Drambo (iOS)

amazing update, thanks for sharing Echo :slight_smile:

Can users please help me better envision how you tend to work with Drambo physically? Are you typically using just the iPad and some wired headphones with no audio interface? External interface and a USB keyboard? External midi controller with knobs?

Creatively I’m at my best when I break music up into creative moments and administrative/task oriented moments, so approaching Drambo like this might be helpful to me. Setup working environments that I technically understand and then explore them when I’m in the creative headspace. At the moment even imagining it being a creative space is hard because the environment is seemingly infinite.

I don’t suppose there’s some “preset” environments that you guys would recommend as stand-alone “get familiar with the app” starting points? I know about the preset database on Patch Storage, but they often seem very focused and single purpose. I’d love something dumbed down that simply encouraged puttering around and knocking out something basic just to get comfortable working in the app.

As someone mentioned above, the myriad of ways you can interface and work with Drambo, like the OT, makes it a little much to get started with at first. Having said that, it does seem like if I could use it in a OP1-ish way I’d really enjoy it and it would prove to be very functional and portable.

@echo_opera - thanks for posting these. Can you update on how the update runs on Mac? I recall it suffered a bit from not being fully developed for computers in earlier versions

@infiniteposse - works nicely with the Digitakt when linked via USB and Midi Cc. Drambo is immensely configurable

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Thanks for the tip on the DT. I’ve got Syntakt, so maybe I’ll start working with that as a clock and controller and see how it feels. Thanks for the feedback.

@infiniteposse - excellent - please report back on yr ST findings. One thing that would be interesting to try is using the PC midi module to try and set up a song mode situation between Drambo and the ST.

It took me a while too mate but now it all feels very easy and I find myself trying more complicated ideas. By all means it can be as much of a mental exercise as you make it or as easy as you want it to be. It’s just about breaking through that wall at the beginning. It’s just become a whole lot easier to break through it too. You might change your mind about AUs when you use the direct AU automation :wink: definitely good to get to grips with D alone though. What I consider complicated is a breeze to some of the lads over on D forums though so don’t be hesitant to ask for help over there too even if it seems quiet. the beta section is obviously hidden but there is a group of D power users active on there every single day.

@infiniteposse Drambo is like you put a modular synth inside an octatrack and installed a launchpad in it. You could set it up however you want which obviously can be a little opaque to dive into. But like the octatrack you can make it whatever you want. There is no need at all to use every feature. You can set up templates which open on startup and make it your own

imagine if the octatrack got an update where you could clip launch on a big screen, a piano roll, a scales mode, and with the new MORPH module each track got its own crossfader which is also assignable to the main crossfader. It’s capable of modulating parameters you previously couldn’t. Plus with hosting of AUs now having direct automation lanes recordable from within the synth app, and the automation has an advanced editor, and all step components have become immediately available and easy to use, and stem recording. There are a whole host of other changes and so much has been added I wouldn’t even be surprised at all if things have been missed from the list in the AppStore. Just check it out. It’s a phenomenal update

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Ha! When I dabbled in it before I was purely using AUs but I’d like to explore the modules a bit to get a feel for things better. Had a play about there and scenes/clips is huge for me and some really nice workflow additions with the step sequencer inputs and that record “grow”.

I do struggle with music making on iPad though. Maybe I should try out a controller of sorts to get into things. Even a small keyboard would be handy. The XKey I’ve got is a pain in the arse as it doesn’t draw power from the iPad so not a great solution. Food for thought I guess.

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same here. I have a li’l faderfox uc4 that’s been gathering dust in a drawer for years I just pulled out this morning. looks perfect for the job. can’t wait to give it a try & get a more tactile interface on the go.

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Well, I use it in a few ways:

Step 1. Just using it on my lap, headphones connected with a headset mic for rough vocals. Using the internal keyboard to enter notes, using the crossfader, module buttons for adjustment and automation of sounds, and setting up other control surfaces for various tracks like an X-Y pad if it’s needed and fun for a jam. I use this basic setup when out and about. It’s totally ‘in the box’.

Step 2. Adding a wireless MIDI keyboard to record in notes, rather than the internal keyboard. Office lunchtimes are great for this!

Step 3. The full fat experience if I have time when I’m home. Here I connect the iPad to a portable Zoom U44 interface that runs off batteries, and have a Faderfox UC4 connected to the MIDI port of the Zoom. I’m still using the wireless keyboard. Then I can use the Zoom’s inputs for other gear (synths, guitars etc) and route it to Drambo. I can record vocals via external mics (for example, the Zoom’s very own condenser mic add-on). I have a template set up in Drambo where the Faderfox is mapped to various parameters, like track levels, mutes and the crossfader. THIS is where it really becomes an Octatrack on steroids for me, marrying the amazing software with a hardware feel.

I think the key is to come up with a template that works for you, that you can always load so you’re not staring at a blank project. My go-to one has some tracks already set up for internal Drambo instruments - I have a wavetable synth, a basic synth, a sampled drum kit that I like in a Flexi sampler instrument, an AUv3 instance of Model 15, and a blank Flexi Sampler that will accept external audio input. The template also contains my Faderfox UC4 MIDI mappings, but works perfectly fine without that controller attached so is good in all scenarios. Oh, and it has a Bark Filter AUv3 on the master track - this is set to the wonderful Tripleband preset, which is the secret sauce to a ‘usually-much-better’ mix without having to do anything else!

I also have a blank version of the above project template, with nothing there except my Faderfox UC4 mappings and Bark Filter on the master track. I always start a session from one of the 2 templates. I may refine this in future.

So my advice would be to come up with a template that works for you and save it. Then you’ve only had to set everything up once! Oh, and increase the volume of the master track immediately. It’s a bit quiet by default IMO.

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Make sure you try swiping stuff not just pressing it too. You can swipe up and down to mute tracks, stop clips and if you swipe up on the pattern bar in the middle you can remove and edit chunks of the pattern easily

also if clips are big for you note that you can make an arrangement then instantly make a new scene from that and make full song arrangements in minutes like ‘capture and insert scene’ on ableton

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what kinda saturation / compressor-y stuff do you use on the master track?

I’m new to the ios world & its a bit confusing. I like to put a bit of crunch on my master to glue everything.

nice one, ima check that out stat :slight_smile:

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Purchased Drambo a hell of a long time ago. Will revisit over the weekend.

The one thing that always put me off was getting the music tracks individually out of the iPad. I get things have changed a hell of a lot since then

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exactly like that. It did take me some time to get into it, and Ipad music making generally, but now it’s my most used music device.

Drambo, Beatmaker and Koala totally changed the Ipad game for me. And drambo is the most outstanding. Questions every other groovebox I own honestly (besides maschine, cause I its pads)

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full stem recording per track and on the master now! Just go onto MAIN tap that little tape icon on each track module
image

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Just mapped some specific CC# per instrument to the Syntakt. I’ll post the project soon.

Cheers.

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Drambo 2.0 is a damn good update. I love it.

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Incredible update, floored.

Can we import audio from AudioShare into Drambo?