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.

While we're all cooped up inside, here're some Loopy Pro updates

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Comments

  • @Michael said:

    Thank you! 😄 I'm rather excited myself - after 6 years basically working in isolation, I can't wait to show it to someone! Bugger me, I can't believe it's been 6 years. How embarrassing.

    Well you may have felt in isolation, but I know many of us here on the forum (including me before i joined the forum, but was on your email list, watching your initial video blogs 6 years ago), have been with you along this journey! Just think of how many times we collectively googled loopy masterpiece looking for clues lol.

    The challenge, I think, is that many of us think of multiple master tracks for sections of a song. That's where the ability to quickly duplicate tracks would be helpful.

    Exactly, yeah; just having a master group/ungrouped tracks probably won't cut it for that use case. But I have a feeling that follow actions may be sufficient to make this work neatly (rather than having a 'mirror track') , and without too much configuration overhead; just have it copy the track over upon record. I might just provide specific instructions for that use case in the manual.

    this makes sense to me too

  • @espiegel123 said:
    I wouldn't want to copy the loops because I want with one fell swoop to be able to record over the loop and have the new recording be used.

    You'll be able to do that automatically using the follow action setup described above, without having to do any manual copying.

    What about some group buttons where you can add any loop to any group and tapping a group plays the loops assigned to it?

    Or maybe that is a task for a Mozaic script? I create a script to do just that. When I have a set of loops playing, tap one of 4 empty 'loopset' buttons which captures the mute state of the loops. Any loopset can play any set of loops. Once a set has been assigned, tapping it recalls the settings for all the loops (mute, volume, pan)

    I'd be psyched to have the option to have one less row of loops than shown in the video and have a row of loopset buttons in their place.

    Yep, you'll be able to do that. Here's an example of setting up an arbitrary group using a button:

    The founding idea behind Loopy is to make it flexible, so you can pretty much set it up the way you like, without needing to write scripts or do anything like that.

  • @sloJordan said:
    Well you may have felt in isolation, but I know many of us here on the forum (including me before i joined the forum, but was on your email list, watching your initial video blogs 6 years ago), have been with you along this journey! Just think of how many times we collectively googled loopy masterpiece looking for clues lol.

    Ah, thank you =)

  • @Michael said:

    @sloJordan said:
    I think mirror tracks makes sense to me, especially if it mirrored any changes to fx or auv3 chains set up for that track. That is, if fx are on a per-track basis in loopy?

    FX are per colour (or on input channels), so that'll already be covered.

    Interesting, so colours are more similar conceptually to traditional DAW tracks, as in, any audio on the given colour track is effected by the same fx signal chain. very cool!

  • @sloJordan said:

    @Michael said:

    @sloJordan said:
    I think mirror tracks makes sense to me, especially if it mirrored any changes to fx or auv3 chains set up for that track. That is, if fx are on a per-track basis in loopy?

    FX are per colour (or on input channels), so that'll already be covered.

    Interesting, so colours are more similar conceptually to traditional DAW tracks, as in, any audio on the given colour track is effected by the same fx signal chain. very cool!

    That's right, yep. Colours also hold configurations: playback, recording, audio output, and audio input (which can be specific input channels, an audio unit, or the audio output from a track group).





  • @Michael said:

    @espiegel123 said:
    I wouldn't want to copy the loops because I want with one fell swoop to be able to record over the loop and have the new recording be used.

    You'll be able to do that automatically using the follow action setup described above, without having to do any manual copying.

    What about some group buttons where you can add any loop to any group and tapping a group plays the loops assigned to it?

    Or maybe that is a task for a Mozaic script? I create a script to do just that. When I have a set of loops playing, tap one of 4 empty 'loopset' buttons which captures the mute state of the loops. Any loopset can play any set of loops. Once a set has been assigned, tapping it recalls the settings for all the loops (mute, volume, pan)

    I'd be psyched to have the option to have one less row of loops than shown in the video and have a row of loopset buttons in their place.

    Yep, you'll be able to do that. Here's an example of setting up an arbitrary group using a button:

    The founding idea behind Loopy is to make it flexible, so you can pretty much set it up the way you like, without needing to write scripts or do anything like that.

    Great!

  • @Michael said:

    @tahiche said:
    I’m thinking of the scene/tracks scenario ala Ableton (or LK, Zenbeats...) . Where you have tracks and scenes. I’m seeing the groups sort of like scenes, or parts of a song. Like these song parts and loops:.

    Intro: drum A, guitar A, bass A
    Verse: drum B, guitar A, bass B
    Bridge: drum B, guitar B, bass C
    Chorus: drum C, guitar C, bass D
    Verse 2: no drum, guitar D, bass B

    Got it, that makes sense - thanks! I'd be very happy to hear suggestions, but I can't yet think of a neat way to facilitate tracks being a member of multiple groups, without the actual setup UI becoming unmanageable.

    Here's what it looks like right now:

    But given that tracks are actually visually represented in space, having, say, the top left track being part of every group would be very visually confusing, I think. You can do this with colours, of course, but they're typically used for configurations of tracks of the same type (e.g. bass, guitar, drums, with specific effects for each, etc), rather then song sections.

    If I understand the group concept depicted in the video, groups are the vertical lanes. Right?.

    The main issue, as your point out is that the visual representation poses serious challenges. To do song sections as some of us suggest, you’d probably have to copy/duplicate many loops (disks) across tracks (mirrors or real copies) loosing valuable space, cramming the screen or even running out of space for new recordings.

    What if the group management had it’d own little space, something like this:

    Those ugly things to the right are the groups. When you press on group 4, as shown in the shameful sketch, loops that are part of that group are highlighted. No need to duplicate loops and gives you the feeedom to position them as you wish. Basically instead of tracks give them a tiny space/menu/pop up of their own. If more visual help was needed, groups could function as sort of a layer that overlays the loops.
    Did I say I can’t wait?. This is gonna be great!.

  • 😮 good lord! So very excited for that "look ahead recording" mode.

    Is it possible to mix the volume post fx of a colour channel? Thinking about them more like tracks now has me thinking about how i might mix between them.

  • edited February 2021

    @tahiche said:
    If I understand the group concept depicted in the video, groups are the vertical lanes. Right?.

    Not necessarily - it's really totally flexible. You can set it up that way, if you like, but you don't have to. I'll be shipping Loopy with an assortment of 'preset' projects with a range of setups, and you can make your own however you like, pretty much.

    The main issue, as your point out is that the visual representation poses serious challenges. To do song sections as some of us suggest, you’d probably have to copy/duplicate many loops (disks) across tracks (mirrors or real copies) loosing valuable space, cramming the screen or even running out of space for new recordings.

    It's not that rigid, so I don't think it's a serious issue. If one wanted to keep groups in columns or rows, then one would indeed need to copy tracks if they wanted them to appear in multiple rows/cols (and one could use an automated action for that).

    What if the group management had it’d own little space, something like this:

    Those ugly things to the right are the groups. When you press on group 4, as shown in the shameful sketch, loops that are part of that group are highlighted. No need to duplicate loops and gives you the feeedom to position them as you wish. Basically instead of tracks give them a tiny space/menu/pop up of their own. If more visual help was needed, groups could function as sort of a layer that overlays the loops.

    Yeah, that's what I was demonstrating with the above video. You can make that setup pretty easily using actions.

    You can also use colours to group, of course, and adding buttons to toggle playback for all tracks of that colour (but of course, they'll all have the same fx etc).

  • @sloJordan said:
    😮 good lord! So very excited for that "look ahead recording" mode.

    Yeah, that one's pretty cool.

    Is it possible to mix the volume post fx of a colour channel? Thinking about them more like tracks now has me thinking about how i might mix between them.

    Yep, you can do that. Both colours and play groups have their own volume controls, which effect the tracks within. You can also add a slider and hook it up to any number of specific tracks.

  • @Michael said:

    @sloJordan said:
    Is it possible to mix the volume post fx of a colour channel? Thinking about them more like tracks now has me thinking about how i might mix between them.

    Yep, you can do that. Both colours and play groups have their own volume controls, which effect the tracks within. You can also add a slider and hook it up to any number of specific tracks.

    Incredible, seriously!

    So are you saying those volume controls only effect the individual track volumes directly, pre-fx? If so, consider it a non-essential future feature request that there be a switch to apply the fader post-fx, without changing the individual track volumes.

  • @sloJordan said:

    @Michael said:

    @sloJordan said:
    Is it possible to mix the volume post fx of a colour channel? Thinking about them more like tracks now has me thinking about how i might mix between them.

    Yep, you can do that. Both colours and play groups have their own volume controls, which effect the tracks within. You can also add a slider and hook it up to any number of specific tracks.

    Incredible, seriously!

    So are you saying those volume controls only effect the individual track volumes directly, pre-fx? If so, consider it a non-essential future feature request that there be a switch to apply the fader post-fx, without changing the individual track volumes.

    Oh, I beg your pardon, I misread your initial question. Yeah, right now it's pre-fx, although the group volumes are applied on top of the track volumes - basically, the volume of any particular track is its own volume × the group volume.

  • edited February 2021

    @Michael said:
    Oh, I beg your pardon, I misread your initial question. Yeah, right now it's pre-fx, although the group volumes are applied on top of the track volumes - basically, the volume of any particular track is its own volume × the group volume.

    👍🏻
    post fx would be cool for colours, since things like distortion react differently at each volume, but def not that important right now

  • edited February 2021

    @sloJordan said:

    @Michael said:
    Oh, I beg your pardon, I misread your initial question. Yeah, right now it's pre-fx, although the group volumes are applied on top of the track volumes - basically, the volume of any particular track is its own volume × the group volume.

    👍🏻
    post fx would be cool for colours, since things like distortion react differently at each volume, but def not that important right now

    Yeah, good point. Might rejig that to make it the default, actually. It's pretty easy to do.

  • Of all the developments going on in music right now—and I do mean every single thing—a looper such as this is IMHO the most important development there could be.

    The implications for learning to play music alone are vast. To say nothing of performance of any type of live music. But spontaneous composition at all levels of musical skill is the thing that really boggles my mind about this.
    The ability to set up a template and turn it into a fleshed out composition in real time with any source instruments is a boon to any existing musical tool that already exists. As simple or as deep as you want it to be. This is the game changer of game changers in my mind anyway…

  • @SealTeamSick said:
    Of all the developments going on in music right now—and I do mean every single thing—a looper such as this is IMHO the most important development there could be.

    The implications for learning to play music alone are vast. To say nothing of performance of any type of live music. But spontaneous composition at all levels of musical skill is the thing that really boggles my mind about this.
    The ability to set up a template and turn it into a fleshed out composition in real time with any source instruments is a boon to any existing musical tool that already exists. As simple or as deep as you want it to be. This is the game changer of game changers in my mind anyway…

    Thank you! Here's hoping I can live up to the ideal =)

  • edited February 2021

    @Michael said:

    @horsetrainer said:
    I'm very happy to hear Loopy Pro will record and play MIDI too.
    Instabuy!

    Also hoping Loopy Pro ends up including a MIDI composing feature (a MIDI history buffer) that utilizes perpetual overwriting using a pre-selectable-length loop. That allows for experimental composing without needing to remain aware of any fixed-loop start and end points.

    To me that would be the greatest new workflow capability in iOS next to Drambo's modularity.

    Yep! Note that this'll be v1.1, though - MIDI tracks won't be there at launch, cos I just wanna get the damn thing out the door 😄 But MIDI tracks will behave exactly the same as the audio ones, so they'll have overdub (is that what you're describing?).

    It's more like an overwriting recording process.

    A Midi history recorder could look just like the other round loopy tracks...
    The difference with a history recorder track is:

    • The track length is set prior to recording (length can be seconds or minutes).

    • While the history recorder track is recording, the entire track length continuously rotates counterclockwise.

    • Everything new that is recorded to the track, appears on the left side of the 12 o'clock position, and rotates counterclockwise.

    • If the track length was set to 60 seconds. Once the recorded data goes full circle around the loop and reaches the 12 o'clock position again at 60 seconds. Recorded data over 60 seconds old is permanently erased and disappears from the track as it touches the right side of the 12 o'clock position.

    The history recorder allows for long periods of experimental composing while working within an easily editable track length.

    When the user plays something they want to keep, they tap the track to stop recording.
    The user then opens the track and enters start and end points to the section of "good" recording.
    Once edited the history recorder track is converted into a standard loopy track.

    This composing method frees the user from the timing constraints imposed by traditional loop recording. Complex pieces of hand played music can be attempted multiple times to a running history recorder free from any limitation of track beginning or end points. Because the track has no fixed beginning or end points until recording is stopped. Playing in tempo is the only composing constraint.

  • edited February 2021

    Hmm, this just sounds like look-ahead recording to me, where you tap record to lock in the last few bars. Am I wrong?

  • @Michael said:
    Hmm, this just sounds like look-ahead recording to me, where you tap record to lock in the last few bars. Am I wrong?

    Also called Retrospective Looper in Endless app. It’s a cool concept.

  • BenBen
    edited February 2021

    @Michael said:
    Not wanting to rip off someone else's work, but:

    @Ben said:
    Are you asking if a loop can be part of more than one group?
    If that’s the question it’s a very cool thing. Group the loop does that and it’s super time saving.
    Meant to add that it is a simple copy and paste action.

    @Ben, how does GTL do this? As far as I can tell it's just got a 'master group' (which would be the equivalent of a series of ungrouped tracks in Loopy Pro, or tracks in a group which isn't set as mutually exclusive), and other groups.

    Every loop in every group (master or otherwise) has a copy option.
    When you tap it all available blank/unrecorded loops allow for paste.
    You paste anywhere you like.
    So, if you have a 2nd verse set up with blank loops in the group you can copy over the verse 1 piano etc.

  • @Ben said:

    @Michael said:
    Not wanting to rip off someone else's work, but:

    @Ben said:
    Are you asking if a loop can be part of more than one group?
    If that’s the question it’s a very cool thing. Group the loop does that and it’s super time saving.
    Meant to add that it is a simple copy and paste action.

    @Ben, how does GTL do this? As far as I can tell it's just got a 'master group' (which would be the equivalent of a series of ungrouped tracks in Loopy Pro, or tracks in a group which isn't set as mutually exclusive), and other groups.

    Every loop in every group (master or otherwise) has a copy option.
    When you tap it all available blank/unrecorded loops allow for paste.
    You paste anywhere you like.
    So, if you have a 2nd verse set up with blank loops in the group you can copy over the verse 1 piano etc.

    Ah, okay. So you have to actually manually do the copy over, I guess?

  • @McD said:

    @echoopera said:

    Yes. Epididymal Hypertension ensues.

    You should probably follow up with your urologist about that.

  • @Michael said:
    Hmm, this just sounds like look-ahead recording to me, where you tap record to lock in the last few bars. Am I wrong?

    I'm not sure because I'm not familiar with what look-ahead recording does.

    Just think of it as being like a security camera recorder that has only a couple of days of storage space to keep the recorded video. The oldest video is constantly being erased to make room for new video. The purpose for the camera is in case some event happens, and they need to see video of what happened. They don't need the older video because there's nothing on it they need to see. It's like those dash cams that people put in their cars in case they get into an accident and need to prove what happened.

    Same principle. But instead this is recording Audio or Midi, and the user can adjust the length of the storage space to a length they feel they need to compose a piece of new music. They can leave the recorder running and noodle with musical ideas for as long as they want. But when inspiration strikes, and they play something they want to put in their song. All they have to do is stop the recorder, then extract the musical idea from the recorder.

    The same recorder could be used to add a new track part to song the user is working on. They can noodle along with what they've already written, try different instruments, different melodies. Having that recorder running while experimenting lets the user save their creative successes.

    It's like a creative assistance tool. :)

  • Okay, yup, that's look-ahead recording - Loopy has that. Currently, it just captures the last bars of the current set loop length (and you have a full loop length afterwards to lock it in). In future, I'll probably consider a longer buffer and a posteriori length selection.

  • @Michael said:
    Okay, yup, that's look-ahead recording - Loopy has that. Currently, it just captures the last bars of the current set loop length (and you have a full loop length afterwards to lock it in). In future, I'll probably consider a longer buffer and a posteriori length selection.

    That's fantastic! I've been hoping for a Midi/Audio recorder with that feature for a very long time.
    Thank you!

  • @Michael said:

    @Ben said:

    @Michael said:
    Not wanting to rip off someone else's work, but:

    @Ben said:
    Are you asking if a loop can be part of more than one group?
    If that’s the question it’s a very cool thing. Group the loop does that and it’s super time saving.
    Meant to add that it is a simple copy and paste action.

    @Ben, how does GTL do this? As far as I can tell it's just got a 'master group' (which would be the equivalent of a series of ungrouped tracks in Loopy Pro, or tracks in a group which isn't set as mutually exclusive), and other groups.

    Every loop in every group (master or otherwise) has a copy option.
    When you tap it all available blank/unrecorded loops allow for paste.
    You paste anywhere you like.
    So, if you have a 2nd verse set up with blank loops in the group you can copy over the verse 1 piano etc.

    Ah, okay. So you have to actually manually do the copy over, I guess?

    That’s correct.

  • @Michael said:
    Okay, yup, that's look-ahead recording - Loopy has that. Currently, it just captures the last bars of the current set loop length (and you have a full loop length afterwards to lock it in). In future, I'll probably consider a longer buffer and a posteriori length selection.

    Wow, terrific!.
    Question... What happens with the look-ahead when the next “Loop cycle” starts?. Say got a 4 bar loop, you’re playing along and you really like your last performance. So you hit the “look ahead to loop” button, by that time you’re already on the next loop cycle. I had a problem with that when I tried the Endless app retrospective looper, if I wanted the last performance I had to stop before the end of the loop to press the button, which in turn would screw up the loop.

  • @Michael said:

    @echoopera said:
    I cannot take this thread. There is just too much coolness going on in it. The new Loopy app looks brilliant. Good luck as it gets closer to a release date :)

    @McD said:
    Yes. Epididymal Hypertension ensues.

    Thank you! 😄 I'm rather excited myself - after 6 years basically working in isolation, I can't wait to show it to someone!

    I’m glad you started doing it. Although I also hope it’s not going to provide distractions from the core vision and add development time.

    Can’t wait for the beta.

  • @Michael how about randomization within a group? That is, I put the tracks in a group and Loopy randomly picks one to play back?

  • edited February 2021

    @tahiche said:

    @Michael said:
    Okay, yup, that's look-ahead recording - Loopy has that. Currently, it just captures the last bars of the current set loop length (and you have a full loop length afterwards to lock it in). In future, I'll probably consider a longer buffer and a posteriori length selection.

    Wow, terrific!.
    Question... What happens with the look-ahead when the next “Loop cycle” starts?. Say got a 4 bar loop, you’re playing along and you really like your last performance. So you hit the “look ahead to loop” button, by that time you’re already on the next loop cycle. I had a problem with that when I tried the Endless app retrospective looper, if I wanted the last performance I had to stop before the end of the loop to press the button, which in turn would screw up the loop.

    Right now it has a single-loop duration, so tapping record any time during, say, a 4-bar region will lock in the preceding 4 bars, so say you played something good in bars 12-16 of the global timeline. If you tap record any time during bars 16-20 it’ll lock in bars 12-16. Does that answer your question?

This discussion has been closed.