Serious music production on an iPad?

[SampleScience]

Any of you guys uses an iPad for serious music production? I have soaring wrist because I work on the computer all day and I'm looking for alternatives/new ways of working that doesn't require a mouse. I've tried a track ball but it just hurts even more!

I've also equipped myself with lot of hardware synthesizers and drum machines, it does help but it takes room.

Are there any good sounding instrument for sound design on the iPad?

[khanyz]

There's loads of weird and wonderful apps these days. Linking them all together usually is a pain so I go piece by piece. I use AudioShare as a repository and Cubasis to put them together. For an audio editor I use Twisted Wave and Final Touch for mastering/final conversions.

My current fave is Phrasemaker, a 6 op FM Synth by Bram Bos. The Ruismaker drum synths are also great.

You should also take a look at SpaceVibe and ChipTunes Pro for weirdness.

In terms of end product, my songs are scratch composition/demo quality (I am very picky on that though) and need desktop production. I can do simple things, like radio jingles, completely, from recording (Mackie XD-2) to upload. I am old, however, so stuckish in my ways. I'm sure a full production is possible, or close to being. I've been impressed with the speed of progress.

[sprnva]

From a sound design angle, Audulus would probably be one to look at. I have a bunch of music apps on my iPad but although I've dabbled with them for a few years I haven't gotten into it seriously yet.

It's not the iPad at fault, I'm just stuck in my ways a bit.

You should also check out discchord. There's plenty of reviews and demos along with videos of people using iOS devices in their setups.

Now that I think of it, Sunvox would be another option. Particularly if you're looking for something generative/abstract.

[Redmerkurii]

On my Ipad I have
Synths.

Sunrizer - excellent JP8000ish synth
Cassini - Very good 3 Osc VA synth
Moog Model 15 - a virtual recreation of the modular Moog classic - supports up to 4 note polyphony.
Waldorf Nave - Classic wavetable synth.
Korg iM1 - the iOS port of the M1 synth

Drum machines.
DM2 - Very easy to use Drum synth with sequencer + FX + polymetric capable
Patterning - A very unique and easy to use circular sequencer. Sample based with FX.
Waldorf Attack - iOS port of their famous Drum Synth

Sampling Sequencers
Loopy - fairly basic looper - up to 12 slots - instant fun.
Samplr- More in depth looper with great sound mangling potential
Maschine 2 - A stripped down port of NI's Maschine. Very good for cooking up quick rhythmic parts
iMPC Pro - Much more depth to this than Maschine2 though not quite as intuitive.
Launchpad - very much a performance oriented tool based on Novation's hardware device.
Blocs Wave - A newer offering from Novation that offers a little more depth than Launchpad.

Workstation Environments
Korg iDS10 - Limited but not bad mini workstation based around 2 virtual MS synths a vocoder and six voice drum synth.
Korg Gadget - A breeze to use, great sounds, cool synths - If you only have one option on iOS this is it. Five Stars.
Cubasis - This is a very very good port of the venerable Cubase.

Utilities
Audio Copy/Share
Dropbox
Audiobus + Remote
touchAble - This is great if you use Ableton Live on your Mac/PC. Essentially its a Push/2 type wireless interface with extras for Ipad.
Midi Monitor
Link to Midi

I've become quite the fan of the Ipad over the past 18 months. It's absolutely central in my rig now. Yet allows me to also do so much away from it too.

I also own hardware synths, samplers, Drum Machines plus a slew of Midi controllers. The mouse is seldom used. Hope this helps.

[SampleScience]

Wow, that really helps!

Anyone tried using a touch screen monitor and use conventional DAW with it? Does it work or it's fiddly?

[sprnva]

The issue with most conventional DAWs is their UI isn't designed for touch. So it can be fiddly to try and work with them. I think Bitwig is fairly touch-friendly?

shows a nifty use for a touchscreen monitor. Certainly looks like a more comfortable way to use one than having it vertical.

[SampleScience]

The issue with most conventional DAWs is their UI isn't designed for touch. So it can be fiddly to try and work with them. I think Bitwig is fairly touch-friendly?

shows a nifty use for a touchscreen monitor. Certainly looks like a more comfortable way to use one than having it vertical.

Luckily for me, the Daw that I use (FL Studio 12) is fully touchscreen compatible. Now all I need is a big touch screen and I'll be able to "touch" my plugins! I think this is the perfect solution to my soaring wrist problems.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

Any of you guys uses an iPad for serious music production? I have soaring wrist because I work on the computer all day and I'm looking for alternatives/new ways of working that doesn't require a mouse. I've tried a track ball but it just hurts even more!

Whether or not the ipad can be used for serious production, I believe, is a separate issue. It can be, but that depends on how you define serious. I think it's a great tool, but if you are someone who likes to micro-edit, or heavily automate material, it might get a little frustrating.

The bigger issue, that the ipad will not solve, is that of your pain issues. Sure, gestures, multi-touch etc., can somewhat mitigate the issues you might suffer when your hand would have been clamped around a mouse, but using an ipad comes with it's own issues. This is due to all this equipment forcing the forearm and wrist into a pronated position



This places stress on the wrist/forearm. When you consider how much of your computer/music work forces you into a pronated position, it's easy to see how this pain can build, and why the ipad ain't gonna offer much relief (Things are further compounded when pronation occurs at arms length, or unsupported, such as might happen when using a touchscreen.

Having had both my wrists operated on for carpal tunnel syndrome, I have become very attuned to the build up of stress and rsi symptoms in my wrists and hands. I can't use a mouse for more than a couple of minutes without discomfort, and I ended up trying many options e.g trackballs, vertical mice etc, before setting on a wacom pen/tablet as the best solution, and I've been using one for about ten years.

The secret is in it allowing you to maintain a neutral (handshake) position, which offers so much relief after all that pronation. They do take a little getting used to, but a lot of issues can be avoided by careful tweaking of the settings. The results are well worth the effort

[SampleScience]

The secret is in it allowing you to maintain a neutral (handshake) position, which offers so much relief after all that pronation. They do take a little getting used to, but a lot of issues can be avoided by careful tweaking of the settings. The results are well worth the effort

Thank you for the valuable advice. I know I can use a pen (for touch screen) with a touch screen. The touch screen can then be inclined which seems to be the best position to work.

Productivity apps, batch processing and automated process will indeed be an issue with the iPad. I didn't think about that. All this is fairly new to me, when I started using a computer I was using Windows 98. We've come a long way since then.

[funky lime]

Perhaps not what you had in mind, but I absolutely love TouchOSC, and rely on it pretty heavily in my writing templates. I made a custom color-coded layout, combined with the BRSO Articulate extension for Reaper (and some JSfx) to make a unified key-switch setup for my sample libraries that feature multiple articulations (generally, but not always, orchestral stuff). So now, instead of having to memorize key switches (which tend to vary wildly among library developers), I can just hit a button on my iPad for the articulation I want, and it translates that into a keyswitch. This, combined with using an expression pedal configured to control mod-wheel data, lets me focus entirely on playing the part in without having to memorize certain key switches or otherwise manually select the articulation after digging around to find the right patch in the right Kontakt instance. I can't imagine working without my iPad anymore, after devising this setup.

I've also used it to design custom interfaces for a few VSTi synths, to get that live-tweaking "analog-ish" feel to my synth recordings. You can also, of course, use it to design a DAW transport controller, or otherwise go crazy with the many things OSC and MIDI can let you do. Yeah, it's no Lemur, but it gets the job done and is super flexible.

Thumbjam is pretty fun for discovering fun scales, arpeggios and harmonies, and is a novel way to interact with and perform them. IIRC it can send MIDI too.

Beatmaker2 I've used live a few times for sample manipulation, live "fx-jockeying" and as a beat machine. It's fun on the bus for sketching out sequences, but I don't really use it for "serious" work anymore.

DM1 is great as a simple drum sequencer, and you can do some fun stuff with the effects live. I think there's a DM2 now.

I've been out of the IOS loop lately though, and am still running a 1st gen iPad, so i'm not really sure if these apps are still updated. That said, they work just fine here.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

The secret is in it allowing you to maintain a neutral (handshake) position, which offers so much relief after all that pronation. They do take a little getting used to, but a lot of issues can be avoided by careful tweaking of the settings. The results are well worth the effort

Thank you for the valuable advice. I know I can use a pen (for touch screen) with a touch screen. The touch screen can then be inclined which seems to be the best position to work.

I predict that, as time goes on, we are going to see a lot of issues developing with people who spend a lot of time with touchscreens.

The issue is with constantly having to look down, which is then further compounded by having to use large movements to reach different parts of the screen. This is totally different to a Wacom, which allows placement at a good ergonomic level, doesn't need you to look away from the screen (Which can be placed at the correct height), and can be scaled so that large screen estate can be traversed with a mere flick of the wrist

I'm not saying to avoid touchsceen technology totally, but I would be careful about doing the bulk of your computing with it

[SampleScience]

I'm probably going to use both wacom, mouse and touchscreen (as well as music hardware). This way I'll avoid any recurring fatigue on my wrist and I'll be able to work very long hours on the computer.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

I'm probably going to use both wacom, mouse and touchscreen (as well as music hardware). This way I'll avoid any recurring fatigue on my wrist and I'll be able to work very long hours on the computer.

That's the key - Mixing it up

I still use a mac 'magic trackpad', alongside the Wacom. It has some great shortcut/gestures, but one downside of the Wacom is that you have to pick up the pen every time you want to do something

Would definitely recommend getting a Wacom that supports the pen and touch pad