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.
Arturia KeyStep Idea!
What if Arturia made a KeyStep 88?
Basically a KeyStep 37 form factor and function with 88 keys. Although I’m sure 88 slim keys might annoy traditional folks, it would be a compact 88 🤔
Personally I would be interested 😂
Comments
I have a Keystep Pro. I agree that it would be great to have more than 37 keys on it, however 49 or 61 keys would be more than enough to me.
Yeah, I can picture a KeyStep Pro 61!
Hmmm. I could even imagine 2 Keystep 37 side by side. 2 sequencers and twice the controls wouldn't be a bad thing and iOS is happy with multiple MIDI interfaces.
And finally the Nosewheel strip we've all waited for.
Unless it had hammer action and full-sized keys it wouldn’t be a big attraction for me. I think it’s fine as a small keyboard.
I would love a 61 key version. I have an 88, but honestly don't ever use the lowest and highest octaves. I also love hammer action, but often miss having the aftertouch of my Keystep.
Arturia has the Keylab 88 with hammer action and aftertouch, but I've heard the keybed feels a bit weird and heavy. I haven't been able to try one myself to say for certain, but I've always been curious.
That would be cool for some I’m sure! I also wish they’d make a Bluetooth version or a 3 octave Minilab like Akai did with theirs.
🙌🏽🙌🏽
Bluetooth yaaaasssss
Given how good Bluetooth can be now and how low the latency can be, I’m not sure why it’s not more common? If Akai made a Bluetooth 16-midi pad controller I’d buy in a heartbeat.
Good question, I feel like it is a supply in demand thing. Once AKAI does it for the Pads, it will become a “thing” everyone is looking for.
I mean that would be a good thing for all no? Money for Akai, a much needed tool for us.
Yes! Are there any quality, Bluetooth pad controllers right now? I can’t remember.
None that I know of. I had to hack one myself, power bank included.
Well in fact there is, if you consider a BT number pad a pad controller without velocity and lights...
Small and better than nothing. The wide zero key would be my play button and 1-9 should work for drums and scaled melodies.
I don't know about quality, but many people seem satisfied with m-wave products. I think this is the same:
16 pads, 8 knobs, BLE MIDI, rechargeable battery for $80. Other variations on the same Amazon page:
https://www.amazon.com/Keyboard-Controller-Bluetooth-Professional-Production/dp/B0CSSYTSLD
Someone linked one on here not long ago by that M Wave company and that’s the only standalone Bluetooth pad controller that I know of unfortunately. I thought about buying it but when I looked there was like a 3 month wait or something lol
That M-Wave looks pretty fun actually. I see they make one with 25 keys as well. As I lay here in a sea of cables/adaptors, it certainly is tempting, but I need a cable for headphones anyway so the Bluetooth MIDI would only save me one adaptor. Might as well just get an Akai which you know has amazing pads. Now if either of these had aftertouch, I'd definitely get one in a heartbeat...
Good M-Wave showcase:
As someone who prefers narrow keys, I’m always hopeful for more narrow-key keyboards with more than 37 keys. I don’t know that I’d bother with an 88, but it’d be nice to see.
(There is one start-up—I think they’re actually called “Narrow Keys”—producing 88-key hammer-action MIDI keyboards. But they’re currently pretty expensive and in limited numbers.)
I specifically suggested to Arturia something in their Lab line with 49 to 61 narrow keys. I like the idea of a small PC, the V collection, and a Lab keyboard to use instead of hardware synths. But instead I’ll have to use another keyboard without the seamless integration that the Labs are supposed to have.