On and off, MIDI style
About a year ago, we went to the Metropolis, for the fun of it. A chance to get out of the house, test our multilingualism and shop. A little. We’re not big shoppers. Along the way, after an afternoon of shopping for brass, I decided to add a MIDI controller to the facilities here. Even upscaled, when the price point was right.
Got one of these:
Oxygen49
A bit of a challenge to transport on the train, but I managed. At home, I made a test connection to the laptop, made a check in the mental “works” column and put it away. Not the right time.
This evening, with a shiny new iPad Mini in hand, and the “oh, so necessary” Camera Connection Kit, I decided to see what would happen if the two were joined at the hip.
Fired up GarageBand, paid $4.99 for the instrument add-on, and played. That simple.
Now, I’ve been caught in the snares of MIDI for a couple of decades. On and off. Etc. To have a solution, this simple; it’s worth mentioning to all who will listen. Not sure how to save my performance efforts, yet, but that too will come into view. For once, I have a working instrumental solution with no need to sacrifice a goat, or burn incense or anything else of a faintly religious nature. There are YouTube videos and blogs to explain the mystery. I’m just pleased to announce that a controller and an iPad offer up a working model for the musician on a tight budget.
