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No touchscreen for me
Hello everyone,
I love the idea of the iPad as a all-in-one always on device for music making and am intrigued by the many interesting high-quality apps.
However every time I want to use my iPad for something I get frustrated by the touchscreen. It feels so clumsy and slow compared to working with a mouse and keyboard. I basically want to throw it out of the window after 5 minutes of trying to do stuff.
So my question is; who uses the iPad with music creation apps exclusively with the pencil, mouse, keyboard and hardware/midi controllers? What workflow do you have? Which apps work well without using touch?
Comments
it's funny, i have same experimce just exact opposite, when try use computer with daw and mouse/keyboard, i feel like with with cut hand, everything is so slow, and my inspiration quickly falls to zero.
So probably iPad isn't simply for you, that's ok.
So why then you don't use simply notebook ?
Using ipad with keyboard, mouse without using it's touchscreen makes no sense to me. Every tool should be used the way how it was primary designed, otherwise it's just source of frustration. In general there is much more and better music apps on desktop, main advantage of iPad is touchscreen interface and different (in some way limited) workflow when compared to endless posivilities of desktop. By trying avoid main advatage of this ecosystem, you basically ends with just disadvantages :-))
Believe me. Save your time and buy notebook, thst is exactly device you want to use, based on what you wrote.
iOS audio is all about the touchscreen. It's a trade off of precision vs performative intuitiveness and immediacy. I'd either go for a laptop or a DAWless setup (and a laptop to track it to) rather than figuring out workarounds to avoid a touch screen.
Not sure. Iv just incorperated touch screen for instruments that work well with touchscreen and midi for everything else. So essentially hardware-ish with the bonus of the screen being more instruments. That also benefits as a recording device and effects. Plus space saving of comparable hardware and able to switch out instruments/apps. So like hardware can noodle or be sequenced but no DAW for editing. I wouldnt be able to use a mouse and pencil unless for editing.
Not meaning to state the obvious but why don’t you use a mouse and keyboard? I much prefer touchscreen for instruments and things but writing i just switch to mouse and keyboard as iOS keyboard is broken and has been for years and the select text systems are really poor.
Thanks all for the replies .. much appreciated
I would obviously, but before buying something like cubasis I would like to hear from people who have used it this way, hence the question.
Your instinct is not wrong, the ipad is not supposed to be a replacement of a computer.
When you want to "work" eg get something done that you know the steps required and need to do it efficiently and with less hassle eg using a Daw, then use a desktop or laptop. (I personally don't use ipad daws any more)
When you want to play and create, experiment, jam and enjoy being immersed creating then use the ipad as a modular environment. The ipad works best as an instrument that is physically closer to you like a piece of hardware.
For example use AUM as your hub and create setups with different recording and jamming envionments with plugins. There are lots of touch friendly plugins, but not many come out these days as AUv3 which take advantage of touch.
I think if you're trying to use it like a computer then you will get frustrated.
I have my ipad and computer hooked up together all day in my studio setup and there you can easily see over time what is best for what. When you're truly mobile and outside in the open air and away from flat surfaces, then there is no contest, a touchscreen device is best. Otherwise, a combination of both is good depending on what you want to do.
For me iPad is far more natural not only because of the touch screen but also the way DAWless forkflow is closer to hardware behavior.
I always get frustrated using daw on desktop like logic or Ableton live and the only exception is BitWig on Windows’s surface.
I was a long time Windows hater but these days, I frequently thinking of switching my whole workflow to Windows that became sexier and more innovative each years.
Love touch screen for tracking and performance oriented creating.
For editing it though, it’s a masochists dream.
I often find the touchscreen annoying. I got an iPad because it had software with no desktop equivalent.
Can’t say I’ve ever found its touch screen frustrating, and it certainly doesn’t seem clumsy or slow compared to a keyboard and mouse.
I use a combination of midi controls and touch screen. Some apps just make sense with touch screen. I like the tactile feel of knobs and faders but apps with XY type controls are fun with the touch screen. And interacting with a drum sequencer is easy on touch. Depending on the piano roll, sometimes the pencil or mouse works better.
I do have the 2nd gen iPad Pro 12.9. From my experience it has some touch screen issues sometimes.
My main controller is a novation SL mk3 which has more options than I can map.
Can’t see the problem here?
With a descent iPad you can use keyboard, mouse, trackpad, pencil, AND, touch input, so, just choose your way around…
Everytime I’m using my Macbook Pro M1 and wish it had touchscreen!
I recently moved mostly in this direction. I do most of my music making on my phone though. I find touch is great for music apps on my phone because everything is so close together. I can really zip through things with my fingers only. iPad takes much more movement and just feels really clunky.
So, I hooked up my pro to a hub with a large monitor, minilab, and audio interface. Set up with keyboard and Magic Trackpad 2 this is working fantastic for me. The trackpad is absurdly expensive but I really love it. Feels much more natural than touching the big screen. I have all the apps but mostly just use drambo hosting a handful of others. I avoid using the interfaces for most of those AUV3s and prefer to just map the relevant controls into a rack in drambo. I also use Lumbeat apps, NS2, and GarageBand occasionally.
So, yes, you can ditch the touch screen and really improve your experience depending on your preferences. I have Apple Pencil 2 but never use it for music stuff.
Are you sure you want to persist with iPad if you prefer keyboard and mouse?
I’ve abandoned keyboard and mouse because I much prefer touch, otherwise I’d still be on a laptop because there’s still much more power to be had in terms of apps as well as cpu/ram and file management.
As far as portability a MacBook Air isn’t much bigger than an iPad either.
The only time it feels clumsy for me anymore is when trying to fine tune parameters to specific values in synths, etc. A lot of times you get the value you want, say cutoff at 41, but when you lift up your finger from the glass the value will change slightly as it can be impossible to lift straight up with your finger.
Hard to use a mouse lying down.
+___
A mouse, yes. But quite fun to lounge on the couch with trackpad and iPad hooked up to the big screen and sound system.
Have you delved into this world yet?
Whoa. That’s new. Fantastic for the disabled, but could also possibly be used by others for macros.
MPC One = Best of both worlds
Use your iPad as sound source.
@NeuM
https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/06/29/eye-tracking-app-eyeware-beam-free-to-download-in-iphone-beta
https://www.inclusivetlc.com/skyle-for-ipad-pro
https://smoothtrack.app/
it’s pretty easy to set up a BT mouse and keyboard, I do it all the time. Just make sure the devices you get specifically say Bluetooth, because some say wireless, and use infrared or have a usb plug.
@Poppadocrock but don’t you wanna move faders from across the room with your eyeballs?
It’s about as close as I’ll get to using The Force like a Jedi
Mouse+keyboard=work
Sadly I have a massive day job… if they made a music making device whatever with a joystick I’d go for it, whatever except the mouse.
Mice don’t work well on the couch anywayz
Right! 😂😂😂
Some apps only make sense with the touch screen, Samplr being a first example that comes to mind. My biggest complaint about iPad apps is when they feel fiddly, and it's tough to know just quite how to start to engage the control and what direction to move to modify the control setting. Interfaces with lots of small knobs are guilty of this.
The other big complaint I have about iOS is how hidden and unintuitive some apps are for the sake of novelty or innovation. Frankly, Samplr serves again as an example of this. It takes watching a good tutorial video like Cuckoo's to really start to get into it. Koala sampler is a great counter example to this, where you can just start getting into it without having to have anybody give you tips for the basics.
Samplr, GeoShred, TC11, Velocity kb, Animoog, etc. This is where the touchscreen shines. It’s a new instrument with its own language and possibilities. I call it the screentar.
Lol. That would be cool but I’m sure they be aching after 5 mins lol. I like the touch screen. Use Mouse sometimes, but rarely use keyboard unless I’m working on something with lots of typing.