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MIDI Changing patches for Controller on iPhone
Hi everyone! I’m new here, so apologies if someone has asked something similar. I searched, but no other discussion reflected the current iOS apps available and my particular needs.
I have a wind controller (a travel sax 2). I would like to use the sound modules within an iPhone (SWAM packs and GarageBand synths) to play with it live occasionally.
However, I would like to be able to change patches between instruments without having to tap around the iPhone during the gaps of songs.
Luckily I use StageTraxx 3 and that can send midi messages as a new song is loaded, so I could have a patch preset for certain songs. I am hoping that I can send midi messages from a separate iPad running Stage Traxx3 to the iPhone with the wind controller sounds, that can change patches of sounds for me for each song loaded.
It seems like I can’t do it with GarageBand, however I only recently found out about Audiobus and AUM.
So I am wondering if I should build my preset sound patches inside of one of those apps on the iPhone. The wind controller is attached to the iPhone with Bluetooth MIDI so that would be controlling the playing, but I’m wondering if it’s even possible to change patches on an app like AUM or Audiobus using a separate iPad to send the midi change message. (I know you can use midimttr to send midi between devices, so that’s not a problem). I just don’t know if Audiobus or AUM have the capability to change patches via midi input.
Is there something I’m missing. Is there a better method that anyone can think of?
Which would be the best app in this scenario?
Has anyone done anything similar but with a keyboard controller that might have something useful to add?
Many thanks in advance!!
Comments
In general, yes. You can create saved sessions (instrument configurations) in either AUM or Audiobus, and recall them using (almost) any MIDI message. Program Change or specific CCs would be the most likely choices. Each saved session will include the instrument, its specific settings (i.e. preset), and the MIDI and audio routings. You would need to find alternative AUv3 synths to replace those in Garage Band. You will have a lot more flexibility using those hosts than you do with stand-alone apps. AUM would likely be preferred over Audiobus because it's still under active development, but either would work.
Thanks Uncle Dave!
Do you think this is a viable option for an iPhone live performance or do you imagine loading the AUv3 instruments would take too long between songs to make it smooth? I believe from reading other bits of info that DSP could be a problem if all the instruments were on one scene and I just soloed the one being used for that song.
You can disable and enable plugins via MIDI in AUM instead of muting them. Disabled plugins free up virtually all of the resources they use. So, rather than changing AUM sessions, you may want to load all the plugins you'll use, then enable/disable them as needed.
Audiobus doesn't have this offloading ability. Loopy Pro does though. Loopy Pro could be worth looking into for anyone performing live. You don't need to use its looping capabilities to benefit from some advantages that it offers over AUM, such as the ability to carry out any number of actions such as plugin preset changes, disabling plugins, adjusting tempo, etc, from a single midi command.
For live performing, I recommend considering Loopy Pro. AUM is great too though!
Thanks Wim, I hadn’t even known that disabling plugins was an option!
I had seen loopy pro but had supposed it was rather more geared toward looping to be able to host 6 to 8 AUv3 instruments and to allow more midi changes from more than one device.
Do you know if I could send MIDI commands from an iPad app like StageTraxx or OnSong via Bluetooth to the iPhone to disable and re-enable plugins that are being played by the wind controller with loopy pro?
I wouldn’t be using loops or one shots at all though, is it possible to set up the app for just plugin presets? Have you done anything like that or seen it done?
I like the idea of it’s customisability, if I could make a set of 6/8 preset instruments then if we wanted to go off-piste from the midi messages from the iPad, it would only be a button push away.
Thanks for the info!
Yes, it's common to overlook the rest of Loopy's features due to seeing it primarily as a looper. It's much more than that.
If you can send midi out from those apps you can do anything you want with it over Bluetooth in both AUM and Loopy. You don't need midimittr either. Both AUM and Loopy have Bluetooth midi connection capability on their own.
Sure, you don't have to have a single loop or one shot (collectively called "clips" in Loopy). And you can change plugin presets without any problem, just as you can in AUM. Some the plugins does publish their presets to the host. In that case, just as in AUM, you will need to save the presets in the host before you can change to them.
Yes, I have done that and have seen it done by others many times.
Yes, that's. To be fair, you can do that in AUM as well, but Loopy has more options for customizing and visually presenting that behavior.
Happy to help.
BTW, Loopy has a 7 day free demo period. It's a lot to take in in just 7 days, but if you do want to try it out there is the opportunity to do so. Just be sure you have a lot of dedicated time to work through at least the basics before you start the trial.
I'm wondering why you would want to route the patch change messages through a second iOS device, i.e., controller -> iPad -> iPhone. Or would you be using the UI on iPad directly, to tap a finger to send the message?
If the latter, I have two comments. First, you could just use a bluetooth foot controller to send the message to the iPhone with a foot tap, no need for a second iOS device. People have had good success with m-vave chocolate bluetooth foot switch, which I think is about $35-40.
Second, I have a Travel Sax 2, and I've noticed that it doesn't just send midi note on/off messages. It also sends cc messages, if I recall, to indicate exactly which keys are being held down (i.e., each key sends its own separate midi cc message). You could use some never-used key combination (e.g., bis and some lower key) and filter for that in the host on your iPhone, use that to trigger the program change. You would want to attach.a midi monitor to test things out and see what cc messages the Travel Sax is sending as you press different keys. I know mine does that, seems a strange "feature" for a wind controller to have (none of my others work that way), but it opens up some possibilities.
Apart from those possibilities, you could also use an Apple Watch to trigger program changes via bluetooth connection, using Midi Motion for Apple Watch app, or Geert Bevin's free MidiWrist app: https://www.midi.org/midi-articles/our-apple-watch-and-soon-siri-into-a-midi-controller
Something that is easy to do in Loopy Pro is put together composite "presets" where a press of a button can change the preset and parameters of any number of loaded effects and synths ... and you can set them up to easily step through them. Say you have a series of complicated effect changes in a song, you could set it up to advance through them with a single button if you wanted.
FWIW, this is my current "pedalboard" page. It gives me quick access (all of which is MIDI learnable) to the things that I most frequently access while playing. The green buttons on the right are "super presets" that change a number of effect presets at once. The dial at the left is set to toggle between my clean and dirty guitar tones with a foot pedal. Holding the pedal switches the behavior so that tapping cycles between the "super presets".
Thanks again Wim,
I’ve gotten the trial version of Loopy to give it a go! It’s looking good, but difficult to grasp initially.
I’m struggling to figure out the disabling and enabling of plugin presets. I’ve got radio buttons to be able to select a presaved Audio Unit Preset, but I can’t see any disable and enable options within the radio buttons section. Is that available on the iPhone? I’ve been able to send a message from an iPad to turn on particular radio buttons.
Hi Hes,
Cool to hear you have a TravelSax2 as well! Do you have any good recommendations for AUv3 apps for it?
The sax will be connected to the iPhone as the sound module. The iPad is busy running other things and will send out a midi message from a song sheet software called StageTraxx3. Ideally no pedal dancing or button pushing is what I’m after, so if all patch selection is automated by midi depending on the song that is loaded into stagetraxx3 then that would be best.
I didn’t even realise the travel sax 2 sent other midi messages as well, so that could be another option for changing patches within a song!
Hi espiegel123,
Thanks very much for the pictures ! They were very helpful in getting an idea of what Wim was talking about.
I definitely need to figure out how to chain multiple events like that.
I’ve only been able to select certain presets, but don’t know yet how to select outputs with it. Are all your guitar presets going through a particular bus or sub group or something?
Thanks so so much for all your help!!!
What do you mean about disabling a preset? In an AU, once a preset is selected, it is loaded?
If you can say more about what you mean I am sure we can help you figure it out.
To disable (idle) an instrument plugin, you mute the channel it's in. When you do that you should see the status in the upper right of the plugin window go to "idle".
Presets are just settings for a plugin, they don't have a disabled or enabled state.
Here's an example. In the first screenshot the Abu Dhabi input is feeding Combustor as an FX. Abu Dhabi is "ON" because its channel is active. Combustor is "IDLE" because I'm not playing Abu Dhabi so no output is going to it. As soon as I play a note on Abu Dhabi, Combustor will change to ON. This is automatic resource management on Loopy Pro's part.
Now, I mute the Abu Dhabi channel and both Abu Dhabi and Combustor go IDLE.
Finally, there is a direct enable/disable option for FX. Engage Midi Learn and you'll see Enable/Disable Effect.
Note: In certain cases apps act up when idled. If you run into that, you can long-press the ON/OFF/IDLE button to disable idling.
I don't do any live performance stuff with iOS or computer, so take that into account, but I would just be leery of adding a another computer element (iPad with Stage Traxx) to the live performance setup that has controller and iPhone. Is there a problem with running Stage Traxx on the iPhone that's running the synths? I would test and make sure there's some actual otherwise unsolvable problem before adding a separate iPad for Stage Traxx.
RE: Travel Sax and AUv3 synths, I think I saw you have some SWAM and Respiro. Those are probably the best if you want realistic (SWAM) or acoustic-sounding instruments (Respiro). You could add any of a huge selection of synths for a good basic virtual analog sounds and FM sounds. Simple is often best for windsynth sounds, I would say, but opinions vary.
I would just be aware that Travel Sax does have downsides compared to most wind controllers. You get sensitivity to breath, which is great. But they market it primarily as a "practice" instrument partly because it doesn't have the sensors/buttons to add good control over common expressivity like vibrato, portamento, pitch bends. Travel Sax is also limited in octave range compared to most controllers. Emeo is marketed in same way, because of similar limitations.
On other wind controllers, you get this extra expressivity with things like bite sensor, pressure plates, slide plates, joysticks, buttons, rotation sensors. There are ways to add much of this stuff in a DIY way, which I may experiment with. One easy way to add some expressivity would be to attach an Apple Watch around the barrel (or strap an iPhone on) and use the x-y-z accelerometers to send messages to your DAW/plugin host. (Midi Motion for Apple Watch app does this.). Some wind controllers use this spatial attitude data to control octave (e.g., rotate to control octave) or control vibrato rate and/or depth (e.g., change from level to pointing up or pointing down). And don't discount the idea of using a foot switch to change some kind of expressivity mode on the fly; they can be useful.
You might also try creating a setup to do Michael Brecker style "midi chord rotation", which give a cool kind of chordal sound often used with wind controllers. Here's link to a Mozaic plugin for that: https://patchstorage.com/coltranius-rotator/. The Mozaic plugin gets inserted between the wind controller and a polyphonic synth, dynamically expands individual midi note messages to play "rotating" chords. Search youtube for 'michael brecker rotator' to find video of him playing EWI that way. Search youtube for 'coltranius rotator' to hear the Mozaic plugin in action.