Hey all, after getting Audulus for iOS I became interested in the ability to wire up an instrument in Audulus, and then easily play it out live, jam with it, or record/sequence it in a more robust sequencer. I’ve lightly messed around with routing the MIDI signals from TouchOSC, which works fine.
I’ve heard you can get an AudioUnit for iOS Garageband that will send MIDI signals, FL Studio Mobile claims it can do MIDI out, and maybe Lemur could do it as well?
Anyone have any experience with these or have any other suggestions?
Are you using an iPad or an iPhone? I’ve had success on the iPad with Cubasis, Beatmaker Pro, Fugue, and a few others sending MIDI signals internally to Audulus.
There are lots of great iDAWs now. I still really like Auria as it looks a little cleaner and it’s easier to get at weird Auv3 midi cc automation, but Cubasis has great tutorial videos and and an awesome usebase.
Yes Korg Gadget is really fun to use, but it can not host Audulus. However, Beatmaker 3 and Cubasis 2 can. I found Cubasis 2 to be the easiest to set up as far at syncing clocks, routing midi and whatnot. Beatmaker 3 has a really nice sampler and an Ableton workflow option (which I hope they will update with the ability to record clip launch jams).
But with a phone I would say Garageband for live recording and Korg Gadget for midi.
Beatmaker 3 with a collection of iOS effects is really fun. But it really depends on what you already have for gear. If you go from Ableton on a full system to Korg Gadget on an iPad, then it is a natural step towards Beatmaker 3 because of the access to plugins. It is pretty addictive when you can buy a 7 operator FM Synth AUv3 that can read DX7 files for $5, then turn around a pick up a reverb from Audio Damage for about the same price. It its a step up from collecting free VST’s/AU’s on site like Bedroom Producer’s Blog.
Like I said, the sampler is really good. I liked the idea of building, say, 16 awesome kick drums in NI’s Form on my Mac and then exporting them to BM3’s sampler on iOS. I would also grab old school synths/drum machine samples and load them onto the 8x8 pads. This gives me a nice electro library. Then, like I said, you might run these old electro samples through a gated reverb.
So I think the whole fun factor is if you are going on a little trip or you like to go for small adventures out, you can have a little iPad mini or whatever and be making tracks. Of course, when you add in some little stringed instruments you can bring with you and a little apogee audio interface or something, it gets better. I like taking a bunch of this stuff in a pack and finding a nice spot outside with no one around. That’s why I got into the solar stuff and made a modular rack I could bring as well.
When Audulus goes AUv3 I am going to be dancing.
Obviously you can’t do all of this on a phone. I used to work from an iPod Touch, but I fried it so it wasn’t that much more to find an unopened 2nd hand iPad Mini 4, instead of replacing it with another iPod Touch or iPhone. It still has that small form factor but you are so much less limited on what you can operate and the interface is much more usable than a little phone screen.
One more thing. In the last 6 months I stopped worrying about most of this have have just been interested in Audulus. So I think there may be a nice habit where you tend to trim the fat quite often. As I am just now learning to spend 8 hours on the elektron sequencing and what not, I am thinking back about some legendary house producers. Some of them will make their tracks in one day. Keeping everything fresh, fun and simple. Then they move on. They seem to get a good setup and then you just work – like how I am sure you, @robertsyrett make drawings. You don’t want to be in there mucking around too much.
I skipped this question yesterday because it seemed misguided. All iOS DAWs/Hosts send/receive/play/record MIDI – this includes Garageband. If you need to find a workaround for a plugin that won’t, that is another story and is specific to whatever you want to work together – sometimes the workarounds require AUM or Audiobus.
I use Multitrack DAW, it’s universal for both iPad and iPhone. i plug my focusrite scarlet 18i8 and can record up to 16 tracks at a time. Also works great with Audiobus to record other iOS apps.
It’s not fancy by any means but it gets the job done without a steep learning curve. I believe it’s still being supported for future iOS devices. There really hasn’t been much activity over on their forum
