Multi track recording on iPad

rico

A mate of mine is looking to record some drum covers and he’s got one of the new iPads so it’s pretty snazzy. 

Is there an easy way to do multitrack recording on an iPad? He will need an interface with minimum 4 xlr ins...

thanks!

hollywoodrox

He will need a camera connector , the kind that has an extra socket for a usb lead so that it can be powered by a usb plug. Also if it’s new he might need some sort of usb C to A adapter.

he should then be able to plug an interface in with 4 inputs. Behringer will probably be the cheapest 

Stratavarious

Yep..  a powered USB audio interface and an official apple camera connection kit.  As mentioned consider power.  

I use the auria pro app... it’s superb.   I can record 22 different channels from our live desk to it, then mix and master on the sofa.

incredible advances,

hollywoodrox

Pete Johns channel on YouTube should provide him with everything he needs to know, the guy has tons of stuff on iOS recording 

goldtop

Yes, Pete's channel is great - a must-watch. Like Dan Baker's. Though neither of those do multi-input recording, IIRC. For that you could use a Behringer XR18 (at the lower end of the price spectrum). Although I'm a big fan of the RME stuff (spendier).

duotone

Stratavarious said:

Yep..  a powered USB audio interface and an official apple camera connection kit.  As mentioned consider power.  

I use the auria pro app... it’s superb.   I can record 22 different channels from our live desk to it, then mix and master on the sofa.

incredible advances,

£48.99 Wow!  I agree that it does look really good though. I think that’s the most expensive app I’ve seen.

Stratavarious

duotone said:

Stratavarious said:

Yep..  a powered USB audio interface and an official apple camera connection kit.  As mentioned consider power.  

I use the auria pro app... it’s superb.   I can record 22 different channels from our live desk to it, then mix and master on the sofa.

incredible advances,

£48.99 Wow!  I agree that it does look really good though. I think that’s the most expensive app I’ve seen.

There are cheaper version if you don’t need the in depth, midi, etc.  £19 ish..

duotone

Stratavarious said:

duotone said:

Stratavarious said:

Yep..  a powered USB audio interface and an official apple camera connection kit.  As mentioned consider power.  

I use the auria pro app... it’s superb.   I can record 22 different channels from our live desk to it, then mix and master on the sofa.

incredible advances,

£48.99 Wow!  I agree that it does look really good though. I think that’s the most expensive app I’ve seen.

There are cheaper version if you don’t need the in depth, midi, etc.  £19 ish..

Interesting!  

Thanks to this thread I’ve re-downloaded GarageBand on my iPad that I uninstalled a year ago as I never used it.  It looks good & definitely has more features/sound libraries that weren’t available before.

TheBigDipper

duotone said:

Interesting!  

Thanks to this thread I’ve re-downloaded GarageBand on my iPad that I uninstalled a year ago as I never used it.  It looks good & definitely has more features/sound libraries that weren’t available before.

I'm still using GB on iPadOS for most of my recording. My synth-playing ex-bandmate sends me stuff as a Logic project  sometimes and I'll work on it in Logic, but for stuff I create, it's GB on an iPad. 

I've just started experimenting with a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard connected to it. Looking promising from the workflow perspective. The mouse makes it easier to select, mark out and drag&drop. The keyboard means I can control the "tape" transport from where I am with a mic rather than where the iPad is. Like using Logic Remote on the iPad when you're running Logic on the Mac. 

duotone

Cheers @TheBigDipper ;
Are you using the in-built iPad microphone for getting ideas down or do you have it connected to an interface & use those inputs for guitar?

TheBigDipper

duotone said:

Cheers @TheBigDipper ;
Are you using the in-built iPad microphone for getting ideas down or do you have it connected to an interface & use those inputs for guitar?

Depends on the situation. I've got an iPad Pro (had it for 3/4 years now). The mics on that are fine for getting down a quick idea with an acoustic and my awful singing. As are the mics on my iPhone - but on that I'm more likely to use the Music Memos app and copy the mono CAF file into Garageband later as a guide. I've also got a Shure MV88 stereo mic that has an audio interface built in and that records well, too. I do a bit of "live" recording of my mate & I with two acoustics and two bad voices in our kitchens.

The inbuilt mics are fine for domestic sound level recordings, but if you take it to a practice studio and play with the band, you'll get lots of brick walling and distortion with the inbuilt mics. The MV88 sorted that out for me. That's fine. 

So, that's my ad hoc recordings sorted out. But yes, I do have an audio interface. I have owned a Presonus AudioBox iTwo for several years and it's been good for me - into the iPad and into a Mac. It has the ability to use instrument level signals in the combi sockets. I've just bought an Audient Sono and I'm starting to play with that. The initial driver was Andertons were selling them off cheaply and there's a valve-based signal path for guitars that also includes running a cut down edition of Two Notes Wall of Sound. I bought I'd take a punt. It does seem to sound better and also makes it easy to get a raw guitar track for re-amping or using plugins at a later date. The mic preamps seem nicer than the Presonus ones, too. More natural. That doesn't plug straight into the iPad - you need to use the Apple camera/USB kit. I've also used my Gigboard audio interface into the iPad with the USB adapter as well. Works fine, so a Helix user would be OK too, I'm sure. 

There's only one feature that Logic has which I'd like to see in GB for iPadOS. GB has one time signature and tempo per project. Logic lets you mix it up. For audio-only, that's not a problem, you just play what you want as a guide and take it from there. If you want to use software instruments or a drummer track, it's not really doable. I've ended up doing several projects (one per time sig) for one song and then stitching together the WAV files at the end. 

duotone

Thanks! That’s all helpful information.

I also have a Presonus AudioBox iTwo and it’s permanently setup with my Studio Monitors & laptop.  I don’t want to disconnect everything for just an hour or so of playing on the iPad, then connect everything back together again so I can play through the studio monitors. 

I guess using the iPad/GarageBand & iPad inbuilt Mic, for rough ideas will be the best thing for me. Always can use Reaper if I’m hitting roadblocks with the iPad.