Ipad APP

Hello I am brand new to looping and the Aeros. To be honest I am finding all the technical terminology a bit confusing and would love a simple step by step video to walk a beginner through the steps to getting the most out of using this piece of kit. I also purchased the beat buddy and finding this almost impossible to add songs etc.

I recently got hold of a spark amp by positive grid and it occured to me just how easy it is to operate through the Ipad / Iphone app.

Can we please have an app for the Aeros that would link via bluetooth / wifi. This would open up a whole host of functionality in a visual and user friendly format. I bought the Aeros as thought it was pretty future proof and was enticed by the Bluetooth / wifi future features that although were never really mentioned in detail. In this day and age surely we can make get more out of the bluetooth / wifi connections that the Aeros has already built in!

Hereā€™s hoping!

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Hi Cambolee,
I am in the same boat. Total newbee and it is head wrecking for me too.
A beginner video on the Aeros would indeed be great.
The team at SS have a lot on their plate at the moment so I guess it will be some time before a beginner type video is produced.
Thing is there is a learning curve on both items.I have the BB awhile now and now getting a handle on it.

Isynced the BB and Aeros only today and am getting some pleasure. A basic chord progression on track 1 and messing around on Track ! Part 2.That is it for the moment.

2x2 mode with latest firmware on both.

I keep checking in to the forum and pick up tiny bits of info that hopefully add up in the end.

Practice practice and patience as they say.

A big +1 to this!
Iā€™m using an iPad based set-up at the moment and would be awesome having the posibility of more synchronization between the iPad and the Aeros, also the possibility of manage tracks from it.

Euhā€¦ :thinking: what are we talking about there ?

An app for what ? To have access to the settings ? To copy some sound to and from the Aeros ? I find the use case pretty smallā€¦

I have a Spark Amp too and the app that goes with is very handy to do things offlineā€¦ Its goal is to help you taylor your sound to something that you like then you copy to one of the 4 slots available on the hardware in order to be able to use the device without any appā€¦ The app itself is not meant for the live action.

An app will never help you use the Aeros more easily in a live situation. Thatā€™s my first assertion. Learning how to master looping has nothing to do with the device itself.

Now, letā€™s say you provide a nice use case for an app (and maybe something around the midi setup and connectivity/interaction with other devices is totally valid. As I donā€™t have any BeatBuddy showing up in my mailbox I didnā€™t have this need but feel like thereā€™s something probably missing there). I hear you talking about an Ipad thingā€¦

In case a companion app development is decided (and I doubt Singular Sound has the horsepower to do that anytime soon), here are the foundations requirements:

  • To be Open Source (like the BBManager is)
  • To be multi-platform by design (ie no design choice should be made that would lead to this incompatibility): Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, IOS

After that we can discuss about the content of that appā€¦

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I would like an app that allows me to perform all operations on the Aeros from an iPad (or other device.) That way, I could use my iPad to control everything on the Aeros like I do with several of my effects pedals.

I use ā€œMidi Designer Proā€ on my iPad to build midi interfaces for several of my pedals. This allows me to use the iPad mounted to mic stand to send program changes and change settings (via CCā€™s) on the various pedals. Creating a panel in Midi Designer that performs all midi functions available for Aeros is easy. But, this is still not a ā€œwirelessā€ option unless I buy midi-specific wireless hardwareā€¦not likely.

For those who are comfortable with midi (and wires), using an existing iOS midi controller app might be a reasonable option for remote control of the Aeros. But for the vast majority of users, buying a midi controller app and mapping controls via program changes and CC numbers is not a viable alternative for controlling the Aeros remotely. So, I believe that an iOS (and other platform) app to control the Aeros wirelessly would be very useful for many.

Thatā€™s exactly what I meant by:

But there I am wonderingā€¦ Do you actually really want an Aeros app or a super midi manager, not specifically for the Aerosā€¦ ? From what you are mentioning, it sounds much more like the latter.

I want a standalone app that provides all foot-controlled Aeros commands wirelessly, without needing to know anything about midi, and preferably free with the Aeros.

As a programmer who is familiar with midi, I am able to concoct my own ā€˜wiredā€™ alternative to an Aeros app using a different, purchased app. But most users will not want to shell out money for a midi design app, and then figure out how to use it to control the Aeros.

to you & Blowback: i feel your desire for ā€œa simple step by step video to walk a beginner through the steps to getting the most out of using this piece of kitā€ but i donā€™t know if this will ever exist. there are videos on youtube (that also link from this site) but theyā€™re not the slow step-by-step- ā€œnow you do this to make this happenā€ type videos that would REALLY help someone get up to speed. iā€™ve had my Aeros for i think about 4 months and itā€™s just been a step-by-step trial & error process where iā€™m finally at the place where i can see this really working for me, especially with a few upcoming changes theyā€™ve promised, and i am a somewhat experienced looper to start with. all the videos & even the manuals theyā€™ve created have been done by people who are imho too technologically savvy to have a feel for how challenging it can be for a ā€œnewbieā€ to not only looping, but to such a complex looper. maybe they should hook up with that company and have them make an ā€œAeros for Dummiesā€ video & manual. you can email them and get an answer & thereā€™s an AEROS FB group where people should answer most of your questions. i think they should definitely have a section here titled: How Do I Do This? with a dedicated Aeros tech answering simple questions of functionality. Yes, keep digging into these forums, experiment, use the FB group and if you really get blocked, email and ask. they should get back to you. Best of Luck.

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Hello @BlueSkyIS ,

Just for my personal understanding, could you explain me what your use case is ?
I clearly understand the need of:

  • The feet-driven commands, because the Aeros is supposed to be hand-free and tailored for live performance.
  • Midi, because you may want to drive everything from another device/software or even drive other devices/software from the Aeros.

Yet honestly I do not really understand the need you describe, so Iā€™m a bit curious. What is the use case you have requiring a remote access to the Aeros commands from a dedicated app ?

Some use cases/situations:

  • When I am using a foot to move a pedal and donā€™t have a foot available to control the Aeros. The pedal could be a wah, volume, whammy, expression pedal, etc.
  • When the Aeros is not physically within reach, for instance when I am laying down a rhythm loop on the drum machine and the Aeros is on a pedal board on the other side of the keyboards.
  • When loud button clicks are not acceptable.

The obvious solution to these cases is ā€œuse midi.ā€ But I think it would be nice if Aeros users wouldnā€™t have to buy additional midi hardware and/or software, and learn how to use it, to cover these situations.

Regardless, the Aeros is easily the best in its field, especially after the recent update. The only thing really missing in the Aeros for me is reverse, which I use A LOT on my Boomerang 3.

I understandā€¦ And the need is valid. I was maybe too much focused on guitarā€¦ which doesnā€™t really let me free hands, forgetting about other types of usersā€¦ And you are right, my first answer would probably be MIDI, as it is a more generic answer, but I agree that in these cases it may look like an overkill at first sightā€¦

Nevertheless from a Singular Sound point of view, if I would have implemented everything to be MIDI driven I would probably not see any added value in developing such an app which would be a total duplicate compared to any MIDI dedicated app, especially as this app would have to be standalone, and would not add anything in terms of interaction with the rest of the world as opposed to MIDI which is a protocol, designed to put in place orchestration between all of your devices/software.

I am not in MIDI at all, but I know that if want to achieve the next level of automation/interaction I would have to somehow learn itā€¦ As a musician this is an investment that would make sense.

If we are talking about designing a companion app, something interesting would be to implement MIDI over bluetooth, allowing then to fully pilot the Aeros from any mobile MIDI app. That would be very convenientā€¦

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I would make use of this for sure.
Haha, Iā€™ll preface what Iā€™m about to say by saying Iā€™m about a month into my Aeros/Beatbuddy/Footswitch+ experience and itā€™s awesome so far. Iā€™m filled with inspiration and excitement.

What I really want is an all-inclusive Singluar Sound remote app. I stream live music broadcasts, and loop multiple instruments while doing so, which means Iā€™m also not always planted in front of my pedalboard and looper. Being in a performance environment like that means I get a lot of requestsā€”which I tend to take. Therefore, I donā€™t know what my set list is going to be at the beginning of the show, so simply using the footswitch to go to the next song on the beat buddy wonā€™t always work for me. I might get asked to play Johnny Cash, followed by Bob Marley, followed by That Thing You Do! ā€” thatā€™s a lot of navigation to do with knobs and/or footswitches. And itā€™s impossible to do hands free without a LOT of loud footswitch clicks.

Itā€™d be great to be able to use a phone or tablet to manage whatā€™s playing on my beatbuddy, as well as toggle tempo and kits, without having to touch anything.

So far, I havenā€™t gotten into the habit of saving loopsā€”most are deleted between each song performance, but I would love to be able to switch quickly between 6x6, 2x2, and Freeform mode without having to bend down and fiddle with the settings. I know that more hands-free options for the Aeros are in development ā€” it be great to be able to have a Freeform loop setup ready to go at the push of a button.

I think some of this stuff, at least with the beatbuddy, you can do with other apps using beatbuddy as a slave, but Iā€™m not that midi savvy, and Iā€™m just getting into all this, so I might find more efficient ways of setting things up in order to be able to rapidly switch between beat buddy beats and Aeros loops modes on the fly.

For those times when I know exactly what I want to play in my set list, itā€™s super easy to set that up with the beatbuddy and scroll thru the tunes :ok_hand:t2:

While this wont do everything you want, you should take a look at this Third Party BeatBuddy Wireless MIDI app developed by Ed Saxman:

https://mididesigner.com/qa/8402/beatbuddy-wireless-midi-controller-v1-3

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thanks for the advice, Bill! thatā€™s pretty cool!

I agree totally Blue ā€¦ would be nice to set up songs, tempo, meter, etc. I would love to be able to select a sing from a setlist as well - all from my iPad. That way I do not have to always bend down and tinker with the pedal in the meddle of a set.

Just my opinion, but I think that Singular Sound is busy trying to get the apps up to speed for the Android and iOS (iPhone). Once theyā€™ve got those apps stable, then we might expect them to start on adapting the interfaces for tablet-size apps.

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