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Sequencing ambient/generative music - getting started?
I've been reading and reading, and finally got Senode and AUM... tried getting it connected with King of FM, and... it doesn't work. (Error code with Senode.)
Frustrating.
I would like to be able to sequence ambient (and other) pieces, but after reading and trying this out, after being convinced it would work, I'm hesitant to continue. Also, I'm not clear on how routing works - IOW, I believe I would send from a sequencer to a synth, but am not sure how to do this on iOS. Thought when I started, for sure, I'd find some kind of external generative sequencer I could use to write into Garageband, but maybe not...
FYI I'm traveling and won't have physical instruments, but would like to be able to connect & use them at home. I don't think this is an issue, though.
SO... in reading this morning, I've just seen Audiobus, and am probably more lost now than when I started. I mean, things don't get simpler over time, but reading through the forum, it feels like even doing basic stuff requires more 3rd party apps, launching in specific orders, other workarounds... yikes.
I really like a few apps I've seen like Borderlands, but it kinda seems like the same thing where people are having a hard time getting it running with other apps.
Any recommendations appreciated. I'm still going through the user info on AUM, but not sure I'm on the right path.
thanks
Comments
If you are new to aum I would highly recommend my 40 min long walkthrough on aum. A few new features have been added since it was made but it covers pretty much everything that's really important:
After it you will know how to use midi properly, load and connect various types of apps etc
Then you should probably watch a vid on senode. It's not a very intuitive app. But basically any sequencer, any synth, some nice reverb and you'll be making ambient til the cows come home
Awesome - thanks! I've been trying Senode out on its own & it seems pretty good, except for the error in AUM
I'll check out your video today. Probably be back with questions...
@oandroido : AUM, any synth and a massive reverb (e.g. Alteza, others are available
) in an Audio channel.
Any sequencer - try midiDreams for a simple old school one:
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/mididreams/id1553799788
In a MIDI channel.
Set a scale, punch in some notes on the sequencer, hook it up to your synth (tap the ‘hamburger’ to the left of your synth icon on the AUM channel, click on midiDreams), hit the AUM transport button up top. If/when you want to get fancy with midi, click on the ‘squiggly snake’ icon on top right in AUM instead, it takes you to a matrix view of all your sound and midi sources in an easy to understand grid. Click on intersections on the grid to hook something to something else. A single source can drive multiple destinations.)
My advice: slow the tempo right down. (20 bpm is the current minimum, unfortunately. I’d go slower if I could.)
Record the channel as audio (hit the R at the bottom of the channel to select it, then the Record button up top). AUM makes it easy to record perfect loops, (‘Sync Quantum’) but all you need to know for now is once you have recorded a chunk of audio, you can chuck it into another AUM channel as a File Player, then slow it down or speed it up ( reduce its’s speed to half to drop everything an octave), offset it by a set number of beats, and so on.
Duplicate that channel, try different fx, manually swipe channel inputs outputs and fx in and out, record that, use the mutes, solo and faders buttons (no automation, unfortunately), rinse and repeat as often as you like, and build your track up over several iterations in this way.
Once you have a part down as a File Player audio loop of course, you can chuck it to make room for more instruments if the CPU starts glitching. Audio Loops are very cpu light.
It’s basically how I make all my stuff.
And remember: there’s no such thing as too much reverb!
awesome @Svetlovska
Two questions (one that is still on topic and one semi-off)
Do you use Sync Quantum in AUM for those tight loops?
And are you still rockin Audio Evolution Mobile Studio:?
@senhorlampada : Hi! I sometimes use Sync Quantum, but most often, I just record more material from the channel than I need for the final run time. Yes, I still have Audio Evolution, and it is still very good, but, tbh, these days nearly all my stuff is jammed out live from those long running loops into AudioShare, with me mixing levels, mutes and solos live, then, maybe, taking that mix back in through a File Player and overdubbing more stuff on top.
It’s fast but also lazy. I know that I could do more impactful mixes if I took the time to arrange the stems properly in Audio Evolution or similar - or even drag it all onto Ableton - but then I’d lose the spontaneity of jamming the piece out in AUM.
I think the method is still very much a work in progress…
I probably would benefit from getting to grips with Loopy Pro, but, as I say: Lazy.
Thanks for your feedback
Great info everyone! Out of curiosity, is 20 as a minimum bpm some standard thing? Senode has it this way, too, but I believe we can slow it down further by note divisions, or something.
Looks like I have some homework to do.
How does Audiobus factor in?
Forget about Audiobus really - if you have aum you don't need it. It's just another way to use apps together.
And yeah sure, if you take a piece made of quarter notes and play it at 20 bpm, then change all those notes to half notes, it will now sound twice as slow! 20 bpm is plenty slow enough, really, I reckon.
Another invaluable tool for this kind of work is Gauss Field Looper (Hainbach/Bram Bos). Think of it as a virtual tape loop, which can be slowed right down or speeded up, but with a filter and a four step speed sequencer thrown in. And if you use the loop decay function, you have an instant Frippertronics style long delay - up to about 40 seconds. Into which you can feed the output from Senode and the synth of your choice for extra texture, interesting phasing of patterns, whatever.
On the reverb side of things, if you’re quick you can get Cascade at an intro price for next to nothing, and it’s great for this kind of work. We have a lot of wonderful reverbs on iOS (some free, even), though. It’s certainly not the only option, just a bargain at the moment.
Thanks again!
Ok, getting somewhere! Not that it's impressive, but after doing some homework recommended here (including the video), I discovered that Senode needs to be added as a MIDI instrument...
(Gotta say, pretty fun...)
So anyway - last question for the day, maybe - Seeing that I can't sequence to record into Garageband (I think...) - how can I compose & save components that can be used in a DAW of some sort? (And which DAWs would work for this?)
Especially not sure with what will let me do the equivalent of time-stretching MIDI / Audio files WAY out (like with PaulStretch) & making them a saved part of a composition.
cheers
Each AUM audio channel can be individually recorded as a stem for transfer to a DAW, or you can record directly from the AUM live playback into channels in an IOS DAW. (It’s a bit involved setting it up, find a vid for detail) but essentially you select IAA as the output type on the bottom of each AUM audio channel you want to record, and find and set the corresponding IAA input as a track in the DAW.) This method also lets you record effect tails in the DAW when you hit stop on AUM.
For treating MIDI the same way you can use Atom 2 piano roll sequencer:
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/atom-piano-roll-2/id1536259776
recording each track in a separate instance of it as a midi node inside AUM.
If you are using a desktop DAW you can Airdrop or sneaker net everything over using AudioShare and/or the iPad camera kit with a USB stick. (AUM integrates really well with AudioShare, though AudioShare is showing its age in some respects.)
PaulXStretch is an iOS port of Paulstretch, so that’s easily covered:
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/paulxstretch/id1619014008
It kinda pains me but yeah I don’t really use Audiobus anymore. It was a real game changer though. I’ll still break it out occasionally for fun but only one effect is a real hindrance for me now.