Abstract
I've been putting a lot of mental energy into trying to re-approach what I want to do with "music gear", taking as holistic a view as possible and trying to find the best balance between capability, simplicity, and expense. I have recently started using an iPad 2 as part of my "day job" work, and in looking at what is available for that device, my existing mental conversation about re-approaching gear has been rather turned on its ear. After a few weeks of cogitation, I'm now at the point where I am trying to figure out why I wouldn't make the iPad the central figure in this quest.
So, I'm going to write it down here and ask people to help me shoot arrows at the idea. If you find it interesting or know someone else who might, please, by all means point them here.
Disclaimer and assumptions
First of all, please keep in mind that this is centered around what I want to do. I seem to be the most ademographic person I know--seriously--and I do not presume to speak for anyone but me.
Next, I am a generalist by disposition: this is not about the best arrangement for any one thing, but rather the best arrangement for the collected set of things that I either know I want to do, or might reasonably find myself called upon to do.
Finally, my constraints are very real. I'm fairly broke (which, ironically, quickly hones one's ability to design an idea before committing to it), and so not only do I want to consider how all this fits together before spending, but I need also to consider how the technology landscape is going to change over the next number of years. Also, as of this writing, available time for musicking is at a premium. I've got a two-year old in the house and another on the way, and in addition to the "day job" there is fairly regular secondary employ, and tertiary when I can secure it. Geekery is nice and all--I'm an inveterate one myself--but here I'm interested in things that work, quickly, with a minimum of cabling and fuss. "Good enough" is good enough.
What is it I want to do?
I'll try to play almost anything I can get my hands on. The current collection, accumulated over the last 15 years, includes several guitars (acoustic and electric, fretted and fretless), mandolin, open-back banjo, piano, kalimba, djembe, slitdrum, and a small variety of intended and unintended percussives. After whetting my appetite for luthierie, I'll probably build additional instruments as my capabilities permit.
Great, so what do I want to do with all that? In a probably-futile attempt to keep things brief, here's a take at a list:
- Microphone recording. Right now I've got a single SM57 for general purpose use; because of my affinity for acoustic instruments I suspect I should at some point make an investment in an additional mic for this purpose.
- Direct-line recording. Some of the instruments have a 1/4" out, but not all.
- MIDI recording and sound generation. I'm totally new to the world of MIDI, and am very intrigued by the prospect of what appear to be recent improvements in triggering and latency, that have some people really excited. The concept of polyphonic MIDI for stringed instruments is also really intriguing from an instrument-build point of view, but the truth is I don't yet really know what I'd want to do with it.
- Multi-effects/sound processing. Like lots of other folks, I want mix-and-match stompbox ability without having to lug around a duffel bag of war-worthies and cables.
- Simple looping. I don't need Robert Fripp's rig, but would like simple looping for practice, idea generation and the like.
- Multi-input recording. Based on my history, this takes three forms. 1) me, recording a single instrument with two mics or with a mic and a direct line, 2) me and one other, recording together informally with single inputs, or 3) recording a 3-5 person live event with two mics or with L/R mixer outs going into the recorder. What keeps coming back around is that two inputs are probably enough.
- Audio editing. Features are nice, but simple onboard editing and transferable outputs are probably enough. Lots of editors are "good enough" for anything I might do!
Okay, here it is then. I begin a list of things I need for my "all the time rig", and they are as follows:
- Apple iPad, as processor, control interface, and storage.
- iPad app(s), as FX/patch manager, recorder, editor, and production.
- Alesis iO Dock (plus optional 1/4" footswitch), as hardware interface.
- Instruments (or mics) with 1/4", XLR, or MIDI outs.
- Connection to PA, amps, or headphones.
Does that get me what I'm looking for?
Why would this not be a good idea?
I'd love to hear feedback here. If it interests you, this is what I've come up with so far, in terms of pros and cons.
Advantages
There seem to be a lot of these. In no particular order:
- As a holistic system, it seems to be cost-efficient. Even the most capacious iPad competes with suitable entry-level laptops; the GarageBand app for the iPad is available for five bucks; and the iO Dock seems to run about two Cs, with a footswitch being nice but still optional.
- As a holistic system, it seems to cover most scenarios I can envision for me personally. I can use it as my personal "live rig" for any pickup-equipped instrument I've got (or any two of them, if I want to switch), and for personal recording I can use it with anything I've got now, or almost anything I could borrow.
- For one-on-one collaborations (common for me), I could easily record us both with mics, or direct, with my guest either using the iPad for FX or supplying his own chain in front of the iO Dock input.
- For larger collaborations I could use it to record off a board, sending L and R channels into the iO Dock's ins. I've already got a little compact mixer that I could bring and use as the "board". Since most such collaborations I've been involved with have featured acoustic instruments without FX or (on the other hand) people who bring their own signal chains, this may be a useful option for me to stretch the basic rig.
- From what I've seen so far, available FX in app form seems "good enough" for my ears, and continues to get better.
- With the iPad plus iO Dock combination, the FX manager, recorder, editor, and production toolsets (with an entirely virtualized control surface) are on the same device, but unlike a laptop, this device can literally slide right into a slot on the hardware interface and take up no additional bulk. One power supply. No connecting cables.
- The iO Dock seems properly designed as a true hardware interface, which means that anyone should be able to write apps to take advantage of it.
- iOS apps are continually and rapidly evolving, and will only get better. Right now, I'm just using GarageBand as the standard of my thinking, and it seems to offer a whole lot for five bucks.
- Apps will probably always be cheaper than hardware, all other things equal, and with a virtualized control surface, should be able to support whatever the most appropriate "knob layout" might be. And getting upgrades is easy.
- If I understand what is going on with the i2M and G2M, I do not think that those pieces of hardware are necessary, and might just as well be made available in app form. If that is the case, I don't think it will take long, and then we'd have monophonic MIDI available just-like-that.
- Virtual instruments can be made available right on the iPad, in app form, and they don't have to take the form of a keyboard. I do wonder how my interest in MIDI can or will change, if I find a convenient virtual instrument to my liking...
- A thought that came later: if I did add the G2M (specifically, not the i2M) to the rig, I could theoretically (please check me on this) record "the board" in stereo into the iO Dock's main inputs, and concurrently run my own instrument into the MIDI input using the G2M. So, if I'm okay with playing with the G2M+patch+FX as my own signal chain (which I admit is a separate question), I can use the iPad for my own FX (by using the G2M to make a monophonic MIDI instrument out of whatever I'm playing) and still record "the band" on separate L/R channels, and even send the whole integrated shebang off to the house PA for a live show. Yes, it's a total hack, but if it works, it just might be a high-quality hack. :-)
Please, feel free to comment: where is my logic faulty, or details wrong, etc.?
Liabilities
Sure, I see some liabilities, exciting concept or not. They include:
- This approach does commit me to the use of the iPad as the primary vehicle. The iO Dock, after all, doesn't fit other devices (although the concept sure is there). And iOS apps are hardly universal.
- There is no option for hexaphonic MIDI, in the form of the 13-pin cable used by the Roland and GraphTech pickup systems. The iO Dock supports 5-pin MIDI in, but not 13-pin in. (One might hope that someone at Alesis or Roland is already on that, but I'm not aware of it at this writing.) One could certainly go with a guitar synth like the GR55 and send its outs into the iO Dock's ins, but that introduces complexity, redundancy and substantial cost.
- As of this writing I am not aware of an iOS app that does what the i2M or G2M does, for high-performance (monophonic) MIDI triggering from a guitar. Even though I suspect that this is quite possible and may not take long, it's not there now.
- Without dedicated footswitches, live looping has limitations. Same goes for if I want an expression pedal--not that I commonly do, but integrating that into the holistic solution would be really nice.
- The iO Dock does limit me to two inputs, plus one MIDI in. This may not be a problem in 90% of cases, but it's still a limitation.
- Because the sound processing and recording do take place on the same unit, it would be a challenge to use the iPad/iO Dock to do my own FX processing, and then try to also record other instruments at the same time--at least in stereo!
Outstanding Questions
Ha! I know this section will never go away, but here are the current list of questions I'd really like to know the answers to:
- Does the G2M's MIDI output send the unaltered instrument signal through one of the pins, or is it just MIDI? I know that the 13-pin connector for hexaphonic MIDI is often set up to send the instrument's "dry" signal via one of the pins, but don't know about this.
- What exactly does the iO Dock's "USB" port do? It's labeled "USB MIDI" but what does that mean? The information I've seen so far seems a little conflicted, but depending on the answer, it might be an important question to know.
- Can the iO Dock actually support two MIDI inputs, one for the 5-pin and one for USB?
- What is the practical limit for recording simultaneous tracks on the iPad, using, say, GarageBand? (This may be an easy answer but I just haven't looked it up.)
And if you've actually read this far, I do salute you. I can usually lose an audience with the above kind of pedantica in mere seconds. :-)
2 comments:
Call me crazy, but I feel like you are really trying to justify spending $200. There's no question in my mind that this will do 90% of what you want. And here's the thing: you'll only have time for 60% of what you want to do anyway, trust me. If you exhaust all you can do without MIDI in 3 years, my hat's off to you. FWIW, I just Apple's Logic on my mac and I haven't plugged in a guitar effect in line for 2 years now. There's an amp modeler that does darn near everything I'd want it to do. My hunch is (and I haven't researched this) that there are things out there that would make your axe (whichever one) sound like a flying saucer, if that's what you are after.
The only thing I'd have against this is that you're limited to what the iPad can do, but garage band will do darn near everything you'd want, probably. It probably has 1/10th the flying saucers Logic has, but that's still 2.493K flying saucers.
If it were me on a $200 budget, I'd start with this if there wasn't something that went into a laptop (assuming you have one already). Once you start feeling like the 57 isn't quite making the acoustic guitar shine at 8kHz, then spend another $100 on a good home condensor mic.
Ha! Nothing crazy about that comment, Andy; I'm sure there is a whole lotta rationalization going on in the brain these days. I'm just trying to do the idiot-check, really.
The two statements that help me the most, here, are:
1) "haven't plugged in a guitar effect in line for 2 years now"
That says a lot. Do you use the laptop "live" too, or just for recording?
2) "you'll only have time for 60% of what you want to do..."
Man, if I can come anywhere near that number, I'll be happier than a bug in shite! :-) (Yeah, there's a lot of idea-noise flying around in the noggin these days.)
Any recommendations for a condenser mic? Hadn't thought about the upper limit on the 57's response, but if I'm doing my pencil work right, a fourth harmonic on the NST's high G string (G4, open) should be a B6 in pitch, which is just under 2kHz. (I don't see trying to wind an open string past G4, and fourth harmonics seem to get much less practical when fretted or tapped.) That would seem to leave a lot of room for upper partials above that before getting to 8kHz (which seems to be just above B8)--am I right in guessing that any expanded range that a condenser might give is going to be in the "spatial imaging" category rather than actual note response?
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