iPad isn’t dead it’s just resting

At one time the iPad seemed to be a next step in music hardware, inspiring a distinctive ecosystem of creative software for composition. The machine was never cheap but the software very often was. Customers could take a risk on crazy ideas – software authors had some confidence that piracy could be controlled. 12 years later iPad is still a viable music platform but the range of musical ideas has contracted to cut down versions of ‘real’ programs – with less the of unique titles of the golden age. Some have gone in changes made to the OS, now in its 16th version. Perhaps the cheap prices weren’t enough in the long run.

The iPad was never designed for professional music work. It needs a complex set of dongles to get the MIDI in and the sound (and sometimes video) out. Dongles can stop working for no visible reason, and you can end up with a flat battery at show time even when power is connected. Each model has some small difference that makes your cables redundant. I used a Pad on a few tours but some near disasters made me change to an AKAI MPC.

This section celebrates some of the particular tools made for the iPad in the ‘golden age’.