Musical iPad: Performing, Creating and Learning Music on Your iPad

Copyright © 2014 by Thomas Rudolph and Vincent Leonard

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, without written permission, except by a newspaper or magazine reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review.

Published in 2014 by Hal Leonard Books

An Imprint of Hal Leonard Corporation

7777 West Bluemound Road

Milwaukee, WI 53213

Trade Book Division Editorial Offices

33 Plymouth St., Montclair, NJ 07042

Printed in the United States of America

Book design by Adam Fulrath

Book composition by Kristina Rolander

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

www.halleonardbooks.com

To the memory of my father,

Sylvester J. Rudolph, who until his dying day was still amazed I could write not one, but many, books

—Thomas Rudolph

To the memory of

Maureen Smakulski and Thomas Leonard

—Vincent Leonard

Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Companion Website

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1: Getting Started

The First Post-PC Device: Tool or Toy?

Music Friendly

iPad Dimensions

iOS

What’s an App?

Music, Music, Music

Native App

App Store

Managing Document Files in iOS

Transferring Files via iTunes

The Cloud

Cost: Free (Almost)

Dropbox

Apple’s iCloud

Networking

iPad Accessories

Apple Accessories

iPad Smart Cover

iPad Dock

Apple Wireless Keyboard

Third-Party Accessories

Cases

Cases with Typing Keyboards

Hardware Cautions and Software Caveats

Memory

App Developers

Chapter 1 Activities

Summary

Chapter 2: Music Listening and Basic Tools

Playing Music Options

iTunes

The Music App

Music Listening Options

Online Music Stores

Streaming Music

Pandora

Spotify

Slacker and Grooveshark

Radio Stations

Streaming Video

Streaming Video at Home

Air Video and StreamToMe

Plex

The Listening Experience

iPad = No Ear Buds

Apple Headphones

Wireless Headphones (Bluetooth)

External Speakers

Wired External Speakers

Wireless (Bluetooth) Speakers

Basic Tools for Musicians

Tuner

Metronome

Chords

Decibel Meter

Chapter 2 Activities

Summary

Chapter 3: Live Performance

Software Instruments (Virtual Instruments)

Emulating Acoustic Instruments

Dial Up an Instrument with GarageBand

GarageBand Piano

Locking the Scale

Smart Keyboard

Drum Set (Kit) (Tapping on a Desk on Steroids)

Smart Drums

Guitar

Bass

Strings

ThumbJam

All-in-One Summary

Individual Instruments and Instrument Families

Keyboards

Drums and Percussion

Guitar

Brass

Trombone

Woodwinds

Nonstandard Instruments

Theremin

Electronic Instruments

Terms for Synthesizer Apps

Retro Synths

Contemporary Synth Apps

Traditional Interfaces

Alternate Interfaces

Samplers Old and New

Making Connections

Connecting a MIDI Keyboard

Chapter 3 Activities

Summary

Chapter 4: Reading Music, Chords, and Lyrics

Converting to PDF

Creating PDF Files on Your Computer

Converting to PDF on a Mac Computer

Converting to PDF on a Windows Computer

Free Windows PDF Creator Options

Windows and Mac PDF Creators for a Fee

Scanning

Creating PDF Files Using the iPad

PDF Converter Apps

Organizing PDF Files

Organizing Your Music, Lyrics, and Chords

Finale and Sibelius Notation Files

SongBook and Scorch Advantages

SongBook and Scorch Disadvantages

Scorch: Main Screen

Scorch: Transferring Documents

Sound Quality

Getting Files to Your iPad

Music Stands

Stands for Studio and Live Performance

Page Turners

Chapter 4 Activities

Summary

Chapter 5: Recording

SoundCloud

Mono and Stereo Audio Recording

Stereo Microphones

Multitrack Audio Recording

Loop Recording

Loop Apps

Digital Audio Workstation Apps

Recording GarageBand Software Instruments

Expanding with a MIDI Keyboard

Expanding GarageBand Instruments

Recording Audio in GarageBand

Recording Loops in GarageBand

Special-Purpose Apps

Electronic Music Apps

File Management

Importing and Exporting Data

Activities

Summary

Chapter 6: Composing and Songwriting with Notation

Notation Software Overview

Finale and Sibelius

File Formats

MIDI Files or Standard MIDI Files

MusicXML

Notation App Roundup

High-End Notation Apps

Notion: Computer and iPad Versions

Notion Playback

Notion Project

Storing and Sharing Your Scores

Sharing and Integrating with Common Desktop Notation Software

Dropbox

Printing

Printing from a Computer

AirPrint (for Printing from the iPad)

Copyright Guidelines

What Is Copyright?

Public Domain

Obtaining Permission to Use Copyrighted Music

Creative Commons Public License

Fair Use

The Bottom Line

Chapter 6 Activities

Summary

Chapter 7: Learning Music

Musicianship Skills

Chords and Scales

Ear Training

Music History

Learning an Instrument

Learning Guitar

Learning Piano

Brass Instrument Fingerings

Woodwind Instruments

The String Family

Practice and Performance Tools

Vocals

Chapter 7 Activities

Summary

Chapter 8: Music Education

Presentation Tool

Projecting the iPad Screen

Connecting to a Monitor via VGA Cable

Connect via Apple TV

Connect via AirServer

Presentation Software

PowerPoint Files

Google Drive

Teaching Tools

iTunes U Course Manager

Apps for Students

Music Technology in the Curriculum

Education Support

Chapter 8 Activities

Summary

Chapter 9: Music and More

Essential Tools

Calculator Apps

Flashlight

Tour Support

Music Tools

Music Recognition Software

Artist Apps

Entertaining Family Members of All Ages

One App to Create Them All

Oh, One More Thing

Chapter 9 Activities

Summary

About the Authors

Foreword

From the authors that have provided us with such great books on Finale, Sibelius, and recording techniques, Musical iPad is a comprehensive approach to learning and making music on Apple’s popular tablet device. This book will help you learn the most appropriate ways to configure the iPad for music creation and connect it to other musical devices, and suggest powerful apps for all your musical needs.

Tom Rudolph and Vince Leonard are educators and authors of great distinction. They have the ability to take complex concepts and break them down into simpler components, explain what these concepts mean in easy-to-understand language, show you how to use them in real-world situations with practical applications, and demonstrate how all of this can help make you a better musician and how to better express yourself creatively with today’s technology tools.

With the release of the iPad, Apple has brought yet another major new tool for creative exploration and expression to the world market. Although it is a very easy-to-use device, finding the right apps has become increasingly difficult with the many options available in the iTunes App Store, and connecting the iPad to music-making devices such as keyboards, MIDI and audio interfaces, and sound systems is not well outlined or explained in Apple’s documentation. Tom and Vince to the rescue with this book!

Musical iPad will help you turn your mobile device into a powerful amplifier for your creativity—and turn your modest investment in a tablet device into an extremely valuable tool for learning and making music. The well-written, easy-to-follow instructions and descriptions will get you up to speed in no time and will help you make the most of your Apple iPad.

David Mash

Senior Vice President for Innovation, Strategy, and Technology

Berklee College of Music

Introduction

This book is meant to be a resource for using the iPad in music and music education. It guides you step by step through the most popular and productive music apps for the iPad 2, iPad (third or fourth generation), or iPad mini. Musical iPad provides guidance for using the best iPad music apps and demonstrates how to apply them in your musical life. The book does not include all of the iPad music apps. Rather, it focuses on apps that run on the iPad self-contained as opposed to apps that are meant to control external music gear. That’s the topic for a future book.

It is not an attempt to address all of the current music applications, but rather to highlight and organize them into the most popular ways to use the iPad in music and music education and describe the most popular apps.

This book is designed for both novice and experienced iPad users. If you are a beginner iPad user, we suggest you start with chapter 1 and proceed sequentially through the text. If you have a specific need, then peruse the chapters as needed. You may want to take advantage of the e-book version so you can read it right on your iPad.

Companion Website

The book is only part of the learning experience. Each chapter includes links to video demonstrations of apps and the chapter activities. Also, the website will keep current with new apps that come into the market. You will want to visit the website frequently.

For those of you who purchased the print version of this book, the video tutorials have a QR code printed. These look like:

Figure 0.1. Hal Leonard website: www.halleonardbooks.com/ebookmedia/119292

You can use your smartphone or your iPad to read the codes to take you directly to the link. If you don’t have an installed QR code reader, you can download one from iTunes.

Quick Scan QR Code Reader by iHandy Inc. (Free)

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/quick-scan-qr-code-reader/id483336864?mt=8

We welcome your feedback. Please feel free to contact us with your comments: Tom Rudolph (tom@tomrudolph.com) and Vince Leonard (vince@vinceleonard.com).

Acknowledgments

The authors, Tom Rudolph and Vince Leonard, would like to thank the following individuals for their help and assistance with this publication:

Liia Rudolph for her astute edits and content suggestions, Alex Gittelman for his suggestions about specific music apps and his video interviews.

John Cerullo, Bill Gibson, David Mash, Susan Basalik, David Fair, Arthur Roolfs, John Dunphy, George Pinchock, Lauri Leonard, Carole Kriessman, and David Hawley for their help and assistance.

Chapter 1

Getting Started

This chapter is an introduction for readers unfamiliar with the basics of the iPad. If you are familiar with the iPad and its operation, you are welcome to scan the contents of this chapter and move on to chapter 2.

The First Post-PC Device: Tool or Toy?

When the iPad launched in August of 2010, it created a new type of mobile device: the tablet computer. This combines the portability of a smartphone with a screen size close to a small laptop. Though initially criticized as nothing more than a large iPod Touch, Apple’s music and game-oriented version of the iPhone, the larger screen provided software developers with more options than the limited screen size of a smartphone such as the iPhone.

Since the iPad and the iPhone share the same brain or operating system, the iPad can run the applications already created for the iPhone. With new apps designed specifically for the larger iPad screen, there quickly became so many apps that books like this are needed to get through all of the options.

Figure 1.1. The iPad.

Music Friendly

With the iPad continuing to be more and more popular, the software and hardware add-ons for music hobbyists, students, teachers, and musicians are growing at a rapid pace. The iPad has established itself not as a toy but as a serious productive tool. For the music studio performer, it’s an external controller for studio hardware and software, as well as a synthesizer or sampler. For performing musicians, it can be a tuner, metronome, music folder, and effects rack. For songwriters, it is a sketch pad and portable studio. On gigs, it can help with mixing and recording the concert. But yes, you can also use it for playing games and checking your e-mail.

iPad Dimensions

The iPad is smaller than a piece of letter-sized paper and thinner than a book. Its external controls are simple:

• A power button on the top.

• Two volume controls on the right side.

• A switch that can alternately mute audio or lock the orientation to portrait or landscape.

• A single button on the bottom, located in the center below the screen.

Figure 1.2. iPad controls.

All iPads since the iPad 2 have two cameras: one on the upper-left corner of the back and another that is centered in the border above the screen. There are two ports: a stereo mini headphone jack on the top left and a port on the bottom. It is powered by a rechargeable battery, and it can be charged by plugging its docking cable into a computer’s USB port or into its power adapter. To operate it, all you need is your finger. Press the power button on top of the screen, and the iPad comes to life. For those familiar with the iPhone, the iPad works in a similar manner, only larger.

The iPad experience is all about the larger screen size. When smartphones were launched, it was cool to watch TV shows or movies on a phone, but on the iPad you now can actually see the details on the screen. The