iPad

Discuss anything related to audio or music production.
LoopStationZebra
Posts: 10586
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2009 5:57 pm
Contact:

Re: iPad

Post by LoopStationZebra » Tue Apr 19, 2011 12:11 am

Tarekith wrote:Sorry to cross post, but I think it fits here too:

Image

http://tarekith.com/mp3s/Tarekith-Slip.mp3


As I mentioned in my Touching Matters blog post a couple weeks ago (http://tarekith.com/touching-matters/), I recently got an iPad2. One of the apps I was most interested in trying out was Apple's new Garageband for the iPad, as I know the desktop version is usually under-appreciated considering how much it can do for the price. So I decided to see how much I could do by writing an entire song in just that one app on the iPad.

For the most part it was a very enjoyable process, and I was able to complete the track in only a few days without once opening the help documentation. You don't get a lot of instruments in the iPad verison, but the ones they do give you are pretty good sounding and fun to play, and they cover a good range of sounds too. The Smart Guitar in particular was more fun than I thought it would be, and the best part is that you can ignore all the default picking patterns and just play it manually yourself (which is what I did in this song).

At first I was a little bummed out that you can't go back and edit anything you've recorded, at least not on a piano role like on the desktop version (or any DAW for that matter). However, if you zoom in a lot, you CAN edit the regions by slicing them into smaller regions, cutting and pasting them where you want, and then rejoining them into new regions. So you still have quite a bit of flexibility when it comes to editing, provided you have the patience to work that way. Reminded me a lot of my old SP808 back in the day, so it wasn't a huge deal for me.

It wasn't all fun and games though, there were some frustrating moments too. For instance, without per track effects (you only get a globel reverb and delay) or EQ, balancing everything was a little rough at time. All of the instruments are very full sounding, so they can tend to much up on the low end when you add enough together. This track only uses 7 of the available 8 tracks, and I had to fight that a little bit. Especially with the drums, the low end on the kicks and toms is monsterous! Luckily the Classic Drum Machine kit I used offers a high pass filter, so I was able to tame most of the subby low end (still a touch much more my own liking though).

More discouraging though, was the fact that the much hyped ability to import projects created on the iPad into Garageband on the Mac didn't work correctly. The guitar parts in this song did not play right at all on the Mac version, despite the fact that I'm using the latest versions of both. Notes were skipped, and the strong bends I played in the drop and outro were ignored on the Mac. That was a let down, as I was forced to record this via the headphone out on the iPad. Still sounds ok, but not as good as a direct render would have sounded I'm sure.

Anyway, the version you hear is recorded straight from the iPad2 with no additional processing other than normalizing to -0.3dBFS and converted to 320kbps MP3. I dind't do any mastering on file, this is exactly how it sounds straight from the app.
Nice tune! :x
I came for the :lol:
But stayed for the :x

beats me
Posts: 23319
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 6:39 pm

Re: iPad

Post by beats me » Tue Apr 19, 2011 1:51 am

TheDriller wrote:
beats me wrote:
The thought is appreciated, but the computer is hardly worth salvaging and she’d still have to pay Apple to install it. Beyond the ram issue the HD also makes clicking noises that sounds like guinea pigs stomping on corn flakes anytime you open something which also takes forever to load. It’s time for a new computer.
What are you on?
You dont need more than 2GB to run 10.5,

I've had both 10.4 , 10.5 and 10.6 running on this old white macbook with only 1GB of ram, no problems.
When we went to install 10.6 it said it needed at least 2 GB of ram and then wouldn't allow the install. Maybe because we were skipping 10.5. Fuck if I know.

beats me
Posts: 23319
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 6:39 pm

Re: iPad

Post by beats me » Tue Apr 19, 2011 2:07 am

Tarekith wrote:Sorry to cross post, but I think it fits here too:

Image

http://tarekith.com/mp3s/Tarekith-Slip.mp3
Nice piece. I have to admit I had low expectations, not because of you but because of Garageband on the iPad, but you got a solid track out of it. :)

There is a lot of low end on it as you mentioned and you pointed out the valid frustration points on it's limitations. Hopefully they plan to do some serious updates on it and include what a lot of us would consider basic features, but I'm not too confident at this point because I haven't heard about Apple doing any major updates to their other Mac to iOS apps. I'm sure for the average consumer Garageband is cool enough as is.

TheDriller
Posts: 99
Joined: Thu Nov 18, 2010 8:52 pm

Re: iPad

Post by TheDriller » Tue Apr 19, 2011 10:20 am

beats me wrote:
TheDriller wrote:
beats me wrote:
The thought is appreciated, but the computer is hardly worth salvaging and she’d still have to pay Apple to install it. Beyond the ram issue the HD also makes clicking noises that sounds like guinea pigs stomping on corn flakes anytime you open something which also takes forever to load. It’s time for a new computer.
What are you on?
You dont need more than 2GB to run 10.5,

I've had both 10.4 , 10.5 and 10.6 running on this old white macbook with only 1GB of ram, no problems.
When we went to install 10.6 it said it needed at least 2 GB of ram and then wouldn't allow the install. Maybe because we were skipping 10.5. Fuck if I know.
Thats very odd,
I did a clean install to 10.6 not long ago and it went fine with only 1GB of ram, no warnings or anything. maybe the local apple store could help out? by the way, what model computer is it ?

Anubis
Posts: 1397
Joined: Wed Jul 07, 2004 1:06 pm
Location: Miami
Contact:

Re: iPad

Post by Anubis » Tue Apr 19, 2011 1:04 pm

Tarekith wrote: ...the version you hear is recorded straight from the iPad2...
I'm frustrated that you can't just directly render to aiff or even mp3 for further processing. So did you record straight from the analog out of the iPad 2 into your DAW?
9.0.4 Suite-Samsung Chronos 7 laptop(17")-12GB RAM-Samsung 840 series SSD(250GB)-iPad2-Maschine-TouchAble-SaffirePro24-Saffire6USB-Komplete Audio 6-Axiom25-PCR300-Nocturn-LaunchPad-QuNeo-QuNexus
miTunes

Tarekith
Posts: 19072
Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2005 11:46 pm
Location: Ableton Forum Administrator
Contact:

Re: iPad

Post by Tarekith » Tue Apr 19, 2011 1:57 pm

Yep. Not ideal, but I guess I wasnt expecting a lot really either.
Tarekith
Ableton Forum Administrator
https://tarekith.com

glitchrock-buddha
Posts: 4357
Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2005 1:29 am
Location: The Ableton Live Forum

Re: iPad

Post by glitchrock-buddha » Tue Apr 19, 2011 3:06 pm

Tarekith wrote:Sorry to cross post, but I think it fits here too:

Image

http://tarekith.com/mp3s/Tarekith-Slip.mp3


As I mentioned in my Touching Matters blog post a couple weeks ago (http://tarekith.com/touching-matters/), I recently got an iPad2. One of the apps I was most interested in trying out was Apple's new Garageband for the iPad, as I know the desktop version is usually under-appreciated considering how much it can do for the price. So I decided to see how much I could do by writing an entire song in just that one app on the iPad.

For the most part it was a very enjoyable process, and I was able to complete the track in only a few days without once opening the help documentation. You don't get a lot of instruments in the iPad verison, but the ones they do give you are pretty good sounding and fun to play, and they cover a good range of sounds too. The Smart Guitar in particular was more fun than I thought it would be, and the best part is that you can ignore all the default picking patterns and just play it manually yourself (which is what I did in this song).

At first I was a little bummed out that you can't go back and edit anything you've recorded, at least not on a piano role like on the desktop version (or any DAW for that matter). However, if you zoom in a lot, you CAN edit the regions by slicing them into smaller regions, cutting and pasting them where you want, and then rejoining them into new regions. So you still have quite a bit of flexibility when it comes to editing, provided you have the patience to work that way. Reminded me a lot of my old SP808 back in the day, so it wasn't a huge deal for me.

It wasn't all fun and games though, there were some frustrating moments too. For instance, without per track effects (you only get a globel reverb and delay) or EQ, balancing everything was a little rough at time. All of the instruments are very full sounding, so they can tend to much up on the low end when you add enough together. This track only uses 7 of the available 8 tracks, and I had to fight that a little bit. Especially with the drums, the low end on the kicks and toms is monsterous! Luckily the Classic Drum Machine kit I used offers a high pass filter, so I was able to tame most of the subby low end (still a touch much more my own liking though).

More discouraging though, was the fact that the much hyped ability to import projects created on the iPad into Garageband on the Mac didn't work correctly. The guitar parts in this song did not play right at all on the Mac version, despite the fact that I'm using the latest versions of both. Notes were skipped, and the strong bends I played in the drop and outro were ignored on the Mac. That was a let down, as I was forced to record this via the headphone out on the iPad. Still sounds ok, but not as good as a direct render would have sounded I'm sure.

Anyway, the version you hear is recorded straight from the iPad2 with no additional processing other than normalizing to -0.3dBFS and converted to 320kbps MP3. I dind't do any mastering on file, this is exactly how it sounds straight from the app.
Although I did get Garageband for ipad, I only did so for the guitar amps and to record guitar passages to use later in other apps. Beatmaker 2 is such a more enjoyable program to compose in, even if it doesn't have the fancy instruments. But hey, my plan is to use loops from garageband in Beatmaker. The only thing I'm not sure though, because I haven't tried yet, is how easy it is to get a loop from garageband into Beatmaker. I don't believe it uses the audiopaste so would you have to transfer via itunes? That would just be rediculous. What about sending to dropbox or something?...
Professional Shark Jumper.

Anubis
Posts: 1397
Joined: Wed Jul 07, 2004 1:06 pm
Location: Miami
Contact:

Re: iPad

Post by Anubis » Tue Apr 19, 2011 3:09 pm

What happens when you use the option to send it to iTunes? haven't tried that yet. Does it put it in your local iTunes folder? In what form?... mp3, AAC?
9.0.4 Suite-Samsung Chronos 7 laptop(17")-12GB RAM-Samsung 840 series SSD(250GB)-iPad2-Maschine-TouchAble-SaffirePro24-Saffire6USB-Komplete Audio 6-Axiom25-PCR300-Nocturn-LaunchPad-QuNeo-QuNexus
miTunes

LoopStationZebra
Posts: 10586
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2009 5:57 pm
Contact:

Re: iPad

Post by LoopStationZebra » Tue Apr 19, 2011 3:30 pm

In my view we still haven't seen the 'ONE IOS DAW TO RULE THEM ALL' app, lol.

:x

And we're still not seeing anything that comes close to a live looper tool with a session type interface - which is rather stunning.
I came for the :lol:
But stayed for the :x

shimmy
Posts: 368
Joined: Sun Dec 27, 2009 1:06 am

Re: iPad

Post by shimmy » Tue Apr 19, 2011 4:07 pm

LoopStationZebra wrote:In my view we still haven't seen the 'ONE IOS DAW TO RULE THEM ALL' app, lol.

:x

And we're still not seeing anything that comes close to a live looper tool with a session type interface - which is rather stunning.
Due to the fact that you scared off all the developers on every forum created on the web.
Thanks alot.

glitchrock-buddha
Posts: 4357
Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2005 1:29 am
Location: The Ableton Live Forum

Re: iPad

Post by glitchrock-buddha » Tue Apr 19, 2011 7:41 pm

LoopStationZebra wrote:In my view we still haven't seen the 'ONE IOS DAW TO RULE THEM ALL' app, lol.

:x

And we're still not seeing anything that comes close to a live looper tool with a session type interface - which is rather stunning.
No but I think Beatmaker 2 pretty much kicks everyone elses ass. There's just no input recording and amp sims etc. Which is where garageband comes in. You could create your beats. Bring loops into garageband, record guitar and then use the guitar loops in beatmaker if you wanted.

I just have to figure out the easiest way to get audio files from garageband into Beatmaker...
Professional Shark Jumper.

beats me
Posts: 23319
Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 6:39 pm

Re: iPad

Post by beats me » Tue Apr 19, 2011 7:58 pm

Apple is suing Samsung for their Galaxy devices being too much like idevices. Strange world we live in that Samsung is a big supplier of idevice components and this suit probably won’t have much of an impact on that.

LoopStationZebra
Posts: 10586
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2009 5:57 pm
Contact:

Re: iPad

Post by LoopStationZebra » Tue Apr 19, 2011 10:20 pm

glitchrock-buddha wrote:
LoopStationZebra wrote:In my view we still haven't seen the 'ONE IOS DAW TO RULE THEM ALL' app, lol.

:x

And we're still not seeing anything that comes close to a live looper tool with a session type interface - which is rather stunning.
No but I think Beatmaker 2 pretty much kicks everyone elses ass. There's just no input recording and amp sims etc. Which is where garageband comes in. You could create your beats. Bring loops into garageband, record guitar and then use the guitar loops in beatmaker if you wanted.

I just have to figure out the easiest way to get audio files from garageband into Beatmaker...
No MIDI. :x

NOMIDINOMIDINOMIDINOMIDINOMIDINOMIDINOMIDINOMIDI

:x :x :x

I mean, honest. to. fuck.

:x :x :x
I came for the :lol:
But stayed for the :x

glitchrock-buddha
Posts: 4357
Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2005 1:29 am
Location: The Ableton Live Forum

Re: iPad

Post by glitchrock-buddha » Tue Apr 19, 2011 11:24 pm

LoopStationZebra wrote:
glitchrock-buddha wrote:
LoopStationZebra wrote:In my view we still haven't seen the 'ONE IOS DAW TO RULE THEM ALL' app, lol.

:x

And we're still not seeing anything that comes close to a live looper tool with a session type interface - which is rather stunning.
No but I think Beatmaker 2 pretty much kicks everyone elses ass. There's just no input recording and amp sims etc. Which is where garageband comes in. You could create your beats. Bring loops into garageband, record guitar and then use the guitar loops in beatmaker if you wanted.

I just have to figure out the easiest way to get audio files from garageband into Beatmaker...
No MIDI. :x

NOMIDINOMIDINOMIDINOMIDINOMIDINOMIDINOMIDINOMIDI

:x :x :x

I mean, honest. to. fuck.

:x :x :x
Ya but I mean as a standalone app that you can actually make a full song on just with the ipad and nothing else. never even tried pluggin in a keyboard to it. Are you saying no midi in with camera connection kit?
Professional Shark Jumper.

LoopStationZebra
Posts: 10586
Joined: Sat Jan 17, 2009 5:57 pm
Contact:

Re: iPad

Post by LoopStationZebra » Wed Apr 20, 2011 12:04 am

glitchrock-buddha wrote:Are you saying no midi in with camera connection kit?

Yeah. No MIDI In. No MIDI out. No MIDI sync.

Intua have had ages to add MIDI, but they don't. That's a huge FAIL in my book, and I just can't take the app seriously. I just don't see how these guys, as well as the developer of NanoStudio, wouldn't have made MIDI and an iPad version a TOP FUCKING PRIORITY from the get-go.

People have to start getting out of the mindset that the iPad is just a standalone thing that doesn't need integrating into a larger gear environment. It's bullshit. There's a reason why DAWs are capable of MIDI. SO's you can PLUG SHIT INTO AND OUT OF THEM, lol. It's no different with the iPad.

:x
I came for the :lol:
But stayed for the :x

Post Reply