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 Store

Audiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.

Polyphase, is there another generative app that does what it does better?

Kind on the fence about this one...

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Comments

  • edited December 2019

    @gkillmaster said:
    Kind on the fence about this one...

    We all have different criteria of what is better but anyway I would consider Poly 2.

    https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/poly-2/id1477029326

  • edited December 2019

    there was a member who made some very interesting comments on what a generative app is, wish i could remember the audiobus OP. Im not sure what ios apps are really generative to be honest, polyphase seems to do this to some extent. Im not sure what other ios apps do the same? I also have interest in this too. I see poly 2 as a poly-metric sequencer with probability really but I might be wrong on that..

  • edited December 2019

    @[Deleted User] said:
    there was a member who made some very interesting comments on what a generative app is, wish i could remember the audiobus OP. Im not sure what ios apps are really generative to be honest, polyphase seems to do this to some extent. Im not sure what other ios apps do the same? I also have interest in this too. I see poly 2 as a poly-metric sequencer with probability really but I might be wrong on that..

    Yah I have no idea, just going by the app store description and the general hand wavey idea of ‘you know, makes stuff dat aint so loopy, yah know?’

  • @AudioGus said:

    @[Deleted User] said:
    there was a member who made some very interesting comments on what a generative app is, wish i could remember the audiobus OP. Im not sure what ios apps are really generative to be honest, polyphase seems to do this to some extent. Im not sure what other ios apps do the same? I also have interest in this too. I see poly 2 as a poly-metric sequencer with probability really but I might be wrong on that..

    Yah I have no idea, just going by the app store description and the general hand wavey idea of ‘you know, makes stuff dat aint so loopy, yah know?’

    👍

  • Short answer...
    No.

  • I have several “generative” apps. I beta tested polyphase and think of the generative apps I’ve used, polyphase most often produces very musical results consistently. The dev really nailed a great balance of randomness while remaining nicely structured. No hesitation recommending.

    That said... I never ended up buying polyphase myself because many of the generative scripts users have been writing for Mozaic are pretty interesting, quite varied, and free (if you have Mozaic).

  • edited December 2019

    Polyphase seems similar to fugue machine. Except fm is more manual.

  • edited December 2019

    @gkillmaster said:
    Kind on the fence about this one...

    Two alternatives that are "just different":
    Although Sugarbytes Thesys isn't a generative app in the common sense, tapping on icons that are much too small for even people with good eyesight and small fingers and editing pitch sliders that always end up on a position that was unintended, Thesys is a great example of an unintentionally generative app I would say.

    Another (much more fun) example of a generative app with some user control is Oscilab. You can make it virtually "random" by choosing a chromatic scale and combining low and high frequency LFOs to set the notes' pitch, or create "musically random" but rhythmic melodies by choosing more sane settings.
    In fact it has a lot in common with its younger sister Aphelian, just with a different (and less exciting) user interface.

  • PolyPhase Midi is solid, and the generative stuff is great.

    Set up the probabilities of note playing, the base note timing, and the rest of the lanes/voices sync to the lead. Scales and chords can be chosen on the fly. Notes can be manually drawn and frozen. Snapshots can be saved and recalled.

    On top of it all, the synth inside it is great.

    Reminds me, I have to go and give an updated rating of 5⭐️ On the App Store

  • Yeah, the synth is actually great, like a bonus feature.

  • Can Polyphase’s parameters be ‘Midi-learned’ so the app can controlled by an external midi controller?

  • @SpookyZoo said:
    Can Polyphase’s parameters be ‘Midi-learned’ so the app can controlled by an external midi controller?

    Does not appear to be so.

  • @SpookyZoo said:
    Can Polyphase’s parameters be ‘Midi-learned’ so the app can controlled by an external midi controller?

    That's the one thing it really needs. Hopefully the dev decides to add more midi control at some point, but even without external control it is a great generative sequencer. Nothing else quite like it on ios. If there was simply a way to trigger snapshots, transpose and other modulations to the sequences, it would be perfect.

    It does have great midi out options though. you can even use it to sequence 2 midi cc's per lane.

  • edited December 2019

    @gkillmaster said:
    Kind on the fence about this one...

    If you're into minimalist, generative, rhythmic fun, I don't think there is a better one on the platform. You can quickly get complex phase sequences, or get into some gorgeous, non-repeating generative realms. The options are pretty deep without a lot of menu diving.

    The comparisons to fugue machine are surface level only. this is an entirely different type of thing. FM doesn't really do generative. I find this to be much, much more inspiring (and I do like FM)

    and as others have said, the inbuilt wavetable synth, albeit fairly limited, sounds pretty lovely. The real fun is sending to four separate synths, though. Spectrum and Ripplemaker have done me well in this regard.

  • @audiblevideo said:

    @SpookyZoo said:
    Can Polyphase’s parameters be ‘Midi-learned’ so the app can controlled by an external midi controller?

    Does not appear to be so.

    @palms said:

    @SpookyZoo said:
    Can Polyphase’s parameters be ‘Midi-learned’ so the app can controlled by an external midi controller?

    That's the one thing it really needs. Hopefully the dev decides to add more midi control at some point, but even without external control it is a great generative sequencer. Nothing else quite like it on ios. If there was simply a way to trigger snapshots, transpose and other modulations to the sequences, it would be perfect.

    Thanks for the info guys.

    @palms said:
    It does have great midi out options though. you can even use it to sequence 2 midi cc's per lane.

    Do these have 'separate lanes' or do they both follow the main pattern of that track?

  • Ah, so this thread is up because somebody found it on sale - about $3 off.

    Sold!

  • @SpookyZoo said:
    Do these have 'separate lanes' or do they both follow the main pattern of that track?

    4 separate sequence lanes. 2 cc's per lane. You can lock sequences in place, or have them regenerate with varying degrees of randomness (lots of control). The top lane is the master lane. you can set it so that the lower lanes are dictated by the master lane, or you can have them do their own thing.

  • @SpookyZoo said:
    Can Polyphase’s parameters be ‘Midi-learned’ so the app can controlled by an external midi controller?

    I'm really glad I looked into this further. I hadn't realized that there was another layer to the midi panel until now. Turns out you can control nearly every parameters via midi cc. You can modulate parameters of lanes using "internal cc" or simply map it to an external midi source.

    pictured here is the master channel's cc, but each tab at the top allows you to set cc for every parameter of each lane, the synth, FX, and Functions such as snapshots, keys, scales, chords etc.. this is amazing.

  • Initially I just jumped straight to midi and didnt give the synth it’s proper due. This is pure lovely! If el dev wants to make some money on IAP synths I would be very much into that.

  • edited December 2019

    @AudioGus said:
    Initially I just jumped straight to midi and didnt give the synth it’s proper due. This is pure lovely! If el dev wants to make some money on IAP synths I would be very much into that.

    yeah, truly.
    would be very fun if it had 4 synth engines, and a few more wavetables. I'd buy that IAP

    also, I'd gladly pay an IAP for Auv3

  • @palms said:

    @SpookyZoo said:
    Can Polyphase’s parameters be ‘Midi-learned’ so the app can controlled by an external midi controller?

    I'm really glad I looked into this further. I hadn't realized that there was another layer to the midi panel until now. Turns out you can control nearly every parameters via midi cc. You can modulate parameters of lanes using "internal cc" or simply map it to an external midi source.

    pictured here is the master channel's cc, but each tab at the top allows you to set cc for every parameter of each lane, the synth, FX, and Functions such as snapshots, keys, scales, chords etc.. this is amazing.

    Cool find! Thanks for double checking. :)

    Bought!

  • @SpookyZoo said:

    @palms said:

    @SpookyZoo said:
    Can Polyphase’s parameters be ‘Midi-learned’ so the app can controlled by an external midi controller?

    I'm really glad I looked into this further. I hadn't realized that there was another layer to the midi panel until now. Turns out you can control nearly every parameters via midi cc. You can modulate parameters of lanes using "internal cc" or simply map it to an external midi source.

    pictured here is the master channel's cc, but each tab at the top allows you to set cc for every parameter of each lane, the synth, FX, and Functions such as snapshots, keys, scales, chords etc.. this is amazing.

    Cool find! Thanks for double checking. :)

    Bought!

    no problem. I already really liked Polyphase, and now I like it that much more - I'll likely use it a lot more now that I've found the extra midi page. I prefer to doing as much as possible with hardware controllers, so I'm pretty stoked.

  • @AudioGus said:

    nice one! some nice melodies in there.

  • the midi functionality is a strength of this app. Ableton link start/stop is the big feature i like to see.

  • @SpookyZoo said:

    @palms said:

    @SpookyZoo said:
    Can Polyphase’s parameters be ‘Midi-learned’ so the app can controlled by an external midi controller?

    I'm really glad I looked into this further. I hadn't realized that there was another layer to the midi panel until now. Turns out you can control nearly every parameters via midi cc. You can modulate parameters of lanes using "internal cc" or simply map it to an external midi source.

    pictured here is the master channel's cc, but each tab at the top allows you to set cc for every parameter of each lane, the synth, FX, and Functions such as snapshots, keys, scales, chords etc.. this is amazing.

    Cool find! Thanks for double checking. :)

    Bought!

    Well... I’m glad I’m wrong. Now I know what I’m doing tomorrow. Setting the knobs on my controller to PolyPhase cc’s and fiddling.

  • Saw last night that same developer released an app for editing and managing Analog Four. Been hoping for this for a while. Haven't tried it yet, but definitely excited about it.

  • What is more straightforward and logical (also good for ambient): Polyphase or Cykle? Сan't choose.

  • edited December 2019

    Ambient and generative, probably Polyphase. Step Modulation, cykle. Cykle has worked for me better for rhythmic stuff. Also, it's AU whereas Polyphase is standalone.

  • Woah....this > @palms said:

    @SpookyZoo said:
    Do these have 'separate lanes' or do they both follow the main pattern of that track?

    4 separate sequence lanes. 2 cc's per lane. You can lock sequences in place, or have them regenerate with varying degrees of randomness (lots of control). The top lane is the master lane. you can set it so that the lower lanes are dictated by the master lane, or you can have them do their own thing.

    So the same patterns sends to 2 ccs ? Or is there a way to generate separate patterns for each?

    Thanks

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