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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Song Of The Month Club - April 2019

13

Comments

  • @vitocorleone123 said:
    Holy hells, Batman! He's not dead! OK. So it's been around SIX MONTHS since I finished a track and posted here. Life, ya know? But it wasn't for lack of keeping my hands on the music. This one actually came together pretty quick once I "got serious" again. Zero iOS involvement for the first time ever in my posts here. This one is all PC + a little Roland SE-02.

    It came about because I was messing around and made a dozen loops quickly over the course of a few days. This one appeared and made me think, "That sounds a little bit like Enigma... huh... LET'S DO THIS!" Of course, the end result sounds like me, or, according to a friend, not like me, but like a bastard child of Enigma and Kavinsky.

    At any rate, I'm very happy with how this turned out.

    http://callforsubmission.bandcamp.com/track/the-one

    Very nice, quite cinematic and some good melodies. It's actually a lot cooler sounding than Enigma IMO (they sound pretty dated now!), but the breathy voice does give it that feel to a certain extent.

    There's some good variation in the arrangement, it ebbs and flows and has a nice epic feel about it.

  • edited April 2019

    I listened to the tracks on Page 1 instead of working for awhile (priorities!) - I have to get to Page 2 still.

    richardyot
    Damn, you make me wish I could sing every time! Very nice delivery in this one - I agree that it's one of your better vocal performances. I admit I missed last month's track, which sounds like I should go and find. Nitpick - in the mix or master (my guess is using a limiter of some sort?) the cymbals got a bit hot/sharp... maybe roll them off with an eq on the master bus a little and/or turn them down a few db before the mastering step might help. <-- that makes it sound like I know what I'm doing, and I'm not sure I do!

    marmakin
    Very nice groove on that track. I don't like hip hop, but I could listen to a lot more songs like you made. Great use of background samples to add voices to the mix. Speaking of mix, the only thing that came to mind to maybe consider is to turn down the snare just a hair (I'm very guilty of over-snaring my tracks and am trying to get better). Maybe even try a snare with a touch less crack to it. One a little more... nasally? Hmm. I'm clearly making stuff up at this point.

    trackedout
    Definitely outside my wheelhouse. I liked the vocal effects - nice without being over the top. Addition to the song not a novelty. I know it's a guitar-driven track and the bass matters more than the kick, but I wish I could've heard the kick just a bit more. Could be my electro-brain bias, though. Guess I'd agree with the other comment that just a little tighter timing would still have given that overall vibe, which is good stuff.

    tomess
    Not familiar with the style, but it's electronic so I'm in. :-) Love the dirty, greasy bassline. Every time my ears were ready for a change, it delivered just enough. Any value in considering a brief breakdown that goes almost pad/melodic before falling to pieces and coming back to the main groove?

    drrinkel
    I don't have/use Spotify. Sorry! Any chance you could repost on Soundcloud or similar?

    jonathanmac
    Very pretty. And since I didn't hear last month's track, this is all new and good to me! Just as richardyot makes me wish I could sing, you make me wish I could actually play music instead of merely poking at electrons as artfully as possible. I maybe got a little lost 80% through in terms of momentum, but, as is probably clear, I'm usually listening to beat-driven music.

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  • @marmakin said:

    My song of the month is my version of a hip hop song haha. I sampled from Ström and tried to make the vocals sound rhythmic.

    @ToMess @DrRinkel @PFAUX @JonathanMac @Eriko @fattigman @vitocorleone123

    Thanks so much to all of you for your helpful compliments/criticisms 😎

  • @trackedout Someone said lazy McJagger lol 😂 I think a little more like Tom Petty and I like the delivery. Can’t really picture it any other other way actually 😎

    @ToMess Love the sound design and the tone of the bass in particular. It melds together well. Kind of a sneaky, untrustworthy groove haha.

    @DrRinkel Beautiful. Bittersweet. Great textures. Lovely little song.

    @JonathanMac I could absolutely see this in a film. Almost reminds me of the music from American Beauty. It’s evocative and engaging but yet allows the listener’s mind to wander where it will.

    @tjporter This song has a great early morning energy to me. Nice sunny upbeat feeling.

    @PFAUX As a longtime Godspeed fan I liked where you were going with this. The stuttering chime/bell tones and swells definitely added to that “canadian/icelandic” post rock feel. Lots of days start calm and end up with a little techno 😎

    @Jumpercollins Nice shimmering soundscape! Reminds me of the underwater level of some games which is awesome haha!!

    @fattigman Love your singing and harmonies! I also have a love of the melodica (my first instrument haha) so I thought this was particularly great! You said you wanted to add some vocals over this kind of beat...have at it!! 😎

    @Eriko Nice job with the different synth textures and I liked that it was a bit contemplative even though it is fast paced.

    @vitocorleone123 I thought this track was beautiful, especially that central swirling analog synth tone. Good use of dynamics. Overall the track feels very complete and well produced. Nice job!

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  • edited May 2019

    Scraping in by the skin of my teeth (depending on your time zone)... here is my April entry for Song of the Month club!

    It a drifty piece written and recorded today 30th April. It's a new collaborative project with my wife. I came up with the main melody about 2am this morning - and then we worked on it this afternoon and evening.

    We both did live looping style composition together - I was using Ableton Live, she was on Gadget on her iPad - we were Linked into sync. Once we'd got the arrangement down we just recorded a stereo out from the iPad into Ableton as we “performed” it. I used Thumbjam on my iPad connected via IDAM to my mac for the initial pipe organ... Sam doubled it up with an organ from Gadget. The flute is also from ThumbJam - but I sampled it and am playing it in SynthMaster.

    It's a "live take" - the lead vocals and solo/improvised guitar are live - and I triggered off my Ableton scenes live as well.

    Hope you like it... it was a lot of fun making it.

    I will listen to everyone else tracks and comment after some zzzz.

  • edited May 2019

    My new song Continuum

  • edited May 2019

    @richardyot - first impression was that the drums and bass sound great again! Are they NS2 instruments? I like your vocal delivery on this track and feel it suits the melancholic vibe of the lyric. I liked the end synth sound and the tune you played - it really rounded off the piece in a good way and brought things to a close. I wasn’t so keen on one of the earlier synths - perhaps it was just a stylistic thing... i tend to get aurally upset if things play together that don’t belong in the same categories that exist in my head haha!

    @marmakin - enjoying the chilled out groove. I liked the choppy riff.. very interesting sound there! The vocal samples were great at the start adding some colour and grabbing the ears for attention. I did think they got a bit frantic towards the end - but maybe that just because I was enjoying the chill. If it were possible I might like to hear another chord sequence or section just for a while to break things up - but not too much to kill the lovely vibe. That inhale sound was cool - kept making me think she was going to say something:)

    @trackedout - first impression was that the overall mix is a bit harsh.. there is not much low end warmth on the bass and the kick drum is very quiet, so the whole thing comes across as a bit of a shock initially (but that could be due to these earbuds). However once I’d turned it down and adjusted my ears I really enjoyed the lazy and free playing style on the guitar and bass parts. Perhaps at times there are too many improvised tunes going on at once and keeping things a bit more simple would be good - but on the other hand I do love the chaotic energy it creates! I do like your vocal delivery. I really enjoyed the track :)

    @studs1966 - it is a pro / released track and it sounds like it - its a really good production! Are they your vocals? I was really enjoying it and it was making me want to dance in my dressing gown. Nice funky little guitar licks and bass line. Really nice track.

    @ToMess - some really great sounds here! Lots of interesting parts for my ears to enjoy picking out in the mix. It’s a nice composition too.. good that you have different sections and tunes going on. You keep changing it up so it never gets too repetitive = good job :) If it were me I’d make the Bassline sound a little bit warmer — but you’re not me so it’s probably perfect the way it is.

    @DrRinkel - lovely sounds and relaxing vibe - I really enjoyed it I’m not sure if I like the really heavily swung drums against the straight keys and bass... it messes with my head a bit. It was a bit off putting at first - but after a couple of listens it seemed to grow on me.

    @JonathanMac - love the opening synth sound :) The mix sounds really great - everything sits perfectly to my ears. The Salamander piano sounds great too! I must try that out. It’s a really lovely piece of music. I did enjoy it last month.. I might have to go back and listen to that again to compare the two. Love it :)

    @tjporter - the dancing lady in the video made it hard to concentrate on the music :blush: Perhaps without the video it might be a little repetitive - but there is plenty to keep interest going = the vocal samples and synth swells etc. The production and mix is really good. I think after about 4 mins it feels like its run out of steam - might be better a tad shorter.

    @PFAUX - I liked the opening sounds drawing you into the piece gently. Really nice drop back after the first set of drums come in. It’s an interesting piece! The metallic chime type sound gives it an eerie quality as does the bass sound. But then the drums start to take it elsewhere.. I wonder if it ought to go further in that direction with some more in your face sounds and then come back to the driftyness. I really enjoyed listening to it.

    @Jumpercollins - gorgeous opening sounds - and then the bass line is very quirky.. a random generation perhaps? I liked it - but i did find it became repetitive after several minutes. I guess you are more experimenting here with sounds and melodic ideas rather than sharing a finished composition? I did like it but by about 6 minutes I was wondering if anything else would happen melodically.

    @fattigman - great to see you playing :) Great vocals and instrumental playing too. I couldn’t really hear any obvious mistakes. Cute little tune on the melodica. It’s a nice song - and I only wish I could understand your language.

    @Eriko - yeah! Makes me wanna get up and groove :smiley: I found it a little lacking in musical variation to sit and listen to - but for on the dance floor it would probably groove along nicely and allow everyone to get into it. I might have been nice to have some of the variations that come in the last minute or two earlier on in the piece.

    It’s great to listen to everyone’s work. Thanks everyone for sharing them. Hope my comments are useful. I’ll get on to the remaining tracks asap.

  • edited May 2019

    @bedheadproducer - good production. The bass player in me would like that a bit higher in the mix - but the guitar player in me says NO! Great playing and riffage. Wish I could play guitar as well as you! The mix is very good but perhaps it’s all just a little too controlled if you know what I mean? Perhaps some real acoustic drums would help with that.

    @vitocorleone123 - I love the vibe of this piece. There’s plenty of nice melodic phrases and sounds and changes in arrangement to keep interest going. It was nice to hear the vocals come in - might have been nice to get some of those a little earlier. I wonder if you could try making the bass tone that goes with the kick drum follow the tune of the chords? It does work as a single note drone - but going with the chords would be a nice variation to throw in.

    @gregsmith - well you beat me in the “who can scrape their track into April challenge” :wink: I like the moody atmosphere you create in the introduction. There are quite a few interesting ideas but they are too spread apart for me. I think the track should be a bit shorter and condense all your ideas into a faster evolving piece. The section that starts after 4 mins is interesting - you could drop that idea in sooner to break things up.

    Well - I reckon that’s the end of April Song Of The Month... surely it must be 1st May now in everyone’s time zones on earth? (Hmm.. maybe there’s 3 hours to go? Geography never was my strong point).

    I’ll try to get Mays submission in a little earlier :wink:

  • @ricksteruk said:
    Scraping in by the skin of my teeth (depending on your time zone)... here is my April entry for Song of the Month club!

    It a drifty piece written and recorded today 30th April. It's a new collaborative project with my wife. I came up with the main melody about 2am this morning - and then we worked on it this afternoon and evening.

    We both did live looping style composition together - I was using Ableton Live, she was on Gadget on her iPad - we were Linked into sync. Once we'd got the arrangement down we just recorded a stereo out from the iPad into Ableton as we “performed” it. I used Thumbjam on my iPad connected via IDAM to my mac for the initial pipe organ... Sam doubled it up with an organ from Gadget. The flute is also from ThumbJam - but I sampled it and am playing it in SynthMaster.

    It's a "live take" - the lead vocals and solo/improvised guitar are live - and I triggered off my Ableton scenes live as well.

    Hope you like it... it was a lot of fun making it.

    I will listen to everyone else tracks and comment after some zzzz.

    First of all thanks for that epic round of feedback you provided. You get a SOTMC badge of honour :)

    So I really like your track, great atmospheric intro with the sitar-like guitar lines, they immediately create a really engaging and original vibe to the song. Then the voices come in and things get even better, two talented singers is always going to be a treat to listen to. The vocals are beautifully layered and the whole song is nicely arranged.

    The sparse percussion is great, adds some lovely accents to the song. The instrumental melodies that play behind the vocals also add a subtle but effective touch.

    Overall this is a great example of creative and interesting songwriting, not bound to any particular genre but a fresh feast for the ears. Great job. All the performances are fantastic, especially the vocals.

  • @ricksteruk said:
    Scraping in by the skin of my teeth (depending on your time zone)... here is my April entry for Song of the Month club!

    It a drifty piece written and recorded today 30th April. It's a new collaborative project with my wife. I came up with the main melody about 2am this morning - and then we worked on it this afternoon and evening.

    We both did live looping style composition together - I was using Ableton Live, she was on Gadget on her iPad - we were Linked into sync. Once we'd got the arrangement down we just recorded a stereo out from the iPad into Ableton as we “performed” it. I used Thumbjam on my iPad connected via IDAM to my mac for the initial pipe organ... Sam doubled it up with an organ from Gadget. The flute is also from ThumbJam - but I sampled it and am playing it in SynthMaster.

    It's a "live take" - the lead vocals and solo/improvised guitar are live - and I triggered off my Ableton scenes live as well.

    Hope you like it... it was a lot of fun making it.

    I will listen to everyone else tracks and comment after some zzzz.

    I liked this a lot. Great arrangement and vocal performances. I love the organs and the guitar coming in at about 3:38 in the song. The song is great too, beautiful melodies. Big applause for your job!

  • @richardyot said:

    First of all thanks for that epic round of feedback you provided. You get a SOTMC badge of honour :)

    So I really like your track, great atmospheric intro with the sitar-like guitar lines, they immediately create a really engaging and original vibe to the song. Then the voices come in and things get even better, two talented singers is always going to be a treat to listen to. The vocals are beautifully layered and the whole song is nicely arranged.

    The sparse percussion is great, adds some lovely accents to the song. The instrumental melodies that play behind the vocals also add a subtle but effective touch.

    Overall this is a great example of creative and interesting songwriting, not bound to any particular genre but a fresh feast for the ears. Great job. All the performances are fantastic, especially the vocals.

    No problem for providing my huge wall of feedback! It did take nearly 2 hours to listen though all 15 of everyone's tracks and comment - but that is what we are here for right? As it says in the club introduction post: "Posting a track and not listening and commenting on others is not cool"

    Thank you Richard for the kind feedback on my track and also thank you for keeping this club going. It's a nice way to interact with other folk on the forum.

    Also thanks @fattigman for your kind feedback too!

    If I was making comments on my own track (and had listened hard ) I might have been asking about glitches / jumps in the sustained organ tone ( turns out the actual Thumbjam organ preset has glitches in samples on some notes on my iPad - I will have to sample it into my Mac and then edit the sample loop points better ) - or I might wonder if the introduction to the piece was a bit long before the "verse" lead vocal comes in.

  • @ricksteruk said:
    No problem for providing my huge wall of feedback! It did take nearly 2 hours to listen though all 15 of everyone's tracks and comment - but that is what we are here for right? As it says in the club introduction post: "Posting a track and not listening and commenting on others is not cool"

    Thanks though! If only everyone else had the same attitude then this thread would be a lot better. Too many selfish attention-seekers posting a track here without providing any feedback on other people's music. My policy is to simply ignore these losers, and I suggest that everyone else who is here and participating in the right spirit does the same.

    The Hall of Shame this month is:

    @tjporter posted a track without giving any feedback on others

    @Jumpercollins posted a track without giving any feedback on others

    @gregsmith posted a track without giving any feedback on others

    @bedheadproducer who has done the same, but four months in a row.

    If you're not going to participate, you're not wanted here.

  • @richardyot said:

    @ricksteruk said:
    No problem for providing my huge wall of feedback! It did take nearly 2 hours to listen though all 15 of everyone's tracks and comment - but that is what we are here for right? As it says in the club introduction post: "Posting a track and not listening and commenting on others is not cool"

    Thanks though! If only everyone else had the same attitude then this thread would be a lot better. Too many selfish attention-seekers posting a track here without providing any feedback on other people's music. My policy is to simply ignore these losers, and I suggest that everyone else who is here and participating in the right spirit does the same.

    The Hall of Shame this month is:

    @tjporter posted a track without giving any feedback on others

    @Jumpercollins posted a track without giving any feedback on others

    @gregsmith posted a track without giving any feedback on others

    @bedheadproducer who has done the same, but four months in a row.

    If you're not going to participate, you're not wanted here.

    Haha I had no idea there were so many rules...

  • @gregsmith said:

    @richardyot said:

    @ricksteruk said:
    No problem for providing my huge wall of feedback! It did take nearly 2 hours to listen though all 15 of everyone's tracks and comment - but that is what we are here for right? As it says in the club introduction post: "Posting a track and not listening and commenting on others is not cool"

    Thanks though! If only everyone else had the same attitude then this thread would be a lot better. Too many selfish attention-seekers posting a track here without providing any feedback on other people's music. My policy is to simply ignore these losers, and I suggest that everyone else who is here and participating in the right spirit does the same.

    The Hall of Shame this month is:

    @tjporter posted a track without giving any feedback on others

    @Jumpercollins posted a track without giving any feedback on others

    @gregsmith posted a track without giving any feedback on others

    @bedheadproducer who has done the same, but four months in a row.

    If you're not going to participate, you're not wanted here.

    Haha I had no idea there were so many rules...

    Funny that, the rules are posted at the top of the thread.

  • @richardyot said:

    If you're not going to participate, you're not wanted here.

    That's the reason I stopped posting a few months back, last few times I received about a fifth of the number of comments I've made, back on my own post.

    Saying that I received no comments whatsoever on the last track I posted in the Creations thread (https://forum.audiob.us/discussion/32144/another-aphelian-inspired-horse-gas-track-foggy-valley-sunday#latest) despite always trying to give feedback to other posters. Given up on that now too.

  • @MonzoPro said:

    @richardyot said:

    If you're not going to participate, you're not wanted here.

    That's the reason I stopped posting a few months back, last few times I received about a fifth of the number of comments I've made, back on my own post.

    Saying that I received no comments whatsoever on the last track I posted in the Creations thread (https://forum.audiob.us/discussion/32144/another-aphelian-inspired-horse-gas-track-foggy-valley-sunday#latest) despite always trying to give feedback to other posters. Given up on that now too.

    Obviously posting in the Creations section can be pretty hit and miss, but posting here is different since the first post in the thread explicitly spells out the rules. The whole idea of the SOTMC is to foster a space where there is reciprocal feedback, so it's important that people who post here participate.

    Giving feedback is very time-consuming, usually I spend between 10 to 15 minutes carefully listening to each song that I critique, and over the course of each month this adds to a lot of time overall, which is why I've got no time at all for people who don't do the same back.

  • @richardyot said:

    Obviously posting in the Creations section can be pretty hit and miss, but posting here is different since the first post in the thread explicitly spells out the rules. The whole idea of the SOTMC is to foster a space where there is reciprocal feedback, so it's important that people who post here participate.

    Giving feedback is very time-consuming, usually I spend between 10 to 15 minutes carefully listening to each song that I critique, and over the course of each month this adds to a lot of time overall, which is why I've got no time at all for people who don't do the same back.

    I agree. Shame people aren't returning the gesture, it's a good thread.

  • edited May 2019

    Yeah I noticed after my first submission in March that I only got maybe half as many comments back as I made on others

    In future I’m gonna watch out for the bad eggs and not comment on their tracks until they’ve given feedback on mine. Some people “owe” me two comments now :wink:

    Edit — or for a more direct approach I might even consider the quoting their new post with a friendly note saying just “cool - what do you think of my track.”

  • edited May 2019

    Sometimes life happens, and people get unexpectedly busy, so I definitely give people a chance to come back late (next month) or just miss a month. I've been in that position. Felt guilty, but it was what it was. However, serial non-commenting isn't cool.

    Looks like I have a couple more still to review on Page 3.

    tjporter
    Sorta retro 90s sound - I liked it a lot. I'll check out your other tracks from that album, as well. I do like me some vocal samples... If you're going for a more lo-fi sound, you nailed it well (and that the rest of the tracks have a similar feel), if you weren't going for lo-fi, then things could definitely be cleaned up further. I liked how it sounded as it was. It worked for me. Finally, not sure how the video matched up with the track so I ignored it this time :-)

    pfaux
    I like the glitchy, ringing intro with some keys. I suppose I could've done with 1 less bar of it, only because I can see that the track picks up. Alternatively, adding one or two one-shot, hazy sounds might add a little spice. I wonder what a slowed-down version might sound like... almost dirge-like. Throw in some extra reverb to drench it. Still, I did like how it picked up here at the end to drive it home. I think I could've used with a touch more automation/panning on the piano at times. Other than that, good stuff.

    jumpercollins
    I can't wait to add Valhalla Delay into my next track. It made it onto the one this month just barely as I'd just bought it. So, I found myself wanting a "pop and sparkle" kind of explosion and then the kick to come in around 2:20ish (you touched on the sound a bit then a few seconds later). I liked the ethereal pads and sparkles, clearly, those were my favorite parts.

    fattigman
    Have no idea what you were singing, but I feel your expression and vocals still delivered at least a good part of the meaning, so well done. Also, you crazy madman, well-done on the whole one-take thing. Very impressive and heartfelt cover.

    eriko
    Really liked the haunting acid bassline aspect, where it wasn't always in my face, but was always there. Haunting me. I agree with richardyot, though, that you might've let this one run away with you a bit. You definitely have some strong elements and variations in there, so maybe take a stab at hacking it into some pieces, deleting 25-50%, and re-assembling? Alternatively, put this one down, and for your next track, try to make a "radio" length version of 3 min or less in the same style and see what happens.

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