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.
"All Along the Carwash"
The infamous Bm - A - G -A chord progression to practice in soloing in B minor and the test drive for some 500 Millisecond 96Khz IR files from the OwnHammer "Combo Cabinet Bundle". Gong from the free 200 msec files to these 3x larger wave files is a good investment for extra realism from Rooms! AU or Fiddlicator IAA or iConvolver IAA. The bundle includes hundreds of files using different cabinets, mic's and mixes of the combinations.
Comments
@McD Really well done. Just picked up the GNR MMMC pack from ownhammer. Which IR(s) are you using here, and what are your other apps in the chain??
@McD: Nice!
Any chance you might post an example of the same (solo) guitar part processed with the free OwnHammer vs one of the 500 ms files?
Is the difference a substantial one in your opinion?
Thanks for the feedback. These are basically personal practice sessions intended to help me "look critically" at my progress as a player and get the occasional second opinion from the group here. Overtime I hope we can add more students to the mix and support each other through the years of getting your shit together and finding the music that's uniquely you.
I'm using a Telecaster though a Lipstick Pickup into a Joyo JF-14 Fender Amp Simulator (recommended here by @richardyot).
Before buying the Joyo I would have used VStomp, ToneStack, or ReAmp to add that Tube distortion and EQ that rolls off Frequencies over 3Khz.
I used the IK Multimedia iRig HD for input to the iPad. I have a better audio interface but this was a couch potato session while watching TV reading the closed captions. If you watch too much TV I recommend this to get in more practice time.
I have some effects loaded in AUM:
ADverb 2 using the "Guitar Plate" preset (demo'ed here by @flo26)
Rooms! using the AUv3 Convolution Reverb option
Rooms! was loaded with the first 500msec IR I could get over to the iPad. I've loaded more and they all make the track enter a room and sound like a mic'ed cabinet. I'm sure I'll continue to compare then and have favorites but you can get a $10 OwnHammer product and probably be happy with the dozens of 200 and 500ms IR's provided. I bought the $30 Combo Cabinet pack. Over a GB of 20-70KB IR's.
I recorded the "WatchTower" progression background loop first and loaded it into an AUM File Player sync'ed with the LUMBeats Reggae Drummer and played a solo over the rhythm loop to practice my B minor and pentatonic scales up and down the neck.
I passed the composite recorded track into AudioShare to upload to SoundCloud and this morning I can check out my progress and decide what to focus on next.
You can use this approach and take lessons over the Internet with some of the best players on the planet these days. And augment the experience with Skype interactions.
I've been getting a lot of great advice lately from a long running podcast called Guitar Wank that features interviews with Robben Ford, James Santiago (who is the tonal architect behind many Line 6 and Universal Audio Amp sims), Bruce Forman and Scott Henderson. Robben's comments of introducing Jaco Pastorius to Joni Mitchell by playing her that ground breaking album. Robben also has comments on Miles that help define his humanity and why he always had the best bands... he collected and attracted the best players.
Ha! When I saw "Carwash" I thought it might break into a disco-funk groove, like combining All Along The Watchtower with Car Wash by Rose Royce.
Originally, I uploaded a defective track as "All Along the WashCloth" but I started tripping on a song parody set of lyrics:
There must be some kind of way outta here
Said the rider in the back
There's too much noise outside
I can't hear my conference call
Business men, they rarely tip
And I needed a carwash
One was handy so I pulled right in
Let this asshole wait his turn
Hey, hey
No reason to get excited
The Uber driver kindly spoke
You'll be on this call for an hour
You know that's not a joke
But, uh, but you and I, will have to wait
For this is now our fate
So let us stop all talkin' now
You'll just have to wait, hey
All along the Carwash
The cleaning engines roared
And then the dryers came on too
And detailing servants, too
Outside in the cold distance
The freeway traffic growled
New riders were approaching
And the horns began to honk
(insert Jimi Hendrix solo here).
It was years later I learned Bob Dylan actually wrote this tune. Makes sense now.
He looked a lot like Ryan Seacrest, drove a minivan..
I played in a bar band for 10 years and would always sneak in lyric changes or whole sale
parodies. I submitted some Weird Al like music with a "home studio" buddy to Doctor Demento and got back a nice letter with notes on the requirements for radio play. The humor was good but the "home studio" needed a lot of work for him to air anything. We just didn't have the money to invest and Weird Al is insanely detailed in his work. I saw him live this year and it becomes clear he's an outstanding musician and a great singer. Just a great
musical comedy genius that makes it look easier that it really is to make a career in parody music.
I'm currently re-engaging with some musicians and I keep thinking my vocals should all be (optional) song parodies for us to work more. Along the lines of "I hate my job, in San Francisco" in a medley with the female singer's "New York State of Mind" with City life versus retirement. It's light jazz lounge music. Humor can cover a multitude of vocal problems... I have nodes and the notes from upper C to E are hit and miss. and They miss is very non-musical ways. So, stay below or above these notes or roll the dice. Parodies let you drop into
spoken word if you can do "voices". Anyway. I digress.
I could write song parodies all day without breaking a sweat.
Bruce Forman played a local gig and did a nice rendition of "The Tinder App" based on "The Tender Trap" standard. They almost write themselves and hotels are the only venues that will pay for a 3 piece act so mix humor with the other noise. That silly little vocal performance was the highlight of his set for non-guitar players. His "Sonntag" Red Guitar arch top through a Henricksen 12lb 120 watt amp was the best live jazz playing I've ever been with in a small venue. It has set off a whole series of GAS events that I need to let out the other end with time.
This happens whenever I see someone great... Robben Ford (Dumble with a Fender), Lee Ritenaur (Gibson through dual Fender Duals). The iPad thankfully has kept my demons at bay and the results in my headphones.
@McD This is really nice. Thanks for the details on your workflow also
It doesn't produce well crafted results but it does optimize an experience.
If you play well and figure out the sync issues you could use AUM to put out products really fast.
I think playing into Loopy to generate the backing track would also save a bit of button pushing waste and allow for redo's of the mixing.
Creating a hybrid DAW with AudioBus3/Loopy/Xequence 2/AUM could be really efficient
and capable. @espiegel123 started creating videos to point the way as I recall. @thesoundtestroom gets a lot of work out of Cubasis... I find it frustrating when I try to
live there do to AU app bugs and flawed file processing like SoundCloud uploads, etc.
AUM just continues to delight me with new features that address issues and keep me working and learning new skills.
I was in the same major with Al Yankovik during my rather disastrous stint at university. Nice guy. Just as kooky in real life. Neither of us became architects.
Uno think same.
. @McD Beautiful playing. Get morning in UK off to bright start.
I haven't started to work out those great Nile Rogers funk guitar styles yet. My pick skills are slowly improving with time so it might be soon that I check those techniques out. It always cracks me up when
someone gets these references to the 70's.
When I hear your tracks I can see that you've mastered those upper 4 string vamps with the moving lines. I love that use of rhythm guitar to make a groove take flight.
My teacher convinced me to do the work and take the Mel Bay course and learn to read up and down the neck. So, I'm going to try and get serious about really learning the neck and not just play scale shapes
by ear. I was listening to Tommy Emmanuel in an interview and he gave a lecture at Berkeley and he can't read a note. I know there's another way to get their but there's a lot of great guitar music in written form. Tab is painful to use since it just assumes you know the music rhythmically and doesn't offer and specifics.
I'm originally a drummer, so I think that has influenced my playing on other instruments. Drums influenced my guitar style, and guitar influenced my keyboard style.
I went the Drums, Keyboards, Guitar path but didn't focus to anything close to your level of proficiency
before putting it all in storage.
I got a degree in Computer Engineering after teaching/gigging for 10 years out of college the first time. I pursued High Tech day jobs the Silicon Valley for the next 30 years. I'm retired now and have picked up the quest again.
How did I miss this thread?
I like this quite a bit, @McD - the atmosphere is lovely as is the guitar tone. I may need to pick up one of those Joyo pedals... The solo is a bit meandering, but I like hearing you PLAY so who cares? More playing!!!
This may come as no surprise, but I am a MASSIVE Weird Al Yankovic fan. I truly believe that the man is a genius - and I know how often that word is misused. The depth of his satire is incredible - not only just lyrics, but musical styles as well. Extremely underappreciated, I'm so glad that he's still going strong. Recent favorites include "Mission Statement" from Mandatory Fun (definitely worth watching the video on YT) and "Genius in France" from Poodle Hat.
If there's one person I could hang with for an afternoon, Weird Al would be on the short list.