iPad setups

roundthebend

Thinking of getting an iPad to do some home practise and demo recording. I think this could be a good route since I hear lots of people singing the praises of it, and I find setting up a laptop for recording to be a hassle.

So, would an iPad mini 2 do the job? How much memory? What interface?

Then comes software. I want to record guitar, bass and vocals. And I need to create drum tracks - I've got an electric kit but I'm not good enough to do that yet.

And, what would I need to Jan along without headphones? I have powered PA speakers so is it just a simple cable to connect to the iPad?

TTony

IPad mini - depends on the size of your fingers & eyesight. For me, the bigger the screen, the better. 

Similar with memory - it's not upgradeable, so if you run out, you're stuffed.  Get the most you can afford.

Software - JamUp Pro.  That's got a load of amp sims & fx, plus an 8-track recorded, plus mastering functionality.  Some of those are in-app purchases, so you could easily spend £30+, although (1) it's worth it and (2) they regularly have 1/2 price deals.  The iPad comes with GarageBand free, and that's a pretty good place to start.

You take the sound out via the headphones socket into anything you've got of want to use.

It is incredibly simple to set up and use.

Hertz32

I have a focusrite iTrack Dock, and a load of apps. Cubasis can handle as many tracks as your cpu can take, and its as much a program as an app so its worth the price imo. Its great! JamUp and BIAS are two great practise and recording apps that can record straight into cubasis or garage band if you know how. If you get a iRig Blueboard then LoopyHD turns it into a Loop pedal, which is handy to say the least! Heres my home screen with all my apps on it, feel free to ask any question about them. I'm still getting the hang of it though! Re what ipad, get the very best full size iPad you can afford. I've used 8gb of space on apps already. And regularly use a lot of the CPU on my Air 2. http://s15.postimg.org/wedh5bsze/image.jpg

roundthebend

Thanks folks.
Lots to consider. I need to spend some time wiring out the differences in all the iPad models - I'm an android user so it's new territory.

I'm reassured by the app suggestions and ease of setup

Snap

the processor in the ipad mini and Air is good enough. WHen you talk memory on an ipad, its the storage. Go for at least 64GB. You will fill it.

The irig is a cheap way to get good connection to your guitar. and it comes with a few amp sims. After that, its a question of money and will. Garageband is more than good enough to start recording with too, though you will soon outgrow it - its no good for detailed mixing, but ideal for getting ideas down quickly.

Cubasis for the ipad is a fully fledged DAW, for 35 quid. There are likley to be some good deals after xmas, when it comes to apps, I'm sure.

kin

is there an external hard drive suitable for the i pad to get around the storage issues?

TTony

kin said:

is there an external hard drive suitable for the i pad to get around the storage issues?

There are various ways around it - you can use iCloud to copy stuff off your iPad, or iTunes even.  There are various wifi-enabled HDDs about too.

But no option is as easy as just getting the biggest iPad you can afford.  Or preferably just the biggest iPad.

kin

Thanks for the info TTony

roundthebend

Is the storage going to be a problem if I'm only doing a handful of simple songs? In not a prolific writer so I'd rather save money and have to do the occasional shuffle of data than have a ton of unused disk space

TTony

roundthebend said:

Is the storage going to be a problem if I'm only doing a handful of simple songs?

No.

But ...

I've found that I've used my iPad for recording more than I've used any other device in the history of devices ... you might get a liking for it and a handful of simple songs develops in a lot of complex compositions.

And the iPad is so useful for so many different apps too - not just the music stuff - that you'll may well find yourself using it for a whole lot more things than you ever thought of too.

Hertz32

I have had a bit more time to fully play around within JamUP AND BIAS and have found that Jamup works very well, even on its own. The expansions aren't the cheapest in the world, but I bit the bullet about bought everything for JamUP for about £30, and it does genuinely improve the app. I'm a big fan of the Keith Merrow stuff so far. Cubasis is massively powerful, and garageband seems to cope with the odd bit of impromptu recording. But I think I do prefer Cubasis. I'm still getting used to the touch interface for using a DAW,as i am used to having the ability to right click. I was like you in that all of my devices efore this have been Android, and the transition hasn't been too bad at all to be honest. The big chnges being double tapping the home button to bring up the task manager, and swiping up from the bottom to access settings. It's a little annoying that there's not a home screen style layout like there is in Android, with another menu beneath that has all of your apps. Instead there is just one home screen with everything on it. and you can get rid of some of the apple bloatware either. Whence the folder named "Apple Bullshit" in my screenshot. conclusion so far: the iPad is a pricy way to do things. but it's incredibly good, I mean really. It's mindblowingly good at amps and DAWs.

roundthebend

How do you create drum tracks? That feels like it'll be a laborious task.

TTony

roundthebend said:

How do you create drum tracks? That feels like it'll be a laborious task.

I use GarageBand, and finger-tap them in on the on-screen "kit".  There are other dedicated drumming apps too.

Having tapped them in, you can then edit them, beat-by-beat in the piano-roll view, just in case your timing ever goes slightly off.  Enter the pattern that you want, and then copy it (easily) to all the bars of the song that you want it to apply to.  It's really not difficult, nor laborious.  I spend way way way more time multi-tracking guitars than I do on the drum track.

You can enter the beats directly in the piano roll view if you prefer.

daveww

Just to add to what Tony has said above.  There's also a smart drummer in garageband which you can play after selecting which drum kit you want.  It'll then play and record in time with the rack you've set up.  A nice feature of this is you can roll a dice until you get something you like and just use a toms or bongos etc. if that's what you want.  It's also easy to vary it by using different parts of the kit and moving them around whilst you record.  For jamming and my own stuff I like to use the smart drummer for inspiration.  You can import tracks from other drum apps but my experience is they tend to sound a bit samey unless you take a long time messing with different parts.

PS like Hertz32 I also use an itrack dock.

Gassage

Do check the Alesis iO dock- it's the heartbeat of my monitors, recording, everything, cool piece of kit

axisus

Hmmnnn .... this is all very interesting. I've had an iPad 2 for the past year but I don't use it for anything musical, it always seemed that it would be a bit of a pain getting stuff off etc (should have put USB on!!!!). I might consider having a go. 

What's the cheapest way to connect guitars, midi etc?

TTony

iRig is the cheapest (probably find one of those s/h for little more than £10).

Some have reported feedback issues with them, but it always worked fine for me.

iRig details

mart

I had the cheapy irig and it was a good toe-in-the-water. But sometimes it'd give a burst of white noise in the middle of recording which was a pain. The iRig hd costs more but has worked perfectly without any issues at all for me.

paulads

@roundthebend

iPad Air (v1) 128gb is on sale at £369 at Curry's...I just ordered one

TTony

paulads said:

@roundthebend

iPad Air (v1) 128gb is on sale at £369 at Curry's...I just ordered one

That's about half what they were.  Absolute bargain.  Buy one.

paulads

sorry…I put a link up - but it looks like they sold out really quickly…

i was lucky and grabbed one