Audiobus: Use your music apps together.
What is Audiobus? — Audiobus is an award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you use your other music apps together. Chain effects on your favourite synth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app like GarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface output for each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive a synth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDI keyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear. And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.
Download on the App StoreAudiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.
Keytars and wireless midi
Just wondering if anyone has any experience with keytars in general, but more specifically, the Alesis Vortex caught my attention.
Along with that I was wondering about wireless midi systems and what is known to work well with ios devices. I'm thinking a keytar coupled with wireless midi and controlling Nave, Alchemy, Thor, etc. would be a blast and reasonably portable.
Comments
I have a Roland Lucina Ax 09 and I love this thing. Nothing like the freedom from being stuck behind a stationary keyboard. The internal sounds are amazing and can also be used as a stationary controller. It looks great, especially the black pearl. I haven't used it wirelessly yet. I have the ax 09b 37 key version. A step up would be the 49 key about $200 more. I've heard good things about the Alessis, but it took so long to hit the market, I decided on the Roland. I just like the look of the Roland more also. Hope this helps.
Thanks @mgmg4871. I'll look at the Roland to see how it compares.
im tryin to figure how to use my roland gr33 guitar synth as a controller...any help
@kennyrox the gr33 uses the standard midi out/in connections. You can purchase a USB midi cable converter and connect it to ipad via CCK. They sell them on Amazon really cheap. I bought one for my Korg Micro Arranger and it works flawlessly. I think I paid less than $2 for it. On the link I purchased the one for $1.16. Been using it for a year with no issues.
www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Midi+cable+converter
cool ....thanks for the info
Ok, funny story...so don't hate...I've seen so e b@d@$$ keytar players since this story came to be...lol. The last time I actually saw a keytar, I was 12 years old. It was in the music section of a Sears department store. As I reached for it, my dad smacked my hand and said, "Don't touch that...". ---best advice ever--- no matter how tempting it might seem...it'll only get you hit!
I helped code a keytar in Second Life.
LMFAO @derek... I would say the same thing....
Found a video of Derek playing keytar.
www.funnyordie.com/videos/5de3e2c076/best-keytar-player-ever
awsome
KX-5. The ribbon is magic. Had mine for 30 years. Like my A-80, you'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands. And like the A-80, went through the Northridge Quake in 1994 with me. Scars of Honor. As did the DX-7, but I'm not quite so attached to that one.
I'm not so against them these days....I still couldn't play one. It's just when I was growing up, keytar players were always depicted in movies as being in cheesy 80's new wave bands with dorky Hawaiian shirts, funny hats and those god-awful louvred sunglasses...instant anti-chick magnet...these days there are total shredders that put my guitar work to absolute shame....still love my guitar though
My best keytar moment was seeing Rick Wakeman with his son Adam, nose to nose in a keytar battle - you can see something of this in a YouTube vid somewhere I think.
Is this the one?....
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=fGTF_Ijt4xo&desktop_uri=/watch?v=fGTF_Ijt4xo
Yes that was the clip. I saw them at the Classic Rock Society a few years ago when they did something similar - Adam also climbed on top of a pile of speakers at the side of the stage and did a Keytar solo from the top! I also got to chat with Rick after the show which was very cool.
Interesting video and comments. Rick has put on a few pounds for sure, but it's great to see father and son playing together and the custom keytar is cool too. That must have been great to have met Rick @PhilW!
Hi friends, regarding wireless MIDI just check out our new MidiBeam system which is cheap enough to afford, but, honestly, extremely reliable. Find it at www.pandamidi.com
Looks interesting. Does it work well with an iPad on the receiving end?
For wireless MIDI, we've just rolled out an iOS/OSX pair of apps. They use Bluetooth, and have low latency. Much better than regular WiFi, but a bit slower than wired connections.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/apollo-midi-over-bluetooth/id720942905?mt=8
The MidiBeam system is worth considering too. From what I know, it looks to be very very fast, and reliable. A bit of a higher price-point; you get what you pay for…. I've got a Fishman TriplePlay, which uses the same underlying technology, and it's amazing.
Doh! I shouldn't known that. I haven't gotten it for the Mac yet though. Is it available now?
The "official" Mac version isn't out yet (Apple didn't like me calling that version ApolloOSX, so I had to do a name change… and there's a bunch of sandboxing stuff that apparently I wasn't doing right). I'm hoping that the Mac app store edition will be available in a week or so; it's waiting for review again.
There's a beta OSX version on your web page, though, and that should work fine. You may need to set up an IAC driver on the Mac, so that MIDI can be sent from the Apollo desktop app to GarageBand/Logic/Ableton/whatever. I'll try to get a video together to walk people through that.
Thanks @SecretBaseDesign
So did anyone ever get the Alesis? I know they just came out with a wireless but I can get the vortex with USB for $99. I figure since there are apps that provide wireless midi I will just get the regular couple year older version. Just wondering about recent opinions on the alesis vortex keytar.
HEY , I have a Roland Lucinda and I would like to invite you to my webpage: Facebook.com/digitalrealist I have a show in a few weeks . I have to say that I love the instrument. But, I wonder if someone has info on a good wireless usb that has good range and power to connect my keytar to my laptop as a midi controller.
This is also on the horizon for wireless midi...
http://mipuc.com/
Starr Labs of San Diego has been selling the AirPower 2 (AP2) wireless MIDI to MIDI+USB system on its site for about 6 months. www.starrlabs.com $299.00. It's a freestanding system so it can provide wireless for ANYTHING that is equipped with a MIDI OUT 5pin din. Keyboards, Sound Mixers, Lighting mixers, machine control, show control. Anything made over the last 31 years with a MIDI OUT plug. Imagine that...
Mike, looks cool. Do you work for these guys or do you have an AP2? How well does it work?
I have a Vortex and a Lucina, to work with ios apps you are better of with the Vortex and here is why.
the Lucina has nice sounds and it looks good, the keys have nice action and it's OK I'm not sorry I bought it but….it has no effects to add or edit the sounds it has a reverb and some delay but already as part of the sound you cannot add delay, distortion, chorus or different reverbs to any sound you want, that is weak for the price, the sounds are good but not out of this world great. Besides lacking effects the octave buttons are in a weird place that you have to change your left hand position to get to them the same goes for the Beam controller. but it's nice that you can go to a jam session and just take it with sounds already. it also uses 8 AA batteries the Vortex uses 4 and one of the most important things that the Lucina doesn't have and I can't believe Roland did this you cannot combine/Layer sounds and you cannot split or assign MIDI Zones to controll external mosules such as an iOS app like Sample Tank.
The Vortex is Awesome, the Keys feel great (the Roland feels a bit better but not by much) you can assign Split Zones, it has drum pads it has way more control than the Lucina and all the buttons are where their supposed to be the Octaves a very easy to access and it works great with Sample Tank and iMini etc I've tested it with Sample Tank and if I needed to add effects to a sound that did not have them you can run audiobus and assign effects there, over all to control apps on an Ios device I tink the Vortex is the way to go and it only uses 4 AA batteries the Lucina uses 8,more midi control. it does not have any sounds but it really is good , here is a video of the vortex triggering Sample tank running 4 sounds at the same time and 1 Split
I hope this helps!
:-)
Oh! and also important the Vortex is 99 and the Lucina 299 so for 200 less you get more MIDI Control.
Welcome to check our new development of WIDI Master, it is your virtual MIDI cable. The new wireless standard. Bluetooth MIDI as approved by the MIDI association. Now you can connect all your MIDI devices - without computers - without cables - with MIDI over Bluetooth!
https://www.cme-pro.com/widi-master/