Allright, so, on Monday I picked up one of the coolest devices I’ve ever seen earlier this week, and i thought id show and explain why.
Yes, it is an iPad, but let’s talk about what it really is and why I made the investment. Imagine a touch screen, completely customizable, and wireless MIDI controller. Now, imagine that, with a $525 price tag on it(16gb WiFi iPad, $5 iPad/iPhone App, and $20 for the software). That’s CRAZY. So, all the other coolness in this thing aside, this is a piece of gear that I cant afford not to have. As far as my live use is concerned… I don’t see why I would ever have to buy another controller. Not to mention the juice that incorporating a touch screen into my sets has.
Over the years, I have used 4 or 5 different midi controllers in my sets to control software functions like cue’s, looping, effects, drops, and more. They’ve all gotten the job done, some much better than others, and none have ever come close to being exactly what i want and need. The one I’ve used most is the Akai MPD 24(pictured). I love the pads on it as buttons, and the knobs and faders work all right for effects… But i don’t use effects a whole lot, and I attribute this to the fact that i have never had very good control over them.
A while ago i was plotting to pick up a MIDI hardware interface, a bunch of buttons and knobs, and build a controller exactly to my specifications in order to finally have the control i wanted. Enter the iPad! With the ipad and the help of some 3rd party software, I am able to create exactly the controller I want, on a touch screen interface in an hour or two. But wait, I can also go back and change it after I try it and decide some adjustments are in order. But wait, let’s not act like I’m limited to using the iPad as just one controller. I can create pretty much as many different custom layouts as i want, and switch between several of them on the fly in my sets.
With the iPad Apps editor software, you literally right click and add whatever kind of control you want to wherever you want it to the iPads screen. Were talking about touch knobs, faders, buttons, toggles, etc in whatever size and color you want. I can set it up for any range of functionality.. From full control and effectively wireless mixing, etc, to only using it for sample drops, or even to create an unlabeled, alien sorta interface where only I could know what im really doing.
I’m gonna follow this up with a post and video about how to set all up, if i dare share…
Oh, and this was all written on my iPad on the way to Park City on the plane. The rest of the functionality of it is pretty tits too 
WHAT TO DO NOW?