Recommend a Koala Companion App

[Deleted User]

I think Koala is a masterpiece. I used an MPC 2000xl for 15 years, along with an SU10 for portable fun, but Koala is actually superior to both of them.

There are two things missing that would make it perfect though, and I’m wondering if anyone can recommend apps to fill in these blanks (or tell me how to do them on Koala if I’m missing something).

1) The most glaring omission on Koala is an envelope. I’d like to be able to have full control over the decay envelope on snares etc. Is there a good app for that? Can it be done on Koala?

2) I miss just being told the BPM of a loop when Koala knows how many bars long the loop is. Of course, I can fiddle around tempo-tapping and adjusting the BPM until the loop repeats properly, but- come on...

What is a good app to do that for me?

SLPGroundSoundMusic

Aum is the best companion app for Koala, great for using the multi-out feature that koala has and mixing and masteing them in aum, plus you can do a lot more in AUM with koala, what im saying is that Koala and Aum are made for each other

[Deleted User]

@SLPGroundSoundMusic said:
Aum is the best companion app for Koala, great for using the multi-out feature that koala has and mixing and masteing them in aum, plus you can do a lot more in AUM with koala, what im saying is that Koala and Aum are made for each other

Will AUM provide either of the two specific features I’m looking for?

pr4y_4_beats

@looperboy said:

@SLPGroundSoundMusic said:
Aum is the best companion app for Koala, great for using the multi-out feature that koala has and mixing and masteing them in aum, plus you can do a lot more in AUM with koala, what im saying is that Koala and Aum are made for each other

Will AUM provide either of the two specific features I’m looking for?

For snare decay the only option really is to set the release pretty high (especially for short one shots) alternatively you can crop the snare to be even shorter and play with the release to find a transient you like.

Second, why not just stretch your loop? Once you have tempo tapped and nearly set the loop to repeat smoothly as possible, just time stretch your loop, bounce the audio, then (if it was in mono whenever you bounce it goes back to stereo) so put it back in mono and even normalize it if you want. Or keep it in stereo (still have optional normalize in stereo too)

As far as AUM you can load up the same koala project onto 8 different instances on 8 different tracks. Then you can go into koala and say you want your snare coming out of track 2 then there is a new option called “Chan: 1” when editing samples. Change it from 1 to 2 and now your snare is only audible from the second track in AUM. Further more you can add other apps and plugin effects just to that channel, in this case snare, such as an envelope or transient shaper, and it will only apply to sounds set to go through Chan: 2.

Put them all back together by having each aum track output to Bus A instead of your headphone or whatever. Then make new aum track and set the input to “receive from bus A” and in the first effect slot add a NEW koala project, AND TURN ON HEADPHONE MONITORING or it will be silent. Now you can play sounds through fx in aum and record them into a new koala project, (or any other audio capturing app i like koala tho or cubasis… hope that makes sense and helps!

audiblevideo

@looperboy

1) The most glaring omission on Koala is an envelope. I’d like to be able to have full control over the decay envelope on snares etc. Is there a good app for that? Can it be done on Koala?

You might take a look at AU Transient shapers / Envelope followers like those from FAC and Blue Mangoo

[Deleted User]

Good stuff. Regarding the loop BPM though- often I like my loop at its original speed, and don’t want to change it by stretching. I just want to know its BPM so’s I can set my sequence to that specific tempo. Or so’s I can stretch other loops to match it.

It slows the workflow having to calculate tempo using tapping and footering (as we say in Scotland). Most MPC-type stuff just tells you a Loop’s BPM if it knows how many bars it is, and it’s a pity Koala doesn’t. So I’m hoping for a companion app that will do that.

jrjulius

I can’t think of any ways to do this within Koala, but Beatmaker 3 will tell you the tempo of loops with specified lengths, and it has ADSR envelopes. So you could potentially cook up a workflow where you load Koala as an AUv3 and use it as much as you can, but when you need more, you bring the sample into BM3? I’ve never actually tried it so it might be a total nightmare. But it could be just the thing for you!

rs2000

1.
Host Koala in Drambo and add any envelope shape you want, plus further processing when you need it (Like transient enhancement, transient-only EQ etc.)

2.
I have no better idea than request a "Loop length to project BPM" or at least "Show a list of most likely BPM numbers for each loop" feature from Marek. The apps that I know support multiple loops and adapting the project tempo to only one of them without either time stretching or re-pitching rarely makes sense. You would still have to either provide the number of bars in the loop or pick from a list of possible BPMs.
Or tag your audio files with BPM numbers in the file name with at least one decimal p. precision.
Or open the loop in a DJ app like WeDJ etc. and let it detect the loop bpm automatically.

[Deleted User]

For bpm and key detection (as well as for headphone crossfeed to check a mix) I hook up my iPad through IDAM into a lightweight Mac host (Hosting AU) and have Mixed In Key Live running in the background which can anlyze the key and bpm of anything playing on my system. It's a small helper app for the menu bar from the same company making the Mixed in Key DJ app.

Mobile apps for this would be great but we can't have it all I guess.

The only downside I've encountered so far with IDAM are some weird crackles after 15 minutes, but reconnecting it and restarting the host app fixes the problem for the next 15 minutes.

[Deleted User]

@jrjulius said:
I can’t think of any ways to do this within Koala, but Beatmaker 3 will tell you the tempo of loops with specified lengths, and it has ADSR envelopes. So you could potentially cook up a workflow where you load Koala as an AUv3 and use it as much as you can, but when you need more, you bring the sample into BM3? I’ve never actually tried it so it might be a total nightmare. But it could be just the thing for you!

Sounds good!

[Deleted User]

@rs2000 said:
1.
Host Koala in Drambo and add any envelope shape you want, plus further processing when you need it (Like transient enhancement, transient-only EQ etc.)

2.
I have no better idea than request a "Loop length to project BPM" or at least "Show a list of most likely BPM numbers for each loop" feature from Marek. The apps that I know support multiple loops and adapting the project tempo to only one of them without either time stretching or re-pitching rarely makes sense. You would still have to either provide the number of bars in the loop or pick from a list of possible BPMs.
Or tag your audio files with BPM numbers in the file name with at least one decimal p. precision.
Or open the loop in a DJ app like WeDJ etc. and let it detect the loop bpm automatically.

These are good solutions. Wedj sounds like what I’m looking for in terms of BPM.