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Searching for XY midi controller app
Hi all, I am new here, greeting.
Usually I use my digital piano as midi controller to drive my iPad Pro, with auv3 apps like GarageBand, steel guitar pro, xinematix, AudioLayer…etc
There's no xy toggle in my digital piano, I am thinking to use my iPhone as XY cc control to do some pitch bend when playing electric guitar vst. Any recommended apps that allow Bluetooth connect my iPhone as controller to iPad to play xinematix or steel guitar pro…etc. Thank you.
Comments
Drambo
A few that come to mind:
Most of the above can work in a host, and the host can take care of the Bluetooth connection. Some can work standalone as well. TouchOSC and LK don't have their own Bluetooth MIDI connect dialog, but you can use a host or something like MidiMittr to establish the connection. Once connected the device can be used in any app as a regular midi controller. Midi Designer Pro 2 and TouchOSC are standalone only but can be run in popover or split screen with apps that support it.
You don't say if you would be using a host or not. If you are then KB-1 or Rozeta XY would be my recommendation. Rozeta Suite comes with a bunch of other very useful plugins. If you're not going to be using a host then my recommendation would be Surface Builder. It has flexibility to grow with your needs.
I know there are others. These are just the ones I can think of that I've actually used.
Just to be sure I understand: I assume you don't really mean electric guitar vst since vst's don't work on iPad?
There are a bunch of apps that offer XY MIDI controls - it's difficult to recommend one in particular because it depends on your background, experience and what you need so here's a few that I like - there are lots more out there:
KB-1 (a great all around MIDI keyboard and pad app, with X-Y panels too)
TC-Data (very advanced - would not recommend for starting out)
Surface Builder (Create your own MIDI controls in AUM - XY is one of them)
NuRack (Create your own effects and MIDI - choose Automation - TouchPad in the module menus)
MIDITure (has an XY pad within it) **appears to no longer be available on the app store
Rozeta is the simplest solution, and comes with so many other useful apps.
Was my first thought as well. Rozeta is so useful it should almost be mandatory for anyone making music on iOS lol
+1 for Rozeta
Unless the OP isn't working with a host. (Though it's pretty safe to assume they are.)
Btw - welcome to the forum @KCL627. 😎
Thanks for the suggestions with so much detals from all of you. What an active forum with amazing solutions.
I mean instrument apps (usually I pick auv3 apps). Yes, it is not correct to say "vst".
I would use garageband/audiobus as a host. I hope the layout of the pad would be simple and big enough on an iphone (not a big pro max), allows me to do it with my left hand smoothly during playing the digital piano. (Just like using an ordinary keyboard toggle, but it is an iphone instead on my left side). Also, I would like the x-axis to control pitch and auto-center when I remove my finger from the pad, and have the y-axis control mod, but hold the value where it is when I remove my finger. Two XY-pad on an iphone layout may be also fine so maybe I can spare one pad to control volumn.
I am a beginner on midi messages. I guess I will know how to set/define the cc value into Y-axia, but not sure if pitchbend could be assigned to x-axis (becuase I just realize that pitch bend does not belongs to any cc message).
Just from the apps descriptions, Touchosc layout seems simple and big enough. Rozeta, having two-pad layout maybe also simple and fine I guess, but is it in a horizontal layout only? (because I am putting my phone on the left side of piano edge)
Surface builder may be best I guess? becuase I can customize the layout make it big enough (eg: 1 xy and 1 fader on a whole screen)
Just in case you weren’t aware you can’t use AUV3 midi apps with GarageBand. Maybe in tandem with Audiobus but I’ve never tried. But GB can’t host them.
All the apps mentioned will work in Audiobus 3 though.
Surface Builder sounds like your best bet to me. It has the independent snap back to center per axis that you want. It also has Bluetooth connection built in so you don’t need GarageBand or Audiobus. And it can be an AUv3 if you do decide to use it in a host.
TouchOSC is OK too but can’t work as an AUv3 plugin and more importantly doesn’t have its own Bluetooth connection dialog so you’d have to use something else to establish that every time you start up.
Pitch bend is a midi message, but it’s different than midi cc messages. You can’t send pitch bend from an XY pad in surface builder, but you can from a slider control.
…. Hold the phone a bit! I don’t see a SnapBack option for pitch bend pitch with a slider. 😬
Let me see if there’s a solution for that.
Well shit. Unless I’m missing something, surface builder is useless for pitch bend.
I’m gonna recommend KB-1. I think it’s close to what you want - except with pitch bend on the vertical axis rather than horizontal.
I’m not completely sure it’s a good solution though. You may find that pitch bend and mod wheel on the same pad causes issues though. Unless you”re dead center when you go for mod, you’re going to get a blip of a pitch bend every time you touch it.
Is pitch bend and mod wheel on an xy pad not a slightly weird setup anyway? Wouldn't it be better to just use sliders I'm thinking? @KCL627 this is more than you're looking for maybe, as it has a keyboard too, though you can hide the keyboard bit by dragging, over it. Using y axis velocity control on this, btw, you'd be surprised how nice an ipad screen can be for playing keys. This has no mpe support, and currently no hold/latch function, but in other respects it is my personal fave for a quick onscreen keyboard with customizable cc sliders. I like the UI much more than KB-1, though your taste might vary.
https://apps.apple.com/app-bundle/xequence-au-keys-pads/id1454098508
oh really? cannot do it with fader/slider too? But it is written in the App description:
"Surface Builder allows you to send note on/off, controller change and program change values as well as being able to emulate modulation wheel and pitch bend data."
Ah, if you look at Wim's message there, he was saying that there is no snapback option for pitch bend. So you can have a slider for pitch bend, but it will not have snapback like pitchbend sliders usually have, and should always have
Correct. Very strange oversight, and quite useless. So much so that I wonder if I’m missing something.
Ha ha! I found a pitch wheel.
Of all the weird places …. You have to add a rotary knob and then pick the mod wheel type. You end up with a nice pitch bend wheel that isn’t rotary at all. There’s a mod wheel type to go with it.
Wtf ?? 😳 😂
maybe what I am thinking for xy-pad actually doesn't work
ic, maybe I need to report feedback to this app. hope they will update it one day.
See above. There is a pitch wheel. It was just oddly hidden. You can make a layout with nothing but a pitch wheel and mod wheel if you like.
The standalone app doesn’t do portrait mode that I can see though.
Big Thanks. Then I guess I will try Surface Builder.
Agreed. Once it gets hold/latch it’ll be the top dog. It’s already my go to though.
Pitch bend seems to be much harder to implement in digital than analog. I guess that’s why all developers seem to struggle with it?
Pitch bend is 14 bit so it is high res, but is there anything difficult about implementing a pitch bend slider? I've never heard that, and Xequence, Rozeta XY and many other midi apps all send pitch bend messages no problem
Surface Builder does do pitch bend. The control for it was just weirdly hidden as a sub type of "rotary knob" widgets. It wasn't available as a "fader/slider" control where I figured it would be.
It's not available as an axis in the XY controller of Surface Builder. I can agree with this design decision as it would be practically impossible to control the other axis without having jumps in pitch.
There's nothing difficult about pitch bend from a midi perspective. I'm not aware of any synths that have problems with pitch bend. What are some examples?
I have at times wondered though - why does the AUM keyboard not have at least an option for a pitch bend and mod wheel?
Same.
I don’t think there is an issue of technical difficulty. There are plenty of apps that provide pitchbend.