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My first experience using iPad in a live setting
Several weeks ago I bought the MiMiX mixing board app with the idea to use it along with Audiobus and several synth apps for playing live. I just got a chance to try it all out yesterday in a full blast jam session with friends and I'm happy to report everything worked great!
I had several synth apps with key patches loaded all lined up in MiMiX and ready to play. It was easy to switch between the synthesizer channels and use the SOLO button on MiMiX to play which ever one I wanted. The iPad vintage synthesizer apps I chose were a perfect match for my Nord Electro HP keyboard. I especially had fun playing some spacy Mellotron melodies that blew my jamming buddies minds! Ha!ha!
I'm glad I was able to test this out in a low key informal jam. It gives me confidence that it can work reliably for a live gig.
iOS music making has advanced so much in the last couple of years. I am constantly amazed at this technology.
Thanks to the Audiobus and MiMiX developers for making this possible!
- David
Comments
Sounds good. Can you share some details about the set-up? Was this with iOS8? Were you using any hardware controllers or interfaces?
iOS 8.1.2
I used a Korg microKEY-37 controller keyboard which is OK and performed well. It needs a powered USB hub as the iPad is too stingy to power it. I want to replace it with something better that has full size keys. I'm thinking about the Samson Graphite 49 that has been recommended by others.
The apps I used were: Audiobus, MiMiX, Thor, iSEM, Korg Module, Korg iPolysix, and Mellotronics M3000.
The Mellotronics M3000 is pretty basic, and sounded fantastic in my opinion. I liked it a lot for doing eerie sounding pitch bending melodies. It's not a sound that everyone appreciates I guess, because one of my jamming buddies didn't seem to like it much.
The only drawback was that the iPad battery was draining pretty fast and the jam went on for about 6 hours so I was left with only 16% battery life left by the end. But at least it lasted for the whole time. I had forgotten to bring my charging cable. I turned the iPad off during breaks to conserve power.
Which iPad did you use?
Did you have all those apps running simultaneously in AudioBus; and just solo the one you wanted to use with MiMiX? If so, how did you prevent all the other synths from being MIDI triggered by the external controller at the same time, even if they cannot be heard?
Interesting:)
Surely the easiest (and resource preserving) way wold be to assign each synth to a different midi channel and just switch between channels.
@supadom said:
Was going to say the same. Might not be possible with all of them (polysix is locked, midi channel wise) but definitely worth trying. I'd feel better live, that's for sure.
@bsantoro said:
First iPad Air.
All the apps were running simultaneously in Audiobus. I didn't do anything to prevent other synths from being MIDI triggered. I just pressed the MiMiX SOLO button for what ever synth I wanted to sound. Is that something with which I should be concerned?
@supadom said:
Maybe for someone as tech savvy as you.
Being a novice, perhaps I made some beginner mistakes?
I wouldn't say mistakes - if what you tried worked and you were able to play without the tech getting in the way, then mission accomplished.
I get where some of the suggestions are coming from - switching MIDI channels rather than audio channels is sort of the more 'elegant' solution. By switching channels you only trigger the synth you want to play. This can be helpful in a number of ways; you reduce the general device overhead - even though you are soloing the audio using MiMiX, the iPad is still doing the maths to generate all the audio for all the other synths in the background. You just don't hear it because MiMiX isn't passing it to the output.
So you may get audio glitches if you try to run too many synths at once that way.
That said, I struggle with MIDI on the iPad - the implementation is pretty varied, app to app (despite the fact it is one of the most established standards in pro-audio!!) and while getting a number of apps all running smoothly on different MIDI channels should be straightforward, you only have to have one of them in there with a 'quirky' MIDI implementation to make it a challenge.
There is no way to edit the MIDI channel on the Korg microKEY-37 itself. Maybe if I get a better MIDI controller I will try the suggestion.
Personally, I think you've found a set-up that works for you and wouldn't worry. The only thing to keep in mind is that there will be a limit to the number of synths you can have running at once - but you can work that out in advance and set-up accordingly. An advantage of switching the audio using the solo buttons is that you can build layers up of different synths - for example, a bass could use a deep subby patch from one synth, a rounded mid from another and a percussive pluck from a third.
I asked the question originally as I am interested in how people are hooking iPads into live set-ups and what works reliably for them.
@xen's totally right—if it works, don't sweat it. But yeah, when you can, it's worth investigating using another controller—or the MIDI Bridge App—and not taxing our ipad's processor (and consequently, battery). Not saying that as some sort of abstract 'because you should' but because if you're pushing the CPU you could end up with audio glitches when you're playing live.
The other big battery drain is screen brightness. I run at 30% pretty much all the time right now.
Korg Apps tend not to be very good citizens in MidiLand, unfortunately. Problem #1 is they listen to everything with no option to turn any sources off. I don't know if Module has that issue too, but I would be surprised if it was any different.
My little QuNexus also is effectively stuck on CH 1. I use MidiBridge Scene switching to map it to different channels, but I have also a Quneo with four pads dedicated to that function. If you got the Graphite 49 however it is easy to switch channels from its LCD.
That said, apart from minor differences in which Synths are running, I jam with pretty much the same setup, since MiMix came out. It's a gem.
Thank you all for the comments and suggestions.
I was happy with the way everything performed. Maybe I got lucky with only 5 apps going at once. I did not notice any glitchy sounds when I was jamming. However, it was a loud, free-form jam, so any glitch that occurred may have just fit perfectly with the groove. Ha!ha!
dTb
Didn't mean to sound condescending. If you managed to keep it going for 6hrs then probably you'll be alright as battery was my second concern right after the ram/cpu strain.
If I had to do I live performance for 4-6 hours, I would bring my Griffin StudioConnect that charges the iPad while providing an audio/midi interface. There are other similiar interfaces.
@supadom said:
I did actually interpret the comment as condescending, but no worries. I liked the suggestion and it is something I will try if I get a better MIDI controller keyboard. I knew all the apps were being triggered at once even though only one at a time was sounding through MiMiX. Switching MIDI channels is something I could set up using my Doepfer keyboard, but I want to get a keyboard that is more portable. The Doepfer is built like a tank and weighs about as much as one.
I'm learning and appreciate the resource information I am getting from this forum.
- dTb