TabMuse — a Home for Digital and Analog Music Inspiration

Tag: Audiobus

The New Apple iPad pulls me back into iOS Music
The recent introduction of Apple’s new iPad line surprised many industry pundits. With technical specs rivaling the iPad Air 2, but a pricepoint of $329 (32GB) and $429 (128GB), the new iPads appear to be an attempt by Cupertino to prop up its declining tablet computer market. For musicians using the iOS platform – this writer included – it offers a lifeline to re-embrace a still pretty vibrant community of app developers.

A collection of old friends in their new home. Screenshot by author.

Around two to three years ago, TabMuse turned its focus away from tablet music apps and more towards hardware synths and effects. It’s been a year and a half since the last iOS article. This somewhat parallels my own shift as well. My last Church of Hed album, Brandenburg Heights, features all hardware synths. The only software involved in the recording was ProTools and a few of its effects plug-ins for EQ.

The Enforced Obsolescence of the iPad 2

Using my iPad 2 over the past two years has been a frustrating experience. I’ve kept it on iOS 7 because of incompatibility issues with the older music apps I still occasionally use, as well as the reported poor performance of new iOS versions on older hardware. iOS 8 adversely affected the iOS music scene, but by that point I was embracing a growing collection of analog hardware in my studio.

Not being able to upgrade Safari caused Apple’s mobile web browser to crash a few times each day. Some of my most-used music apps, like Korg Gadget and Audiobus, struggled on the underpowered tablet. Soon, nearly all new iOS music app updates only supported iOS 8 and newer.

Whine. Whine. Whine. I planned on getting a new iPad at some point – the Air 2 intrigued – but other studio priorities took precedence. I even started using a second laptop in the studio dedicated to software synths, while an ancient version of ProTools – that still works like a breeze – holds fort on an ancient laptop, also running fine – knock on wood.

Enforced obsolescence and backwards incompatibility sucks, but it remains an important part of the Cupertino business model. Nevertheless, I persisted.

The Joy of the New iPad

So I recently picked up the new 128GB iPad and proceeded to re-download the best 95 percent of my music apps; this tablet is staying free of games. I am happy to report the joy of running multi-routes in Audiobus 2 with no discernible hiccups. Being able to use more than four gadgets simultaneously in a Korg Gadget project is another plus.

Since I have ProTools, I don’t really need to use iOS DAW programs like Cubasis. iOS music apps for me are all about unique synth sounds and composing beats. Stroke Machine and Elastic Drums also run great, by the way. A Lightning to 30-pin cable keeps the Griffin StudioConnect in the game.

Another compatibility issue lurks soon when Apple begins requiring 64-bit apps with the release of iOS 11. Thankfully, most of those older 32-bit apps with devs who can’t support them any longer still run fine on Ye Olde iPad 2.

New app purchases are coming down the pike, with Moog’s Model 15 and the Korg iOdyssey topping my wish list. Hardware synths remain the focus, however. A minor effect pedal addiction is also doing a nice job of keeping me from entering the Eurorack world and its subsequent cash outlay.

So expect more coverage of iOS music apps in the future here at TabMuse. It won’t be like the first year of this site when it dominated the content, but we’ll mix a review or tips article in occasionally. Music app devs interested in coverage, feel free to schlep me a download code!

Related articles across the web
April 7, 2017
Audiobus 2 — Checking out Multi-Routing on an iPad 2

At the time of our review of Audiobus 2, I hadn’t yet picked up its multi-routing feature available through in-app purchase. Intrigued by the possibilities of chaining effects — even on my resource-constrained iPad 2 — I bit the bullet, and here’s what was discovered.

Audiobus 2 Multi-Routing on the iPad 2

As I am more focused on the iPad for creating loops, beats, and its array of innovative synth apps, I don’t have much need to run 6 separate tracks into Garage Band or any other iOS DAW simultaneously. I figured a smaller Audiobus setup would be musically useful and still be able to run smoothly on the old iPad.

First off, using my standard 512 frames buffer setting with Audiobus, I tried a two route preset with one route having DM1 running through the iVCS3 used as an effect. The second route used iMini through the Moog Filtatron and Echo Pad in series. Both routes were sent to Garage Band for recording.

Despite this pretty picture, I couldn’t get this Audiobus 2 preset to work properly on my old iPad 2. I had more success by simplifying things. Screenshot by Author.

I simply couldn’t get this setup to work. Apps were consistently going to sleep two or three at a time; garbled sound was coming out of the DM1 route, with clock running much slower than the expected 120 bpm. No sound came out of the iMini route.

I simplified things somewhat, replacing the iVCS3 with JamUp Pro XT and getting rid of the Filtatron. This became a bit more useful. I was able to play my DM1 loop, running it through JamUp with nary an issue. Adding an arpeggiation on iMini through Echo Pad led to occasionally garbled sound, but I wondered what actually got recorded in Garage Band.

As I suspected, non-garbled audio successfully ended up in Garage Band as an audio track. Now I’ve got an experimental distorted drum loop — a waltz even — with a delayed synth line on top. Nice. Raising the buffer to 1024 samples helped the recording performance even more.

I also enjoyed success running the iSEM on a single route through an effects chain made up of JamUp Pro XT and the Moog Filtatron. No audio hiccups nor app crashes impacted the session.

Since I really enjoy the experimental aspect of music creation, Audiobus 2’s limitations on my older iPad 2 aren’t a showstopper, but nonetheless I smell a tablet upgrade coming.

The Bottom Line is an Upgrade to a newer iPad is coming

Recent apps like Korg Gadget, Stroke Machine, and now Audiobus 2’s multi-routing feature really put a processor pinch on older iPads. I’d still recommend springing for the Audiobus 2 in-app purchase to get multi-routing functionality; the developers deserve the scratch anyway for the state-saving and preset management features.

Expect iOS 8 to be incompatible with the iPad 2 (iOS 9 for sure), so its days as a relevant part of Apple’s tablet lineup are numbered. It looks like I’ll be happily picking a newer iPad sooner than later. Not having to deal with the iPad’s crappy 30-pin connector — Apple’s worst invention — simply adds to the joy.

April 18, 2014
Audiobus 2 Update adds great Features to this Must-Have iPad Music App

In the year or so since its release, Audiobus has essentially revolutionized the iPad music scene; even influencing Apple to add Inter App Audio in iOS 7. This week saw the first major update to Audiobus, and the new features make this the app a must for any musician involved in beatmaking and recording on their iPad. Best of all — the update is free (the app itself is a reasonable $4.99); although some functionality is available with an in-app purchase.

A Closer Look at Audiobus

Audiobus allows audio to be routed between apps on the iPad. In the Audiobus nomenclature, apps can either be Inputs, Effects, or Outputs; with some apps able to serve multiple roles. After starting up, it is a simple process to select your desired app from a list of those compatible with Audiobus; an overlaid transport control helps to switch between apps as well as control recording and playback.

Recording Arturia’s iSEM into Garage Band using JamUp Pro XT as an effect. All possible because of Audiobus. Screenshot by author.

For example, you can run Stroke Machine through Echo Pad as an effect and record everything in BeatMaker 2. Nearly all of the important iPad music apps support Audiobus.

One of the first major features in the new update really ups the usability factor. Audiobus now supports the saving of presets, which means a previously saved app setup can be loaded in one fell swoop. Musicians should definitely appreciate this added convenience.

Presets are related to another major new Audiobus 2 feature — saving the state of an app. So when you load a preset your synth patches and parameter settings are loaded as well — this is so cool! Remember that music app developers need to update their wares to support state saving; expect most of them to do just that over the next few months.

Just these two features by themselves really trumps what Inter App Audio is able to do; never mind that IAA runs like a dog on my iPad 2. I had no problem setting up a few presets and then reloading them in Audiobus. I recorded some Arturia iSEM synth tracks into Garage Band using JamUp Pro XT as an effect — no issues at all. Boom!

Multi-Routing available through an In-App Purchase

Spending $4.99 on an in-app purchase adds Multi-Routing to Audiobus 2. This allows you to build multiple audio pipelines in one Audiobus session. Multiple effects can also be chained in series — the use-case that interests me the most.

I’ve yet to jump on this feature (update: check out our review of Audiobus 2 Multi-Routing), as I wonder about the limitations on my resource-constrained iPad 2, just like Korg Gadget. I also do most of my music creation and overdubbing in ProTools on the desktop, with the iPad serving as one of my instruments. Still, I’ve heard promising things from other iPad 2 owners, so I expect to dive in soon enough; you’ll read about it here at TabMuse.

I can’t forget to mention the new streamlined interface in Audiobus 2, giving it more of an iOS 7 design feel. As mentioned earlier, everything runs like a charm on my iPad 2.

Audiobus really is THE must have app for anyone doing music on the iPad, and the new update really cements that status. It runs much better than IAA for me, and the addition of presets and state saving definitely ups the ante regarding usability. Maybe the developers can work next on a “MIDIBus” app that brings robust sequencing, metadata, presets, and state saving to the apps supporting CoreMIDI and Virtual MIDI on the iPad? Please?

April 4, 2014