeatles" band).
I'll need to study your setup and duplicate the AB3/AUM relations to get the realtime "arranger" working.
Can we create a thread based on your use case so people like us can discover your road map? With a title like “How to make an Arranger Workstation Module with IOS”.
This could drive a lot of new users into the Forum that don’t even known the potential (if infuriating) world of IOS Music Making. I’ll bet we can match the cost of a $800 hardware solution.
Getting iBassist to follow Navichord is not working yet for me. I'm missing something.
I'll keep trying various App settings and host setting to see if I can crack the code (AB3 vs AUM).
I have iBassist configured with Live-MIDI in on and with Navichord Virtual MIDI as the MIDI IN source.
I have a the MIDIflow Keyboard driving navichord input.
A config file for AB3 would help. I have almost all the required apps. I just don't have the Zeta Synth but that's not a show stopper. I can swap in an alternative.
I don’t think you want Live Midi turned on. That’s for playing the bass notes live rather than from the patterns.
Luis Martinez’s apps don’t support AB state saving, so a saved session isn’t gonna help much.
We are trying to use a keyboard midi controller to send in live Bass and Chords to Novichord and have it drive the iBassist in realtime. So I play a C chord and the iBassist plays a C Major riff and when I shift to A minor it follows me.
I had it working but the "saves" didn't capture all the small details so I'm trying to get it working again.
I'm getting closer to understand how it's all plumbed using the Navichord Virtual MIDI out as input for iBassist. Then iBassist can auto send 2 type of Chordal output with options for the rhythms.
I think I'd like to replace the bass of iBassist with another App... I'm buying iFretless since @LinearLineman uses it on all his acoustic tracks so I should like it too. iFretless has a bundle for Bass, Guitar, Sax and Brass so I'll take the discount and get them all for $7.50 each.
I understand what you’re trying to do, and still say I don’t think you want to be in Live Midi mode.
My iPad is rendering a long video right now. If I’m still awake when it finishes up, I’ll try to take a crack at it.
@McD sorry for late response; been super tied up. I see what you’re doing. If you are using an external midi keyboard than you wouldn’t need to drive Navichord although it’s also a possibility to do it, but not needed in your example. Or even control it via Midi flow keyboard.
Navichord can allow you to enter the chords via its Pads or keyboard directly and then send that to iBassist directly.
Now it’s important to send to iBassist only the Bass chord from Navichord. I believe in AB3 you need to select Voice 1 as the midi sender to the midi receiver in AB3 midi page. Then place iBassist in the AB3 audio page and then iBassist will receive midi via channel 1 voice 1 from Navichord.
I totally forgot to attach the AB3 preset. I apologize; I’ll do it later today. Might even try to do a short video sending Chord data in realtime to iBassist from Navichord while Navichord is not in Song Mode. This would really be a more traditional realtime Arranger Synth style playing.
I’ll try to make the thread you suggested. Although the interest here is very limited as there are many pro musicians here who are able to make all the instrument tracks but I might go ahead and create one to help anyone interested.
Just being updated with 2 new iap drummers, Mike and John.
50% off today as well.
Grabbed this one, hope it gets the midi export treatment like the other drummers.
anyone tried the IAP?
What exactly are they? New sounds or just styles of playing?