Trigger Recording Remotely? (Loop Recording MIDI Events)

Discuss working with MultitrackStudio for iPad
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lies_lavish
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed May 27, 2015 11:19 pm

Trigger Recording Remotely? (Loop Recording MIDI Events)

Post by lies_lavish »

I have been searching high and low for a MIDI sequencer whose recording (and undo'ing) can be triggered remotely. Loop-based recording using a footswitch or other control to punch in and out is a very popular tool for performance and quickly drafting a new composition, and it's well-represented on the app store: "Loopy," "Everyday Looper," and "Everest," just to name a few -- but all of these apps only support recording and looping audio samples (duh, right?). That's great and everything, but what if you could take that workflow and apply it to MIDI? One big advantage is that, once you've recorded a few MIDI tracks, you could go back and edit them in real time, while they're looping; you could quantize your recordings after-the-fact, change note length, pitch, rhythm... none of which is possible when you're simply looping over audio samples. "Genome" and "Pro Midi" are both loop-based MIDI sequencers, but, unlike their sample-looping brothers, there's no way to remotely start and stop recording, undo a recording, or change the recording track, and so they're not usable in the same way. Why should this be the case?

I've heard that MTS has an awesome MIDI sequencer, and I was drawn to it because it advertises "cycle recording" for recording multiple takes automatically, but I don't know if this applies to MIDI as well as audio or even if its a feature that carries over into the iPad version. With the punch-in, punch-out functionality, it seems like the developer is including much more in the way of recording features than other apps are, and so I was really hoping that being able to remotely-trigger recording (and undo recording) on multiple tracks was one of them.

In the "Transport via MIDI" thread ( http://www.multitrackstudio.com/forum/v ... f=4&t=2037 ), the developer stated that this sort of idea wasn't on the radar because it seems fair to assume that, if you're using an iPad to make music, its touchscreen is somewhere within reach. In my case, that's true, but there are a few reason why supporting MIDI control over the actual STUDIO features (as opposed to the instrument features) would be an awesome idea:

1.) If you're recording an instrument into your iPad, like a guitar, keyboard -- heck, a drumset, trombone, whatever -- your hands are usually pretty-well tied up, and, even if your iPad IS within reach, you'd be forgiven for not wanting to set it down and pick it back up between takes.
2.) Even if you're in a position where you're within reaching distance of the iPad and you do have a free hand, poking a small button on a touch screen that isn't resting in your lap can be unnecessarily fiddly.
3.) I don't think that one should underestimate the potential improvement to workflow that a songwriter could get if they could record and undo MIDI (or audio) takes -- across multiple tracks -- without having to switch back to MTS from whatever synth they're using. It's nice to be able to see your synth parameters as you're performing with them, and, if all that you're doing is recording and re-recording takes or overdubbing over previous recordings on a new track, it seems like those sorts of tasks should be able to be done "with your eyes closed," so to speak -- in this case meaning that it seems like a waste to have to switch back to MTS.

Especially in that last case, the Audiobus and InterApp Audio transport overlay, with a record button, makes this a bit easier, but neither of those support quickly choosing a new track to record on and, if you have the MIDI gear on hand, it'd be nice to not have to bother with reliably poking a tiny, red button.

If this feature were to be implemented, I think that it would be done as track-specific MIDI event bindings (CC or Note) on a particular channel, from a particular device, to arm recording, disarm recording, and undo-take for that track. The bindings would probably be edited on the same screen where the user would choose the MIDI input and output settings for each track. It'd also be nice if other features of the studio could be bound to MIDI events; again, I think that there's a lot to gain from giving the user the power to manipulate the studio "with their eyes closed," because it's very possible (or even likely) that there are more interesting screens for a musician to be watching on their device when they're recording audio and MIDI than a piano roll being populated or a waveform growing left-to-right. Obviously, the UI of a DAW is highly important for shifting audio in time, editing audio and MIDI, manipulating effects and mixing, etc., but I think that being able to operate features remotely, blindly, would help a lot with capturing the spark during the compositional phase of music making.

I use BeatMaker 2, NanoStudio, Genome, as well as other DAWs and MIDI sequencers, and none of them have satisfied me with their limited (or total lack) of MIDI control over the studio, itself, and, even with the awesome flexibility of the iPad's touch screen, I think that users could benefit from having fewer swipes and pokes between them and their apps' features, especially if they already have a MIDI controller in front of them, anyway. Just imagine; you're listening to your 16-bar loop playing in MTS, and you're noodling around in iMini on top of it using a keyboard MIDI controller. When you settle on something that you like, you tap one of your controller's drum pads to trigger recording and crank it out, but it doesn't turn out how you like, so you tap another pad to clear the recording and try again. If you have a ($99) Novation Launchpad Mini next to you, you'd have 64 tactile buttons to trigger recording, undo take, mute, solo, activate and deactivate a huge number of tracks, and you'd never have to look at MTS, giving you the flexibility of keeping your synths on-screen to watch and alter parameters in real time.

Think about it! :DDD

-David Hernandez

PS: I guess that you could probably do all of these things on a laptop, but, really, you could do pretty much anything on a laptop that we love to do with our iPads. Why shouldn't this be something that we can do on our mobile devices. T_T
Support
Posts: 1717
Joined: Fri Aug 27, 2004 2:17 pm

Re: Trigger Recording Remotely? (Loop Recording MIDI Events)

Post by Support »

Thanks for your explanation. Remote control support may be added to the iPad version at some point. This may take some time though, because other things seem to be more important.


Giel Bremmers
lies_lavish
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed May 27, 2015 11:19 pm

Re: Trigger Recording Remotely? (Loop Recording MIDI Events)

Post by lies_lavish »

Thanks for letting me say my piece! I definitely think that MIDI-control features should be "icing on the cake" once core usability features are nailed down; I'm only frustrated because it seems like something that app developers aren't even considering because the notion hasn't ever been put onto their radar. I mean, well-respected DAWs on iOS (which I love) don't even support MIDI MMC like "play," "pause," and "record," and it seems like most of even the cheapest MIDI controllers on the market have those buttons, and these are DAWs with superb MIDI sequencing and routing, so they must have an image of a portion of their userbase as using a controller (be it hardware or another app running on the iPad) to capture their performance. Let's squeeze more functionality out of that thing; it could do a lot to streamline certain tasks, having numerous keys, knobs, sliders, pads, buttons, etc., right in your lap. As long as it's there, why only use it for recording notes, pitchbend, and mod-wheel?

Good luck with development of MultiTrackStudio and whatever other projects you enjoy. MTS is getting positive press everywhere I look, so I hope that you're finding a cozy place in the mobile-musician ecosystem that's rewarding you for all of your hard work. I'm a programmer, myself, but I can't imagine what it must be like to manage a project on the scale of MultiTrackStudio all on your own.

Peace!
stubbsonic
Posts: 95
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2015 3:38 am

Re: Trigger Recording Remotely? (Loop Recording MIDI Events)

Post by stubbsonic »

It's a convincing case.

There wouldn't be too many on-screen buttons or controls that would need remote control, and Giel can figure out which ones to avoid so as not to cause train-wrecks.

My wish list would just be:

Record

Play/Pause toggle-

Rewind to beginning

Rewind/Forward in 1 measure increments

Undo

For me personally, I wouldn't need or use this for live performance, but it could make some recording tasks easier.
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