Animoog is probably one of the most powerful apps available in the world of iOS music making, but it’s not a stand alone music creation center. If you’re looking to integrate recordings that you’ve made in Animoog into a larger project on an iOS DAW, you’re going to go through a process that moves audio from one app to another. Due to the imprecise nature of Animoog‘s recording feature, it’s unfortunately going to be a messy process. In a previous tutorial on recording audio with Animoog, I addressed this issue by recommending Hokusai Audio Editor as a place to clean up your audio. Since the publication of that article, I’ve gotten quite a few questions about getting audio from Animoog into Hokusai, so I’m going to provide that tutorial here. It’s worth noting that some apps will allow you to edit your recording directly within the app; for example, NanoStudio will let you edit your recording before throwing it into a set of TRG-16 performance pads. That’s not an option available in every app though, so editing your music within Hokusai and then exporting it to your DAW is a good solution.
Getting Animoog Ready To Record
The process begins in Animoog, so let’s set-up the app to prepare for the recording process. Start by loading a patch into Animoog and making any preliminary changes that make the sound more to your liking. You’re going to be capturing a performance, so take a minute to practice the part before we record. In the original article on Animoog recording, I suggested using a drum machine with background audio to keep time for you; my top solution for this need is FunkBox Drum Machine. The use of a drum machine is still a workable solution, but the 1.0.3 Animoog update integrated a metronome option for recording. In order to use the metronome, press the “SETUP” tab where you’ll see a red button entitled “Recorder beep.” Press “Recorder beep” so that it turns into a green button, enabling the background metronome. Before you actually hit the record button, you also need to adjust your tempo; you’ll want this to match the tempo of the final destination project. To change the tempo, put your finger on the BPM readout and drag it up to raise the tempo or down to lower the tempo; you can also touch the “TAP” button four times to have Animoog “guess” your tempo. These may seem like little details, but this initial set-up will save you headaches in the future.
Capturing Your Audio With Animoog
Now that you’ve gotten Animoog prepared, you’re ready to capture audio from the app. Touch the “RECORD” button on the far right hand side of the screen; if it’s not readily apparent, you may need to press the up or down button on the control strip. After you press “RECORD,” you’ll hear a digital beep, counting off your song. The metronome gives you some lead-in time, but it’s an awkward space; you’ll heard five digital beeps before Animoog starts recording. With such a strange start to the piece, you’re most likely not going to get a perfect start to your recording – that’s O.K though, we’re going to fix that in Hokusai. Just start your recording and perform to the best of your ability. When you’re done with your phrase, press the record button again, stoping Animoog from capturing audio. At this point, press the “COPY” button to place your Animoog recording onto the iOS pasteboard. Now you’ve got a good, solid recording waiting to be used, but it’s most likely going to need some editing. So you’re done with Animoog, but we’re going to make a quick stop in Hokusai before the audio reaches your DAW.
The Hokusai Project Management Page
When you first open Hokusai, you’ll find yourself on the project management page. Press the “+” button in the upper right hand corner of the screen to create a new project. The words “New Project 1″ will appear at the top of the screen, you’ll see some additional buttons in the top bar, and an “ADD NEW TRACK” menu will appear on the screen. You don’t have any tracks available yet, so we’ll be utilizing the “ADD NEW TRACK” menu – you’ll see five choices – “Record,” “Paste,” “Create,” “Import,” “Dropbox.” Here’s where things get a little tricky, you don’t want the “Paste” option; in fact, it will most likely be shaded so that you can’t do anything with it. You actually want the “Create” option, which will allow you to create a new track based upon parameters that you give the app. A new menu will appear with “White Noise” and “Synthesizer options, but no option to “AudioPaste” your recorded audio. Hokusai is a free audio editing app that gives you quite a bit of good stuff for free, but unfortunately, you do have to purchase the ability to “AudioPaste” from the start. We’re gong to walk you through the process of buying the “AudioPaste” option so that you can get your Animoog recording into the app. If you’ve already purchased this option, you might want to skip ahead.
Getting To The Effect Store
Buying the “AudioPaste” means that we have to get to the Store, which requires us to make a dummy track. In order to do this, press “White Noise” (in the Create menu), which will send you to another menu with several options for inserting varying levels of White Noise. While this can be a useful tool in another context, we’re just using it as a means to get to a new track, so don’t worry about the settings, just press “DONE.” Once you do this, a new track will appear, filled with a thick waveform. Don’t hit the play button, it’s not a pretty sound – simply hold your finger on the waveform and drag it to the left or right. That portion of the waveform will turn blue, letting you know that it’s selected. A pop-up menu will appear below the track with several options – “Cut,” “Copy,” ” Delete,” ” Trim,” and “More…” Tap “More…”, which will take you to the “Effects” menu, a great selection of options for manipulating audio. Once again, there’s a lot of power in these selections, but we’re looking for something else. You’ll see a “Get More” button in the upper right hand corner of the menu; press this button and you’ll find yourself in the right place.
Options For Adding AudioPaste To Hokusai
After you press the “Get More” button, you’ll find yourself in the “Effect Store,” where you’ll find several add-on choices. The best deal is “The Complete Pro Pack” where you’ll get a bundle of useful effects and tools. It’s a bit of an investment at $9.99, but if you’re going to be using Hokusai extensively, this is a good purchase. If you’re only going to use Hokusai for this type of edit, you might opt for a smaller, less expensive package though. In order to go a less expensive route, you will need to purchase the “Tools Pack” to get access to AudioCopy & AudioPaste. It’s $2.99, so it’s not a major purchase, and if you’re going to use Hokusai, you’ll be glad that you happy that you added this set of tools onto the app. Choose which option works best for you and then make your purchase. Once you complete your purchase, press the blue “Done” button in the upper left hand corner of the menu. You’ll find yourself back on the “Create” menu, where you’ll now see an “AudioCopy & Paste” option.
Cleaning Up The Hokusai Workspace
At this point, you’re ready to work with your Animoog audio, but let’s clear the Hokusai workspace and start fresh. We’re going to create a completely new track once we bring our Animoog recording into the app, so we can get rid of the “White Noise” track. Simply press the gear on the left side of the “White Noise” track. Once you press the gear, you’ll see a menu of options that includes “Rename Track,” “Convert to Stereo,” and a red button marked “Delete.” Press the “Delete” button and your track will disappear, leaving you with the blank project management screen.
Moving Towards Editing Your Animoog Track
With this set-up behind you, Hokusai will be ready to do some fine editing on your Animoog track. You’ll most likely need to chop silence off the beginning and end of your Animoog track, as well as deal with some slight refinements. The initial phases of the set-up process may seem a bit cumbersome, but they go a long way towards getting the product that you desire. With a few more easy steps, you’ll be ready to take place your edited Animoog material into an iOS DAW. Come back soon when we’ll dig into the process of editing your Animoog track with Hokusai and then exporting it back out to another app.
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Animoog audio recording can be a bit of a mess, but fortunately, there’s apps like Hokusai Audio Editor to get things record for larger projects. Have you combined Animoog with Hokusai Audio Editor? How have you set-up Hokusai to best take advantage of its power alongside Animoog? We’d love to hear about your experiences – LEAVE A COMMENT below and let us know what you think of the Animoog and Hokusai combination.
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CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARTICLES:
The Basics Of Animoog On Your iPad: Getting Set-Up
Music App Review: Hokusai Audio Editor
The Basics Of Animoog On Your iPad: Exporting Your Audio
Essential Music App Features: Audio Copy & Audio Paste
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