Hi,
This lesson is a bit time consuming for your creation, maybe hours for setting things to your knowledge. Not quite complex after all. Practice few times, minutes away it just like a walk. The main problems is still bugs between apps, but not difficult to repeat for playing again and again in this way. Why? Because if you want a stable set of state saving for this things. This things on Modstep to AUM mixer is quite user friendly if you really like to modulated sounds and loops and electronic synth music. This method can help you to create so complex looping song depends how you set up effects for tweaking. It also provides complex live performance show, maybe a 100% automation until music song finish without going to DAW. By far this is the only way I known for advanced setup on iOS music without beating your agony in front of your face! You can do more than 10 synth apps on 8 Modstep ports, but a few tracks setup, good to go on the beats if you add drum sound on! AUM provides stability not to say the least! It needs Modstep for looping midi; however, other sequencers and keyboards are not without help, such as midiSTEPs, Navichords, SoundPrism and FugueMachine. If you want a tutorial for Auria2Modstep, I wrote it already under 'Apps Tips and Tricks' from Audiobus Forum!
I write this up for only one reason, many of you have not given a hand on it or have no time for stress, but want a way to know your Modstep and AUM together. Just a few ordering arrangements with your patience, you can do well and brag about your apps singing to each others. So continue few times on different apps setup, you will love more of iOS music, so let's begin.
1.
Always open AUM first including the process for past saved closed AUM file. Let AUM wakes all apps up by the setup done by you before for your AUM saved file. If you have empty new AUM opening by you now, you can go and picking synth apps you want to sequence with. It is not necessary to choose any your synth preset at first place (wait until your setup complete) and we have of no using on AUM internal keyboard, because all your synths will be sequenced on Modstep. AUM provides apps' sounds by mixing routes for 16 midi channels data. When playing Modstep, if there is sounds coming out of Modstep, those Modstep internal sounds also transfer to AUM to handle the audio. Ableton Link give real time tempo for all apps.
As can be seen photo here, I turn 2 AUs and 2 IAA instruments on AUM
2.
Now lets open midi route matrix page:
When you see this matrix,
You see right hand side name list, they are destinations, they are not source, they need something to send to themselves, that something is midi data so that 'AUM virtual destination' provides data to the right hand side apps. Everytime you see top texts lining there, they are givers; they give midi data to right hand side destinations. So now 'AUM destination' on top is a medium between Modstep and AUM mixer. You will later see 'AUM' words on Modstep 'midi out', so Modstep 'AUM midi out' equate to here the 'AUM destination'.
3.
Now is time to provide midi channel route number for each synth and fx, if you see fx also provide a little 3 horizontal bars on mixer for touch, it means there is a mdi channel selection needing you to give correct channel number on channel filter. So I want the fx audio out on midi channel 3, I need to tick for it to give fx app a channel 3. please, don't tick all channels on 'On', because it will mess up and cause crash on some synth later on.
Now it given correct midi channel assignment, your route should looks like this photo, but not the previous photo for route!
Ok, iSem photo here on midi channel 2
All mixer column destinations now have correct mixer channel number... include a new Turnado fx on mixer channel.
example, on AUFX Dub, you see @Ch3:2, the 2 means it locate under 1 (Turnado). 'Ch number' is not for midi channel ( important) , it is just mixer list name, please don't be wrong on Ch vs compared to midi channel, this will cause trouble later on. To know the correct channel, you need to press the 3 bars tiny square on each column.
4.
Now is the time to add AUM internal mix bus:
To do so allows you to combine more fx apps or fx parameters to synth. Mix bus also allows grouping synths if more synths added in chain, you will find your prefer ways to mix, plus you have midi cc within for learning volume faders, of which provides to Modstep to assign midi number to those faders if you like doing so for some scenes from Modstep to lower tracks volume. Let the Modstep doing its MIDI jobs, let the AUM to control AU, IAA, compatibility issues. So in this way, you won't crash the Modstep and also get benefit from mixing tools AUM presents to you on live tweaking sounds.
5.
Ok, we finishing part 1 for AUM setting, now we turn on Modstep and name a new file,
We then go to Modstep setting page! Here we see photo,
It is a bit challenge, first of all, you see all the destination has app name on it. I don't tick the cable icon because I only use iPad without USB connection. Now, we go one by one to explain to you. Without explaining them, you will confuse yourself.
The 'AUM' on 'MIDI destination', why tick those 3 circle icon? The clock is for telling AUM what Modstep tempo is. The AU synths needs to know the Modstep sequencer clock allowing it to drive AUM AU synth clock.
The music symbol for notes. AUM synths need to know what notes to play.
The CC is for volume fader of AUM, letting Modstep to drive AUM volume.
The 3 circle for iMini and Animoog are same, they provide AUM IAA midi slot what Modstep going to send to them!
For Turnado, you do not need music symbol, because Turnado doesn't need to know what note Modstep is playing! However, it needs Modstep clock and Modstep modulation graph midi message for.
So anything has midi sync on midi channel; such as fx apps will need to know the clock and cc message, you do the same to them on destination.
6.
Now let's think about how you want 3rd party keyboard, arp, sequencer app to play Modstep chord and melody! So you can use Cream Mobile if you are sophiscated! You can simply use SounPrism, or iPhone version SoundPrism through Apollo Bluetooth midi to Mod. you can use Navichord, midiSTEPS, FugueMachine, Genome, Chordup, iSongwriter, StepPolyArp, Arpegginome Pro, Chordy, Chordion, Klimper, to send midi melody to the grid sequencers on any of the tracks, scenes clips of Modstep.
I here use Fugue Machine for its good melody lines. fugueMachine also has both 'midi in' and 'midi out' for multi channels to play multi synths together.
So let's activate Fugue Machine 'midi out' on 4 channels (1,2,3,4) by using Fugue default 'Start' preset. The Fugue midi data out to where? The answer is midi out to Modstep track grid or you can call it pianoroll grid.
So do you want FugueMachine send clock to Mod? No, you don't want do that, you want letting Modstep Sequencer to drive everything! AUM, synth app, and Fugue. So do you want Fugue machine midi out to send midi data and write those data to Modstep grid pianoroll? Yes, so on Modstep setting page, you should tick music icon for midi source on Fugue Machien midi out!
Do you want Fugue sending CC? No, Fugue can not send CC, so you don't tick CC either.
Now you want mod to control everything, send data, send cc and send clock! Do you want Modstep send clock to FugueM to let Mod driving FugueM? Yes! So on Fugue, you should tick receive clock from Modstep.
So lets see Modstep setting page photo,
So are you clear understand now?
You see midi data source from FugueMachine 'midi out', you also see midi clock ticked by me to allow sending clock out to destination 'FugueMachine'.
7.
There is a catch here on setting Modstep setting page,
You need also tick midi source and destination on Modstep itself? Why? Many reason that I can ot explain too far away, but one thing you should know is on destination! You need to tick the music icon on Mod circle! Why? Because you need Fugue to write Fugue midi data to Modstep grid or pianoroll. This is the most important reason you need a clip based sequencer like Modstep to edit part of your midi notes and modulation at any time around your music production.
8.
Lets move on to tracks:
Let's do an empty track by filling up 16 parts of 16 steps grid color, then copy the scene one by one to cover 4 of our AUM synth! Can you do that, i think I don't need to guide you on this part.