Play Piano With Midi Keyboard – IRig Keys Mini is an electronic MIDI music keyboard that connects to iPhone and iPad with a Lightning cable. Although not regularly advertised, iPhones and iPads have long had good support for MIDI input devices and other devices. Since iOS 4 in fact, Apple allows developers to interact with MIDI peripherals. At the same time, the App Store has expanded an extensive ecosystem of modern music creation and audio production applications. This completes the capability and functionality: not only are MIDI peripherals possible, but they can also be used to create music on the iPhone and iPad.
First of all, it is important to mention that iRig products are made to work with iPhone and iPad, it is an official MFI accessory. Often, musicians connect MIDI devices to the iPad using a hack — plugging a USB MIDI device into the iPad’s USB camera interface. It works surprisingly well for a number of peripherals, but it’s not as formal or elegant as a real MFI MIDI keyboard.
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The iRig is not an unofficial oddity. There is an MFI label on the packaging. Setting up the iRig with an iOS device is easy — just plug it in. The iRig itself is compatible with many computer peripherals, so the I/O connector on the hardware is actually a mini-USB port. A mini-USB to Lightning adapter is included in the box, as well as regular USB and mini-USB connectors for using the iRig with a laptop.
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For iPhone and iPad connections, it’s simply plug and play. There is no configuration when you put the cable on both sides. The iRig is powered by the included device, which is very convenient for people like me who don’t want to manage another accessory with a rechargeable battery. The Octave button will glow red to confirm that the device is receiving power.
Although this review is focused on using MIDI with iOS, I briefly tested Mac compatibility. Connecting the keyboard to the USB adapter automatically prompts OS X to “set up device”. After a few seconds, the iRig keyboard is ready to use.
As a piece of hardware, the accessories are well made. Made of plastic but durable. You can put it in the bag without much worry. It’s about the same width as the iPad Pro, so the symmetry of size is nice to see on a table. Accessories include 15 white piano keys and 10 black keys, of course, the usual pair setup. Above the row of keys is a header with volume selector, octave switch and iRig logo. My biggest complaint about this feature is the size of the logo: it dominates the fascia and shouts too much. I would have liked it more if iRig had made the logo smaller, or better yet, removed it entirely. This product will be beautiful with a pure white bed sheet.
On its own, connecting a keyboard to an iOS device is definitely useless. You can change the octave and see the flashing red indicator light, that’s it. (By the way, the keyboard will warn you when you reach the end of the audio spectrum and consider the current octave setting being used via the lights.) The important thing is that the keyboard has no brain of the program that controls it. Runs but does not sound. : You need MIDI-aware software to do anything with it.
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IRig has created its own app for use with the keyboard. iGrandPiano and SampleTank. Of course, these can only be used with the touch screen, but alone with the cooperation of accessories. Grand Piano really sounds like a piano, with high-quality effects and reverb. I’m not really a musician but I really enjoy playing the piano through the iRig.
You can adjust octave and volume settings directly from the keyboard, so you don’t have to switch your hands between the iPad screen and the piano keys. The app also has a recorder and metronome to keep time with the beat. After creating a masterpiece, the program can save the file as an audio clip or MIDI file. This means you can import raw MIDI notes into another program, perhaps on a Mac, to fix a very serious problem or stitch into large elements.
SampleTank uses the piano input interface to mix a variety of instruments from drum kits to organs and woodwinds. It also supports an autoplay feature, so you can let the app play the song while you’re out using the iRig. The program’s volume and octave settings are independent of the keyboard and simplify some elements.
The suggested apps aren’t perfect, and there are minor bugs throughout: adjusting the knobs on iGrandPiano is tedious. The real beauty of iRig hardware is that it’s not limited to the apps that IK Multimedia has created. You can use it with any MIDI program. There are many in the App Store, but the best is definitely from Apple: GarageBand. The iRig works flawlessly with the Apple Music app. In addition to interacting with the keyboard, you can play drums, samples, and strings, as well as lots of controls from GarageBand’s smart tools.
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GarageBand also allows real songwriting to happen because of the ability to edit and compose together. It’s easier to use physical hardware than a touchscreen to play music, just as a physical keyboard is better for writing documents than an on-screen soft keyboard. However, the biggest feature of GarageBand with the iRig enhancements is the ability to use GarageBand in the background. It also works with MIDI instruments. I started playing music on my iPad Pro while watching Twitter or reading Safari. You can see the red “Save” banner in the image above. To enable this feature, turn on the Run in background option in the GarageBand settings. Also works with iPad in sleep and locked mode! The program receives input from the keyboard and the recording continues to play.
Unfortunately, the problem that plagues all three applications is the lack of support for iPad Pro. All apps are upgraded from the 9.7-inch iPad counterpart, so they look terrible and don’t take advantage of the extra screen. Apple showed off the updated GarageBand for iPad Pro at its event, but the app hasn’t appeared in the App Store yet. Hopefully, iRig still has a software update for its software in the works.
In terms of issues, I have very few complaints. The shortcut function keys embedded on the keyboard are meaningless to me. Without looking at the manual, you won’t know how to activate the VEL, KNOB or RESET functions.
From time to time, the keyboard crashes… inexplicably. Pressing the button does nothing. I can’t figure out if it’s a problem with the accessory, the app I’m using, or the iOS system. When this happened, I unplugged it from the iPad and plugged it in and the problem went away immediately. However, it happens so often, it’s not really a problem. My guess is that it has to do with the software, so maybe future iOS versions will have good stability. Overall, I still recommend that the product is too expensive for what it is. Once you start hitting the $100 mark, I expect the product to become more popular.
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I can’t say enough about the joy of this product. I don’t have a real instrument at home and have something portable to listen to. I am currently looking for a good audio program that works with a MIDI keyboard. For more professional use, it works well, although you might be better off paying a bit more for the full version. Also, I really wish iPad Pro GarageBand updates would come out at the same time even with edit windows and tools visible on screen. That takes this product to the next level.
The iRig Keys Mini costs $79. Its bigger brother, the full 37-key version, is available for $149. Learn more at the IK Multimedia website.
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Benjamin professionally develops iOS apps and covers Apple news and rumors. Listen to Benjamin every week on the Happy Hour podcast. Visit his personal blog. Send Benjamin a message via email or Twitter. Can you use a MIDI keyboard as a piano? This is one of the many questions that people have when…
Midi Keyboard Does Not Connect / Is Not Found
Can you use a MIDI keyboard as a piano? This is one of the many questions that people may have when learning to play the piano or when looking for piano equipment. The MIDI keyboard is certainly a modern innovation. They are much cheaper than pianos and are a great choice for those just starting out.
What is the difference between these two? It can be a MIDI keyboard
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