There are three ways that iOS keyboard controllers can connect to your iPad or iPhone. The first way is via USB and Apple's Camera Connection Kit. This requires a special adapter, but is otherwise identical to the second way, which is via a special USB to Lightning cable. May 08, 2011 50+ videos Play all Mix - How to play garageband with a Midi Keyboard on Ipad YouTube 5 Levels S1. E5 Musician Explains One Concept in 5 Levels of. Finally, simple clear advice on how to connect a MIDI keyboard to an iPad using cables. This article makes it easy to understand the simplest options that will have you playing piano with your iPad in no time. Which adapter you'll use will depend on whether your MIDI keyboard has its own power supply.
Here in North America the NHL playoffs are now in full swing and perhaps you're inspired to play some rocking organ! With GB on the iPad we get some great keyboard sounds with nifty screen controls! N
Here in North America the NHL playoffs are now in full swing and perhaps you’re inspired to play some rocking organ! With GarageBand for iPad we get some great keyboard sounds with nifty screen controls! Not only can we use these keys in our songs that we’re recording, but as I explained in a recent tutorial, live use is also a possibility!
Setup and Equipment Needed
There are a few things we need.
- Controller Keyboard with power supply - There are many to choose from and I use an Axiom Pro 61. You will definitely need the power supply as the iPad does not provide power through it’s dock port. If you want to use the Korg Nano series, you will need a USB hub with power supply.
- Camera Connection Kit - Our keyboard controller communicates with GB through this device.
Ipad Garageband Midi Controller
Mar 28, 2011 50+ videos Play all Mix - iPad 2 Connected through MIDI & Apogee One:: Live Backing Tracks GarageBand YouTube Introducing Studio Gear, Recording,. In GarageBand on your iPad, set the current song section to Automatic to import the entire audio or MIDI file; otherwise, only the portion of the file that fits the current song section is imported. After importing the audio or MIDI file, you can make the song section longer, then resize the region so more of it plays. Virtual dj software download for the vista 32 bit.
Axiom Pro 61
Apple's Camera Connection Kit
With the MIDI controller switched to off, connect the MIDI controller’s USB male port to the Apple Camera Connection kit USB female port. Next, connect the Camera Connection Kit Lightning or 30-pin male port to the iPad female Dock Connector. Power on the MIDI controller once connected to iPad.
Controls
Each instrument has it’s own layout (organ with drawbars, synths with filter controls) but also there are some functions just above the keyboard and these will vary with the instrument selected. For example, “Sustain” will be on piano but not organ, organ will have the “Rotary” switch for the Leslie, all depending on the instrument.
Although we’re going to be using a keyboard controller, if you want to use the onscreen keyboard, you get different controls for how your screen keyboard responds. On the far left is an “Octave” plus and minus. A middle button for “Glissando”, “Scroll”, “Pitch” which vary again depending on the instrument selected and the right side has a “Scale”, “Arpeggiator” and “Keyboard Layout”.
“Glissando” lets you slide across the keys like a real keyboard would. Think of the piano player using the back of his hand and sliding up or down the keys.
“Scroll” allows you to play a note and while holding it, slide the keyboard up or down. Useful if you need to get into different octaves of the on screen keyboard quickly.
“Pitch” is a like a pitch bend wheel but lets you pitch up or down between notes simply by sliding your finger. Great for the vintage synths!
“Scale” is great for solos if you want to try different sounding scales in a piece of music. Once you pick the scale you want to use, the keyboard becomes more like a single row marimba minus the #/b keys. If you use a kb controller, you will still have all the notes available but you can learn what notes are used by playing them on the iPad and matching them on your keyboard. You’ll soon be playing “Klezmer” with ease!
“Arpeggiator” is your freedom to play multiple notes with one chord held down. You can choose note order, rate, and octave range. Great for dance tunes or your version of “Teenage Wasteland”! Unfortunately, the arpeggiator does not work with a KB Controller.
“Keyboard Layout/Velocity/Key Controls” - You can choose how you would like the onscreen keyboard to be set up with choices for one or two keyboards and octave range.
“Velocity” on and off is simple enough but you also can control the velocity range depending on the instrument (no velocity for organ since there is none!) left to the middle of the screen.
“Key Controls” simply turns on and off the view of the middle button for “Glissando”, etc.
There is also a hidden feature that is very cool and similar to an aftertouch on a KB controller. Load in the “Vintage Lead” preset under “Synth Lead” and strike a note. Now move your finger up and down that note.. instant filter sweep!
Keyboard Controller
Plug your keyboard into your Camera Connection Kit and make sure it’s secure as I find it can pop out easily. If it does, you may need to restart your iPad to get control again. Open up GB and navigate to the “Keyboard” instrument. Once this opens you can then select from pianos,organs, synths, etc. by tapping on the instrument in the middle of the screen. You can even store your own presets.
Again, think of the iPad screen as the controls for the organs drawbars or synths filters. Unfortunately GB won’t record this data during recording. Pitch bend and Mod wheels will respond on your controller as will velocity and after touch. Also, there are no ways to assign a KB controller’s sliders or knobs to say, organ drawbars or synth knobs, although I did find my “master” slider with MIDI CC#7 controlled instrument volume.
Using “Smart Instruments”
One feature I wish GB would allow is the use of “autoplay” but controlled via the KB controller. But there are some interesting ideas you can do by combining the “autoplay” feature and your keyboard. For example, select “Smart Keyboard” and choose one of the 4 “autoplay” modes. You then will see 3 bars with a chord on the top bar. The bar with the chord plays both left and right hand accompaniments, the middle bar is right hand only and the bottom is left hand bass. If you hit the top bar, you could solo on the KB controller. The middle bar could allow you to try bass combinations such as G-G/F-G/E or perhaps a piano bass line with a distinctive melody. Be careful though as the sustain is used most likely and can mush up your sound in the bass line. Using the bottom bar would allow you again more right hand solos or your own accompaniment.
If you want any electric or acoustic bass instruments, you will need to use “Smart Bass”. Using the acoustic bass gives a feature that is hard to emulate on the KB controller unless you get good with the pitch bend wheel.. sliding your finger along a fretless neck. Simply select Acoustic Bass, switch the “Chords” to “Notes” and tap on the screen. It adds some realism to the bass line and with some practice, can give some convincing results. Further editing can be done on GB on your Mac.
Midi Controller Garageband Ipad Pro
“Smart Guitar” is very similar to the smart keyboard and bass features with one additional feature. If you use your KB Controller, you can strike chords on your keys!Now you can use the “autoplay” feature for arpeggiated chords and “strum” chords on your keyboard. Great too for having ostinato picking patterns with multiple chord changes.
Recording Tips
First and foremost.. PRACTICE! Yes.. I said that again as I did in the last tutorial. GB on the iPad does not allow editing like GB on a Mac . Not even MIDI editing for wrong notes. Maybe in version 2.. BUT.. you can slow down the tempo, unlike the Guitar/Audio recording section, and speed it up after. If needed later, you can open up the song on your Mac and edit it there. You also can save time by recording repetitive parts and then looping them. Simply record your part, double tap on the track region and select “Loop”.
If your timing is not that great or you need to tighten up a section, “Quantization” will help. Simply tap on the top right “Mixer” in the Track view and select your quantization value. Use the fastest value you played. For example, if a lead synth line played as fast as 16th notes, use the 1/16 Note value. Quantization will also affect all of the tracks regions in a section! But.. you can have different quantization on each section if a part gets moved from one section to another. Confused? Yeah.. me too at first. If you quantize a part in Section A to 1/8 notes but then move it to Section B that is quantized to 1/16 notes, the new part will show “Multiple”. This is something I seriously hope Apple fixes as it’s frustrating if you need multiple quantizations within a section.
Also, don’t be afraid to record a part and try different instruments as your song may take on a whole new flavor choosing a clav instead of a piano for example. Try duplicating the track with a similar synth but with a different filter cutoff and panned hard left and right. Or use two totally different synths. Bass lines can get really fat with this idea! Slow your song down and play in your own idea of an arpeggiated pattern.. speed up and loop!
Stay tuned for more GarageBand for iPad tips and tutorials. Till next time..don’t drive your neighbors nuts with the Minimoog playing Axel F or Tom Sawyer synth leads.
Midi Controller For Ipad Garageband
GarageBand User Guide for iPad
You can import audio and MIDI files from your computer and use them in your GarageBand song. You can add:
Audio files to an existing Audio Recorder or Amp track
MIDI files to an existing Keyboard or Drums track
Audio or MIDI files to new tracks
Audio or MIDI files to your song from iCloud Drive or your iPad using the Files app
When you import an audio file, it’s converted to a 44.1 kHz sample rate, 16-bit depth format if the original format is different. Imported audio files don’t follow tempo changes you make in GarageBand.
When you import a multitrack MIDI file, GarageBand creates a new Keyboard track for each track in the MIDI file. The total number of resulting tracks cannot exceed 32 tracks. You cannot add multitrack MIDI files to cells in Live Loops.
Import audio and MIDI files from your computer
On your computer, add the audio or MIDI files you want to import to the GarageBand File Sharing area in the Finder.
In GarageBand on your iPad, set the current song section to Automatic to import the entire audio or MIDI file; otherwise, only the portion of the file that fits the current song section is imported.
After importing the audio or MIDI file, you can make the song section longer, then resize the region so more of it plays.
Tap the Tracks View button to open Tracks view, then tap the Loop Browser button in the control bar.
A message appears asking if you want to move the audio or MIDI files to the GarageBand File Transfer folder.
Tap Move Files.
The files are moved to the GarageBand File Transfer folder.
To preview an audio file, tap it in the list. You can control the preview volume with the slider at the bottom of the list.
Drag an audio or MIDI file from the list to Tracks view. Align the left edge of the file with the bar or beat (on the ruler) where you want it to start playing.
A new region created from the audio or MIDI file is trimmed to the end of the current song section, unless the current song section is set to Automatic. You can make the song section longer or slow down the tempo, then resize the region so that more of it plays.
Import audio and MIDI files with the Files app
Set the current song section to Automatic to import the entire audio or MIDI file; otherwise, only the portion of the file that fits the current song section is imported.
After importing the file, you can make the song section longer, then resize the region so that more of it plays.
Tap the Tracks View button to open Tracks view, tap the Loop Browser button in the control bar, then tap Files.
Tap “Browse items from the Files app,” then locate and tap an audio or MIDI file to import it.
To preview an audio file, tap it in the list. You can control the preview volume with the slider at the bottom of the list.
Drag an audio or MIDI file from the list to Tracks view. Align the left edge of the file with the bar or beat (on the ruler) where you want it to start playing.
A new region created from the audio or MIDI file is trimmed to the end of the current song section, unless the current song section is set to Automatic. You can make the song section longer or slow down the tempo, then resize the region so that more of it plays.
Midi Controller Garageband Ipad 2
Import audio and MIDI files using Slide Over
Connecting Midi Controller To Ipad Garageband
Set the current song section to Automatic to import the entire audio or MIDI file; otherwise, only the portion of the file that fits the current song section is imported.
After importing the file, you can make the song section longer, then resize the region so that more of it plays.
Swipe up twice from the bottom edge of the screen.
The Dock appears.
In the Dock, touch and hold the Files app, drag it towards the upper-right corner of the screen, then let go.
A Slide Over window opens.
Locate the audio or MIDI file you want to import. If the file is in iCloud Drive, tap the Download button to download it before importing.
Touch and hold the file, then drag it from the Slide Over window to Tracks view. Align the left edge of the file with the bar or beat (on the ruler) where you want it to start playing.
A new region created from the audio or MIDI file is trimmed to the end of the current song section, unless the current song section is set to Automatic. You can make the song section longer or slow down the tempo, then resize the region so that more of it plays.
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