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
Not a beta tester, but a half hour of looking at the demo patterns, tapping buttons and twirling dials was enough to know the app well enough to use it musically. (Note: that's using the app musically, not necessarily using it to try to create a preconceived musical idea.)
It was sort of funny - at the half hour mark I was telling my husband all of the cool things I could do with the app. Then I went back to play with it some more and found that I was barely halfway through exploring all of the functionality. Still just seeing the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what it will be capable of after a few more weeks of getting to know it.
I haven't had a second attempt at it yet. Only bought it late last night and spent about 45mins with it. Was getting aggravated that I couldn't even figure out how to name the User init that I'd just crafted. You'd think that all you'd have to do is select the init, then hit the "Rename" button, then name it and save. But all hitting the rename button did was save without letting me name it. Little stuff like that is frustrating when you'd rather be spending time figuring out the real guts of the app instead of how to name something.
agreed @Fruitbat1919 it's all about "clicking" the buttons including the SHIFT one. trial and error.Thanks again for the info earlier.
As for the files app: My workflow often includes importing files from my laptop with all kinds of samples and loops. Given that the iPad often sits in an audio dock or is attached to an USB audio/Midi interface, one of the more convenient ways to load samples into Groove Rider is using the old conventional iTunes File Sharing over Wi-Fi.
Being able to sample inside Groove Rider would be even better of course, but that's what I do now, on iOS 9.0.
It's possible that I'm trying to make this more complicated than it really is. I've done that before. Like, with trying to figure out how the automation works in this, and then realizing that all you do is hit record and twirl some knobs. Done. I was looking for something more complicated than that, and it was preventing me from seeing the simplicity.
I've seen that too when I've tried to show others how to do stuff on the Mac/iOS who are coming from PC. They tend to actually get stuck with some things that are just intuitive and simple, because they're so used to having to dig into menus to do basic setting stuff.
You hold shift, then the write/rename button. All the buttons with an additional label above, require shift and then a press to get that function. So you have your new pattern and if it's in a new slot, you hit write to save it, then shift and write to rename then write again to save the new name. Then you make some changes. Now you hit copy and select an empty user pattern slot, hit copy again and then paste entire pattern to paste that into a new slot. Then save again. So after a while you have a track in there made up of 4 bar sections. Put the app into audiobus or wherever and then record the patterns in the preferred order into wherever. You can select the next pattern during playback to queue it up and it won't play until the current one is finished so everything will be in time. It sounds complicated but it's really not. Just a tad quirky. The overall idea being that you can keep creating 4 bar (or however many) sections from one initial idea that you keep tweaking and saving as it's own thing until you have enough for a track
It's likely the shift key use is the part that's tripping me up. And why would you hit copy twice, before then pasting? Seems like a bunch of extra commands that would more logically be done with fewer. Will have another go in a bit. thx!
Oh because there's no unique paste button. Once you copy something, the copy button then becomes the paste button as well so when you hit it again, it will let you choose what to paste
Groove Rider is definitely very similar to the Kong Electribe 2. Like a piece of hardware, it does employ multiple modes to get the most out of the limited number of buttons on the screen. The modes, shift key, and the overall approach will therefore not be intuitive but once you understand them, it becomes second nature to use the app. If you search for Electribe 2 tutorials that go over the steps sufficiently slow enough, they can be a way to learn the app.
@jimpavloff Amazing app - what I can do on Grooverider in seconds would take forever in other apps - almost feel like I'am sitting in front of my Akai MPC or Roland 404 - The simplicity is "groovy" pun intended excellent With Auv3 fx added I won't be needing much else. I only been on it an hour and abit and got the basics with help of @Fruitbat1919
Is there a future update where can put an Insert effect on the Master channel?
If you’ve used any electribe including the iElectribe you’ll find many similarities. That background helped me pick this up pretty quickly. The manual definitely helped fill in a few blanks. I find this better than the electribes. More flexible and better overall experience. It’s like having 8 “analog” synths and a kickass drum machine. I’m enjoying it immensely whereas the electribes never really did it for me.
Kind of useless when you start to chain patterns and then find all the FX tails are cut when the new pattern starts. If the FX settings are the same between patterns I would of thought they could be continued.
The necessity to use shift key was what was tripping me up. I'm familiar with old-school efficient interfaces that make use of multifunction buttons, ie. pre-smart flip-phone interfaces, etc. Not always the most intuitive, but once you've got the general syntax, it starts making it's own logical sense. If the dev had put those little white lines leading from the shift key up and over to the top rename, clear, redo keys... like he did with the little white lines below the edit key, I might have caught on faster.
Although I don't like some of the included preset sounds, like the vocal's saying "Get it!" and "Oh Yeah!", etc. it's easy to use those and mangle the hell out of them into something really strange and twisted. More up my alley.
Catching on slowly and making more progress. Hints of maybe even starting to like it.
A couple quick questions... how do I import my own samples to use via the files app? And, how exactly do I assign a part it's own color?
@skiphunt I dunno how to import cause I'm not on 11 but for the colors you enter the menu, go to "part" and then at the bottom of that screen is the color. You use the little jog wheel or tapping on the color to change it
yep that needs sorting
Drag the Import folder from GR to Favorites. Then you can drag any files from the source apps listed above to Import. This will be updated according to dev to allow for user defined folders.
@jimpavloff - ok anyone on here @Fruitbat1919 maybe - I was tap tempo'ing and the tempo is on 90.6 I've gone into tempo settings and tried to dial in a point zero i.e 90.0 tempo but wont let me dial in an even number - stuck on .6 (90.6) in an update can we have an option to type in tempo - unless it's in the app already ?
Hold down Shift and drag dial
Works almost exactly like my electribe2. So I already knew what to do.
@db909 & @anickt thanks! I'm going to spend a bit more time with this before asking more questions. Just skimmed the manual again and the use of the shift key is there. Just missed it. After I get a solid understanding of the main interface, I'll tackle that automation editing section.
cheers nice one
You do know that you could have 16 synths if you wanted to? Any part can be sample or synth.
Shift is used quite a bit. The 1 to 4 Octave buttons with Shift takes you to the 1 to 4 bar instead (when in keys mode)
True!
This app is a remarkable combination of intuitive and cryptic controls.
I think these questions have been answered already, but I just skimmed all 12 pages and couldn't locate the answers. So, if someone could be so kind
@jimpavloff imported a few wav. samples Grooverider can see them in Imports folder - I tap on the sample to load and get a "Not found" message - is that because of bit rate i.e maybe becaue 24bit sample? does grooverider work with 16bit only? Can stereo and mono samples be imported or one or the other ?gonna try 16bit and see
The Groove Rider workflow really is exactly like the electribes workflow. I’ve owned several electribes, I use my ESX-1 regularly. (I never bought the electribe 2 because it wasn’t an upgrade from the ESX-1 and was disappointing to me.) So for electribe users this app is a natural fit.
I’m sad to read that there are pattern change glitches. No real reason for that in iOS is there? I hope that gets fixed asap!
These are my ‘as far as I know’ answers:
Only one insert fx per part.
Shift + Copy gives you a menu with Clear Part Automation as an option.
If I really want to work on just one bar at a time, I copy that bar to a new Pattern. I can then copy it back. Once you get used to copying bits around in the app, it becomes second nature - to start with it seems slightly alien. I suppose I’m used to this from hardware.
Thanks!
Sooo, as far as you know, I can't simply record an insert fx, then layer another one on top for multiple insert fx on one part?
And, there's not a way to simply/temporarily solo a bar while you're working on it? It'd be cool if you could kind of solo/mute bars while editing. But, I guess I could either do as you suggest. Or, just start with one bar, before creating a new one and moving onto it after the first one is done. Only this doesn't work either because lets say you have all 4 bars worked out, but want to fine tune edit just the second bar without having to cycle through the other 3 bars in the process. Unless there's some other setting for this, it sounds like copying a bar out into a new pattern, then back in, as you suggest, would be the only way. Seems like there ought to be a more elegant, less clunky way of doing that though.