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.

Secret weapon apps / Tribute to Iceworks Lorentz

I posted about this in the Iceworks sale thread but I thought it could merit a separate discussion.

I don’t know whether it’s fair to call Lorentz under appreciated or not (I feel like it is), but to me this synth is really special. It’s the whole “Resonator” thing that they do with their synths. People talk about apps that sound dirty vs pretty but this is where that Venn diagram overlaps haha. The combination of the drive, the resonance feedback, and the unique resonance “pitch” adds up to something really raw but really musical.

Anyone know any other apps that pull off that combination? What’s your under the radar secret weapon app?

I won’t tell anyone, I swear. We’re all cool here. 😎

Comments

  • I greatly appreciate all the Iceworks apps. Slick and functional interfaces even in Au3. Low CPU for how they sound. Unique sounds like the resonators, varieties of noise, and mallet and string modelling.

    Audio Damage Phosphor 2 would probably be my vote for 'secret' weapon. i.e. one I think is mighty cool and I don't hear discussed often.

    I initially downloaded it, demoed it, but didn't use it much because basically I come from using more hardware synths and usually go with what I know - analog emulations.

    But I had a particular song I was not getting the sound in my head out of my usual suspects and remembered its in your face digitally and proud of it sound. I use it a lot not for things often almost percussive.

  • edited June 2019

    Yes, the iceworks resonator synths are some of my favorites on iOS. Tuned percussion, ethnic-ey string sounds, plunks, junk guitars, bells. These are the first physical modeling synths that clicked, for me.

  • I sample the short sequences from Kronecker to then be triggered later. I love resonator type synths a lot. Mersenne was my favorite until Kronecker came out.

  • I’m still on the fence with Kronecker, sounds a bit harsh and metallic but I like the repeating thing.

  • Love iceGear. Mersenne is definitely my go-to for most melodic, non-pad sounds, especially percussive ones (which I use much more than traditional analog lead / bass sounds). Because of that predilection I have to admit that I don't give Lorentz as much love as Mersenne or Laplace (either of those 2 will typically be found on about 85% of my tracks, with Mersenne edging out Laplace two out of three times). When I want more traditional synth sounds I tend to reach for Zeeon or iSEM.

    The resonator is a very cool feature of those synths. You can really take a sound out some extreme places (especially with lots of modulation)

    I need to spend some time with Lorentz. Thanks for the reminder!

  • Thanks for all of your thoughts and suggestions everyone!! I have Phosphor and rarely use it...hmmm... 😎

  • For me Phosphor is the opposite of that awesome synth you wonder why you never use.

    I instantly regretted the purchase, thinking I’d never use it for anything. Then, just about every time I open it I end up sticking it in a track. I can’t really say why it works so well in a mix, but I’m not complaining.

  • All Laplace all the time

    My heart belongs to Cassini though.

  • @marmakin

    Do you have a track or demo with Lorentz, and its resonator? I'm debating on whether to fill out my Iceworks collection.

  • @audiblevideo said:
    @marmakin

    Do you have a track or demo with Lorentz, and its resonator? I'm debating on whether to fill out my Iceworks collection.

    Yes here is a track with lots of Lorentz on it (starting around 0:40 with the main synth line, followed by some effected overdubs etc). Not made specifically to demo the app...if it had been I would have made a point to show the wide range of the resonator section. Might still give you some of the flavor though. Also thanks for sharing your track too, very cool!!

  • I personally didn’t appreciate Lorentz as I just never heard it mentioned. It slipped by me, as did the other ice works synths, completely. Although whilst digging about in the AppStore it appears that about 40 years ago I purchased Xenon (and promptly forgot all about it). Always nice when there’s a download icon in place of the ‘Buy’ button that catches you by surprise.

    Anyway, I bought Kronecker and Lorentz and am very impressed. I’m not sure I will have much use for K. But L. Is exactly my cup of tea.

    Anyway for the sake of £6 I though K. Was worth buying just to play with.

  • @klownshed

    Anyway, I bought Kronecker and Lorentz and am very impressed. I’m not sure I will have much use for K. But L. Is exactly my cup of tea.

    That’s awesome!! Since we seem to appreciate some of the same qualities in apps, please let me know if any other apps capture a similar magic to you.

    Another one that feels slightly under appreciated to me (although less so) is DRC, which is such an impressive app albeit pretty different than Lorentz. Some people have said that about mood too but I haven’t tried it.

  • @marmakin said:

    @klownshed

    Anyway, I bought Kronecker and Lorentz and am very impressed. I’m not sure I will have much use for K. But L. Is exactly my cup of tea.

    That’s awesome!! Since we seem to appreciate some of the same qualities in apps, please let me know if any other apps capture a similar magic to you.

    Another one that feels slightly under appreciated to me (although less so) is DRC, which is such an impressive app albeit pretty different than Lorentz. Some people have said that about mood too but I haven’t tried it.

    Hmmm. I don’t know really. Maybe unique? You can coax some nice sounds out of it and it has a Lofi effect that can get nice and hissy... viking synth is worth having especially at the moment as it’s on sale for free!

    I like the ice works stuff as they’re nicely designed and are universal. I’m not sure how well they can sit in a mix yet but the ones I’ve bought sound promising. Some synths sound great in isolation but are tricky to use in a mix as once you turn off the fx and try and make them less overpowering they lose character.

    I am trying to limit myself to only universal auv3 synths now which narrows the field. At a pinch I use the iPhone version on iPad which is what I do with unique. I only bought the iPhone version.

  • I will whole heartedly endorse icegear's stuff, Kronecker and Mersenne are my first loves, but I recently revisited Laplace and Redshrike and they are both capable of creating unearthly beauty and and ungodly noise. Lorrentz is probably the easiest for me to wrap my head around, but KI's pack really shows what it is capable of.

    As far as secret weapons, there are several synths I love to death that never seem to get much love because they are not AU's. Mitosynth does get mentioned occasionally, really incredible sounding device that was the first time I realized just how potent
    the pcm meets oscillator formula could be, as more recently demonstrated by D1 and the Pure Synth Platinum. What is really mind bending though is when you discover the infinite nesting dolls of modulation, it's ridiculous how complex it can get.

    My true secret love is Phawao. It is among the most amazing beautifully distorted things I've ever heard and if it's not free than it is super cheap.

    The other app I use constantly that I rarely see mentioned is iMaschine. It doesn't play too well with others, but if you have the the Maschine software on your computer, it's a great way to start a new track and get new sample packs for $0.99 each.

    @marmakin said:

    @klownshed

    Anyway, I bought Kronecker and Lorentz and am very impressed. I’m not sure I will have much use for K. But L. Is exactly my cup of tea.

    That’s awesome!! Since we seem to appreciate some of the same qualities in apps, please let me know if any other apps capture a similar magic to you.

    Another one that feels slightly under appreciated to me (although less so) is DRC, which is such an impressive app albeit pretty different than Lorentz. Some people have said that about mood too but I haven’t tried it.

    DRC is amazing, one of my go-tos. Mood is excellent and capable of some insane sounds, although I'm not a huge fan of the apesoft design style, especially when dealing with presets. For sure worth getting if you see it on sale. Amazing Sounds Moebius Lab is an even crazy take on a similar concept, but is not AU. (Though it does host them.)

  • @wim said:
    For me Phosphor is the opposite of that awesome synth you wonder why you never use.

    I instantly regretted the purchase, thinking I’d never use it for anything. Then, just about every time I open it I end up sticking it in a track. I can’t really say why it works so well in a mix, but I’m not complaining.

    Yeah.. I love Phosphor. It has bad ass bells and clangs without getting into that chimey new age territory.

  • @Thardus said:
    Here's a link to the Lorrentz presets, very cool stuff.

    That is just awesome, @Thardus !! Thank you so much for this link, I had no idea these presets were out there.

    Also thank you for your thoughts! What is Phawao? I searched but couldn’t find anything and I’m curious... Yes I will be dusting off Phosphor and giving it a proper chance too 😎

  • @marmakin said:

    @Thardus said:
    Here's a link to the Lorrentz presets, very cool stuff.

    That is just awesome, @Thardus !! Thank you so much for this link, I had no idea these presets were out there.

    Also thank you for your thoughts! What is Phawao? I searched but couldn’t find anything and I’m curious... Yes I will be dusting off Phosphor and giving it a proper chance too 😎

    Ah, sorry... Misspelled it. Here's the link

    https://apps.apple.com/us/app/phawuo/id729549189

    Like I said, it's not an AU, but it's also only a buck and has some of the craziest sounds. Kind of like someone made an emulator of a broken analog synth maybe? There's also a cool morph pad that you can use to go between multiple presets, I use it for heavy bass parts a lot, but it is also good for creating samples to put in grain synths and stuff like that.

  • edited June 2019

    @Thardus Just got Phawuo. For only one dollar it was easily worth a shot. I like what I’m hearing already and totally get how this can get into that dirty+beautiful territory. Thank you!!

  • @marmakin said:
    @Thardus Just got Phawuo. For only one dollar it was easily worth a shot. I like what I’m hearing already and totally get how this can get into that dirty+beautiful territory. Thank you!!

    No problem, always appreciate it when people post these kind of threads.

    Incidentally, if anyone else was confused about Ice Works vs Ice Gear, I just realized the app store says one, but his website is the other. Seemed like I never got it right, guess that's why haha.

  • Ok - picked up Lorentz for Father's Day.

    WOW!! Where the hell have I been all this time and why haven't I picked this up yet? This things sounds phenomenal and the interface is super clean and clear.

    This one is definitely going in the rotation...

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