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.
Think I'm going to take the dive and purchase...
...a new OP-1 Field.
Just kidding. 🤣 No, tomorrow I'm buying a new 12.9" iPad Pro before WWDC22 strikes (when Apple probably launches M2 iPad Pros that'll probably go up in price). I have a 2018 11" iPad Pro, an old iPhone 11, and this old top-of-the-line Samsung Android Tablet from 2019 for trade in that still has its stylus, so I should get decent credit towards my new iPad Pro.
There are a few reasons why I'm getting this...
The utterly most important reason is I'm in desperate need of a new sheet music reader. I'm seeking out more gigs and employment to finally further my career as a performing musician. My 2017 iPad Pro 12.9" is blatantly showing its age and wearing out. It also has that weird thing where its display has bright spots along the edges, a known issue with the 2017 iPad Pros. (I'm not going to trade in the 2017 iPad Pro however since I do need a backup sheet music reader.)
The second most important reason is, the only music apps I regularly use that seem to fit comfortably on an iPad Mini's display are Koala, NS2, and Loopy Pro (depending on how one sets up the performance interface). Gadget 2, Cubasis 3, AUM, Drambo, etc are simply begging for more screen real-estate. And with that extra screen realestate, I can fit more loops, sliders, widgets, etc onto Loopy Pro's performance interface to suit my needs per project.
More internal storage space. Ever since returning to producing Ambient music, let's just say my current 256gb iPad Mini's storage has 30 gb left.
512gb should do the trick.And if 512gb doesn't do the trick, that's why USB-C thumbdrives were invented.
But that's a future investment, not a current one.More layers on larger canvases in ProCreate for better, more professional art creation. Who knows? Maybe I can get some side gigs on Fiverr.
It'd be nice to have a larger screen to stream Youtube, Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, and Disney+ on when relaxing.
Buying a 12.9" iPad Pro solely as a media-consumption device is overkill, but when you got a massive display at your disposal when not producing music and/or art, go for broke.
Plus if I branch out to performing Ambient live in front of an audience someday, a 12.9" iPad Pro just looks cool. And beside sheet music, I want "the ultimate Ambient machine". That certainly won't be the OP-1 Field. It's also definitely not limited to one app as there is no such thing as a "one app does all" situation on iOS.
Wish me luck mates. Hopefully I get a substantial amount of credit from the trade-in as the 2018 11" iPad Pro and Samsung Tablet are in tip-top shape. (The iPhone 11 has a broken camera lens and a few scratches on its screen, but every little bit helps.)
Comments
Not that I'm trying to convince you to not buy the new iPad, but Apple doesn't usually release new hardware at WWDC. There have been exceptions to this for the occasional bit of hardware that was particularly developer focused. This year's WWDC may see the announcement of the Mac Pro replacement for example because that would complete the transition to AS processors and be a big milestone for devs. But, I wouldn't expect the probability of an iPad announcement to be very high.
BTW, if you haven't seen the 12.9" screen in person, yeah, it is amazing. Watching HDR content on it is pretty trippy for such a small device.
I'll wait until WWDC'22 is over to see where iPadOS is going.
The price current M1 MacBook Air and M1 iPad 11" with equal ram and storage (8GB Ram / 256GB SSD) is exactly the same (give or take a few SEK) here in Sweden at the moment.
The thing is I love Logic Pro but I'm fed up using a mouse and keyboard...
Ah, that's a relief, lol. Then again, better now than too late.
If the 12.9" screen on the M1 Pro is anything like on the 2017 Pro, I know it's going to be amazing!
I know the feeling, and I wish Apple would release Logic Pro for the iPad. Garageband is a pretty good app, but I'd subscribe monthly to Logic Pro if it meant having Logic Pro adapted to a touchscreen workflow on my iPad for more "traditional DAW" work. (Then again, Logic Pro on the iPad could turn out to be a disappointment for me like Photoshop was given ProCreate is far superior for the touchscreen workflow. You never know mate.)
And isn't it trippy that the M1 MacBook and M1 iPad Pro 11" are the same price? 😳 That's absolutely trippy.
LOL! More cowbell. That meme is as old as dust. 😂 Anyways, regular iPad models have unlaminated screens, so if you're looking to do art on the side, good luck trying to draw an accurate line. And accurate button presses in your favourite apps. I do believe the iPad Minis, the iPad Airs, and iPad Pros all have laminated screens however.
Anyways, I took the plunge and got the iPad Pro 12.9"! It's incredible! I'm still setting up the music apps, and then I have to port over every last piece of scanned in sheet music to the thing, which will take many hours. I'll probably not use my new iPad Pro as a sheet music reader until my gig next week Wednesday.
It's extravagant, but I LOVE having the combo. The 12.9 is my main workhorse, but I grab the 11 for reading when the Kindle isn't appropriate.