Do You Ever Produce On Your iPad?

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The new iPad Air is sure to be one of the more popular gifts this holiday season. It may not be the most revolutionary update to the device, but now is a great time to get into the world of iOS if you’re new to it. While the idea of producing music on an iPad may have come off as a bit of a joke in the iPad’s early years, it is now a music production powerhouse, proving to be a great asset in the studio as well as in live performance. While some may question the need for an iPad when you already own a high-end music production computer, once you give the iPad a try, you’ll likely realize, as I did, that it has huge potential for music production. Here are just a few reasons why an iPad can be a great help both in the studio and on stage.

Softsynths to Suit Every Need

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While many dismiss iPad synthesizers as just toys to pass the time, it turns out that there are many powerful and professional synthesizers available for the device. Animoog, for example, is a softsynth for iOS made by Moog Music, the same company that created the classic Minimoog and other beloved hardware synthesizers. However, this synth is not simply an emulation of the classics. Moog’s “Anisotropic Synth Engine” takes full advantage of the touch screen, offering a beautiful XY plane for innovative control that is both tactile and visually responsive. Animoog is a mix of old and new, with an emulation of the classic Moog ladder filter as well as new controls. For instance, you can rotate and slide your fingers to affect the pitch of individual notes in a chord.

Moog isn’t the only classic synth company releasing products for iOS. Waldorf has also released an innovative synth called “Nave” for iPad. Nave combines two wavetable oscillators with visual feedback, allowing the user to stretch and manipulate 3D wavetables with his or her hands, a beautiful medley only possible with a touchscreen.

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Of course, there are also many classic softsynth companies releasing synths for iPad. If there was any doubt that the iPad isn’t as capable as a computer when it comes to software synthesizers, Propellerhead’s Thor puts an end to it. With Thor for iPad, users get the same, powerful Thor softsynth from Reason with all of the hands-on control that the iPad provides. It’s the best of both worlds and probably as close as we’re going to get to a hardware version of Thor at a miniscule fraction of what such a device would cost.

But maybe even Thor is too modern for your style. Even serious traditionalists can find something to like on iPad; Korg has released the iMS20, a beautiful emulation of the classic MS20 synthesizer, complete with virtual patch cables.




Thinking About Going the iPad Route?

Don’t get me wrong, I am not a diehard iPad fan. In fact, I prefer the customization Android allows in a lot of settings. However, when it comes to synthesis, the iPad is the undeniable champion of tablets. I wouldn’t be running out to buy hardware versions of these synths if they were hundreds or thousands of dollars apiece, but the four softsynths mentioned above cost less than $95 total. Consider the new Korg Volca line. These are very low spec, primitive analog synths. They have tiny, aggravating knobs and lack midi out. The whole set costs $450 total and doesn’t come with power adapters. The


feature-to-price difference between the Volcas and iPad synths is staggering.

Now, iPad synths are probably never going to top OB8s or Prophet 12s. However, when you compare synths such as the MS20 Mini, which seems to have some noise issues (and costs $600) to the iMS20, which doesn’t have noise issues (and costs much much less), the iPad starts to look great. And you still get the tactile feel of turning knobs and plugging in patch cables.

Still not sure that an iPad would aid you in your musical activities? Consider hardware sequencers. Very few companies are making real hardware sequencers nowadays, particularly sleek hardware



sequencers that aren’t bloated with other features or essentially afterthoughts in other products. Nevertheless, many live musicians feel backing tracks or laptops are “cheating.” Fortunately for them, there are a variety of sequencer apps, such as Genome, available for iPad. Needless to say, the iPad will also play backing tracks with ease and look much more discreet on stage.

The iPad is continually becoming a stronger and stronger asset in the studio and on the stage. In fact, with new nearly full-fledged DAWs, such as Cubasis, appearing on the App Store, the iPad may soon be all that you need for a portable studio.

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What Are Your Thoughts….. Do you ever produce on you your iPad?


 
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I have and I plan to do a lot more. My only issue currently is that there no way to connect every app I have. Half of them work with audio bus and these are the ones I've used to compose so far. Inter-app audio is nice too but it needs to be implemented across the board. Overall I use the ipad as if it was a hardware synth...send the audio into reason or logic through my interface...for anything serious anyway. GarageBand also has a feature where you can track out everything wirelessly to my macbook. I've used this too. Producing on the iPad is fun as shit, I'm positive you'll hear that more and more...
 
I've been producing music on the PC for decades, but since I got my iPad mini 4 last summer, I've used it exclusively to produce all of my new tracks. In 2016, there's nothing simple about it. From sound design, composition, arrangement, mixing and mastering; there are professional quality apps for the entire process. I don't miss anything about using the PC except for being able to download WAV files (Apple won't let you do that with iOS).

Here's an example of a Trance track that I made exclusively on the iPad in GarageBand:



Peace \/
chisel316
 
I want to start using one with Maschine. Just something to get an idea in my head down if I'm away from home.
 
I frequently use iMaschine to sketch ideas for beats on my phone, it's super handy and you can import directly into Maschine at home. With the full expansion kits it's surprisingly deep and impressive what can be done on the phone.
That being said, I always have my phone one me and that's useful; most of the situations I would have an iPad with me I could just use my laptop. It's cool for controlling things, but even with that I usually just revert to the computer or a dedicated controller.
 
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