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.
Very new to MIDI - is this what I need to sequence hardware synths?
Hello, I'm having trouble understanding what hardware I need to actually sequence multiple external synths with my iPad. Right now I have the CCK and I've been using that to sequence my Minilogue using Gadget and USB MIDI. But I want to add more external hardware. Do I need something like this MIDI through box? I'm a bit confused because I see all these MIDI connectors for sale for the iPad but anything with more than two outputs is $100+. I feel like I must be missing something because why on earth would anyone pay for that if the through box was an option?
What I want to do is sequence the minilogue, and then maybe two volcas, all through Gadget, and have each synth be able to play a separate part (from what I can gather from my reading in to MIDI, I would just need to assign each Taipei instance in Gadget to a different MIDI channel?)
Thanks for any help you can offer!
Comments
you could use a single port usb midi interface and a midi thru box, provided your hardware can all be set to listen on a unique port. some hardware can not.
if all but one of your devices has a midi thru port, then you can daisy chain them, but that might introduce undesirable latency.
Great, thanks so much for the help!
Check out this four part series from Dean at Electronisounds! Just think Gadget instead....
Another option around $100 is to use two pairs of Bluetooth dongles for MIDI.
No cables and you can connect both to the same iPad over BT.
Latency is low enough to play live without problems.
Thanks, this is all great advice!
While I'm here and I seem to have my MIDI issue sorted out, I want to ask about the same thing, only with audio. It seems like the best way to output all 4 of these instruments to a single pair of studio monitor speakers would be to get a mixer, but I'm having trouble choosing the right one. I see many mixers that seem like they would be great, but they usually have two mono inputs, and then two or three stereo inputs - labeled 3 / 4 or 5 / 6 for example. Obviously it would be ideal if I could connect everything and have the signals summed and output to both monitor speakers, but I'm concerned that if I plug my synths in to these stereo inputs, the signal will be relegated to that one channel only. Is that something I need to worry about?
you could get an audio/midi interface with enough inputs and mix in your ipad.
Almost all of the interfaces I'm seeing seem like they only have a single midi in and out, which, please correct me if I'm wrong, doesn't seem like it would be helpful for sequencing four difference pieces of hardware. It also seems like it would be more expensive than using a mixer and a MIDI through box. Would this not also create extra latency? I know there was always quite a bit when I used to record my guitar in to an interface hooked in to my computer. BUT... as you can tell, I'm the noob here so maybe that's wrong?
I actually already have a USB audio interface that I can use to record in to the iPad with, but it only has two inputs. I was just planning on plugging the mixer output in to the interface input for when I wanted to record the hardware.
The Yamaha ones won’t work with Volcas, but maybe some other brands do. They need 5v power over MIDI and that comes from the output, which Volcas do not have. I’ve also read that the Yamaha ones don’t work unless there is both an In and an Out. That combined with needing 5v and not working on 3.3v has stopped me from buying one to try.
Looks like you seem to have your MIDI sorted, but I will say I have a MIDI Solutions Thru box almost just like that and have had it for years, and it’s a pretty good investment. I almost never use it these days, unless I’m using Volcas. I have the one that is not multi-volt, but it’s a pretty good product.
my suggestion was an audio/midi interface + midi thru box
You mean the hardware be configured to received MIDI through a defined channel?
yeah sorry i said port but i meant channel. some devices will only listen on channel 1, some devices will only listen to all channels... to use them on a shared midi port with a thru box they need to be assignable to different channels.
No worries, all my gear is capable of multi-channel MIDI. But that's good to know for the future.
As for my mixer woes, I feel like such an idiot... I can just get a stereo double quarter inch to single quarter inch converter cable and then I don't need to worry about mono or stereo or any of that. I have a lot to learn!