Loopy Pro: Create music, your way.
What is Loopy Pro? — Loopy Pro is a powerful, flexible, and intuitive live looper, sampler, clip launcher and DAW for iPhone and iPad. At its core, it allows you to record and layer sounds in real-time to create complex musical arrangements. But it doesn’t stop there—Loopy Pro offers advanced tools to customize your workflow, build dynamic performance setups, and create a seamless connection between instruments, effects, and external gear.
Use it for live looping, sequencing, arranging, mixing, and much more. Whether you're a live performer, a producer, or just experimenting with sound, Loopy Pro helps you take control of your creative process.
Download on the App StoreLoopy Pro is your all-in-one musical toolkit. Try it for free today.
Using the iPad as a control surface/DAW MIDI controller
The iPad Air 2, still a quite usable device goes for $50 - $150 used, the price of an entry level MIDI controller.
If you're reading this and haven't considered an iPad yet because of the price and use you'd get out of it, or maybe are an iPad apps user and want to branch out into desktop DAWs, or want a minimal setup to control another iPad, this is for you.
Below is a list of known iPad based control surface solutions which I'm going to expand with new info from the thread over time.
If you know use an app that is not listed here or are a developer then best drop appstore and youtube links into a post and I'll update the list below.
iPad to desktop
Primarily designed to control DAWs
One Control Plus (Mackie Control + Novation Launchpad) | Appstore | Youtube | Website
Metagrid Pro | Appstore | Youtube | Website
LK (Ableton only) | Appstore | Youtube | Website
Logic Remote | Appstore | Youtube
Cubase IC Pro | Appstore | Youtube
Studio One Remote App | Appstore | Youtube
Primarily designed to control instruments
Touch OSC | Appstore | Website | Max 4 Live | Mackie MCU
OSC/Pilot | Appstore | Youtube | Website
iPad to iPad or anything MIDI
Primarily designed to control DAWs
Primarily designed to control instruments
MusiKraken | Appstore | Youtube | Website
Loopy Pro | Appstore | Youtube | Website | Threads
TC Data | Appstore | Youtube | Website
Surface Builder | Appstore | Youtube | Thread
Bluetooth MIDI Controller Pro | Appstore | Youtube
Bluetooth MIDI Controller | Appstore | Youtube
Midi Poly Grid | Appstore | Youtube
Android to iPad
Midi Poly Grid | Playstore | Youtube | Users: tyslothrop1
Comments
There is also MIDI Designer Pro
And Loopy Pro either standalone or inside another host.
TC Data is probably the most complete (and detailed) translation between touch events and midi note/control events.
It does have a steep learning curve, but rewards with control actions that no other system provides.
(because it gives access to touch event details like location, time, and relative movements in distance and angle)
It‘s not so great for „classical“ control surfaces (Midi Designer and similar)
TB Midi Stuff was great in that domain, too, but I dunno if it‘s still available or even compatible with recent IOS versions.
@espiegel123 thanks, I'll ad them asap. I wanted to check out Loopy anyway in the coming weeks. Does it also work as a transmitter to another iPad and to a DAW?
@Telefunky TC data has the experimental Synth PHD look haha. I had quick look on YT and there wasn't much. I'll add it asap, just wondering under which category.
The difficulty there is that Drambo doesn't send midi feedback. If you have any automation in your Drambo projects and when you change projects, the control surface is going to be out of sync. Drambo has "pickup mode" so that helps ... except that it currently isn't working (bug reported).
Using AUM isn't needed for that. Surface Builder has its own Bluetooth connection dialog.
I was wondering if I could use Drambo to control Drambo instead?
Drambo doesn't send out midi from its controls. You can set up knobs, sliders, and buttons connected to MIDI CC generators to send midi to another Drambo, but you can't control another Drambo from Drambo's own controls.
If your DAW works with OSC and provides control feedback that may work. If it instead requires midi then it'll also need to send controls feedback over midi or you'll have control sync problems.
You don't need to focus on just these. Any midi controller app can work over Bluetooth once the connection is established. Most have their own Bluetooth connection dialog. A few, such as TouchOSC need to have the connection established first by another app such as midimittr or AUM. Once established though a bluetooth connection is available as a normal midi connection to any app.
You can add TouchOSC, Midi Designer Pro 2, Loopy pro to that list, among others.
I posted this in the Ableton Note thread, but it should probably be here.
Indeed... YT coverage of TC Data is almost a tragedy. I never found anything worth linking.
Just finger grabbing random nonsense with funny patterns
No one seems to care about the mechanism behind those patterns that visualize the change of touch parameters. It‘s not just decoration.
Worth a look: http://www.bitshapesoftware.com/instruments/tc-data/tc-data-user-guide-1.0.pdf
Lemur is (was) fantastic. I still love to use it for all kinds of MIDI control.
It has its limitations too but the control patches contributed by users went far beyond what I've seen in any other MIDI control app.
Let's hope that
https://www.midikinetics.com/
keep their promise in working on and finally releasing Lemur again.
... and don't forget my MusiKraken
Thanks @wim @mistercharlie @Telefunky @rs2000
@Snarp looks good! Where would you put it, iPad to Desktop or iPad to anything? Looks like it's mainly for instruments and less for cotrolling DAWs right?
@all
Any suggestions for app categories? Should I separate DAW controllers and instrument controllers?
Yes, it's mostly a MIDI controller meant to control instruments. In most DAWs you can assign the MIDI events to controls manually, but currently there is no automatic template for the different DAWs.
It is an "iPad/iPhone/(or Android, if you like the dark side) to anything". Currently supports MIDI via Wifi, Bluetooth, USB (IDAM), inter-app MIDI and acts as a Audio Unit host. OSC support coming soon...
I just bought 4Pockets' Surface Builder today because somebody had thoughtfully designed an interface for the Korg NTS-1, with the ability to snapshot patches — something I'd been dreaming about. Awesome!
What would be really cool is deep Ableton integration, especially for the "blue hand" symbol and rack macros which no iPad midi controller does. Ableton uses internal scripts for this and the ones that exist in there were made available here: https://github.com/gluon/AbletonLive11_MIDIRemoteScripts
You or other devs can use the scripts as inspiration for your own deep integration script and then prompt users to install it manually inside the correct folder.
Still hoping for a virtual APC40MKII or a virtual Push controller.
could you please upload a screenshot?
Yes, in particular DAW controllers absolutely need feedback between DAW and remote unit.
Imho non feedback doesn‘t make sense because one frequently uses the screen action anyway.
An instrument controller is more forgiving in that context, at least if a relatively full set of remote control items exist.
A DAW controller has a rather defined layout, while instrument controllers are more open to visual and/or ergonomic options.
It's not as challenging as it seems. You can start with the presets and make small changes from there.
Here's my best effort with it.
Haven’t seen this video before. Great intro to your app!
That is because I finally finished and released the video yesterday
. Now I should have more time again to finish all the half-finished unreleased features (making this video took far too much time...)
I surely can. It’s available here. Three X/Y pads in the second screenshot.
A: yes, it is underrated and often not even thought of (or just dismissed)
thank you! @jebni
TL;DR: not really.
any kind of touchscreen is not really tactile, but a blend of tactile & visual.
one can't control things with a touchscreen while looking somewhere else.
it helps to control things in studio work, but not that much in live/jam situation.
so it does what it does. but in case with iPad – does well.
@chaocrator
I guess a pair of MR glasses and hand tracking would solve the live/jam problem wouldn't it? Given that iPad apps work on the VP it may become the goto device for "hardwareless" live performances.
@kirmesteggno
probably.
but as a man who learned to play live in rock bands with tactile gear, i'm too old for that latest and greatest fancy stuff anyway, and stacking third pair of eyes on top of my two would be a bit too much for me.
@chaocrator
Good point. I'd be and was happy just using a laptop and Ableton, the iPad and other highly portable devices just add more fun and hands on experimentation. For me it's more about being able to pack all my hobbies into a backback and not getting dependend on a stationary setup and location.
exactly THIS.
but my backpack setup is a bit bigger – something i could play a gig with: iPad + Circuit Tracks.
+1 for iPad/Circuit Tracks combo.
Apart from being a fun, intuitive and cool groovebox on its own, the Tracks is a hell of a midi controller. Switching between the 4 midi tracks + 4 drum tracks + mixer and effects, you have A LOT of knobs and buttons that you can use for midi mapping. I recommend Loopy Pro for setting this up, because it’s so versatile and easy to make your own templates and map them to a controller with widgets.
At the moment, I’m aiming for just iPad/Tracks/Loopy Pro as my setup, both for live and recording/playing about with ideas.
Updated. What are you using? Anyone with an iPad to iPad setup?
I don't have 2 iPads, but I tried to hook up an Android-tablet running midipolygrid using a lightning to usb-hub and it worked as a really nice grid-MPE-controller. So far didn't do much with it though. I might try the same setup with Musikraken.
Thanks, looked it up and looks like a nice app from the Xpress Fingerdrumming guy, at least he's promoting on the channel. Added it and a link to your comment.
I've removed Midi Designer because of predatory pricing strategies, they're converting one app purchases made in the past into subscriptions.