Guest Post by Brewer Shettles
Indie Audio Engineer – Liquid Fusion Studios, NY
Playing Synth One & Recording On Windows PC
Tech specs for playing synth as an instrument in Apple IOS and recording in PC Win 10 Pro.
IOS – Plays AudioKit Synth One (free download)
MSFT Windows 10 PRO – Records Audio into Reaper (free download)
HD Crystal clear, no noise audio recordings of AudioKit Synth One from iPad into Reaper!
Might seem complicated. Read this through. Be patient.
Studeomux (by Zerodebug) allows audio to transfer from iPad to PC. Latency is not an issue.
REASON LATENCY NOT AN ISSUE:
I adjust and sync audio to drums after recording audio tracks in Reaper from the iPad.
EXAMPLE: LIQUID FUSION – FIRE IN THE NIGHT
For critical timing, i.e. bass to drums, I quantize by hand, each bass note to each drum beat. If a synth audio sounds “live,” I listen down as the song plays, and cut audio to exact drums when it makes the most impact.
AudioKit Synth One
– (19) Electro Clash Bass – Preset by: DJPuzzle
– Quantized by hand nearly every note, aligning each bass note to each drum beat
– (07) BB Dandelion – Preset by: Brice Beasley – left mostly alone as Track has “live feel”
– (47) Blessing of Dean – Preset by Electronisounds
– Listened down. Cut and aligned sections when music started to drift out of sync.
POINTS TO CONSIDER
Length of USB cable from Yamaha UD-BT01 adapter to keyboard. Might be best with 4 foot cables vs 6 foot cables. Studeomux latency with audio recorded in PC is under 200ms.
POWER FOR IPAD
Make sure your IPad is fully charged. Connect iPad to PC with Lightning to USB A cable.
Need to test: IPad – Lightning to USB-3 Camera Adapter:
1) Lightning power end to charger (for continuous power),
2) Camera Adapter Data Path – USBA port to USBA male to USBC female adapter to USB C cable connecting to USBC female adapter to USBA male adapter to PC.
WARNING
If you have an external interface unit that you connect to your PC, disconnect ADDA interface after use. Reason: In NYC, CON ED is known to have fluctuating voltage problems that happen early morning, especially during storms. Con Ed varying voltages can severely damage critical circuit boards rendering them useless. Remember, when done pull the plug!! My experience only.
Using quality surge protectors helps too. The higher the joule number the better the surge protection.
IPAD
Again, make sure your IPad is charged. Using: iPad Pro 2nd generation: 12″ screen with an A10X Fusion chip with 64-bit architecture and an Embedded M10 co processor. Powerful iPad.
Watch this Tutorial below:
CONNECTING KEYS TO IPAD WIRELESS MIDI + YAMAHA UD-BT01
Nektar Impact GX 49 – midi controller. Yamaha UD-BTOI USB wireless Bluetooth midi adapter connects keys to iPad. Bought gear @ Sweetwater – Mason Boisvert – No hassle. Great sales and service. A++++
Playing Audio Synth One with Virtual Keys on the iPad significantly reduces latency with audio recorded in Reaper on the PC, especially when you align audio to drums. Using the Yamaha UD-BT01 wirelessly, you won’t notice the typical latency (200ms) when recording layered audio through Studeomux on the PC without drums. The high-quality AudioKit Synth One tracks blend together seamlessly, creating an amazing sound. This experience reminds me of the instant withdrawal casino trend, where the speed and efficiency of transactions are paramount, much like how the seamless integration of these tools ensures that the creative process is uninterrupted and fluid.
Again, using wireless midi controller is fine if no drums are in the music. The CME Midi Keyboard has 7 ms latency. Might be the way to go.
Download and run Yamaha Sound Control to connect midi. Connect your keyboard by USB to the Yamaha UD-BT01 Bluetooth adapter. Open the Yamaha Sound Control App. Look for the Setting Wheel (upper right of box). Hit it. Tap Bluetooth Midi Device. Bluetooth Midi Devices “UD-BT01” on the left and “Not Connected” on the right. Tapping “Not Connected” changes the status to “Connected.”
AUDIOBUS 3.0
Touch the iPad screen or the home button. Find Audiobus 3.0 and launch the app. Create a folder Midi on the iPad home screen. Add Audiobus 3.0, Studeomux, and Yamaha Sound control.
Launch Audiobus 3.0. Left button = Input = Add AudioKit Synth One. Open it to see if it works. Then hit the Audiobus 3.0 icon. A vertical list opens. Tap the Left arrow to go back to Audiobus3.0. Right Output (Speaker) = Tap button and Add Studeomux. Tap Studeomux. It will ask you,”Load Last session?” Choose No. Right side vertical icons. Tap Audiobus 3.0 icon. Tap Left arrow. Returns to Audiobus 3.0.
If Studeomux says “Restart”, remove it by pressing the “UP” arrow to the right. Re-enter the Studeomux icon. Studeomux icon ought to be solid. Next Upper Row = Left Input = Add Studeomux again. Next Row Right Output = Speaker (happens naturally). Leave alone.
Audiobus 3.0 – AudioKit Synth One with Studeomux
PC PRE-CHECK
– PC SERVICES – Right click start – Left click Task Manager – Expand services tab
– Left column under Name (click Name to align services)
– Look for Apple Mobile Device Service and see if it’s running
– Make sure Apple Mobile Device Services is running (Start-Stop-Start again)
ITUNES PRE-CHECK
– In iTunes, Click iPad icon – Check use WIFI Sync
CONNECT IPAD TO PC
– Use the lightning to USB cable that came with your iPad charger. – iTunes will launch.
– Minimize iTunes.
– Make sure no music is playing on iTunes.
PC Studeomux SERVER PREPARATION
– Download and install
– Add Studeomux Server to your PC
– Create folder C:\VST 64bit
– Right click Studeomux Server
– Install 64 bit and point to folder C:\VST 64bit
– Studeomux FX VSTi will load every time Reaper opens
REAPER
– Launch Reaper in your PC.
– Add Track. Look for FX
– Developer – Zerodebug
– Look for Studeomux Generator – Reaper VSTi
– Look for Studeomux Generator
– FX Studeomux Generator Panel
– Receive from Device: Device = No Device Connected, Channel = Connect Device First
– Launch Studeomux console (Pin it to taskbar):
– Left click Start – # hashtag – Z – Left click Zerodebug folder
– Right click Studeomux Consul – more (expand) click Pin to Taskbar – Right click – left click properties – compatibility
– Set run this program as an administrator. Click OK.
– Launch (left click) Studeomux console from taskbar
– OK – Yes
– Check Track FX – FX Studeomux Generator Panel:
– Device = IPad Name Channel = 1.
– Check Drop down list for CH 8 = Synth One.
– If only Ch 1, unplug the lightning cable from the iPad and reinsert in iPad.
– Check Track FX – FX Studeomux Generator Panel:
– Device = IPad Name Channel = 1.
– Check Drop down list for CH 8 = Synth One
– Choose Ch 8 Synth One.
– This is CH 8 in the Studeomux app in the iPad.
Reaper – Options – Preferences – Audio – Midi Devices – Enable iPad connections
– Not needed for recording audio. Might need to be enabled to record midi tracks.
– Master – CTL ALT M brings up the upper left Master box in Reaper
TRACK WITH Studeomux FX – Check Record Red Light ON. Monitor Input = check.
– Record Output to stereo. Input = stereo mix – Ch1/Ch2
– Trk 1 – Midi Drums and
– Trk 2 – VSTi FX Studeomux Gen = Synth One Audio!!!
Bottom Line= Recorded HD Audio in Reaper / PC from playing Synth One in iPad
– Making Apple & Windows work well together simultaneously
– IOS plays Audio Kit Synth One and MSFT Win 10 PRO Records Audio
Guest Post by Brewer Shettles
Indie Audio Engineer – Liquid Fusion Studios, NY
What are you waiting for?
Synth One and Reaper are both free. Now you can use your iPad and PC together!
Download Synth One:
Download Reaper (free download)
Does sound quite convoluted! It’s been quite easy to use an iPad with Bitwig and Logic Pro X using Inter-Device Audio & MIDI!
It might be useful to point out that, though the demo version of Reaper is technically unrestricted, there’s a cost associated with it. Sure, you can download Reaper for free (and there’s no technical limitation to what you can do with it). But, unlike AudioKit Synth One, the Reaper license isn’t free. https://www.reaper.fm/purchase.php
Inter-Device Audio & MIDI makes it easy for macOS DAWs to communicate with iOS apps. Inter-Device Audio & MIDI – is wonderful and needed in the Win 10 Pro / MSFT with IPad. Of course, you can route audio out of the Ipad headphone jack into an audio interface; however, then you’re dealing with headphone jack low quality audio converters. Connecting Ipad to a PC via Lightning to PC USBA, Audiobus 3,iTunes, and Studeomux, lets me keep audio at the highest quality possible. Convoluted yes!! Apple will never make connecting to PCs as easy as connecting to a mac. Apple wants people to buy their mac. Bottom Line: I get beautiful, HD, pristine sounds of Audio Kit Synth One in tracks I can layer, edit, and master in my PC.
Since 2021 Studiomux isn’t working well for me. The audio quality is terrible and often time routing Audiobus3 to studiomux out doesn’t work as expected. The studiomux vsti name has updated and reaper often crashes due to the plugin. Studiomux doesn’t seem to be properly developed and maintained by the author and paying for such a low quality app feels.. like your getting ripped off.
I will be seeking to use usbc from ipad to rca into an external mixer to see how the quality is.