Loopy Pro: Create music, your way.
What is Loopy Pro? — Loopy Pro is a powerful, flexible, and intuitive live looper, sampler, clip launcher and DAW for iPhone and iPad. At its core, it allows you to record and layer sounds in real-time to create complex musical arrangements. But it doesn’t stop there—Loopy Pro offers advanced tools to customize your workflow, build dynamic performance setups, and create a seamless connection between instruments, effects, and external gear.
Use it for live looping, sequencing, arranging, mixing, and much more. Whether you're a live performer, a producer, or just experimenting with sound, Loopy Pro helps you take control of your creative process.
Download on the App StoreLoopy Pro is your all-in-one musical toolkit. Try it for free today.
Newbie question re: drum apps and Auria Pro
Greetings all,
Thanks to the gift of a 128GB iPad Pro from my lovely wife, I have started exploring the world of iOS music production after years of dabbling in the desktop DAW world. I've recently acquired Auria Pro, Gadget, Korg Module, Poison202, Magellan, iSpark, and Elastic Drums. I've created a couple of decent projects in Gadget, done nothing more than run through the demos in Auria, and only played around with a bunch of the presets in the various instruments. I'm definitely in the "don't know what I don't know" stage, but I've been reading the forum for the past couple of weeks, and thought someone might be able to give me a little guidance.
I'm really into realistic sounding drums (for my non-electronic projects), but have always just programmed the patterns myself as MIDI tracks in the DAW, using Addictive Drums on the desktop. For iOS I've been considering DrumSession, DrumPerfectPro, and Soft Drummer, in addition to Elastic Drums which I've already purchased. I think I'd like to be able to use Auria to record the MIDI data and then trigger the sounds from one or more of those apps, but I'm starting to think that the patterns are to be created within the drum app, and then imported or synced to Auria. Admittedly, I haven't grasped the idea of IAA, Audiobus, or AU, so I obviously don't know the differences between them or advantages of one over another. So... would it be possible for me to use the MIDI data in Auria to trigger the samples from one (or all) of these apps, or, if not, is it actually preferable to create the parts within that particular app and then import or sync to Auria?
Sorry for the long introductory post, but the forum seems really helpful and friendly in the short time I've been browsing it. Thanks in advance for any help or advice you have to give!
Comments
Welcome!
Someone will be able to help you. I have no doubt. That's why I started posting and reading here. Help is second to none at this place. I've got all the drum apps you've listed, and a whole sheet ton of others. My favorites, mostly because they are easy to use, and sound great are Rock DM and Drum Session. That's the extent of my help, or non help. lol. Someone will help you!
The most straightforward approach might be to use some of the free kits that come with Auria and do everything in Auria. The Lyra sampler instrument has drum pads and several kits to get you started and the piano roll is there if you want to create or edit drum parts that way.
Alternatively you could look into DrumPerfect which is the deepest app if you want to do manual programming. You would need to load it as an IAA instrument into Auria if you want to sync it to Auria's timeline. You would then either drive it from Auria via MIDI or do the programming within DrumPerfect and record the audio output to Auria.
Finally there are the more user-friendly options such as Drum Session, Rock Drum Machine, Soft Drummer, Funk Drummer and also GarageBand that allow you to use pre-rolled drum parts and in the case of GB and the Luis Martinez apps also automatically add fills and variations. These take a lot of the hassle out of creating realistic drum parts but obviously are geared to people who don't want to do all of the programming themselves.
Drum Session and all of the Luis Martinez apps also allow you to create your own grooves, so they're pretty versatile. For example you can create your own beats in Funk Drummer and then let the app create the fills every eight bars.
The biggest issue is that most apps won't let you export stems to individual tracks at this point in time. Only DrumPerfect supports this at the moment (or of course doing it natively in Auria). So with most apps you are going to end up with all the drums on a stereo track.
That's great information, Richard, thanks a lot for sharing. I'll definitely try out the drum kits included in Auria and then probably give DrumPerfect a try.
I made several videos of the drum apps last year:
For DrumPerfectPro: it could be worth adding that even if you plan on getting all the instruments out on separate channels from DPP, which is totally possible, you should also dedicate one track in Auria for the DPP Stereo Out. That is the (only) channel that also carry the sync data. This would mean you can also wait with committing your drums to Auria whilst writing the song, so you can try out various things, before finally committing the separate tracks when you get to mixing/mastering stage. I say this as I spent a good few days bug tracking why I couldn't get it all to play in sync.
As already has been pointed out, DPP is the deepest app when it comes to the programming, and if you know your drums you can truly make it sound human. It can be time consuming to get to that point though, especially the first time, before you realise you can actually copy/paste/merge bits and pieces for a new pattern, making creating patterns quicker as you add to your pattern library. There is no way around getting to that point though (well, there are IAP's I guess). The same goes for creating your own kits. You will be happy when it is done, as the results will be worth it, especially if you have access to multi-sampled drums (different velocity levels for each of the drums), but getting there can be a bit tedious.
Otherwise, as a quick general comment, it looks like you are looking at a good combo of apps already. With those 4 mentioned drum apps you should be able to get pretty much anything you'd like when it comes to "live" drumming. What Richardyot says is true though: I have gotten all the drum add-ons within Auria, and they sound good too, and would remove quite a bit of complexity to the set-up.
Thanks for the links to the vids, Kranick. Some impressive sounds there for sure, although to my ears DPP sounded a lot more like a real drummer. It sounds like there are kits I can purchase from the Auria store that might be a bit more realistic than the free kits. Hellquist, thanks for the tips. I appreciate hearing from people who have learned things the hard way!
I bought drum kits from the Auria Store last year, and I don't think that it sounds more realistic than free kits
So I usually use DrumPerfect Pro or drum samples from Sampletank for creating the drum tracks in Auria.
Yes, you can:
@Joel75 Man we have like the same entre' story into iOS music production. My lovely wife bought me an iPad Air 2 in the Spring of 2015 and the last year and a half has held some of the most fulfilling music experiences in my life. I came up with PortaStudios, into ADAT's and then onto the early DAW's. For me, now that iOS music production is at a professional level, this is going to be my canvas of choice musically.
The advice I could give is if you have used DAW's on rhe desktop before, even at a basic level, you'll fall into Auria Pro in no time. It is much like the standard DAW's of today but with a touch interface. A decent interface that is iOS class compliant connected to the iPad with the USB to Lightning adapter (sometimes called the Camera Connection Kit) is necessary to use mics & guitar.
@richardyot and @hellquist are spot on about the drum apps. If you have patience to compose a full drum part measures at a time then DrumPerfect Pro is the way to go for realistic drum parts using multi-velocity samples. If you're more drop & drag drum loop style then the incredible new drum app Drum Session is the way to go.
Since you used to map out MIDI parts with Addictive Drummer I think you'll dig DrumPerfect Pro. Plus it has individual outputs for the parts of the kit. I prefer to compose the drum parts in Drum Perfect then record the audio with the IAA outputs. Look at Audiobus as the way for apps to work together that has it's own app with an interface to visualize the routing. InterAppAudio allows apps to work together but doesn't have a companion app or interface. If using IAA to say, play guitar through BIAS and record it with Auria, a transport with controls will pop up.
AU is the newest app to app protocol on iOS that is like the Mac's use of AU & VST's, etc. It is by far the best of the bunch in my opinion (and probably most here feel the same) because multiple instances of the app/effect/instrument can be used. AUM is it's own animal, more of a performance or studio mixer than a true AudioBus/IAA replacement but it is incredible in its own right.
I don't want to write a novel here, I'm just excited when other cats get the shot to the brain that iPads are NOT toys when it comes to recording. Shit, the Pro's and the upcoming generation are as powerful as the MacBooks of a few years ago. I hope you enjoy recording on the platform and definitely stick around here, I've learned so much from the members of the AB forum and the extended iOS community (the iOS music blogs & sites, Doug Wood's & Jakob Haq's videos and the individual apps forums). I learn something new about recording everyday, as it should be.
Good luck brother...
Ok, here are my thoughts. While everyone goes on about DrumPerfect Pro like it's the seconding coming of Christ, I was not impressed by it at all. A very complex app with horrendous included drum samples (the IAP of more kits sound just as bad). Yes you can load your own samples etc. which means you'll need a good collection of multi-velocity kit samples to import and spend the time setting it all up etc.
DrumSession doesn't have stem export at the moment, but it will be included in an update that's just around the corner. As it is, I can happily use the included beats to build a song within the plugin, or trigger the plugin using MIDI from Aurio Pro. The new update will also include a dry kit which will be great for when you export the stems and want to process the whole kit yourself. Exciting stuff. For the record, I'm a drummer and I primarily come from doing this stuff on desktop with Superior Drummer & EZdrummer, Kontakt drum libraries etc.
@JRSIV, thanks for the welcome and helpful post!
Welcome, @Joel75
If you have Gadget, and, like me, looooves you that piano roll, you can import your own samples into Bilbao and make beats pretty durn quickly > export to Auria as a stereo track (easy) or export your stems one at a time (not as easy, just a bit repetitive). That's how I created the drums for the Better Than Epic project (myself, @TozBourne and @LostBoy85) last year:
I agree with you on the samples sounding like crap. Thin sounding kicks and over EQ'ed snares with too much treble. I have drum samples from all the apps ive deleted from my ipad and none of the DPP samples made the cut. The app can sound human like and random but the drum sounds are sucky.
@eustressor - I didn't realize you did the excellent sounding drums that way; very interesting.
For the OP, another option could be the new(er) drum Gadget "Gladstone." It has some great sounds that have been working well in some Jazz and rock tunes I've been working on.
I'm 99% sure I'm going with DrumSession, Funk Drummer, and Soft Drummer. That'll pretty much take care of any non-electronic genre I need, and they all look to have at least a small degree of edit-ability. Plus, from the examples I've heard, they sound great. If my need to "roll my own" outweighs the quality of the loops in the aforementioned apps, I can always get DPP. Question: Are people successfully getting their Luis Martinez drum apps to record into Auria Pro? Reason I ask is because in another forum, I've seen a few comments that IAA doesn't work, and at least one post referenced AudioBus not working. Appears there may be updates forthcoming that may address some of these issues but I wanted to see if anyone here was having issues with, say, Soft Drummer recording into Auria Pro?
I think you don't really need IAA to use DPP with Auria. Instead of this you could export your drum patterns as midi, one audio file or separated tracks (every instrument has an individual track; very useful for using in any DAW).
Thanks Kranick. Yeah, DPP with Auria doesn't seem to be a problem; I've seen posts from several people who use that combo and there's at least one YouTube vid on the subject. It's the Luis Martinez apps that I'm not totally sure about, such as Soft Drummer or Funk Drummer. From what I read, it sounds like IAA WON'T work, but AudioBus SHOULD. Seems to have not worked, however, for at least one poster on another board.
Edit: a Soft Drummer update was released a couple days ago that appears to have IAA support. And it looks like Funk Drummer has it also. I'll download tonight and play around with recording from the drum app into Auria. Thanks again, everyone, for the advice and help!
What an informative thread!
They all are! I love this place!
For what it's worth I tend to export my WIP arrangement out of Auria (without drums) and then use AUM in conjunction with Soft Drummer or Funk Drummer to create the drum arrangement - because AUM has Link it makes the sync much tighter and means it's much easier to create the parts. I can then record the arrangement in AUM and bring it back to Auria.
@richardyot, that's an awesome idea. I haven't explored AUM at all. You don't find it difficult to build the arrangement in Auria without the drums?
I just put placeholder drums in to start with, mainly for tracking to. Let's say I know the feel I want, in which case I will export one 4 bar loop out of Soft Drummer and build the track around that. Once the music is all done I then export that out of Auria so that I can do the final drums in AUM + Soft Drummer.
@richardyot, I've spent the last 30 minutes or so reading about AUM, and am very intrigued. I'm curious what you mean by using AUM with Link making the sync "much tighter". Obviously, in dealing with drums I don't want anything to be "loose", but I'm wondering what the difference is when you use IAA to sync to Auria versus the process you describe using AUM.
Link is rock solid in a way that IAA sync isn't.