Remember the days of clicking laboriously to add notes to a piano roll editor? Well, that’s a bit silly nowadays if there’s a touchscreen sitting next to your desk. You probably want to make use of it – and maybe without stumbling around helper apps and wifi configuration.
We’ve already seen how Auxy, the iPad pattern editor, reduced a widely-known music process to its simplest elements. The recent addition of MIDI opens it up to external hardware.
But it also makes a nice example of what the new utility midimux can do: connecting this app to the wealth of sounds and production tools on your computer can make for a useful pair.
The first ingredient is midimux, which alongside the forthcoming audio companion audiomux, can link up apps and hardware on your iPad or iPhone to apps and hardware on your Mac, all the sync cable you already own:
Now, Across iOS and Mac, Everything is Musically Connected [Video]
Fab from ANR (audio news room) has already illustrated a specific example. He takes Auxy, the pattern editor, and then augments its sonic capabilities by adding in Apple’s own Logic Pro. And he’s made some nice video tutorials that make it all clearer. First, on the iPad:
Next, on the Mac side of things:
More sound samples:
One big caveat. I don’t mind paying for MIDI in Auxy – I bought that the day it came out. But there’s no sync support yet; I hope the In App Purchases support development of that. (You do want to implement it right, and it isn’t easy on iOS – trust me, have this conversation with developers all the time.)
Then again, this is just one example. Apple already makes controller tools for Logic in its own iOS Logic Remote app, but when you think of cool instruments like Sculpture, I can imagine a lot of other interesting sources to use. And we’re looking forward to the ModStep sequencer – which does, by the way, support sync. (You’ll see what I did there: subtle hints to the developers of ModStep. We’re really looking forward. Just … hugely excited. On our seat with anticipation. La, la, just can’t wait. Finish and submit that thing, darnit.)
Thanks to ANR for this one – good enough that it was, ahem, worth ripping off directly!
How-To: Auxy Meets Logic Via midimux – Video Tutorial
And more great reading there; just added this one to my feed in Reeder!