Firstly I’d like to say I know little about iPads, but my wife has upgraded her iPad and I’ve got an iPad Pro (2017) out of it with a lightning adapter by the looks of it.
My current DAWless setup is:
Digitone
Digitakt
Hapax sequencer
1010 Bluebox mixer/recorder
Novation Peak.
My Hapax controls it all. The above is more that enough really for a hobbyist like me, but the iPad is just sitting there look at me.
I was wondering if I can use the iPad as another sync that the Hapax could control? I read people use AUM as the middle man? I’d love to add a TB303 type app to my setup or another mono synth. I’ve guessing it has to by a mono and not a multi timbral app and treats it like a single sythn
As I said I know little, but excited if I can use it.
There’s plenty you can do with that, you can usb it to Digitakt and have an endless source of samples, a multitimbral synth rack, granular processor, etc. AUM is a great host, but if Drambo will run on whatever iOS version you have, you can do kinda do anything.
For a 303 emulation, people seem to agree that Pure Acid is the best, and it is half price RIGHT NOW. Also at half price is Drambo, mentioned above. We’re talking $10 or under for each of them. (I own both but have used neither yet, except to run a few presets on Pure Acid and tweak them a bit.) The main season for iOS app sales is Nov-Dec, though they happen at a lesser rate year-round.
Just reading up on AUM and Drambo, do I need both, from what I read AUM is the interface between the iPad and external gear and Drambo is a box of tricks? I want to use Hapax as my main sequencer still though as I haven’t had that long.
A Lightning-to-USB cable will let you connect the iPad to Hapax. That will let you send MIDI from Hapax to the iPad. If you have AUM as a host, then you can manage MIDI routing inside it, and load any AUv3-capable iPad synth inside AUM to receive the MIDI; AUM can handle the audio, and you can get it out of the headphone jack or via Bluetooth (oh I miss the headphone jack).
But.
It probably makes more sense to connect the iPad to the Digitakt or Digitone, as @Mister_Wood said above. That is a two-way connection, both MIDI and audio. If you still want to route MIDI from Hapax to the iPad, you can do that with channel management. This connection will let you send MIDI from the iPad as well (there are some cool sequencers and generative apps), and it will let you process iPad audio in DT (or DN) and send it through the signal chain you already have set up and are familiar with.
[Edit: if you want to use iPad for FX, better to connect it where it will receive the audio you want and send it where you want, which could be further downstream, with different wiring, of course.]
AUM hosts other apps, manages MIDI and audio, does mixing and routing. It can be entirely internal or incorporate external MIDI/audio. I think it is pretty much essential if you are using an iPad for audio purposes.
Drambo has a modular design and does a whole whack of things, including stuff that verges on DAW territory. Not so much a bag of tricks as “jack of all trades, master of most”. It’s almost a cliché on the Audiobus Forum for someone to ask “Is there an app that can do X?” and someone points out how Drambo can do it. It is kind of like Octatrack in that respect (don’t take this metaphor any further, I mean it in a narrow sense). I don’t think it’s essential but it rarely comes on sale so if $10 doesn’t mean much to you, you can buy it just in case. That’s what I did, though I do mean to explore it more thoroughly at some point, as I like things that are modular in nature.
Fugue Machine is great! There are so many enticing iOS apps, and they’re so damn cheap.
Right, the CCK (Camera Connection Kit). This gets you a USB port while letting you power the iPad, and is the way to go with older iPads when you want audio/MIDI connections. Don’t try to cheap out on a third-party version; the more expensive Apple adapter is going to give you the least headaches.
I assume by “duo jack” you meant to write “audio jack”. This is one way to do it but you will have to see if the audio quality is acceptable. I think current devices have quite good DACs but I don’t know about older ones. USB audio would probably be a better option but we are starting to move out of my zone of knowledge. Can a USB hub help here, and if so, what sort, and what sort of connections? Perhaps someone else can chime in.
Depends on how “DAWless” you want to be. I’ve recorded loads of jams using class compliant audio from Digitone/takt to GarageBand via the CCK in the Lightning port. Audio quality is good enough for an amateur, and there’s not much temptation to futz around with the mix. Use it just like tape.
If you are looking for apps, the Korg Gadget suite is pretty fun, Module sounds good for EPs, and I’d pick up a Mellotron app while you’re at it. They’re fun diversions, but I’ve literally never used them in a final track.