Garageband Mac Set Input To Ipad

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.

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! 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. Nov 01, 2015 You'll have to output the audio from your keyboard into some sort of audio interface in order to record the audio. As the previous poster said, MIDI is not audio information. #6 As posted above, MIDI generates codes, you will have a list of them with your keyboard. Double click on it and follow the instructions. Nov 17, 2017 GarageBand on the iPad can open GarageBand Mac projects, if you share the project on your Mac to iCloud Drive, downgraded to GarageBand for iOS, but it will mix the song as one single track.

Axiom Pro 61

Apple's Camera Connection Kit

Garageband Mac Set Input To Ipad Pro

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.

Garageband Ipad Tutorial

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.

“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.

You can create Aggregate Device to increase the number audio inputs and outputs available at the same time. You can also use an Aggregate Device if your application doesn't support separate input and output devices.

With Logic Pro, GarageBand, and MainStage, you can use a separate device for input and output. For example, you can use a USB microphone for input and the headphone jack of your Mac for output. Some applications not manufactured by Apple don't support separate input and output devices.

Set up an Aggregate Device

When you create an Aggregate Device, make sure to connect all external audio interfaces first.

From the Finder, choose Go > Utilities. Open the Audio MIDI Setup application.
Click the Add (+) button on the bottom-left corner in the Audio Devices window and chose Create Aggregate Device.
A new Aggregate Device appears in the list on the left side of the window. To rename the device, double-click it.
With the new Aggregate Device selected, enable the checkbox labeled 'Use' on the left side of the Audio Devices window. Do this for each device you want to include in the Aggregate Device. The order in which you check the boxes determines the order of the inputs and outputs in applications like Logic Pro and MainStage. For example, the first box you checked will be inputs one and two, the second box checked will be three and four, and so on.
The list on the right shows the currently connected audio devices and the number of input and output channels for each one.
To use the clock of a device as the master clock for all the combined devices, choose the device from the Clock Source menu of the Aggregate Device. Choose the device with the most reliable clock.
If your audio devices all work with word clock, connect them together using a word clock cable. Connect the cable from the device you designated as Clock Source to the input of each other device. Refer to your audio device product documentation for specific details.
If any of your devices don't work with word clock, select the Drift Correction checkbox for any devices not designated clock master.

Use an Aggregate Device with Apple music creation software

Open your application.
Do the following depending on the application you're using:
- For Logic Pro, choose Logic Pro X > Preferences > Audio, then select Devices.
- For GarageBand, choose GarageBand > Preferences > Audio.
- For MainStage, choose MainStage > Preferences > Audio.
Choose the Aggregate Device from the Output Device pop-up menu. Logic Pro and GarageBand automatically set the Input Device to the match the selected output device, which you can change if you want to use a different input device. In MainStage, you must manually select the input device.
In Logic Pro and MainStage, click Apply Changes.
GarageBand automatically switches to the new input device.

Use the Aggregate Device as the sound output of your Mac

When you set the Aggregate Device as the sound output for your Mac, sounds from other apps on your Mac play through the Aggregate Device. The Aggregate Device also becomes the System Setting option in the Output and Input Device menus of your Apple music creation apps.

From the Finder, choose Go > Utilities. Open Audio MIDI Setup.
Control-click the Aggregate Device in the left column, then choose 'Use this device for sound output' or 'Use this device for sound input.'

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