Using Midi Keyboard With Garageband Ipad

With the exception of a few dedicated iOS-specific models, most MIDI controller keyboards require another piece of hardware to be placed in between them and your iOS device in order for your Core MIDI apps to recognize and respond to your MIDI controller. You have a few different ways you can go.

Not only are these midi keyboard controllers plug and play, they are also USB bus powered, meaning that you do not have to bother finding an electrical outlet to power up the midi keyboard, again, just plug and play. Click the link below to find out more about the winning Garageband keyboard for 2020. How to Connect a MIDI USB Keyboard to an iPad Connecting USB-based MIDI devices to your iPad is a snap! Many apps like Garage Band, iPolysix, and Tabletop support small devices. May 25, 2011  GarageBand for iPad Tutorial: Setting Up & Recording MIDI Keyboards With GarageBand for iPad we get some great keyboard sounds with nifty screen controls! If you’re sick of using the Musical Typing keyboard in Garageband, then look no further than this article. Connecting a keyboard MIDI controller to Garageband is incredibly simple. Without further ado, This is how you connect a keyboard into GarageBand.

iOS MIDI interface

One way to go is to purchase a dedicated iOS MIDI interface, or an iOS audio-and-MIDI interface that gives you microphone or guitar connections (or both) in addition to a MIDI connection. Examples of audio-and-MIDI interfaces on the market include the IK Multimedia iRig PRO, the Alesis I/O Dock II, and the Behringer iS202.

If you only need MIDI and don’t plan on recording audio, a dedicated iOS MIDI interface is an economical way to go, and more are being released all the time. For instance, the new IK Multimedia iRig MIDI 2 gives you the option of Lightning and 30-pin connections for iOS, or USB connections for Mac and PC. It features MIDI in, out, and thru ports.

If you want to have the option to set up a multi-machine setup with four MIDI ins and four MIDI outs, and the ability to pass audio from one machine to the next, you might consider iConnectivity’s new iConnectMIDI4+, which, with all its capabilities, sells only for about $200.

To connect a controller keyboard with an iOS interface, first connect the interface to your iOS device’s dock port. Next, plug the keyboard’s MIDI out to the MIDI in on the interface using either a standard MIDI cable or a cable that comes with the unit, depending on the interface you have. The keyboard’s MIDI out is where messages coming from the keyboard — including note-ons and note-offs, CC data, and more — are sent.

The interface’s MIDI in port takes that data and brings it into your iOS device and makes it available for your app.

Before MIDI came along, synthesizers used control voltage (or CV) to pass messages like notes and performance data between different devices. CV isn’t common to iOS interfaces yet, but some enterprising souls allow you to pass MIDI to digital devices and CV to analog devices for some truly impressive synth rigs. If you feel like geeking out, check out apps like Brute LFO and buy the cable you’ll need (one end should be the standard headphone to plug into the phone, and the other end whatever the analog synth accepts).

Connecting controllers to iOS devices using USB

Another option for plugging in an external keyboard is to use a standard USB MIDI controller. “But wait, there’s no USB port on an iOS device,” you say. This is technically true, but you can add one very easily with Apple’s inexpensive Lightning-to-USB-camera adapter, for Lighting-equipped devices, or the Camera Connection Kit for iOS devices with 30-pin dock connectors.

When you do this, the MIDI controller world is your oyster, as you can choose from a large selection of USB MIDI interfaces.

In order to work with Apple’s Core MIDI, a USB MIDI controller must be USB Class Compliant, which means that it’s designed to work with your iOS device (or a computer) without the need to install a software driver. If driver installation is required, it won’t work on your iOS device.

A large percentage of USB controller keyboards are USB Class Compliant, and some even advertise themselves as being iOS compatible, if you use one of the Apple camera adapters.

Do your research and make sure your USB MIDI controller will work with iOS devices. Manufacturers who do produce compatible equipment will usually fall over themselves advertising this fact.

Garageband To Midi

One more big advantage of connecting via USB to your iOS device is that you don’t need to plug a power adapter into the keyboard; it will be bus powered, which means it gets its power through the USB cable. As a result, you can connect your MIDI keyboard in places where there’s no AC power available — as long as your iPad’s battery is charged. However, longer chains of devices or larger devices might still need a separate power source — do your research and test first.

OK, so technically everything you do on your iPhone or iPad is “virtual” —because you aren’t using any physical hardware beyond the iOS device, the software does everything in the virtual realm. And MIDI isn’t really “real,” because it’s just the messages that devices exchange to control which events take place and when they occur.

But Virtual MIDI uses CoreMIDI that basically allows synthesizers, drum machines, and sequencers to communicate with each other without needing another app to do all of the work. All you need are the apps that work together.

How apps use Virtual MIDI depends on the imagination and resourcefulness of the developers who make the app. It all depends on what features they implement.

Linking apps

Using Midi Keyboard With Garageband Ipad Pro

Let’s pair up a drum machine and a synth to handle the bass line for some backing tracks. Both Funkbox and Thor offers some solid Virtual MIDI integration, so this example shows you how to take those apps and make Virtual MIDI magic happen.

Garageband

First, open up the Thor app and select a good bass preset. Tap the keyboard and see if you like the sound — tweak the controls until you’ve got something you’re good with.

Now, open the Funkbox app and tap the Settings button. If the MIDI switch isn’t already in the On position, make sure you switch it over.

For now, leave all of the settings as they are, unless the Bass MIDI Sequence button is off. Make sure you tap that button and the red light next to that button comes on.

Next, tap the MIDI Routing tab.

Notice how Thor shows up under the CoreMIDI Outputs section. In this case, Virtual MIDI uses CoreMIDI to transmit the MIDI messages.

Navigate back to the Thor app and tap the gear icon. Select the Source button under the MIDI heading and choose Funkbox from the listed options.

All of the steps basically put Thor at the command of Funkbox, with the synth accepting note (the pitch of the note) and gate (when the note actually plays) commands from the drum machine.

Go back to the Funkbox app and tap Start/Stop to hear the results. You should hear a funky drum loop backed by a bass line coming from the Thor app. The programmed beat from Funkbox determines the notes played by Thor, and Funkbox doesn’t really provide a full-featured interface for actual notes. Instead, Thor receives the notes that match up with the notes used to trigger the Funkbox notes. It doesn’t sound bad, but it doesn’t give you the control you might want.

Adding a sequencer

A MIDI sequencer acts as the master control for all apps that accept incoming MIDI signals. Basically, the sequencer manages the song and passes along commands to all the apps listening for those commands.

The advantage of using a MIDI sequencer involves sending standard commands to all the apps and triggering them from a single source, rather than trying to decide which app controls the others and how. Every parameter about the song originates from the sequencer, and you can make any adjustment necessary from that location.

For this example, you’ll see a fairly full-featured MIDI sequencer called Genome. You can find other MIDI sequencers in the App Store, tailored both to live performance and to programmed sequences. Genome falls into the latter category, and it’s used here for a couple of reasons:

  • The aforementioned fairly full functionality of MIDI controls, including the ability to lay out loops and patterns

  • A good linear, visual representation of the MIDI sequence

  • A track-based representation of the 16 available MIDI channels

MIDI transmits information on 16 channels — no more, no less. The MIDI specification allows for 16 channels as a standard, so you can count on that no matter which MIDI sequencer or app you use. So with our Thor and Funkbox apps already open, open Genome.

First, let’s set up a pattern for Funkbox on MIDI channel 10. Why channel 10? The MIDI standard for drums and associated percussion uses channel 10. You could use other channels, but more than likely, any drum app or external drum machine you use will accept MIDI commands on channel 10.

On track 10 in Genome, tap the plus sign to add a pattern for that channel. Then tap the pencil icon for channel 10.

You can tap on each square to play a drum or percussion hit. In this case, C3 triggers the bass drum, D3 triggers the snare drum, and F#3 triggers a closed hi-hat sound. Tap a quick pattern out for a standard rock beat or just input whatever you want.

The pattern entered commands any app listening for instructions on MIDI channel 10 to play those notes at the specified time. Tap Back to go to the main Genome sequence screen, then tap the pattern to activate it. Now, let’s move on to a bass line.

Move over to the Thor app and tap the gear icon. In this case, tap Source and set it to Genome. Then tap the plus icon under Source until it says channel 1. If you haven’t tired your fingers out yet, go back to Genome and tap the plus sign for channel 1. Here’s a simple bass line to go along with the extremely simple drum pattern.

Go back to the main sequence screen in Genome and tap the pattern in channel 1 to activate that pattern. Then hit the play button in the upper-left corner to hear the final product.

Using Midi Keyboard With Garageband Ipad 1

You may hear the pattern coming from Funkbox in addition to the drum hits you programmed in Genome. Turn down the master fader (labeled MST) to take the programmed pattern out of the sound produced by Funkbox.

Midi Keyboard With Garageband Ipad

Okay, so the example is pretty basic. The magic from here involves the additional patterns you can program. Just keep tapping the plus sign and adding new patterns.

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