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Performing LIVE with iOS and acoustic instruments - ideas, tips, and guidance
Hello Everyone!
Thanks for taking the time to check out this thread. I hope it proves useful.
Here is a bit about me and my set up. Questions are at the bottom of this (very) long post 
I have been performing live music as a solo artist for over a decade in pubs, cafes, clubs etc. singing standard pop and rock covers, Celtic tunes, and other special requests all with an acoustic twist. I have always used my mic, cajon, acoustic guitar, guitar pedals (various and many), vocal harmony pedal, Boss looper (various versions), mixing board, Monitor, FOH speakers... the whole lot.
It's becoming rather unwieldy, so I have taken the plunge into using an iPad as my 'EVERYTHING' - guitar pedals, vocal harmoniser, mixing board, FX pedals, looper etc. And now, I have added a midi keyboard and drum pad so I have pianos, strings, synths, drums etc, all going through a looping app (still deciding between Samplr, Koala, Quantiloop, Looperator and eventually Loopy Pro - when it comes out).
My hardware is now - Guitar, mini pedal board, mic, keyboard, drum pad, 2 mini controllers, iPad, XR18 mixer/Interface, FOH speaker
I am using Audiobus to host AUM and Loopy.
All my other apps (listed below) are running within AUM.
I use a Boss LS2 to switch my guitar signal going from the normal guitar channel to a dedicated bass channel (with a sub-octaver running in the XR18 - it tracks quite well).
I also use a HotShot ABo Mic splitter by Radial to switch between mic channels so that I dont loop my voice if I'm playing at the same time - saves having 2 mics.
My 'Half-Way' set up is currently:
(GUITAR TONE) Guitar > harmoniser pedal > Boss LS2 line selector > Xr18 > iPad (MagicDeathEye DDMF compressor, Attack Softener, Thafknar, ToneStack PRO etc. sidechain into FX) > Looper > XR18 > FOH
(BASS TONE) Guitar > harmoniser pedal > Boss LS2 line selector > Xr18 (Sub-Octaver on full) > iPad (MagicDeathEye DDMF compressor, Thafknar, ToneStack PRO, etc. sidechain into FX) > Looper > XR18 > FOH
(non-looping mic channel) Mic > Harmoniser pedal > HotShot ABo Mic splitter > XR18 > Ipad (MagicDeathEye DDMF compressor, Voicerack: FX, side chain into FX) > XR18 > FOH
(looping mic channel) Mic > Harmoniser pedal > HotShot ABo Mic splitter > XR18 > Ipad (MagicDeathEye DDMF compressor, Voicerack: FX, side chain into FX) > Looper > XR18 > FOH
Keyboard > iPad (Ravenscroft 275, iSymphonic, Beathawk, Moodunits, etc. sidechain into FX) > Looper > XR18 > FOH
Yamaha DTXm12 > Ipad (Beathawk, Digistix, Ting, sidechain into FX) > Looper > XR18 > FOH
I run a MagicDeathEye Stereo Compressor after the Looper before the signal goes back to the XR18 mixer and out to the FOH (FOH - Front Of House - main speakers producing sound for audience if anyone who is a beginner was wondering).
I control the looper (currently Loopy) with my Korg Nanopad2 and I control AUM and other apps with a Korg Nanokontrol2.
I call this my 'half way' set up as I will be getting the 2021 12.9" 1TB iPad Pro in the next few months, so I'm not too worried about memory or ram and I also have the Line 6 FBV Express MKII on order for a small midi foot controller.
Once I have these guys, I will endeavour to utilise Midi Guitar 2 in my guitar chain so that my guitar can give midi output routed to my vocal harmony apps (so the app can tell what chord is being played) and I can get rig of my harmoniser pedal. It also means the guitar can double as a cello, piano, violin, etc. when needed, along with its normal role of being a guitar. lol.
Please note that I am still working on this rig. The set up is far from complete (is it ever?), and Id love to see what everyone suggests for alternatives. Please bear in mind that this is for a LIVE ACOUSTIC SHOW, so if you're gonna suggest running LFO's, gritters, synths, etc, please specify how they could improve the live performance of (mostly) acoustic covers of pop and rock tunes 
Also, I never pre-save tracks in my looper. I always make the loop live on stage - I prefer it this way. I don't intend to change that.
So, after all that (breaths deeply) my questions are:
- What advice do you have for someone who is moving from hardware to iOS?
- What issues should I be looking out for?
- Any advice on signal chaining?
- What apps do you use for what purpose?
- Who else is running this kind of "One Man Band" set up live? What does your set up look like?
Thanks all!!
(Sorry for the long post!)
Comments
Have some relatable experience so I’ll just throw out the first things that come into my head for your specific questions. Feel free to dig for more details!
Build setups from the bottom up — explore each element alone in isolation in some depth before incorporating into a larger composite. If you try to start with some kind of grand plan of every item you might ever use you’ll likely immediately drown in cognitive and technical complexity. I’ve been down some roads ..
Be careful not to spend too much time in performance interacting with software — sometimes I map actions to spare buttons on controllers or footpedals just to make things more visual.
I’ve had an audio interface wrecked by phantom power down the lines — they’re not built for stage. Pick up a dual transformer/isolator before heading out to gigs. I recommend the one by ‘Art’.
Make a diagram of how all your cabling goes, take loads of pictures of the cabling itself, clearly label cables and rehearse setup/tear down ahead of time.
Include a table with adequate dimensions on your tech spec (make sure you have a good tech spec to brief engineers, and send it ahead of time).
Get some good cases for your equipment and an organised cable bag. I use the gator stuff from gear4music with a bit of extra padding inserted.
I try to keep a hardware path for my guitar available that can bypass the software on short notice — never needed it but the performance could continue with a bit of finesse in the situation that the software module had an issue.
Audiobus3 mixer is very nicely designed for gain staging software flows.
Having a MIDI mapped mixer for your ‘in the box’ output levels is really handy.
Audiobus3 is the only solution I’ve found to host apps as well as keep software and hardware in synch. I have a hardware synch clock (MPD32) which clocks Audiobus3, which clocks all other software and hardware.
Thafknar is a recent revelation in guitar tone for me (as well as others). Lots of threads about that around the place.
Samplr is the absolute king of live touchscreen performance with Koala sampler a more recent contender. They work together well.
I’ve done quite a few concerts running a complex rig along with bass or guitar, usually backing a vocalist (kind of ethnic shamanistic rhythmic stuff). I’m happy to discuss performance philosophy or answer any specific questions you might have.
Just noticed that I don’t have enough good pictures of this. This is where it’s setup at home anyway.
A good thread, so I will do my best. Let's start with context: I am not a one-man band in my current musical incarnation.
I play keyboards in different bands here locally, all small-scale stuff. I rely heavily on my hardware boards (Nords) which have served me well over the years. But there are gaps, and that's how the iPad has started to make inroads to my gig rig -- filling in the gaps. The SWAM instruments alone are worth the trouble.
Over time, I may move to iPad centric, but only if things improve dramatically.
I currently have issues with hardware and software stability for what I do. But I'm making progress.
I now am using the same protocol with iPads that exists for laptops: a gigging iPad that isn't routinely connected to the internet and used only as an instrument. If I want to use an iPad for something else, I use a different iPad. If I should update my gigging iPad, it goes into sort of a quarantine for a while. Airplane mode, wifi off, no extraneous apps installed or running, etc.
Stability is getting much better as a result. I'm now down to a few wonky apps crashing. Fine, don't use them.
Anything I might want to control on the iPad during a gig I have mapped to some sort of external midi knob, pedal or button, e.g. I don't want to be squinting at my iPad trying to figure out where the volume knob might be during my solo.
Hardware issues are another pain point, not resolved. Playing a gig in direct sun can cause your iPad to overheat, shut down and stay down. That's an issue. I haven't researched iPad coolers -- is there such a thing?
The lightning connector is sloppy and fragile on a good day. USB-C is a bit better, but not by much. I've taken to wrapping tape around it, but that's not a good answer. The USB dongle -- same story. USB power is a bit better. I need to find a 2x2 interface that's small enough to velcro to one of my keyboards. And so on. One bad connection can make for a stressful gig.
By comparison, all the connectors on my hardware boards are big, sturdy and resistant to stupid stage accidents. Some sort of ruggedized iPad with industrial connectors would be ideal.
Keystage is your friend
)
(Ali, if you reading this, my advertising agency is going to send you some contracts
Keystage is your friend if you're doing any sort of gigging.
JINX!
OK, this isn't coming from someone that has gigged with an iPad, but ... for all that you want to do, and considering the price of a 2021 iPad Pro, I think I'd give a long hard look at a MacBook Pro (even a used one) and MainStage. You could send audio and midi for some things to the Mac through iDAM if there are lightweight and stable apps on your existing iPad that bring something to the party.
The thought of the app load you've listed in a performance situation on any iPad makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck.
I’ve never had any luck with mainstage. Other vst hosts, yes. Never with mainstage.
Have used iPad to supplement a performance ... never as the only instrument ...have used mainstage though reliably
My “gigging” with an iPad has consisted of me playing acoustic with some backing pads at Mass, but judging from what you do, and what you currently own, I would still keep some of the hardware involved (e.g. nanokontrol). Also heed the combination of @OscarSouth ’s advice regarding trying out each component and @wim ’s about the ipad performance itself. Start with your essentials and add components one by one, seeing how much the iPad can handle. You’ll need to experiment with latency / buffer size etc to see what your ears can handle while the iPad tries to maintain as many apps as possible.
Brilliant idea about midi guitar 2 and harmonizr - now I can think of getting rid of my TC Harmonizr GXT.
I do some live sessions at my local church. I usually prepare some loops using GarageBand using TONALY. Here was my first video when I started this process. It’s a lot more complex now, but still GarageBand and TONALY/Firo4 are still my very strong staple.
MIDIGuitar is an awesome app. I don’t have it yet. Mainly because for now, ThumbJam with my Artiphon, and Roxsyn seems to work well for me to turn my guitar into a synth.
For my MIDI keyboard (Novation Launchkey Mini), I’ve used a combination of Koala Sampler, and AUV3 apps like SynthMaster One, Gadget 2, and Pure Synth Platinum. I’ll also add Digitalism as it’s a app I’ve been recently testing. These apps have a nice abundance of sounds and presets and are optimized well enough. Currently I use Audiobus but I plan on using Drambo to manage these apps.
One other thing I didn’t mention...I have an iPad and 2 iPhones (6S+, and an iPhone SE - old). The keyboard goes to the iPhone 6s+, the guitar or Artiphon goes to the SE, and the iPad serves to manage the entire session, make presets for the mobile phones, or act as a backup should one of these devices fail. I could technically do live looping with it but I’m not that confident to pull it off live.
P.S: The reason I have my YouTube channel is to record my progress on these topics so I have videos to explain my process. There’s still a lot I’m learning as I go along.
@mustangmusic some of the advices here are not specific enough to the use of "real" instruments in an iOS setup.
Anyway, here's a dump of ideas:
The software world does the same as the hardware, just in a way more convenient way. For instance : parrallel routing, switching fx order at the click of a button. Make the most out of it : equip yourself with a foot midi controller and recall presets with midi PC
You cand then ditch your Boss LS2
With this kind of setup you can now have IEMs with a click track only for you.
Latency:
(btw, I doubt your Behringer octaver does a better job than Tonestack or Jax P3)
Connection failure
without this fonctionality, a disconnection from one of your controller will shuffle the order of the other ones, and you will loose your midi mapping ( Do you see what I mean? Ask, if not clear)
@ttk - Great read. Thanks for posting. Learnt a few tricks I’ll be practicing.
Here’s a random question since you’re a violinist looper.
Just chiming in here, but if you want a real stringed instrument experience, the app called “FingerFiddle” is pretty close. If you’re just looking for good sounds, SWAM is not a bad option.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fingerfiddle/id1057024351
??? Replicate ? Sample ? Synth? Pre-recorded thing?
Sorry If it might sound like a rant, please don't take it the wrong way (my painfull/traumatizing 15+ years at the music school might be talking here...)
Hmm, Hmm ... [clearing voice, in a condescendant way] We're talking "real" instruments here, no artificial tricks
Let's focus on it, at least for @mustangmusic
Yes, they're good, although, BadSnacks is more of a producer, and Stirling is just a dancing violonist. not a looper, and doesn't really use effects.
TBH, I'm still looking for an artist whom I'd apreciate the music AND the technique. Anyway here are some leads for you:
Mireia Clua, Chris Reitz, 5 strings Theory, Chrissie Caulfield, Laura Escude
(In general, shoutout for anyone who have the guts to make music and post it online)
@mustangmusic for Live music, one thing to take in consideration is the size and weight of your setup.
Mandatory, like @mustangmusic I use an accoustic instrument + voice (beatbox).
I use the Iconnectivity iconnectaudio4+. It charges your iDevice when connected.
@mustangmusic : you're right to use the last generation iPads with an USB C. If not, you'd have to use a USB3 CCK to connect and charge at the same time, adding other cables/elements, therefore possible source of failure.
Are you that killer fiddler from Perpetual e-Motion ?
Not really on topic but maybe on a tangent -- I was going through an archive today for a specific file and saw this photo from a different age of human history! On stage as a sessionman with iOS rig in full flow.
From the golden age of iOS before the AU-overshoot into a desktop-lite platform! I think Funkbox, ThumbJam, Filtatron, Audiobus 2, AUM, a few AUFX instruments and Samplr were in play here!