Garage Band as an instrument

[Duffman]

Not being a very good keyboard player always looking for easy ways to add organ,pian, or strings to a song. Recently I patched my Pro to my audio interface via a 1/8 stereo to 1/4 mono adapter cable.
Started Garage Band....added a track. On that track I inserted SMART KEYBOARD. Was able to record the audio from the iPad directly into my DAW.

Why is this so cool. The SMART instruments in Garage Band allow you to play chords, riffs, and arpeggios with 1 finger. You can sound like a pro with ease.

Duff

 

[doublesixes]

That's precisely why I got my Pro. GB allows me to add keyboard tracks without the need of a real keyboard and the results are convincingly good.

 

[Joanna91]

Can one use garage band to play music as long as they can play the piano?

 

[doublesixes]

Can one use garage band to play music as long as they can play the piano?

Yes you can. You can get a $50 keyboard and run it through GB. Give that keyboard any sound you want from GB's vast library. Acoustic pianos are great, so is the Rhodes, Wurlitzer and synths.

 

[PeterDoubt]

This is wonderful...you can run your iPad into your DAW or vice versa or both. Record to a PC/Mac and iPad Pro simultaneously.

 

[Thomas1977]

hmm I always wondered what garage band is for. That app was one of the apps that came preloaded on my ipad mini 2.

 

[graywoulf]

I just got an iPad Mini 4 and I installed GB on it and I really like what I have seen so far. I have two Midi keyboards that I would like to try with it if I knew what I needed to connect them to the iPad. I have a KORG Nano Key and a M-Audio Axiom 25 key keyboard. The Nano Key is totally USB powered and the MAudio keyboard can be USB powered or has an AC adapter power input. I hope to find out how to connect these to my iPad Mini 4 soon.

 

[twerppoet]

A search for ‘iPad MIDI interface’ should turn up several options. iRig is popular. I don’t use any of these, so further research is suggested. You’ll need to research apps as well. Some apps have the ability pipe audio from one (and instrument perhaps) to another (a recorder or guitar amp).

I do enjoy playing around with Garage Band’s intruments, and a few other instrument apps. Seline Redux Pro is one of my favorite noise makers. Keep in mind that I can barely get out a tune with a recorder or harmonica, so play mostly means fool around, not produce music.

 

[graywoulf]

I found a YouTube video where a guy used a powered USB hub to connect his midi keyboard to his iPad. I found one like it on eBay for around $12 that I might buy. I don't really want to go straight out MIDI if I can work around that. The one keyboard that I want to use is the KORG NANO Key. It is USB only. Garage Band is an interesting app for sure and I think I can have a lot of fun with it. I am not a serious musician by any means and I only play by ear. I also play a harmonica some myself. I have been a electronic music fan since the first MOOG synthesizer came out. I was in Junior High then and I am now 62. Thanks for telling me about Seline Redux Pro, I will check it out. Man, you are everywhere in this forum aren't you?

 

[twerppoet]

I at least scan most new posts. I reply when I think I have something useful to add, I have the time, and/or I’m feeling chatty. It’s been a bit of everything lately.

Have fun with Garage Band and your keyboards. Let us know how it goes.

The App Store has been promoting a new MOOG app. Looks intersting.
Minimoog Model D by Moog Music Inc. Minimoog Model D on the App Store

 

[twerppoet]

Speaking of noise, this one looks interesting.

NOISE by ROLI Ltd. NOISE on the App Store

 

[Doug Earl]

Yes you can. You can get a $50 keyboard and run it through GB. Give that keyboard any sound you want from GB's vast library. Acoustic pianos are great, so is the Rhodes, Wurlitzer and synths.

Hi, I am new to ipad forums. I have a Yamaha p125 piano. I would like to know if I can input to Garageband on the iPad via USB to lightning while simultaneously listening to the input through earphones plugged into the iPad. Riht now it seems you can only monitor the input to the iPad if you are actually recording. I have the IPad Pro 9.7 inch with 13.6.1 software. Appreciate any guidance.

 

[Arrandan]

Connections are all a bit limited on the iPad because best case, you have one USB-C at the bottom. I invested in a powered Thunderbolt hub. So I can plug one end into the iPad, which gets charged, and all the rest I need into the hub. I have a synth/keyboard (Argon8x) that I haven't tried like this yet, and also a modular synth with an extensive audio interface, which works great. If you are a bit serious and don't want to run into battery trouble, I would advise you to look at it. Before, I plugged the audio interface straight into the iPad, which worked fine as well, but without any room for extension or charging.

My audio interface has headphones out, which is handy.

As for monitoring - doesn't GarageBand have a monitoring setting? I'm using ZenTracker, where you can set monitoring for individual channels.

 

[twerppoet]

Keep in mind that the post you are replying to is over two years old.