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.
Comments
The scenario I'm using is creating multi-tracking outputs to different midi channels on the same destination. I've worked around this by creating a template but less clicks is always better. Especially since the input port can be selected from sequencer view.
I wasn't going to get this one, though I've been intrigued. I'm simply not really the kind of user this was designed for.
But, as luck would have it... I won a copy!
So, my first impression is that it's not very intuitive at all. I did my usual trying to fumble around and figure out the puzzle as I went, but didn't get very far. I eventually had to refer to the manual a couple of times, and after I read how some simple things are done, it started falling into place.
I'm really liking it so far, but there really ought to be some kind of quick-start guide walking the user through the basics, or a simple video. Just the basics to get started with.
Another thing I'm curious about... I really like Modstep for the most part. How is Xequence 2 all that much different from Modstep for most of the core functionality?
@nondes @motmeister @EyeOhEss the Xequence -> AUM setup is probably the most used of all for using Xequence with multiple other synth apps, so there's a dedicated manual chapter for it, you might want to have a look:
http://seven.systems/xequence2/en/manual/
"Example setups" -> "Using an Audio Unit Host to control multiple AU plugins: AUM"
THank you!!
If there’s nothing on this page that convinces you, then you don’t need it: http://seven.systems/xequence2/en/new-in-2/
No.
I find I’m using Atom less the more I use Xequence. It’s only a little more setup, and the results are easier to turn into an arrangement later.
Still, it’s nice to just be jamming around and turn something you like into a loop just like that with Atom. I’ll usually go that way when I know time is running short or I don’t want to be distracted by setup. I know I can always come back and record the Atom output to Xequence if I want to take it further.
I also use Atom if I’ve started something up mostly with Rozeta or other AU Midi apps. It’s less of an interruption to drop Atom in there for anything I want to play by hand.
But more and more I’m just starting with Xequence in Audiobus and building from there.
Patterning 1 has midi out. It doesn't have midi in except for clock.
Instructions are in the docs I believe.
In this case he just needs to enable the Virtual Midi port in Xequence. Or to do it the other way around and select AUM input. That nuance might take some digging to find in the manual.
Thanks, much appreciated.
I forgot that Xequence/Xequence 2 is not an AUv3 app so it makes sense to use another app like Atom to record AU MIDI then export MIDI to Xequence 2 for further development of your MIDI composition.
It has UNDO..
+ metronome volume adjustment.
ModStep is a pattern sequencer and requires you to compose in chunks of limited size with limited time resolution.
Xequence is s linear sequencer with high timing resolution that doesn't force you to write in fixed length chunks.
Fwiw, the online manual has a table of contents and AUM setup is listed in the example setups.
http://seven.systems/xequence2/en/manual/
...however, for completeness sake, it also offers pattern-sequencer-ish capabilities like linked clips (editing the original modifies all the copies) and independent per-clip looping with arbitrary granularity (loop length) -- while you can still see the actual linear "outcome" on the timeline. (I'm not an expert at pattern sequencers though so maybe I'm missing something basic that makes them much more suitable for some tasks.)
Wow this is a great update, and all but I kinda feel bad. I got all the addons a few days ago, and now this was released.
I got Xequence 2 just to see what the difference was, and now I'm sad.
I'd say pattern sequencing is a very different approach -particularly one like ModStep. Short version: in pattern sequencers the unit of organization is the pattern/clip. Composition is done by triggering patterns or queuing them up. Most also have limited numbers of events per clip. You tend to build a library of patterns and build things from those.
It is just a different approach.not better or worse. Just different.
I like the sound of “per-clip looping with arbitrary granularity”
It’s also a lot more convenient for live performance.
A big plus is being able to quickly audition varying combinations of patterns from different tracks, in real time. To do this in a linear sequencer would require a lot of physical shuffling around of clips.
I don't think you can even compare them.
Modstep is a bit like the MIDI part of Ableton Live's session view.
Any clip can have any length, you can group clips into independently launchable groups, you can define which bars to skip in a longer pattern and totally tweak prepared patterns almost like it was an OP-Z, you can set clips to either repeat or launch single-shot, you can even launch each clip by a MIDI note and (mis)use it as a chord generator or riff engine, it syncs to external MIDI clock, it has a simple sampler, a built-in little additive synthesizer with up to 64 drawable harmonics, it can host IAA and AU instruments...
But it can't do what Xequence 2 does:
No linear timeline and related tools, a much less user-friendly piano roll, a great (and I'd say the cleanest of any app) overview of your whole song and a very useful built-in piano keyboard and freely configurable MIDI pads.
Well, hard to compare.
Is there a secret to multi track recording midi from AUM? I have done everything properly I believe. I’ve selected only the midi channels I need. but it still is throwing all the midi into one track ? I have Xequence virtual selected as out in AUM.
Xequence Multitrack recording is the thing that I never quite understood
It may get better for me, when MPE support is added
In the arranger, for each track you can select any MIDI channel and any port to receive MIDI from. After enabling the two little arrows on the upper right, you can start recording.
Make sure you send MIDI on different channels in AUM.
@rs2000
Here is what I’m doing. See screen shots. The only thing Is I’m not sure where I define the out going ports in AUM?
An “Instrument” in Xequence is the unique combination of MIDI Source and Channel. AUM doesn’t have a setting for changing the midi channel of an output. So, you have to specify that in the settings of the apps themselves, provided they have it. In your case, both Autony and StepPolyArp have the ability to set their channel out. In Autony it’s in the MIDI tab, and in StepPolyArp its under the wrench icon.
If an app doesn’t have the ability to set channel, then you’d need to run it through something like mfxStrip to change it.
You have the auto-add Multitrack sources thing enabled in Xequence, so once you get the channels sorted, you don’t need to add channels in Xequence, they’ll get added automatically when you record.
@wim Dude. You are amazing 😉!!!!!!!! I completely forgot about that. Ugggggg. Thank you thank you!!!!!!!!
It’s easy to forget this stuff. Being able to set the outbound channel in AUM would be a nice little feature to have. I can see why it’s overlooked since the developer is focused mainly on internal routing. Fortunately we have fallbacks like mfxStrip when needed.
No problem, you can find it once you open the pianoroll editor, it's in the "INSERT" (+) menu in the bottom toolbar there.
Thanks, I'm happy to see it quite stable, seems like our testers also did an amazing job
Yes I'm aware of the text-overlay issue, it's probably when you have a long instrument name + a long track name -- will check that in the mid-term.
The arrows are the only way to move stuff and it's part of Xequence's philosophy, so currently I think they'll be the only option available... as you noted, it's more precise than to move notes while your finger is actually covering them
@wim, thanks for helping out here so frequently. I think "Routing several AUM MIDI plugins into Xequence Multitrack" would be a good "Example Setups" entry in the manual.