Audiobus is a fantastic idea, and app, but I have a hard time using it the way I want.

I've got Loopy HD, and use that as the recording app. But I can't get over that there is no count-in, or other timing assistance features.

Take Figure, I love that app, it just got on the Bus, and my first thought was "so what?".
I can't record anything from Figure into Loopy without timing issues, and it's a pain in the *ss.
Same goes for the all the other Bus-enabled synths.

As of now, the best thing for me about Audiobus is the effect slot. Not the record/output option.


How are you using Audiobus?

I agree that Loopy needs to broadcast a count-in via the Audiobus sidebar, and posted some ideas for implementation on their forum. You might add your thoughts there, so that Michael knows we care about this.

I hear you about Figure. I was really excited about this, but without clock sync it's hard to do much. A lot of what makes Figure sound good is the pulsing of the bass and lead synths in time with the rest of the music. Without that, it's less interesting.

Meanwhile, Loopy works really well with Funkbox; search YouTube for loopy funkbox to see how.

What else can you do? Figure and iKaossilator can export a series of bars via AudioCopy. Start with one of those and paste it into a new Loopy session. Then layer more instruments over that. Pads and leads that don't rely on BPM ratios are probably the safest here, though in theory you should be able to sync Magellan's clock with Loopy. (Check to see that Loopy has the right BPM number for your base loop -- though if it doesn't, I'm not sure what you can do about it). I haven't tried this yet, but you could run Guitarism through JamUp's effects and layer those into Loopy too.

Here's a song that I built up, starting with Arctic Keys, then switching to Sunrizer and finally Animoog. All of the parts were recorded into Loopy, via Audiobus, then assembled in Beatmaker 2.

https://soundcloud.com/dswo/snow-canyon
Last edited by dswo on Thu Feb 14, 2013 8:33 am; edited 2 times in total

I work with Cubasis in the output and most of the time with 3 Audiobus inputs and virtual midi.Recording everything at once on single tracks works like a charm (although theres a nasty bug in cubasis that sometimes deletes audiofiles randomly if you use undo while in audiobus mode) and is exactly what i was looking for all the time.And with Beatmaker on board i can have the lovely drumsampler back...just to put it in the input and record it in cubasis as well

Then i ACP over to Auria to mix and arrange my stuff.With the lack of automation and better effects (currently) i can't use cubasis for that purpose.But that doesn't matter cause i love Auria and my mixes sounding better now then the ones i do in Logic Pro.The PSP and Fabfilter stuff is an awesome addition.

In fact i love both apps and i don't mind if both will have Midi,automation and good effects later.It's nice to have a choice (depending on my daily mood) which one i wanna use in a specific moment

Would be nice to have Midi sync as well in Cubasis but it's all on their list and will come in later updates.I prefer to have a tight sync connection later instead of something like in beatmaker which is quite unusable.

So how does Cubasis handle count-in, on-the-fly-recording, etc.?

I use MultiTrack DAW as my main output with Audiobus. So far, I typically start by ACPing an initial drum track from Figure or DM1 into MTD, and that provides both the count-in measures as well as drum track to play along with.

I think it also helps that I'm using a MIDI controller, as I don't need to be in the synth app I'm recording to play the notes. I set up the sounds I want, say in Magellan, and then switch back over to MTD. I then place the cursor 4 bars back from where I want to record and start recording. Everything I play on the MIDI controller records Magellan into MTD. When I'm done, I can easily edit the beginning and end of the clip (for looping purposes) within MTD. Once I have that part recorded, I then move on to the next part and/or track and do the same thing.

I'm guessing you could do the same thing without the MIDI controller as well. Just give yourself a longer count-in, which gives you time to hit record in MTD and then switch back to the synth app to play in the part via the touchscreen. This is clearly a bit more clumsy, particularly if you want to do multiple takes, as it would require a fair amount of switching back and forth between apps.

One other note: I'm doing all this on an iPad 2, and I can layer up a good number of tracks in MTD without and sound stuttering or losing responsiveness in the recording. I guess that speaks to the low CPU requirements of MTD, which is nice.

of course it has the good old 1 or 2 bars count in.I had goosebumps the first time cause its still the same count in (and/or metronome sound) they used back in the old Atari days

Did not test on the fly recording,i'll give it a try later.

Maybe i should add:i actually don't do real live recordings via audiobus.I record the Midi notes for the external drums/synths in cubasis first and reocrd the audiobus signal when everythings ready to go.The recording is actually more like "realtime bouncing"although i sometimes screw cutoff etc. when i record it to audiotracks.But because i'm working with virtual midi everythings sits tight in the mix an theres no need to trim something.But i had to increase the latency to 512 first.I have enough power (ipad 4) but cubasis was "too late"when i recorded via audiobus.The recorded files started earlier then cubasis.Don't know what it is but i don't care about.512 is good enough for me and sucks less power and therefore less battery.

I just started playing around with Figuire and Cubasis this morning and ACP seems to be the best option right now. I was able to record directly from figuire but I had to adjust the start time with the trim function to adjust the start time. That worked, but ACP wiould be much faster. I couldn't get Figuire to start in sync with Cubasis after the count-in. There seems to be a lag between when you hit the play button on the Audiobas tool bar and when play begins. One thing that I like is that you can create a midi track and assign it to Audiobus iinput instruments. You can do your basic sequencing in cubasis and then record the audio to seperate tracks.

there's just no way to get both in perfect sync,almost impossible to"sync"apps together with a manual touch on the play/record button.No matter what latency or how fast you are,there will allways be something little to trim
Cubasis needs Midi sync asap but theres no midi sync in figure anyway...

I use Aurias metronome w/ count-in. Next version of Auria is gonna have an improved implementation of Audiobus, it is a bit of a hassle now with the input matrix and not knowing which instruments are assigned to what track and so on. So that's good. But I'm also looking at Cubase since people are having a better experience with that and Audiobus, plus it's ahead with its midi. Although seems Auria might get some kind of midi/sync implementation next (since its needed for a lot of the plugins they are already selling within the app).

In the end I think Apple needs to do some really fundamental changes with their thinking and iOS to allow for a proper, seamless, painless etc "DAW experience".

I had high hopes for it, but for my workflow I am now finding Audiobus too much of a hassle to set up and get right, so I'm back with Audiocopy/Audiopaste. It's easier (for me at least) to audiocopy loops from Figure and/or iKaosillator and paste them into Auria. If Figure had a matrix sequencer I'd be the first to buy it.

I can imagine that if you work within seperate apps (with their own sequencer)and theres no way to sync but it's a HUGE step forward if you control apps via virtual midi.It's quite close to the workflow you have with a VST in a Desktop DAW now.And it's just the beginning

Is anyone having problems midi-syncing DM1 with any other apps?!
I can't get DM1 to start or stop from any other apps.

I've tried all the midi-settings I can think of.

They really should have built a synch start button into Audiobus !!!! Maybe they will in a future update

I've used Figure/Loopy HD combo with Audibus and have no problem syncing the sound. What I basically do is match both the bars # and the BPM by setting them manually in Loopy. Loopy would then record at the top of the bar regardless of when you push the record button.

Here's a track using Figure-Loopy HD-Magellan via Audiobus

http://soundcloud.com/mikemansor/3-mar-3-47