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Midi controllers and virtual instruments
Hi!
This is my first thread on the audiobus forums, but I've been following the discussions for quite a while.
I'm not sure if this is some sort of basic question. But I couldn't find info on the issue that helped me solve it.
I am looking for a way to use some synth apps (like Thor, alchemy, fm4 etc) as virtual instruments that would be played by a sequencer. Let me be clear here, because that's where I sometimes think I've found the answer and in the end nothing works as I expected: ideally, I'd like to have, for example, GarageBand play a midi track using, for example, Thor, as a virtual instrument and be able to record thor's output in GarageBand as an instrument track. The point is: I don't want to play Thor myself, I want it to perform what's written in a midi track and record it in GarageBand, loopy or any app like this. It means that I could use another app to control Thor and then route it through audiobus to GB, but I'd rather do it all through GB because then it'd all be following GB's tempo settings.
So, does anybody have a suggestion of app to use and how to do it?
Thank you very much,
FMB
Comments
GarageBand doesn't do MIDI out AFAIK, but you can still get it done using an external sequencer.
Buy Cubasis, or BeatMaker 2
Yes, telecharge, it doesn't. That's why I'm looking for apps to use as external sequencers.
Thank you for the suggestions, TedBPhx.
Do you guys know of some other reliable app options for getting the job done? It would be important to be able to import midi files into them.
I started a thread a few weeks ago:
http://forum.audiob.us/discussion/6745/questions-about-midi-sequencers/
I had a quick look through the sequencers mentioned there and Pro Midi is the only one I found that plainly states it opens MIDI files. It's still new and needs some work so reliability is to be determined.
EDIT: MidiPatterns can also do it, but is new as well and requires an in-app purchase.
Yeah, actually I tried Pro Midi, but it didn't work. Manual is ridiculously superficial on routing and I couldn't get it to drive another app in a satisfactory way, though I could import midi files into it.
After trying many times it played a midi file I had made, but there was quite a lot of latency. Useless in this regard. Besides, the interface is not as straightforward as it may seem, IMHO.
To be fair about the manual, truth is: maybe if the app did work as expected, more info on routing wouldn't be needed. But as the obvious routing doesn't work, you start to wonder if you did something wrong or if there is a problem with the app itself. After trying everything I could think of and in the end getting the output I got, with that absurd amount of latency, I arrived at the conclusion that it was the app that was flawed.
I am using an iPad Air 1, with iOS 8.1.2.
@TedBPhx said:
Or multitrackstudio
Genome?
@fmb I've had some success using Pro Midi to drive synths and record the audio into different apps via Audiobus. Perhaps if you had a specific setup and workflow in mind, I could point you in the right direction for getting it working. There are a number of different midi implementations in iOS and this can make it difficult at times to figure out how to get various apps in sync but I've usually found a way around them.
Well, @Paulinko, I haven't done much regarding different workflows, because I couldn't get the minimum to happen... :-/
Let's say I have a midi file which I had opened in Pro Midi. Then I started Thor and tried to make Pro Midi control Thor, playing my midi file. After doing a lot of different things (which I don't even remember well in what order were done), it started playing, but with a lot of latency.
Frankly, I'm looking for something more straightforward (Pro Midi promises it is, but I don't really think so) and that enables me to then route Thor through Audiobus to record its output in GarageBand (or some other DAW).
I didn't want to spend $49 in Cubasis, especially given some of its limitations and also the fact that Cubase isn't my DAW on desktop, but I'm starting to consider it. Some alternative suggestions were already made and I am considering each one of them, but if anybody has any other suggestion or has an opinion on the advantages and disadvantages of Genome vs Cubasis vs Beatmaker vs multitrackstudio, please say it. :-)
Thanks a lot.
@fmb To use Pro Midi to drive Thor, here's a dropbox midi file. You can use open in to import the file into Pro Midi then go to the box with the red down arrow at the top of the screen to import the midi file. Select one of the squares in channel one and double tap it to get a circle with a name to the right of it. Then double tap again to get the view with the piano keys going vertically down the left side. Tap the box with the red down arrow again and select the file. The notes will then be pasted in. Use the < icon on the top left corner to get back to the channels view. Open Thor, select Wiksnet Pro Midi as the midi source by tapping on the gear icon on the top left in Thor. Set the midi channel to all or 1. Set audio to play in background. Make sure the volume is turned up. Return to Pro Midi and tap the red gear icon at the top middle of the screen and choose connection then Thor to be sure it's enabled for midi output (enable and send clock are green). Under Master hit the red triangle button to the left of the 1 to play the notes. The numbers above master should start changing as will the circle where the notes are. You should hear sound coming from Thor. Tap the square at the upper right of the screen to stop play back.
The Sound Test Room has a Pro Midi Video that might be helpful too.
It looks like your instructions end up with both Thor listening to Pro Midi and Pro Midi sending to Thor. This results in Thor getting the MIDI stream twice, assuming both Apps have properly functioning Virtual MIDI input and output ports (which is not always the case, unfortunately). You should always make the connection between one Apps Virtual MIDI port and the others' selection for the first App. I'll check this pairing out and get back with why it looks like you have to connect twice.
Pro Midi's Virtual MIDI out port appears to not be functional (tested using MidiBridge). Thor's Virtual MIDI In is. For a single stream play then (i.e. no duplications) in Thor select "none" as input (yes, very counter-intuitive, but shrug), and in Pro MIDI select Thor as destination. Make sure the clip column also selects Thor (see photos). You probably will only notice the duplication as a early limit on polyphony, and also a increased CPU load. Thor does not seem to play two instances of the same note, but some other synths might.
@dwarfman thanks for the tip. Can you recommend a good source of information on the various midi implementations on iOS? There seem to be several different varieties and while my trial and error approach seems to get things working it may often not be the right way of setting things up as the above example with Thor and Pro Midi demonstrates.
@dwarman is the source!
So far I have only been doing ad-hoc testing when either something I try out falls down or there is a thread like this and I happen to have the Apps involved (quite likely in my case:).
I have frequently thought I might put together a spreadsheet of MIDI features. Lack of Executive Funcion gets in my way though. But it would be very handy, I keep hoping somthing got fixed when I wasn't looking and wasting an hour re-characterising (and then forgetting) what didn't work.
That would indeed be very handy. Public Google spreadsheet?
I am sorry for not answering before. I've been away due to a lot of work that had to be finished before the end of the year.
Thank you guys for your suggestions, especially @paulinko and @dwarman.
I'm thinking about trying beatmaker, though. It seems to be useful for other stuff I'm doing too and not so much a software still being developed.
I use Cubasis when I want to open a midifile. So far it worked every time.
what about inter-app audio app in garage band?
BeatMaker2 Can Do It.