rtpMIDI & iOS MIDI Controllers

I have been mucking around looking at MIDI controllers and DAW (Digital Audio Workstations). I have lashed out and got myself a Korg nanoKEY Studio and a Zoom R24 USB Recorder.

But it was bugging my mind ... why not get something cool like Ableton Push 2 for some serious creative input and equally serious $$$ or  would Novation Launchpad Pro be a good compromise to get some notation and creative input (velocity, after-touch) without all the bells and whistles ... do I really need notion and expressive input so would a Novation Launchpad Mini Mk2 do???

My conclusion was I really didnt want to break the bank with the Push 2. Even though it will probably be a good investment. I didnt want to pay for a part solution like Launchpad Pro. Which left me with the cheap option of a

With my Hacker hat on .... I thought there must be a way to intercept controller messages and make them do what I want. Step 1 .. see what I can SWIPE (stands for Steal with Integrity and Pride from Everywhere). what I found was some people doing things in python like a hack that allows you to script functions to the Lunchpad 8x8 buttons (using lunchpad.py). Looking around a bit more there are expensive and free MIDI controllers on iOS that seem to use a protocol on OSX called CoreMidi.

Immediate question ... does CoreMidi work on Windows. Well of course not but someone has written a generic server rtpMIDI that just appears like a virtual MIDI device to the rest of windows. It can automatically discover (Peter's Ipad Mini 4) or you can manually add your device (iPadMini4) with its IP and port 5004 if it doesnt show up.

rtpMIDI

Next step i needed to see if a DAW can connect to this. I have mucked around with the Ableton Live Lite (unathorised so no save) and LMMS a free fully functioning open source DAW.

I paired this up with expressionPad (iOS only) on the iPad. This is all over notation as you can choose between key appearance (piano, hex, square), colour (white, rainbow, red, blue) and heaps of custom options about choosing key scales between the columns and tuning between the rows and overall octave base note offset. It also uses multi touch, slide between notes and pitch bending/vibrato.

Expression pad is best for notation as its UI can define layouts by scale (columns) arpeggiated chords (rows) and is more expressive with swiping between notes.

expressionPad (Blues columns & 5 semi rows)

This set up seamlessly sends MIDI notation data to your DAW of choice like LMMS or Ableton Live.  This can be used to fake an Ableton Drumpad control by setting it to an 4 x 4 grid with a C1 base note, columns separated by a semitone and rows by 4 semitones.

I have found Aftertouch • 3D MIDI Controller (iOS only) is probably better direct control as you can save you layouts and switch between pad layouts easily. It is okay for notation as it does aftertouch for controlling pitch bend (X axis), modulation (Y Axis) and velocity (Z Direction) but does not cleanly swipe between notes like expresionPad.

Aftertouch • 3D MIDI Controller (1 semi Columns, 4 semi Rows)

This should be enough to get you started with MIDI controllers and DAW's for free on iOS. No android solutions at this time but I will look into some alternative approaches soon and add it here.