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MIDI Mobilizer is a hardware interface for the iOS platform providing standard MIDI IN and OUT cables. These can be used to connect to a variety of hardware MIDI gear or to computer MIDI interfaces to control software such as DAWs.
INSTALLATION
Installation is as simple as plugging the MIDI Mobilizer into the iPad and connecting the MIDI leads. Pianist Pro will immediately activate MIDI Control and set the Interface Type to "LINE 6". Note that you are free to swap to a different (wireless) Interface Type while the MIDI Mobilizer is plugged in, should you wish. For a connection to a laptop or PC you will also need a MIDI interface for your computer that you can plug the MIDI Mobilizer in to. Alternatively, most MIDI keyboards now come with a USB interface in addition to the standard MIDI interface, and can be used to route MIDI messages to your PC. For more information on setting up and using the MIDI Mobilizer, refer to the MIDI Mobilizer manual.
MIDI CONFIGURATION IDEAS
The ability to receive as well as transmit MIDI gives you some additional possibilities beyond just using Pianist Pro as a master keyboard:-
A SOUND MODULE - Use an external MIDI keyboard to control Pianist Pro. Play all the great instruments from the comfort of a physical piano keyboard.
A PORTABLE STUDIO - Take your iPad and portable keyboard on the road to record song ideas. Then when back at the studio export the song as a Standard MIDI file and import into your DAW to form the basis of your opus. If space is tight, leave the portable keyboard at home and just use the built-in virtual keyboard.
AN ARPEGGIATOR MODULE - Route a master keyboard into Pianist Pro, turn on the arpeggiator, and output the resulting MIDI phrases directly to another synth or your DAW.
MIDI MOBILIZER AND LATENCY
While MIDI Mobilizer looks like a standard direct-connection MIDI cable plugged into your iPad, there is actually a lot going on 'under the hood' and latency is affected accordingly. The iOS External Accessory framework provided by Apple does not guarantee the sort of low latency that one would expect from a MIDI device, although in practice latency is usually excellent. The MIDI Mobilizer SDK gets round this by allowing applications to send timestamped messages in advance, queueing them within the interface, and sending them in a timely fashion. This avoids the potential latency introduced by the iOS External Accessory framework between the application and the hardware. Such tricks work well when the application has a pre-sequenced track to dump to MIDI, but does not work for the live MIDI messages used by Pianist Pro (since it would introduce a guaranteed latency every time you pressed a key). Instead, Pianist Pro uses the recommended approach of flagging all messages to MIDI Mobilizer to be sent immediately (and not queued). In our tests MIDI Mobilizer proved to have generally better latency and performance than either OSC or DSMI, but you should be aware that, just as your wireless network setup can introduce unexpected latency with our wireless interfaces, so the Apple iOS framework can introduce unexpected latency with our wired interface.
LIKE MIDI MOBILIZER BUT STILL WANT WIRELESS?
A wireless MIDI system can be used to connect the MIDI Mobilizer to a receiver plugged into an external synth or PC. With this you get the benefit of the stability and bi-directional control of MIDI Mobilizer with the freedom of a wireless connection.
More information on MIDI Mobilizer is available here.
[Tapping this link will close Pianist Pro and start Safari]
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INSTALLATION
Installation is as simple as plugging the MIDI Mobilizer into the iPad and connecting the MIDI leads. Pianist Pro will immediately activate MIDI Control and set the Interface Type to "LINE 6". Note that you are free to swap to a different (wireless) Interface Type while the MIDI Mobilizer is plugged in, should you wish. For a connection to a laptop or PC you will also need a MIDI interface for your computer that you can plug the MIDI Mobilizer in to. Alternatively, most MIDI keyboards now come with a USB interface in addition to the standard MIDI interface, and can be used to route MIDI messages to your PC. For more information on setting up and using the MIDI Mobilizer, refer to the MIDI Mobilizer manual.
MIDI CONFIGURATION IDEAS
The ability to receive as well as transmit MIDI gives you some additional possibilities beyond just using Pianist Pro as a master keyboard:-
A SOUND MODULE - Use an external MIDI keyboard to control Pianist Pro. Play all the great instruments from the comfort of a physical piano keyboard.
A PORTABLE STUDIO - Take your iPad and portable keyboard on the road to record song ideas. Then when back at the studio export the song as a Standard MIDI file and import into your DAW to form the basis of your opus. If space is tight, leave the portable keyboard at home and just use the built-in virtual keyboard.
AN ARPEGGIATOR MODULE - Route a master keyboard into Pianist Pro, turn on the arpeggiator, and output the resulting MIDI phrases directly to another synth or your DAW.
MIDI MOBILIZER AND LATENCY
While MIDI Mobilizer looks like a standard direct-connection MIDI cable plugged into your iPad, there is actually a lot going on 'under the hood' and latency is affected accordingly. The iOS External Accessory framework provided by Apple does not guarantee the sort of low latency that one would expect from a MIDI device, although in practice latency is usually excellent. The MIDI Mobilizer SDK gets round this by allowing applications to send timestamped messages in advance, queueing them within the interface, and sending them in a timely fashion. This avoids the potential latency introduced by the iOS External Accessory framework between the application and the hardware. Such tricks work well when the application has a pre-sequenced track to dump to MIDI, but does not work for the live MIDI messages used by Pianist Pro (since it would introduce a guaranteed latency every time you pressed a key). Instead, Pianist Pro uses the recommended approach of flagging all messages to MIDI Mobilizer to be sent immediately (and not queued). In our tests MIDI Mobilizer proved to have generally better latency and performance than either OSC or DSMI, but you should be aware that, just as your wireless network setup can introduce unexpected latency with our wireless interfaces, so the Apple iOS framework can introduce unexpected latency with our wired interface.
LIKE MIDI MOBILIZER BUT STILL WANT WIRELESS?
A wireless MIDI system can be used to connect the MIDI Mobilizer to a receiver plugged into an external synth or PC. With this you get the benefit of the stability and bi-directional control of MIDI Mobilizer with the freedom of a wireless connection.
More information on MIDI Mobilizer is available here.
[Tapping this link will close Pianist Pro and start Safari]
Back to Contents