iPad and Music Recording Apps (Audio and MIDI)

So I have been checking out apps that I can record audio and MIDI with on my iPad – here are some of my observations…

First of all there are several major features that are involved in looking at these DAW’s – 1)Recording of Audio – both from the obvious external source like a mic, guitar, wind instrument, etc… but also through the integration of AudioBus that allows recording of audio from other apps. 2)Recording of MIDI – both virtual MIDI as well as being able to access external MIDI equipment 3)Built-in synths, drum machines and sounds or loops.

With AudioBus integration the need for “everything” being built into one app starts to go away. NanoStudio, for instance, has a huge user base because it has allowed people to create some amazing recordings all in one app – go search SoundCloud. You don’t have to go purchase additional hardware synths, audio interfaces, MIDI interfaces or mics and you don’t need the additional purchase of synth apps or FX apps!

With AudioBus enabled apps though I can now use any app to record into another app. This allows the developers of Auria, for instance, to focus on creating an awesome app for recording audio while other developers focus their attention on creating really cool synth apps or drum machines for instance. I’m not so sure that the all in one is the HUGE benefit it was just a short few months ago (like November of 2012 – 3 months ago)

  GarageBand was the first obvious purchase -

• PROS
• So many very cool instruments built in
• Capable of recording audio
• Capable of using external MIDI keyboard to control internal sounds
• Smart Instruments – go read their description and watch the video – very very cool, especially for elementary kids, middle school kids and those without the musical training needed to play the parts themselves!
• Jam Sessions! Jam three friends (4 total people) over wi-fi or blue-tooth. How much fun would THIS be in a classroom setting! This is THE REAL GARAGEBAND FEELING!
• Now has AudioBus integration! (This is huge for AudioBus for Apple to throw their support behind AudioBus!)
• Has iPhone version and Desktop Versions
• CONS
• Will not play external MIDI keyboards!

   MultiTrack DAW – my second purchase because of recommendations of friends on the internet! I LOVE people who share!

• PROS
• Great abilities when recording audio – 8 tracks of stereo upgradable to 24
• per track compressor and EQ – also has delay and reverb built-in
• Very simple to understand
• AudioBus integration (one of the first DAW to do so!)
• Will record up to 8 tracks of audio at once
• CONS
• No MIDI at all

   MusicStudio – my third purchase – again because of friends on Twitter. There is a massive sea of apps out there – ask around to see what others are using and what is working well for them!

• PROS
• Records audio and MIDI both! (Yea!)
• Records up to 24 tracks of audio at once!
• AudioBus integration (just updated in March 2013?)
• 127 track sequencer!
• Instruments built-in
• Has Effects built in – a bit limited though (read below)
• Has iPhone version plus an LE version for free
• CONS
• Very disappointed to find out that there is no way to control the input level when recording audio! (At least I can’t find it yet!) As I am a Band Director this is a pretty vital feature!
• Built-in Effects are somewhat limited. These are more of a global effects unit – you can have basically two effects groups – one for all the tracks or one that is on a separate bus or of course you can have tracks without effects at all. It is not a track by track basis by any means!

    Meteor Multitrack Recorder – make sure you have at least 1 GB of free space available when using this app. The app itself takes only about 200mb but it requires more while running! You should also close all other apps to free up space. In fact, while using these audio related apps I have found this to be essential in having a successful session – no audio stuttering or apps quitting.

• PROS
• Records audio
• Records MIDI
• AudioBus integration (just updated in March 2013?)
• 16 tracks of audio – upgradable to 24
• CONS
• Only records a stereo input?
• Charges extra for the MIDI editor – Really? Come on people, if I am going to buy your app it is probably in part because of the ability to record MIDI! If I am recording MIDI then editing it is a basic function!

    Auria – This app is by far the one that seems the most professional – the one that seems the most like a professional recording studio full of effects, EQ’s and capabilities. This app has astounded people time and time again!

Have not purchased this one – I mean geesh – it’s $50! (There is a $25 version as well though if you want to get your feet wet here and try this out) Ouch! Don’t get me wrong… I am sure it is worth it but I am looking for something that I can use with my students on multiple iPads in the band room. $50 starts adding up really fast! Of course software for the desktop that does what this app is capable of would cost 3 to 5 times as much! Plus many of the plug-ins for Auria are 3 to 4 times cheaper for the iPad then they are for desktop versions!

• PROS
• From everything I can see this app is amazing in it’s ability to record audio
• Records up to 24 tracks of audio at once! Plays back up to 48 tracks of audio at once!
• Lots of plug-ins available as in-app-purchases (watch your kids! We don’t want any $2,500 bills here now people!)
• CONS
• Only does audio – no MIDI
• I’ve read that this app is operated very much like a desktop app in that there are a lot of menus, clicking and such. Not enough use is made of the touch screen interface (just what I’ve read – not from personal use)

    Cubasis – This is from Steinberg. Have not purchased this one either for the same reason – it’s $50! Again… I’m sure it is worth it and the longer I look around for a cheaper option I think I might just have to go this route and pay the money! I am very intrigued by this company as this is now where many of the developers of Sibelius work now, after Avid went through their restructuring. I am holding high hopes for some amazing new technologies to come together in the form of Cubasis and a new notation program from the same company.

• PROS
• Records audio and MIDI
• AudioBus integration
• Unlimited audio and MIDI tracks!
• Will record up to 24 tracks of audio at once!
• Has a desktop version!
• CONS
• Price
• No iPhone app

    FL Studio Mobile HD -

• PROS
• Record up to 8 tracks of audio at once
• MIDI recording
• Compatible with the PC Desktop version (In fact, if you use the desktop version you should buy the iPad version as well!)
• Has a Desktop Version and iPhone version
• CONS
• User interface issues looks much like they just doubled an iPod screen
• Effects only on the Main bus (working on a fix – 3-15-2013)

    Nano-Studio – This app has been around for a long time (in iPad years anyways) and has a huge user base built up!

• PROS
• Some great internal synths/sounds
• Desktop versions
• Great built-in effects
• Has iPhone version
• CONS
• No audio recording (does have a sampler though)
• No MIDI
• No AudioBus integration
• Only 6 Simultaneous instruments unless you pay more $ for and in app purchase to get to 16

    Studio.HD - Not very familiar with this as it seems to be focused on using loops. For those that are into that though this could be a great choice. I would suggest the video they have on their web-site – it is very well done and highlights some exciting thing this app can do with ease! This developer has quite a few apps out there which tells me that he is not going away any time soon.

• PROS
• 24 Tracks of audio
• Lots of effects built in – 14 total – 4 per track? plus master effects as well
• You can record automation of items like volume, pan, effects settings
• Can record multiple takes per track
• 900 loops plus more as in-app-purchases
• Has an iPhone app based off the same concept Studio.M (4 tracks of audio up to 8 tracks with iap)- not sure how compatible they are though
• CONS
• Lots of in-app-purchases (Although these feel more like things that are actually add-ons vs some apps where these in-app-purchases should have been included in the first place!)
• No AudioBus integration
• No MIDI

 

   BeatMaker2 - (Read comment from Greg below)

In looking at all these other apps I have also ran across these Multi-Track audio recording apps -

n-Track Studio MultiTrack Recorder

CONCLUSION
If you have thoughts please let me know! Which is your favorite and why? Which of these do you own? What have you found to be huge benefits and drawbacks of these apps! Are there features you would like me to add to the list so you can compare the apps to each other?

I will keep updating this and will tweet at anytime I do post an update to the list.

Creating Music with iOS – Meeting National Music Standards

iPads in music education can open the minds of our students to wonders that they have never imagined could be theirs! I get reminded of these moments of amazement when a students walks in while I am using technology. So many times they are wide eyed and captivated by the possibilities. Everything from playing my keyboard and having the notation instantly show up on the computer to a student asking what the name of the song is that I am playing for them to listen to and hearing their reaction when I tell them that the song was one I created on my iPad the night before. I can see the wheels spinning in their heads – “What if I could do that?”, they are asking it…. All they need are the tools! Now don’t get me wrong, I know our kids have been creating music for years with the traditional band instruments, singers, drums and electric guitars but I am not talking about the traditional here. I am talking about being able to have one iPad, a set of headphones, and a desire to create!

What if you were able to put a recording studio in the hands of your students, show them a few apps, and then give them the freedom to create? How would your students change?

iPads can open up a whole new world to our students – a world that once was cornered by only those with lots and lots of money! Now an iPad opens up the possibility of an entire recording studio filled with amazing synths, guitar amps, and recorders. Those come in the form of apps, apps that cost any where from being free to $5, $10, $15 and up to $20 and $50! Of course if you take into account the ability to record themselves with the built in mic or if they want even better quality they can hook up and external mic through the camera connection kit.

Tonight was an exploration of several apps for me…. I used MusicStudio as the multitrack recorder. For sounds I used AddictiveSynth, Sunrizer and ThumbJam. I of course used Audiobus to get them hooked together. This recording has 9 tracks.

I would be crazy excited if my students were creating music at home like this! (Not that I think this is anything spectacular – but instead just because they would be exploring and composing and enjoying themselves!)

 +  +  +  +  = one evening of great fun!

Creating Music on an iPad – New Musical Interfaces

How can I inspire students to create music? By giving them exciting tools that will enable them to create something that sounds good, is fun to use and engages them!

Chordion kept me busy for a long time tonight – of course that’s not saying TOO much! It was great fun exploring the user interface…. Here’s a screen shot….

 

You can see the chord buttons on the left and the keyboardish looking section on the right – as it says in the blue screen shot you play with two hands in this app.

I kept thinking about what my elementary kids are going to be thinking when I let them try the app out. I know that it would be an easy experience for them! The way the app is set up you are not going to hear wrong notes. The bad news side of that is I found it a bit limiting and kept wanting to be able to play other notes! Well, after diggin down into the settings I discovered that my wishes could be granted! You can set the right hand side of the screen to play any scale you want! There are quite a few built in as pre-sets scale patterns.

Then I discovered the play button that starts the drum patterns – that along with the arpeggiator makes things more interesting to play along with!

Of course I got bored pretty quick with that one sound so I started fiddling around with trying out all the different sliders and waveforms along with the effects settings. Then I decided to tap on the disk icon and discovered the online sharing world of settings there! (good and bad can be found!)

Tapping on the Record icon gives you immediate access to sharing your newly created masterpiece to iTunes, DropBox or SoundCloud. I found the SoundCloud integration refreshing – not enough apps utilize SoundCloud – it is a fast, fun way to share you music! Here is my “masterpiece“

Go check it out and play with this app – you should be able to imagine a place to put it to use if you work with kids that are creating music on iPads!

PS – I almost forgot to mention that Chordion has builtin in MIDI capabilities as well! That means you can use Chordion to play other apps – For instance play SunRizer with the chords and ThumbJam with the keyboard!

WISHES – I do wish that Chordion would get a bit more creative with the capabilities on the keyboard – give us some variety depending on where you finger hits (far right – middle – far left). This sort of interactivity is pretty standard in iPad keyboard apps. Even if I could control the volume by where my finger was hitting it would be a step in the right direction.

Creating Music with iPad apps and Logic

FaceBook Music Page

One of the areas I have not taken the time to fully explore is creating music with my iPad. I use the iPad daily for reading PDF music, organizational details, reading news and pictures to name a few things. What I have not done nearly enough of is create music with it! I have downloaded a ton of instrument apps and played with them! There are some awesome new ways to create and interact with music!

This weekend I started digging in and seeing what happened. In no way will I ever claim that the results of this experimentation is amazing as I am not a composer! In fact you may listen to just the first few seconds and decide you’ve had enough! That’s all right! I just had fun trying out all sorts of sounds, noises and messing with what is at my finger tips!

NEW CAPABILITIES
One of the very interesting things happening right now in the world of music apps is the way in which you interact with the music being created. Traditionally for instance when I play piano I don’t have many options… push the key and the note sounds. When playing my euphonium…. blow through the horn and I get a sound. These sounds all are pretty much the same every time. If I want to control the sound coming out of my euphonium I can change the embouchure and airflow along with maybe singing/humming while playing. On that piano I can get louder and softer and that’s about it (unless I get all John Cage on the piano!)

Now that world of what is possible is blown wide open and only limited by the developers imagination. Of course those developers get tons of ideas from the community that is using their app too. (One of the amazing side effects of the iOS musician community is that developers are willing to listen to their users and try new ideas in the apps!)

For instance – in the Animoog app I was playing with…. I tap the key and a note sounds but that sound can instantly be changed by moving my finger up and down on that one key. Plus I’ve got all sorts of knobs and X/Y pads right there to mess with too! The sound I’m creating is in no way static – I become a huge part of the creative process and decisions of what comes out of the speakers! It is so much fun too! In GeoSynth I am no longer stuck in the tuning of the traditional piano – chromatic. I can adjust to all sorts of quarter tones and microtones! In MorphWiz, as well as almost any of the other apps, I can select one specific scale to play with.  The abilities to slide between pitches is easily done and programed. Effects galore, sounds you’ve never dreamed of and the capability to record, loop and create!

Music Creation Apps

EQUIPMENT AND APPS
I am using my MacBookPro with LogicPro to record everything into. The iPad is simply using an 1/8″ cable from the headphone jack into the built-in input on the side of the MacBook. I have an Akai SynthStaion 25 that I picked up for $25 on Black Friday! In the 2 songs posted from this weekend all you hear is from Logic or an app. The Apps I used were MorphWiz, GeoSynth and SampleWiz all from Jordan Rudess the keyboard player from Dream Theater. Animoog and LaunchKey were the only other two apps I used this weekend. I should have used Impaktor or DrumJam but I forgot they were sitting on the next screen!

I also have had a Roland Fantom X8 for a long time now. You will not hear the x8 in the two newest songs though at all. If you are so kind as to listen to some of the music I’ve uploaded before this weekend you will hear lots of the X8 as that was the tech I used for years! I still do.

Now if you want to go old school and hear some of the tech that really got me excited about using electronic equipment to create music then take a listen to the four tracks I uploaded from Common Bond – this was a group I was in while in college in ’86-91. We were using Ensoniq keyboards and Roland drum Machines that “blew us away” back then!  I remember wishing for control of my keyboard sounds back then like we have today! It was a pain to even get the volume to be recorded into the Ensoniq sequencer! So much fun was had recording in the “OutHouse” (it was really a garage). A few of us would spend too many hours in there as well as the recording studio at the school – That allowed us to record 8 tracks of audio! That’s how come I even have recordings of Common Bond – well I take that back…. My Mom did use her old Panasonic tape recorder in the front pew of a few of our concerts! She was excited about being able to do THAT! Do you remember those? A little rectangle black tape deck with one speaker – it recorded in mono! She had great fun using THAT new tech back in her day!

IT’S ALL ABOUT HAVING FUN!
As I write this the theme of “HAVING FUN” keeps coming up! My Mom with her little, mono, tape recorder –  my buddies and I in college using the first keyboard that could record and playback 8 notes at a time – now creating music with an iPad and computer!

That brings me to my wrap up… please realize that ALL of the tracks on my ReverbNation/FaceBook page are there just because I was messing around enjoying myself! I know there are mistakes…. so what! I enjoyed myself and I hope you will enjoy listening a bit to them!

STUDENTS AND OUR CLASSES
We should be trying our hardest to inspire our students to just sit and create as well! Like when they were kids with a crayon and blank piece of paper! We should be inspiring our administration to support this idea as well! Even in these days of budget cuts – If our kids were doing more with being musically creative instead of merely recreating what someone else has already done I think our nation would be in better shape and our test scores would go through the roof!

THE MUSIC
Now for what you have been looking for all along… the music. You can find it on ReverbNation or my FaceBook page (both of which I am not paying for by the way… hmmm…. what implications does THAT have for our students?)

Safterry – created with Logic and iPad apps

Messed up E – created with Logic and iPad apps

 

AudioBus and iOS Music Making

There is a new app on the horizon  that is going to change the way we make music with our iOS devices. That app is called AudioBus.

To understand what I am talking about go watch this video…. AudioBus recording from three different apps into MultiTrackDAW at one time!

If you are like me you have played with a zillion different apps capable of making some great sounds. AudioBus is going to start making it much easier to use all those great apps and make wonderful music with them. Right now trying to get sound from one app into another is a hassle. It is actually easier to just use two devices and record from one to the other! As you can see though in the video, we will not need to hodgepodge two devices together much longer though!

Auria App has been released! iPad DAW re-defined!

If you are looking for a way to record audio on your iPad you know have a new amazing option as of today.

Auria by WaveMachine Labs is an app that allows you to record up to 24 tracks of digital audio at a time and will playback up to 48 tracks of audio at a time. Not only will it record but there are effects built-in for you to apply to those tracks. You can edit your recordings and master the final recording. I think we will be seeing some awesome music being created with this app.

The app has been keeping many people checking the website for news of the app approval by Apple for a while now. I have not had the $49 dollars to purchase it yet so I can not personally state how well this app works compared to MultiTrack DAW by Harmonicdog for instance.

Of course you will need an audio interface to keep all those 48 tracks of your wonderful creativity into your iPad. There is a page listing audio interfaces that have been tested with Auria. None of these interfaces actually allow for recording 24 tracks at a time so I am wondering how WaveMachines Lab tested the 24 track limit. They must have chained a couple devices together. If you are looking at these interfaces there is a significant thought to keep in mind…. what is listed as the number of inputs on most of these interfaces is not “really” what most of us will be utilizing. For instance, the PreSonus 1818VLS claims 18 inputs. most of us are really interested in only ever using 8 of those inputs. 8 of those inputs are for the mic/line level/instrument inputs that we commonly use. There are SPDIF and ADAT inputs to account for the other 10 to get to 18 total. Who uses those anyways?

If you grab this app let us know how well it works. It’ll be awhile before I get it as the price tag is a bit steep for me. Don’t get me wrong though… I think this app is totally worth that price! The website states that this is only the introductory price too. Makes me wonder if they are planning on raising the price at some point.

iPad DAW Audio Samples

Here are some samples of the same song recorded in 5 different bit-rates and through three different interfaces. I used an iRig for one recording, and iMic at different rates for 3 of the other recordings and then the StudioLive to my laptop for the last file. When I used the StudioLive I used an file aiff that I uploaded to SoundCloud. This was to see what the best possible scenario would sound like. The iMic/iRig recordings were all compressed to an m4a file. This was on purpose to simulate more of a student situation and to take into account using these files in emails to keep the file sizes down.

See what you think. Do you hear any difference?

Now for the real kicker – SoundCloud transcodes any file uploaded to them down to 128 kbps mp3 for streaming playback. What does that mean? The files that might be better quality on your computer may not be any different when you go to share them online! Of course you can make the original file available for download but….

So even though I uploaded 4 m4a files and one Aiff file… what you are listening to are all mp3 files

MultiTrack DAW – The Question is not “What is Possible” it is “How Do I Do It?”

The first year I owned an iPad I had to tell people that the iPad was meant, so far, as mostly a consumption device not a creation device. About the time the iPad2 was released things started changing and I felt like I could use the iPad for creating more often.

Of course the biggest problem is that we have to go through a major paradigm shift using an iPad. I think that the iPad can do WAY more than what most of us have a grasp on. The question about what the iPad is capable of doing should never be “What is possible using my iPad?” The question should be, “How can I do_____ (fill in the blank)?” For instance I’ve been on the search for an audio interface. After doing a LOT of digging I discovered that I could use a Griffin iMic, which I had like 4 or 5 of because of using SmartMusic. I reached up on my shelf, grabbed one, plugged in the camera connection kit into my iPad and went to my keyboard. I was trying a free version of MusicStudio and found that I could indeed record audio using that iMic into my iPad!

One problem – it was noisy! Don’t get me wrong – I was enjoying the recording – but there was no way I could actually use this for a serious recording in a real situation. Fun, yes – useful, no.

After all the research on the web I did finally buy MultiTrack DAW from Harmonicdog. (Thanks Simeon for giving me the last push!). Even though I knew the iMic was noisy I still plugged it in and tried out the new app. This app actually had a solution to the noise though! There was a way to lower the input level! (which might be in MusicStudio as well but I couldn’t find it! More on that in a minute) Because I could lower the input level on the iPad input I then could turn up the output level on my keyboard and get an acceptable signal to noise ratio! There was still just a little bit of noise but it worked for now!

THE PROCESS:
I used the 1/8″ stereo to 1/4″ mono adaptor cable to get my keyboard outputs into the iMic (by the way if you are still using those little RCA to 1/4″ adaptor plug’s…. get one of these cables instead!). I also used my headphones so I could record multiple tracks. I then proceeded to record 5 tracks. All of these tracks were a one shot deal (I did not bother to go back and edit out mistakes or do multiple takes to fix things) The only thing I did do was cut out a few short things when one of the pad sounds was making things too mucky.

 

Click to see larger version of file sizes on my iPad.

THE SONG:
Why in the world I picked a Christmas song I don’t know but I did! I also picked a song that I still do not know very well. In other words don’t listen to the mistakes. Use the recording as a sample of the quality that is possible! I also picked a song that was really long on purpose – it’s 5:37. I wanted to see how much room these recordings were going to take. Click the picture on the right to see how large the recordings were. I also wanted to see what the iPad would do with a long recording like that. (The iPad never hesitated a second! It takes a few seconds to draw the waveforms though. I was never bothered by this.) I did not mess around with any EQ or effects or any other plugin’s or anything like that – I usually don’t when I am coming straight from my keyboard.

THE RESULT:
I think the recording on my iPad was as good of a quality as the other ones I have done straight to my laptop with Logic Pro and GarageBand. Again, we are not discussing plug-ins and all the fancy stuff. I was able to do edits as I expected to on the iPad – things like cut out a few things, added a couple of fade outs and I was able to adjust once when I cut a little bit too much off a clip. I went back and added back in the part I clipped off just a bit early. If you listen in the very beginning you can hear what little bit of noise was left after adjusting my input left. MultiTrackDAW was pretty quick to figure out and worked as I would expect it to intuitively. The only thing I had a bit of trouble figuring out was how to set the track to a stereo recording. Even after reading the help file I still did not “get it” but after playing with and studying the pop up controls closer I found that all I had to do was slide my finger down or up by the rec enable button.

I invite you to listen to the recording I uploaded to SoundCloud from within DAW – just be nice If you want a comparison to coming straight from my keyboard to my laptop then you are welcome to listen to some of the other songs on my SoundCloud.

SHARING:
There are several sharing options built into DAW.You can email, use SoundCloud (A nice surprise) or do a mix down into the iTunes file sharing folder. The app supports three file formats – wav, ogg or m4a. There are a bunch of Bitrates supported too – 128, 144, 160, 192, 224, 240 and 256. The file that is linked on SoundCloud is from a m4a at 192 bitrate.

Creating a Mixdown version of my song in wav format was much faster than creating an m4a. To be fair, I’m sure that the reason it took longer was because not only was it Mixing down (bouncing down) my 5 tracks but it was also compressing the file. I think in the future I would do this on the laptop. The capability HAS to be built into the app though because then you don’t NEED a laptop to create a recording and then email it to someone.

CONCLUSION AND LINK TO THE SONG:
This is going to be REALLY fun! Way cool!
 Listen on SoundCloud

The price point here is staggering between what is possible with my iPad compared to what we had to spend 5 years ago to get this same setup! Even when you take into account the price of the iPad!

For Educators looking to expand offerings to their students this sort of experience is a very real life experience of how a student could end end up making money doing music, something they love!

iPad Interfaces for Audio and MIDI

So this summer it is a goal of mine to start using my iPad in new ways. Things like recording audio tracks on it or connecting my keyboards to it and using the iPad as the sequencer. These are things I know are possible and have been reading about. I just have not dug in and tried it.

First step is to find an audio interface as well as a MIDI interface. Maybe even one that does both. I would like an interface that does more than 2 audio inputs – from what I am reading the iPad can record 8 or more tracks of audio at once! 2 inputs is minimum as I am a keyboard player and if I can’t record a stereo track from my keyboards than it just doesn’t sound good. Another important item is price point – I would like something around $200.

I have tried the iRig audio interface but it is pretty noisy. There is way too much extra hiss. That would just be annoying in playback. I thought about the Line6 MobileIn little interface from Line6 and I think a trip to the local GuitarCenter is in order. Anyone have any great interfaces?

UPDATED:

Here is another audio interface much like the Line6 – This one is from Sonoma WireWorks – It is the Guitar Jack. This is from their website….

GuitarJack Model 2 is the highest quality audio interface that connects a wide range of instruments, microphones, and other audio hardware to the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch via 1/4″ instrument and 1/8″ stereo mic/line inputs. GuitarJack’s 1/8″ stereo line/headphone output offers increased drive for headphones. GuitarJack features software controllable level control with 60 dB of gain plus 12 dB pad for 72 dB of adjustment, software configurable Lo-Z and Hi-Z modes, a 24-bit AD/DA converter*, and the highest quality sound. GuitarJack can record in stereo and simultaneously record vocals and an instrument when used with apps like FourTrack and StudioTrack that support those features. input

Here is another interface that is from Lexicon that some people seem to be having success with…. The Omega This offers more options and is probably higher quality? From their web-site… Unlike standard computer I/O boxes based on a patch bay concept, the Lexicon Omega Studio is designed and built around the same paradigm as large-format recording consoles. An 8-input, 4-Bus, 2-output USB I/O mixer with inserts, instrument input, MIDI I/O and complete metering and monitoring functions gives you the freedom to record up to 4 tracks at once and mix without the need for additional mixing hardware.

Here is a video showing a guy recording into GarageBand with the Omega

A New company that I have not heard of before (which means absolutely nothing!) is Focusrite. They have two interfaces that are a bit more pricy than what I wanted to look at but I thought I would mention their two interfaces that I found.

It is called the Scarlett 18i6 or the 8i6. You need to go read about these two interfaces and when you do read do so carefully. They are a bit mis-leading in the capabilities I believe. For instance on the 18i6 it claims to be Band Ready with 18 inputs! When you start reading you find that the interface gives you 6 analog inputs and the rest come from the ADAT optical cable…. at which point they loose me. I have seen ADAT and optical and all that but have never worked with it. I’m pretty sure most of us have not worked with it either!

The last interfaces fro tonight that I am going to put on this post are from Presonus. If you have been reading my Blog you know I bought their StudioLive Mixer which has just been amazing. (I had never really heard of Presonus before a couple years ago either – see I told you it doesn’t mean anything – lol)

They have a AudioBox 22VSL, an AudioBox 44VSL and an 1818VSL that work with the iPad as well. Now this is NOT advertised on their web-site or something that will even probably say works so don’t buy one and go call them for support! But the Auria App website people have tested the 1818VSL with their app and it works.
The 22VSL has been tested by Simeon Amburgey who wrote about his experience a bit at this link(you have to scroll down a ways on the page to find the iPad part.)The VSL part of those interfaces names are there because it stands for Virtual Studio Live which is software from PreSonus allowing you to control the interface and it’s settings from your computer (which I know is not supposed to be a part of this solution). By setting some of those settings though I think I just might have some nice options I would not otherwise get. CLARIFICATION – When I have talked about the VSL software and my StudioLive Mixer I’m sure I’ve mentioned that I can control the StudioLive through my iPad remotely. The way this works is you hook your StudioLive to your laptop which then runs the VSL software. Then you connect your iPad and your laptop to the same wi-fi network, open the SL-Remote app from Presonus. Using that app with that setup I can then control 90% of the settings of the mixer from anyplace I want to in the room. The 22VSL and 44VSL AudioBox’s do not appear to have this capability. The 1818VSL does have this ability. I’m not sure why the lower end interfaces don’t but I thought I would mention this distinction. Of course with only 2 or 4 inputs it’s not really that useful I wouldn’t think, although it is faster to make changes from my iPad app than accessing the StudioLive directly many times.This is a statement from the website about the Auria App and my own research….

The following interfaces have been tested and are not currently compatible with Auria:

• M-Audio FastTrack Ultra 8R
• Tascam US-1800 and Tascam US-2000
• Roland Octa-Capture
• MOTU 828mk3 Hybrid
• RME Fireface UC
• Focusrite Saffire Family
• Tascam US1800

Presonus StudioLive Soundboard and Recording Concerts

One of the purchases I have been dragging my feet over has been a digital mixer/sound board. I finally broke down this past school year and purchased a Presonus StudioLive 16.4.2 mixer.

This is a digital performance and recording mixer. That means that when we do our crazy variety show every year I can set the board for each group when we get the mix just perfect along with a good monitor setting for the performers, and then save all the settings. During show time I simply go through and recall the settings I saved during sound check. There are a ton of capabilities built into this board, compressors, limiters, EQ, low pass filters, great pre-amps and EQ’s for the main’s as well as the monitors. The list goes on and on.

Because it is a digital recording board the potential does not stop with being an awesome mixer. When hooked up to my laptop it becomes a digital recorder as well. With the push of two buttons I can be recording all 16 tracks (plus more) of our live performances. Then those recordings can be played back through the board later to do an actual mix-down, using all the built-in settings in the board. Plus I can run the recordings through my favorite DAW. That means more plug-ins and capabilities.

This past 6 months I have been able to use the board enough to run live sound and get comfortable with that part of the mixer. It has allowed for our sound during performances to take that next step forward, not to mention that I have no idea how we could have done our digital music ensemble performances this year. (Here is a link of our group – Melodic Fusion – of course it is from a parents phone (I guess I should get a better recording up on the web!))During a bunch of these performances I ran recordings as well. I am just now getting around to being able to play with this part of the mixer and software. I really have not much of an idea of what I am doing in this area though. It’s been fun though. I’ve taken recordings from a band and mixed up some recordings for them of their live performance. Of course we did not really have the miss we needed to produce a recording like we would have liked. There was only one mic on the drum set really – in front of the bass drum. The rest of the drums are simply from what was getting picked up from the drummer vocal mic, and other stage mics. The two guitar players ran a microphone in front of their amps (not what I would have done probably if we would have been doing the performance for recording purposes). We did run the bass player straight through the board. Then we had three vocal mics, a djembe mic and an acoustic mic line in. The recording of each individual track is fun to listen back to. Of course there are so many settings to learn on the board that it boggles my mind a bit.

It has been a blast working on these recordings and digging into the settings on the board. To give you an idea of what the sound is like on the recordings…  one of the songs from the concert is below – DISCLAIMER – Remember that I teach band and am not a record producer! If you like Matt’s music go to his web site and or go to iTunes download more. In fact book his group for a performance at your school! These guys put on an awesome performance that is full of energy!

SONG - Heart Wide Open - This is a bit of an experiment. I thought that I could upload mp3 files here on WordPress – it appears as though that is now an upgrade. So this file is shared from my dropbox. This also brings up another issue with sharing recordings like these. Since I have the song mixed down and want to share it over to Matt, who only has access to his iPhone (or my son on his iPad)… what is the best way to do that? I can’t just email it because the song actually does not even open in the iPad at all from the mail app! I can send them a DropBox link but that will only allow them to get the song into their DropBox app. Am I missing something here or is the only way to get a song onto an iPhone/iPad by hooking it up to a computer (or through iTunes wi-fi sync?)

Of course you must have known that there would be a way to tie in an iPad to this board! The main reason I finally jumped on this board is because I can use my iPad to remotely control almost every function on the mixer from anyplace in the room! That means I can sit with my wife and run sound for the choir. I can run sound for graduation from the back of the gym even though the mixer is sitting in the front of the gym. I can get up on stage and change monitor mixes while standing right in front of the monitors! It is very, very cool! Plus any of my kids with an iPod Touch or iPhone or iPad now have the ability to run their own monitor mixes and tweak them to their own liking right from their own iOS device! Since my board has 6 aux sends that means I can have 6 different mixes for my students while they are performing that they themselves can control!

If you are looking for a mixer I’m not sure why in the world you would want to buy any other mixer!