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How long did it take for you to get used to/prefer making music on iPad?
I've got Mac, PC and an iPad - plenty of DAWs and plugins etc across all of them.
It's so hard to break out of the mindset that like, the Mac is for serious music making though, and the iPad is for messing around/having some fun with.
This isn't even true looking at my own use case - but everything I use it "seriously" for is LIVE - ie, at gigs, for either looping or just fx or beats, all my more serious use cases are for gigging in bars/clubs/pubs.
idk why but it's hard to seriously hone in on mastering a DAW and writing/recording/releasing music on iPad.
Makes no sense. I've got more than I need to do it, I love the wealth of options, I'm fully invested in the iPad music economy, own pretty much all DAWs and have spent a lot on plugins/fx (mostly unnecessary, but iPad prices are always so easy to just be like.. yeah I'll grab it.. lol).
I've got multiple audio interfaces and midi controllers at home to use with it and get moving, but I find myself on mouse and keyboard at my Mac when it comes time to record "for real".
I'd LOVE to break this mindset - how'd you guys get to it?
There's so much to love about making music on iPad that I think it's a habit or a mental thing I need to get past, I don't believe it's due to any technical limitations or whatnot.
Maybe I need to start simple and just get moving with some acoustic covers or something and progress from there.
I've got songs that are like 90% completed on iPad, that I've then gone and recreated on Mac, which is where I've got them closer to being finished. And it's not because I needed/wanted to use plugins I have on Mac, that I don't on iPad (although I do wind up doing that).. it's more that it's like, hard to shake this "toy" or "playing around" vibe with the iPad.
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Personally, I can't stand using a desktop/laptop. 😂 I was a Windows user for years and years, FL Studio as my main "weapon of choice". Using a mouse and keyboard slowed me down, and I only realised that after switching to iPad where I could make music faster. It wasn't FL Studio itself (which, on desktop/laptop, was the DAW I could make music in the quickest). It was me not being able to move fast enough with a mouse, no matter what mouse settings I used.
I started and finished three full tracks today - one Reggae, one Orchestral, and one Chillstep. Wanted to make a fourth track but my body is in recovery. 🤣 (F getting older, lol. My brain is sharp, but my spine is not so much.) I did in under 3 hours what used to take me 2-3 weeks on desktop/laptop! 🫣
All that said, there's nothing wrong with preferring the desktop environment if that's your jam. It's just that using a desktop/laptop feels like doing homework for me personally. Ymmv. ❤️
It's not a mindset.
You get going fast on iOS for many reasons but it's almost impossible to get a project over the line.
This is just part of the design, it's not a coincidence and Apple are clever for it.
Look over to the creation section. Many of us have completed lots of music.
I would say it took me 3 years. For 2 reasons.
1-I had never written music on my own.
2-I was new to electronic music, coming from the metal world.
Don't get me wrong, I have heard some cool stuff here. A lot of it is just middle aged men playing with apps and calling it production.
Apple are in the business of selling people a Mac, iPhone, watch and an ipad.
Can you explain why this might be?
Or at least, why you perceive things this way?
I've been thinking on it since making the thread - trying to identify issues that might hold me back, specifically.
A big part of it is think is just the workspace, and form factor of the iPad - you kind of need a place to work, yeah?
A place where my keyboards, guitars and bass are and all that.. at which place, there's probably a desk.
So it makes sense there would be a Mac or PC there, since there's obviously a place and space for it - so why use the iPad?
Obviously, habit is an issue.. I've spent years making music with mouse and keyboard but this isn't something I can't do on iPad, I can 100% connect my mouse and keyboard and do the same thing.
There's some things I wish existed, or were.. more modern?.. with an iPad, the form factor makes me want an all-in-one solution for everything digital.. ie, I want one single device to connect directly to the ipad, and that one device has an audio interface with all I/O that I need/want, and it would also have keys, pads, faders and dials for midi control.
I want a complete one-stop-shop device, that's modern (there's older devices that do this, but they're dated as heck).
Software was a bit of an issue until Logic Pro for iPad came about.. but then that's got a subscription.. I don't love that.
Ignoring the subscription (which DOES have a negative feeling for me) - at least it's a cohesive DAW with everything laid out nicely, works great, we have a fully comprehensive DAW now that makes use of the touch screen ie drawing automation, affecting midi etc. But there's little issues I have with wanting to quickly swap between tools etc.. user-error I guess, stuff to learn.
Loopy Pro is awesome, but you have to create your whole setup yourself - once it's done, cool, save it as a template, but a lot of people just want to open up a DAW and get moving immediately. With recording songs (LP defaults to the looper setup, for obvious reasons - I KNOW it can be a straight up DAW though).
Then there's the more tedious things - time alignment (VocAlign).. pitch correction (Melodyne style, autotune).. these are things that aren't there on iPad.
Pitch correction is, but there isn't anything as good and practical as Melodyne.
I don't know anything that does time alignment of audio like VocAlign does - these two tools are an everyday, every song thing for me. Almost forced to "finish" (or in my case, straight up recreate) projects on Mac/PC just because of these things missing.
There's also some other software issues - we DO have great guitar modellers, but, as they AS great as NeuralDSPs offerings? Or Scuffham's S-Gear? No. So if you've got time spent on better modellers, then you know 100% that you could be doing whatever you're doing on an iPad better on the Mac/PC.
I think a part of my problem is that I've spent time with fantastic software that isn't available on iPad, and the iPad versions/competitors aren't as good.
But.. I know there's loads of straight up awesome iPad fx/plugins/software too, so it feels like this complaint might be a little niche and little too specific to me. Because if I hadn't spent time with better amp modellers for example, then I'd have no issues with Overloud or Rhino or whatever else.
We've got a few developers that have ported some seriously top-tier stuff though - Fabfilter and Baby Audio stand out, being able to use their products on iPad is straight up chefs kiss, these are products I already use and love on Mac/PC.
It's just like.. some things aren't quite there for me.
Maybe if I just put in the time to get over it and get used to making music on iPad, I'd get there - because I find making music on iPad way more fun, and that's like.. 99% of what matters.
But that last 1% is the bit where you've already written and recorded the song, and now you need to get it where you want it before you release it. That's an important 1%. lol.
It doesn't help that I like a lot of UAD products and Luna and that's all just.. not a thing on iPad lol.
Also - drums. There's great options, sure - especially Logic's Drummer.. or PopDrummer etc.. but, no EZDrummer or Superior Drummer, and I use EZDrummer all the time on pc/Mac.
Probably just a case of.. "just stfu and make some music on the iPad".. I think I could get over most of these "hurdles" given time.
I have made my own Superior drummer with One shot, Helium and some midi beats.
These midi beats were super cheap at Christmas time. Now they are not but their is tons of other options. https://ugritone.com/products/almighty-midi-pack-midi-collection
Here’s a old video that will give you a idea of how I use them together.
two minutes.
I reached a point where every ounce of creativity vanished the second I sat down at a desktop DAW. This is probably because I spent an average of 50-60 hours a week supporting the damn things professionally and my psyche refused to engage in my precious free time in front of one.
The iPad was immediately the journey back to music making for me.
I can sit down at a desktop DAW if the creative part is done and all I'm doing is arranging and mixing, but that's it.
I can relate to the not being able to get projects across the finish line on iOS though. Not because the platform can't handle it, but just because the screen format is too limited for me to lay a bigger project out in my brain.
Like trying to visualize a cross-country road trip from a map you can only fold out to the size of a sheet of writing paper. Or put together a puzzle when you can only see 1/8th of the pieces at any one time.
Sure you can do it, but it ain't fun (for me).
Plain and simple the iPad was a device designed for content consumption, to be in between a smart phone and a laptop.
Not a music studio, not a complete computer replacement but a device to offload simple computing tasks onto like browsing the net and looking at photos.
No matter how awesome all the apps are, how much better everything gets... the same problems will always remain.
I am not trying to be disparaging. It's physically painful to use a touch screen for long periods of time to do this shit and an 8 hour session is not uncommon when you're on a roll with a track.
I disagree. Between my last reply to this thread and now, I finished off a fourth track today. Four tracks could form an EP. In other words, if I weren't producing a 12-track album, I'd have finished a four-track EP in the span of a day.
Very well put.
Sounds like you have it sorted. I've never released anything but a demo almost 20 years ago!
Dang! I hope you can release something sooner or later. 🙏 I'd love to hear your music.
What do you mean by "finished" here?
Are we talking like, fully fleshed out songs?
With lyrics? What instruments? Harmonies? Bridges?
Mixed? Mastered?
Or are we talking about like a handful of instrumental beats with a chord progression and a few melody/arp tracks, mix the levels to be roughly where we want them and calling it a day?
I don't interpret it as disparaging, it does come across as a little dated though.
iPad's have been moving more and more towards being able to do everything for a while now and imo they're there, just not on quite the same level as Mac/PC, due to a few things being better and/or not available on iPad.
But I mean.. the difference for me is almost as simple as.. EZdrummer, NeuralDSP, (or UAD), VocAlign and Melodyne/Repitch being on iPad would = I'd be 100% ready to roll.
Which means it's just a software thing. But there's so much software that I haven't tried so who knows, there may very well be iPad versions that DO tick all the right boxes for me, I just haven't picked those specific ones up yet.
I can only speak for myself but I don't have any issues using an iPad for 8hrs a day + it can connect to an external hub anyway, which lets me use mouse, keyboard + an external monitor and then I've got in theory, the best of all worlds.
Except in practice, for me anyway, the mouse and keyboard experience feels a little sluggish/delayed when doing this - it might just be my hub.
I also haven't even tried to use a bluetooth mouse/keyboard with it yet fwiw so maybe that's worth exploring at some point.
Something about the way the cursor feels when using an external monitor is just.. off, to me. And that stops me from wanting to do some things, if they're even the slightest bit intricate, ie, piano roll etc.
Fully fleshed out instrumentals. Not just simple loops/beats. They will appear on an upcoming album to be released soon.
Apps are cheaper. 😉
..and it's still NOT set up like a computer.
You can just unplug the iPad and off you go - take it to gigs, watch some yt, play some chess, maybe mix some tracks, whatever.
The iPad doesn't have to stay in that setup.
YMMV just as @jwmmakerofmusic so wisely pointed out, it’s as simple as that. Use either one, or a combo. Both desktop and iPad have their pro’s and cons, that won’t go away and I really don’t see the point trying to force yourself into using any of them.
Use them both and what’s best for the task in your own workflow. Keep making music and have fun!
/DMfan🇸🇪
took me a couple of months to prefer iPad.
iPad is significantly more portable & tactile even comparing to a laptop, so a hardware groovebox (Circuit Tracks) + iPad running a software groovebox became my favorite combo that also fits any backpack.
I’m a midel aged man just playing around with apps.
I dont call it a production though
I have lots of beats, melodies and drones on my ipad. Not mutch songs :
@greatestlengths it sounds like you've answered your own question in your reflections in this thread. The problem, if there really is one, is mainly that you're heavily attached to certain plugins that aren't available on iPad. I suppose then the question is, do you really actually need these and are you willing to do without them? Is the main motivation behind all this to have fun with the process, or is it very important that you get those specific outputs with a specific workflow you are used to on desktop? If it's the former, try to adjust, if it's the latter, you'd maybe be better off sticking to desktop mainly and integrating iPad where useful, if it's fun or beneficial to do so.
Definitely the former for me - but there are also other little issues like keyboard and mouse not feeling as smooth to use on iPad. Though tbf half the point is to ditch the keyboard and mouse LOL.
Get a Apple Pencil or a Knock off. Also get a stand if you don’t.
This is the knock off I have. Works great for music. 18$cad https://www.amazon.ca/UGREEN-Rejection-Detection-Compatible-2018-2023/dp/B0BCVLS1M2/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=3I6BX3JHWS1RY&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.cPyyr1DHDfOjKH4nvYY9ggaU0iQ5GoeH6-dzRtjTl7AoBqAAWj7D-Rw1hOdZXfCHQ3510-8fXNyb0nxzPeNkbdU0TgKsoXEQUkJsYTANQhXEjsV3suitDZSwdoaLcPbzZTbghSjAluQxcm1npxFWeTPKf16G34RXFarys10EVC3CIn_u9i5id-TJ6dwZ2VgGMDr82dM6cJ2uPzBL0oEyVg.sjxV5RcubBdnNjx-Okn_hlolizy_j9Wln_FnLJPAcWk&dib_tag=se&keywords=ugreen+pencil&qid=1760524838&sprefix=pencil+ugreen,aps,152&sr=8-3
☝️This.
Having messed around with bouncing between tape decks and using Portastudios in the 80s, I discovered Cubase on an Atari, but while it was a great piece of software I hardly made any music with that setup. After a couple of decades with barely anything finished, it was the iPhone that got me going again, then an iPad and the big revelation was Audiobus and then moving on to AUM. I am way more creative when I’m not trying to use a DAW.
As you can see, I don’t think I can answer the original “how long?” question. It was a gradual move from making no music to discovering a way or working that I really love.
As a confirmed middle aged (verging on old) man playing with apps (and more recently hardware in combination with apps), the iPad makes music making possible, basically. Do I call it production? Well, yes. YMMV. I’m not trying to make super polished DAW-based productions. I get that that’s what some people want to do, and fair enough. I generally create a setup, record straight to stereo in AUM and that’s it. This works for me, but won’t for many other people.
@ecou - I’ve got an Apple Pencil and a Magic Keyboard.
The keyboard used to work great until the iPad 26 update, ever since then, it’s felt a bit sluggish and there’s these weird issues where it won’t let me type until I’ve double-pressed in text boxes/search bars now.
The Apple Pencil Pro is fantastic, I think part of my issue might be that I keep sliding into using my iPad as a laptop/mac because of the Magic Keyboard. I need to remember to take it off that thing, and use it as a touch surface.. I was just playing around with it now doing exactly that and it’s super nice to quickly tap/touch parameters and change presets etc in synths.
@bygjohn - fair enough, I’m just wanting to have fun making music that doesn’t suck LOL
iPad definitely has the “fun factor” over the Mac/PC for me.
Multi touch is the best thing about the iPad imo! So although I am glad I have a (knockoff) magic keyboard for other uses, in general I reckon it's best to ditch the mouse, track pad and apple pencil when making music on the iPad!
This just gave me an idea.
Those banjo guitar picks that go on your fingers, but the ends are those Apple Pencil tips. Maybe even a whole hand apparatus like the Nintendo Power Glove.
“It’s so bad!!”
Hahaha, a kind of Wolverine vibe, I'd try it 😁