Is it possible to make an entire track on an iPad?

[Citizen]

Sorry - not entirely an Ableton question, but is such a thing possible? To compose, arrange and (roughly) mix down an entire track using software on the iPad?

Which apps would be most conducive to such a process - and if one did want to finish a project in Live - what scope is there to export MIDI and audio? Do some apps provide better integration with Live than others?

[h3rtz]

Cant answer all yourquestions since i just started to do this myself. But a few bits of information anyways:

- all ipad production including decent mixing definitely is possible. Check out tarekiths website for some professional itb ipad productions

- a must have app is Auria. It brings all the essential tools for recording, arranging and mixing in good quality. In that matter its the only serious product on the market imo. Theres even a 3rd party kinda plugin standard. Auria can only handle audio and does not have internal instruments

- thats why you need audiobus. This lets you record from one app to the other. It even allows you to put FX apps in between

- Theres also a standard called audiocopy that works just like copy/paste. Whatever app you purchase, make sure it at least supports audiobus or audiocopy, better both

My current workflow looks like this: recording samples with a tascam im2x microphone into twisted wave for sample processing (i am travelling in india right now, this place is full of unheard sounds). Exporting samples to Electrify for building loops. Recording into auria via audiobus for arranging and mixing. Spicing it up with sounds from synth apps, mostly korg stuff (which has built in sequencers), nave and animoog.

For the latter part, syncing is a bit of a problem i have not entirely solved yet. So far i just record unsynced and drag it to the right position in auria. I am looking at cubasis for this matter since it can send midi data to external apps, but its quite pricey and comes with a lot of stuff that i dont need. A free option is this midi step sequencer called little midi. I also got midi bridge at some point which works similar to midi ox on windows.

It took a while til i had all the tools together that i consider essential. Theres also loads of stuff on my ipad that i'll probably never use again (anybody can tell me in which kind of setup filtatron makes sense?!), so its a bit of opening a can of worms. But the good thing is, most apps are affordable. Bad thing is, theres no all in one solution, including nanostudio, beatmaker and garageband. Those are rather isolated and dont bring mixing tools like compressors, reverbs and eqs. Cubasis has some, but auria seems to be far superior soundwise. Working with Electrify and auria reminds me a bit of my pc workflow with ableton and mixbus. You can become really quick with this i believe.

Ok, thats my 3.5 cents. Hope that helps u a bit.

Cheers

[Valiumdupeuple]

Gorillaz' "The Fall" is supposed to be all made on an iPad.

[Tarekith]

Yes, my new EP due out next month was 100% iPad, truly some professional tools on the platform now. Ask away if you have any questions.

[ikeaboy]

Yamaha MMS is a fantastic app for designing midi for further work with live. Kinda Cheesy soundfont sounds, but my theory is if I can make something I like with those sounds it'll work so much better when I do the sound design in Live.

[Citizen]

Yes, my new EP due out next month was 100% iPad, truly some professional tools on the platform now. Ask away if you have any questions.

Great! I really enjoyed your last one, so this should be interesting.

I'd be really interested if you could kindly share your workflow/process and which tools/apps you used in the process.

(Did you 'finish' or mix it in Live or a DAW? What issues were there in transferring files - did you simply export audio stems?)

Also, if you could also mention any other apps that you may have used in the past, but since have found better tools.

[Tarekith]

Honestly, I have all that spelled out in recent posts on my blog, so can I send you there instead of retyping it?

http://tarekith.com/get-on-the-bus-or-not/

http://tarekith.com/kmi-qunexus-full-review/

http://tarekith.com/veloant-new-downtempo-track/

http://tarekith.com/th1-new-track/

http://tarekith.com/pocket-grooves/

[Citizen]

My current workflow looks like this: recording samples with a tascam im2x microphone into twisted wave for sample processing (i am travelling in india right now, this place is full of unheard sounds).

Aha! This is exactly why I am asking the question - I want to be able to work on some music whilst travelling - and am looking for a streamlined 'all in one' solution, that doesn't compromise too much.

Possibly too much to ask?


For the latter part, syncing is a bit of a problem i have not entirely solved yet. So far i just record unsynced and drag it to the right position in auria. I am looking at cubasis for this matter since it can send midi data to external apps, but its quite pricey and comes with a lot of stuff that i dont need. A free option is this midi step sequencer called little midi. I also got midi bridge at some point which works similar to midi ox on windows.

It took a while til i had all the tools together that i consider essential. Theres also loads of stuff on my ipad that i'll probably never use again (anybody can tell me in which kind of setup filtatron makes sense?!), so its a bit of opening a can of worms. But the good thing is, most apps are affordable. Bad thing is, theres no all in one solution, including nanostudio, beatmaker and garageband. Those are rather isolated and dont bring mixing tools like compressors, reverbs and eqs. Cubasis has some, but auria seems to be far superior soundwise. Working with Electrify and auria reminds me a bit of my pc workflow with ableton and mixbus. You can become really quick with this i believe.

Ok, thats my 3.5 cents. Hope that helps u a bit.

Cheers[/quote]

[Tarekith]

More or less the same conclusions I came to. Working with Auria and Audiobus really opened up the possibilities, as long as you don't mind recording freely and just aligning things manually after the fact in Auria. I work this way on my laptop usually, so no big deal for me.

Sync is slowly getting there, but support and reliable sync still seems to be too hit or miss to count on yet.

Still, an iPad, QuNexus, and Rode iXY would be a VERY powerful and compact set up for on the go music making/recording. Provided you can find reliable and not too slow wifi, Dropbox sync could be a good back up option.

[CR78]

Citizen/Tarekith

As a recent Auria purchaser I am curious which if any of the In-App plugs you've purchased and find indispensable in your music making; or highly recommend ? I own Fabfilter's TImeless 2 and Pro-Q Au/VST plugs and love them.

Regarding compression there are more choices; Psp, FF and now Fxpansion...... Tough call.

[Tarekith]

The only one I bought so far was Pro-L, just so I could master my tracks directly in Auria. The built in PSP one is just so so for me. The EQs work fine, though maybe if I start using it again I'd pay for the FF Pro-q instead.

[Tone Deft]

very cool to read that the iPad apps have matured to this point. I was skeptical.

[mashyp]

I want to hook up my abelton 8 on a macbook pro to my ipad and drive animoog's keboard with notes written in abelton, thus leaving one hand free to surf the animoog parametre window, any ideas?, I'm totally new to this forum and still working out how it works, mashy p

[Tarekith]

You'll need the camera connection kit and a compatible midi interface. I use a simple 1x1 MIDI interface I got on Amazon for something like $5, worked fine.

[CSwinn]

Using Windows, I have an rtp midi connection going so I can use the iPad and Ableton wirelessly. There is some latency, but I've been able to work with it. I believe Mac can use the same rtp setup, no? Only works with virtual midi apps (such as Animoog).

There's also this app from iConnectmidi that allows you to initiate the wireless connection from the iPad instead of the PC. It's pretty rad, then you can run audio from the iPad audio jack into your interface and back into Ableton, the cycle complete!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/netmidi ... 75443?mt=8