One of the indispensable tips in mixing is comparing your mix alongside a mastered track or what is called a reference track. I mentioned this briefly in my last post Mixing Tips to Live By but want to expand on this a little.

There are many reasons why you should continue making such comparisons, and here are some of them:

1. Mastered Tracks End Up on the Radio

Simply put, mastered tracks set the standard in how to make beautiful music that is worthy of cutting a CD for. It’s what ends up on the radio! Mastered songs have gone under the full scrutiny of an expert engineer who wiped away the imperfections until the track became as crisp and clean as a whistle.

And because they were mastered, they sound good on any type of speakers, whether on a car stereo or your living room’s sound system. Mastered tracks offer a study in balance as well. They show you how all elements of the instrumentation and vocals sit well together to create a pleasant sound in your ears. Treat mastered tracks as your textbooks that teach you standards and proper skills.

2. It Teaches You What a Final Mix Should Be

Contrary to popular belief, mastering engineers cannot alter a faulty mix using magic and technical expertise. They need to work with a well-mixed track to make it stand out more. Engineers can’t do anything much with a crappy mix. They would even suggest taking back the tracks to the musician for another round of mixing.

The main goal of a mastering engineer is to put the final touches to a mix to come up with a brilliant product ready for distribution. A great track becomes a chart-topper solely because it sounded good in the first place.

3. Mastered Tracks Train Your Ears

When you import your reference material into your DAW, you’re using its volume levels as peg for your mix. You become better equipped with a trained ear to effectively listen to the EQ balance and pick out each instrument from another. So it’s not really an unjust comparison. It even teaches you to tame down the loudness of your mix to achieve clarity.

4. Flying Solo Is Not a Necessarily A Good Thing

Taking a mastered track challenges you to create the same kind of quality in your own mix. If you have nothing to compare your mix with, you won’t notice the intricate details that give mastered tracks their special quality. Hence, it helps to pick out a recording and use it as your benchmark while practicing your mixing skills. Look for more opportunities to sharpen your knowledge.

Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty and earn that experience through mixing tracks frequently. And if you have more chances to practice, you will eventually reach perfection that will be reflected in the quality of your mixes.

Mastering the art of mixing music is not an easy task for home recording musicians.  Great mixing engineers are themselves artists, as are singers, songwriters, musicians, producers and DJ’s.  For  us mere musician mortals, we don’t often understand how much time, tweaking and years of experience went into a recorded final mix that may sound basic to us.

So without those years of experience under the belt, here are some very basic tips to keep in mind when mixing your precious tracks:

Be Detail-Oriented in EQ Separation

Being able to distinguish each instrument in the final mix is the result of proper EQ separation that only detail-oriented mixing can achieve.  When instruments are in the same frequency range (such as guitars and piano), they compete against each other, clamoring for space in your mix.  Find the frequencies of the instrument that carries the essence of the sound and accentuate this.   Cut away the frequencies you don’t need, to make more space in the mix and produce clarity.  Cutting (or attenuating) is a more effective solution than boosting frequencies in your source track.  Don’t get caught up with how the instrument sounds when soloed.  It may sound thin or empty to you when soloed, but should sound crisp and clear when all tracks are added in.

Depending on the style of music you’re creating, you can often use a high-pass filter or low shelf filter to attenuate ALL frequencies below 200 Hz. except your bass and kick drum.  For Pop and Rock music styles some engineers clear everything below 500 Hz (except kick and bass).  For mixing a Jazz quartet or a singer / songwriter track, you may not want to attenuate so much or you risk a mix that sounds too thin.

Check out my article Five Tips to Improve Your Mix to read more on steering focus and creating space in a mix.

Compression Packs a Punch

Using compression in the right way will add more power to your mix.  Compression brings balance between the soft and loud parts for a more consistent and richer sound.  Through compressors, you can automatically lessen the loudest parts to maintain a higher average that won’t distort the sound.  This all-too-important step in mixing is sometimes overlooked or often misused due to a lack of understanding of the process.

Using compressors makes the ‘musicality’ aspect of your mix so much better!  It can be daunting to take control of the four components of compression – ratio, threshold, attack and release time – but with more practice, you can gain the upper hand and come up with compression techniques of your own.

There’s no one way to apply compression, but here are some very quick best practices:

1.  It’s often good to apply compression in stages to avoid over compressing a signal.  Apply compression on individual instruments (such as a kick drum) as needed, but also apply it to the group (such as the complete drum set) to glue the individual parts together.
2. Use the attack time to keep the transient (initial attack sound) in place, but compress the body of the sound to make it fit better with the other instruments.
3. Use small amounts (ratio of 2 or 3, threshhold of a few dB) to tame the sound without over compressing it.
4. Virtual sampler and synth tracks may not need compression at all!  Huh! That’s right.  Many virtual instrument libraries contain samples that have already been compressed to fit well in most common mixing situations.  Often what virtual instruments need more than compression is EQ treatment.  This will depend (as always) on the style of music and your personal taste.

Listen, Listen, Listen

I know I’ve said this before, but listening to commercially mixed and mastered music is one of the best ways to get an understanding for how things should be mixed.  The best way to listen to reference music is using the same speaker and/or headphone monitors that you’re using to mix your own music.  I always import two or three commercially mixed songs that are similar in style to the song I’m mixing, into my tracking session. This gives your ears a slight break from your track and helps you keep your mix within the proper perspective.

After putting on the final touches to your mix, it’s time to listen to the overall sound.  It should very much sound like all the instruments were played and recorded in one room.  Make sure the sounds blend together and that not one instrument sticks out and overpowers the rest.  If your ear catches something not right, check the volume level first, the EQ or panning next, and compression last.  Use that automation feature your DAW has.  Volume automation is great for creating emphasis as needed throughout your mix.

Save, Save and Save

While you’re in the middle of mixing that perfect beat, a power outage suddenly grips you by the collar and causes you to scream because you forgot to save.  Mixing with computers puts you in a nasty spot if you don’t remember to save your mix frequently.

Unless you have a UPS (Uninterrupted Power Source) in your workstation (which I always recommend), the chances of losing your precious work is probable without preventive measures in place.  Most popular DAWs are equipped with settings that allow automatic saving of your work at your preferred intervals.  This is such a life-saver for anyone who values their mixes while they’re at work.  Check out my article Safeguarding Your Home Studio to see more on this.

When Spotify took the world by storm by opening its music streaming service to users in America, every independent artist wanted a piece of the pie.  And with good reason.  To date, there are more than 15 million users subscribing to the service.  That is the number of people who likely have access to your music, if your songs are featured in Spotify.

A Brief Background

Spotify originated in Sweden in 2008 as a fully legal method of sharing music through streaming.  People can search for artists, songs or albums and listen to tracks in full length, even without paying.  Users must download the Spotify player, which automatically searches for your playlist in the hard drive.  Your playlist will be then added to the music library, sharing access to people who may have similar interests as you. There are three subscription plans ranging from free to $9.99 per month.  Paying subscribers can stream music without the ads. Premium subscribers can download the songs so they can listen to them offline.

So, how can you get your music to Spotify? Read on to be spotted!

Choose an Aggregator

Aggregators are legally tasked to distribute your music in digital format.  This is how Spotify does its business.  The aggregator processes the details about your music, preparing it in compressed file types ready for digital distribution. One of the highly rated aggregators in the industry is TuneCore, offering flat rates when you submit your material and paying you due royalties after your music gets streamed.  Another popular aggregator is CD Baby.

Uploading the Correct Format

TuneCore requires you to upload your songs in the proper format, specifically in uncompressed .WAV file type with 16-bit resolution and 44.1 kHz sample rate.  You will then receive a UPC code for your release, assigning it a TuneCore ID.  Aggregators like TuneCore prefer working with audio file types that come from the original digital masters.

Earn in Two Ways

It takes about a week for Spotify to get your music live on its system.  There are two ways to earn money when you are listed at Spotify. Each time your song is streamed, you will receive a share of the ad revenue, calculated individually based on the number of times your material is streamed in a month.  Users also have the option to purchase your songs, just like in iTunes.  A pre-negotiated rate is placed on your account every time someone buys your song.

Payment

Don’t expect big returns in an instant.  Remember that you’re earning through ad revenues.  Also, the payout period usually takes two months after your music has been played.  To make the most out of your earning capabilities and audience reach in Spotify, you can promote your music through social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest.  If you maintain a solid base, only then you can see some tangible results.

Changing the way people listen and share music through the Internet, Spotify opens up your music to a world of possibilities.  It certainly gives independent artists a chance to sell their music online through the unique streaming service.

by Rick Saxby

In Using Compressors for the Overall Mix: Part 1, I focused on using a bus compressor to help mix your songs.  In part two I will focus on using a mastering compressor after you are finished with the mix.  I typically put the mastering compressor right after the bus compressor on the master fader, after I’m finished with the mix.  Bear in mind that while many people will choose to use a bus compressor for the majority of their mixes, using a mastering compressor is so subtle you will sometimes find yourself not needing it at all.  Just remember mastering engineers do not always use compression.

There are a lot of great compressors out there that can be used for mastering compression.  Here are a handful of the ones I favor:

Master Compression

The compressor I use in this article for example settings is the free Molot Compressor.  One of my favorite features of the Molot Compressor that you won’t find on any other compressor is the Sigma/Alpha switch.  Sigma sounds like a Neve 33609 (with more flexible settings suited for mastering, minus auto release) and the Alpha setting sounds like a Fairchild Compressor (also with more flexible settings minus the auto release).  Once you get the settings the way you like them you can switch back and forth to find the one you like best. Both sound great, so sometimes it can be hard to choose!

Make note that you can use these settings (except for maybe the knee, up sampling and dry mix settings) on most compressors out there suitable for mastering.  First off, you’ll notice the compressor settings for the Molot are written in a different language.  Go to the bottom right corner and click the little EN sign for English. Now go to the bottom left corner and click the little white triangle so you can see the setting details.  Here are the settings I recommend to start off with for mastering:

• Ratio: 1:2:1

• Attack: 30ms

• Release: 100ms

• Turn the filter on and set it to around 90 Hz.

• Knee is set all the way to soft.

• Dry mix set to 0%

• Up sampling set to 8x

• Mode set to Stereo

• Don’t do anything with the limiter and mid scoop.

You will now need to gently toggle the threshold till you get about 1db of gain reduction.  Let your ears be your guide now.  You might end up with more or even less than 1db of gain reduction so don’t stare at the level meter- just concentrate on the sound of the music and also the threshold knob so you don’t lose your place.

It’s also VERY important to make sure the makeup gain knob is set to the same volume as the song when the compressor is bypassed. It’s a proven fact that people are prone to think the louder a mix (or master) is, the better it sounds. Don’t fool yourself into thinking something sounds better when it doesn’t. After you get the makeup knob set to the same volume as the song is with the Master Compressor bypassed (turned off), switch back and forth to make sure the song actually sounds better compressed. If not, keep trying to make the compressed version sound better than the original. If you can’t, no big deal. Obviously that particular song doesn’t need any further compression.

Feel free to try out the settings I gave you.  It’s really just something to get you started.  When you start feeling comfortable enough with the compressor as a mastering plug-in, change it up a little with the attack, release, ratio and filter settings.  Experimentation is key.

Have fun with whatever master compressor you’re going to use.  Just remember that mastering compression is intended to be subtle.

Mixing music in your home studio tends to run long hours when you become engrossed in your work. After a period of time, you start to notice that everything is starting to sound monotonous, preventing your ears to catch those tiny screw-ups in your frequencies. One thing’s for sure – it’s ear fatigue or that dreaded problem any mixing engineer or producer is bound to experience.

The ear drums are too delicate that too much stressful activity can cause fatigue. And it is through mixing, that you tend to subject your ears to the constant beating. To pull yourself out of this horrible rut, here are a few tips on how to care for your most valuable asset when you’re mixing.

Take Five (or ten) in Between Hours

Frequent breaks can give your ears the much-needed rest after an hour or two of continuous mixing. Do something else while you’re tired ears are relaxing. Read the newspaper, water the plants, wash the dishes or feed the cat. Any other activity is fine, as long as it doesn’t involve listening. Taking breaks will also keep your mind off work for a short time, allowing you to recoup your drained energy supply, too. If you do it regularly, your senses are refreshed and so is your listening ability.

Keep the Volume at Moderate Levels

Resist the urge to turn up the volume just to pick up parts of your mixes. If you’re mixing too loud, it can result to ear fatigue due to distorted sound waves. On the other hand, mixing too low forces your ears to exert more effort. That is why you must keep the volume at a safe moderate level. Try this out and you’ll discover you can work longer without getting tired, ending up with better quality of mixes at the end of your sessions.

Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

Your studio is your personal realm while recording and mixing. Make an effort to step out of the “control room” to get a fresh perspective from other systems like listening to the mix in your car stereo or headphones and simple portable speakers plugged into your iPod. You can also listen to it in another area of the house, like your living room or bedroom. Soon you’ll notice some details that you left out while mixing in the studio. Take notes and use it to improve your mix when you return to your realm.

Try Listening to Other Songs

If you ears have been listening to the same sound over and over again for hours, just imagine how stressful that can be! Listen to other mixes or songs you intend to put in the mix. Another option is to listen to a different song that sounds similar to what you’re working on. Doing so would keep both your brain and ears safe from fatigue. You may not notice it but it can be tiring for the brain as well to process the same sounds for a considerable length of time.

Setting up gear in your home recording studio requires you to select the most essential part of your studio’s equipment. Choosing the right microphone is one step that should not be overlooked, if you want to create the best sound when you finally get down to recording tracks.

It’s quite understandable to feel overwhelmed with so many choices in the market today.  To help you look for the best option for your studio, gain a better understanding of the different microphone types and their respective purposes.

Dynamic Microphones

A dynamic microphone is the type you often see on live performances because they provide rugged durability at a relatively affordable price. Resistant to wear and tear, they can withstand abuse from the onstage antics of rock stars during high-octane concerts. For this reason, dynamic microphones are suited to recording at home with drums and guitars involved.

Dynamic microphones are also low-maintenance equipment, meaning that they don’t need a dedicated power supply. There are shortcomings in some of its features. You will get low levels of sound quality and frequency response. Hence, they are much better used as gear for belting out vocals and ripping guitars.

Condenser Microphones

Considered a fixture in recording studios, condenser microphones are the more sophisticated cousins of dynamic microphones. They have greater output in frequency response and are more sensitive to sound, particularly the loud kind. Because of their high performance, you would need a separate power supply to operate condenser microphones.

Built primarily for studio use, the condenser microphone is not ideal for outdoor conditions because of its delicate parts. It comes in two categories:

1. LDMs or Large Diaphragm Microphone. Judging from the name alone, this type of condenser mic is most suitable for recording vocals. It has the ability to reproduce a well-balanced sound due to the hypersensitivity to all kinds of noises. To eliminate some of the transient sounds you make when enunciating “sh” or “p”, you need a pop screen to avoid getting distorted output.
2. SDMs or Small Diaphragm Microphone. For recording guitars and other stringed instruments, the small diaphragm microphone gets the job done. It offers optimal results in transient response and wide frequency response as well. SDMs are the preferred choice for taping live concerts.

What Microphone Works Best For What Situation?

To recap, it all depends of the type of recording you intend to do more in your home recording studio.  There are inexpensive options for both condenser and dynamic microphones if you do need both.

For recording sessions with acoustic guitars, a good small-diaphragm condenser mic is the way to go.  If you are a cello player, the large-diaphragm type would be able to work best with the strings. Taping concerts through the small-diaphragm condenser microphone will create that good stereo sound and efficient transient replication.

As for vocals, you can aim for the large-diaphragm condenser mic with a power supply.

Want more Tips on Choosing the Right Microphone?

Were these tips helpful?  These tips and much more are available in full detail inside Home Music Production: Getting Started.

by Rick Saxby

Mixes tend to come out better when audio engineers mix with their hearts and not just their heads. It can take a while to get to that point though. For example, any baseball player first has to learn the fundamentals of baseball and then, after years of practicing, they are able to play the game naturally without having to think about hitting the ball- they just do. Same goes for mixing music. First learn the fundamentals, then you won’t have to think about them, you can just focus on the music.

One of the fundamentals of mixing and mastering is learning how to use compression on your individual tracks and overall mix. In this two-part article, I will focus on using compression on the overall mix.  First off, there are two different ways to use a compressor on your overall mix:

1. Bus compression.
2. Mastering compression.

In this part we’re focusing on bus compression.   Two of the most legendary bus compressors out there are the Neve 33609 and the SSL Master Bus compressor.  Working with plugins, you would typically put these as the first insert on your master fader.  Next, you’d place another compressor for subtle “mastering”, and then other plugins (if you’d like) leading up to the brick wall limiter at the end of the chain.  Last but not least in the mastering chain, you may need a dithering plugin as your very last insert when mastering from 24-bit down to 16-bit.

SSL AND NEVE BUS COMPRESSION SETTINGS

So what’s a good mix bus setting for these two compressors?  Chris Jenkins, the engineer who made the SSL Bus Compressor (Waves, SSL and Propellerhead all make great plugin emulations of it), has a setting he uses pretty much every time.  Remember, no two compressors sound exactly the same even at the same settings, but it will sound good.  Here it is:

• Set the attack to .3ms

• Set release to Auto

• Set ratio to 2 to 1

After setting up the compressor to this configuration move the threshold setting until you get about 4db of gain reduction on the loudest peaks. Now mix your song. That’s right- mix your song into the bus compressor. This is how a bus compressor is intended to be used. You’ll notice that it’s a little easier to manage your audio now when you’re mixing than it was before. You can also try these settings on the Neve 33609 (UAD is the only company that makes a software version to my knowledge). The only thing different is the Neve has a limiter section (use it subtly or not at all) and the attack is program dependent. The attack is on a permanent setting- you can’t change it, but don’t worry, it works great for overall mixes.

DENSITY MKIII COMPRESSOR

Here’s another great compressor, and it is free!  It’s right up there with the two I mentioned above.  It’s the Density MKIII and can be downloaded at Variety Of Sound.   This compressor is a little different from the two above but it still works great on a mix bus. Here’s how to get the same settings I told you about for the SSL and the Neve:

• Set the side chain filter to Off.

• Set the compressor to the Limiter setting.

• Now set the timing switch to P6 and move the strict/relax screw above the timing switch to get a .3ms attack.

• Finally, move the drive knob so the gain reduction meter goes up almost out of the green (4db of gain reduction).

I usually set the color screw so I don’t get any saturation but most people like it dead center, it’s all a matter of taste really. Now just mix into it!  Remember, with all these compressors you don’t necessarily need 4db of gain reduction, so above all, let your ears (not your eyes) guide you to the sweet spot.

In Using Compressors for the Overall Mix: Part 2, I will move on to “mastering” compression.  I put “mastering” in quotation marks because to us it is really just another bus compressor, but we will use it the way many mastering engineers use it so we can get better mixes.

by Rick Saxby

To me there are three kinds of mixes: First, there is the mix that has no hope at all. Even if the mix was sent to a top-of-the-line, major league mastering engineer, it still doesn’t matter because the mix is lacking. You could think of it as an unfinished mix being passed off as finished. Second, there is the mix that is great! It’s a C to A when it comes to mixing. This mix is when mastering engineers can take a song and really do something with it and make it shine (turn a C to a B or an A to an A+). Third, there is the mix that needs nothing else done to it (The A+). It doesn’t need any further processing because to do so would only take away from that song. A real mastering engineer knows when not to touch a song. It’s still great to have a mastering engineer listen to your mix even if it’s an A+ just so you can have an expert reaffirm that you actually have an A+ mix on your hands.

You might have heard people say, “The ‘independent’ sound today is trendy and people like it, so my mix is good enough and certainly doesn’t need a mastering engineer”. If you have found yourself thinking that, please consider the following. First off, mix engineers who get that raunchy or raw sound don’t get that sound from lack of talent. It’s because that’s the sound they’re going for and it’s a well balanced mix- just a different kind of sound or tone that’s different from your average pop song. Secondly, I, like many other fellow concert goers, have found myself at certain shows so captivated by the music of the band or M.C. that I decided to purchase a CD after the show only to be very disappointed when I get in my car and listen to the CD. All the songs that moved me at the show only disappoint now. As a result, I don’t listen to the whole disk and I end up misplacing it because I don’t really care about it at all.

I’m sure from talking to some artists that the mix really wasn’t important to them because, according to them, “Nobody actually notices the quality of the mix.” This is only half true.

People never notice when you have a good quality mix (except maybe fellow mix engineers) but people DO notice a bad mix. They may not say it was a bad mix or even think it, but they won’t dig the music like they would have if it had been mixed right.

I know selling CD’s is half the battle but if we are honest with ourselves we don’t want our music that we poured our heart and soul into to end up broken on the bottom of someone’s car floor and forgotten about. We want our CD’s to be the one that is in the disk player being worn out until the listener moves on to something else but at the same time can’t wait until your next album comes out!

Well, what exactly is the missing link between the sound of your show that you performed and your CD’s sound? It’s all in the mix! Sure I know you need a good DAW such as Propellerhead Reason and a quality audio interface such as the Focusrite Pro Series interfaces, and so on, but trust me, what good are those things without a well balanced mix? Here’s my point. When your listener attended your show there was most likely a sound guy at the show making sure everything sounded fine while you were playing on stage. You also made sure everything sounded good as well. It was you on the stage and for the most part if you performed well then it was a good show. But as we all know it’s very hard to fit your band’s song or performance into a set of car stereo speakers.

So how do you get that performance to come through?

1. Get back to the basics

There are tons of great songs and records made back in the 50’s, 60’s and early 70’s that were “so, so” in the mixing and recording aspect but are still considered classics. What these recordings mainly had going for them were soul. So remember the most important thing is capturing a great performance and not letting anyone in your recording space that will kill the “vibe” when you are doing so. Get into the moment!

2. Try using cut filters

As we all know the high end in our mixes can be hard to deal with. If you are having problems with your guitar try cutting out a little bit of the high end. Maybe cut it off at 10khz. Try this with vocals cutting off at 13khz, 15khz, or 17khz. With cutting the low end you should be a little bit more conservative. If you need to cut some of the low end out of a lead synth, for example, just make sure you’re not taking too much away- just enough so it sits better in the mix. Make sure to A/B it a few times before moving on as well.

3. Use some compression

Vocals are usually one the toughest things for people to get to sit right in the mix. Gentle, or maybe even heavy, compression is usually in order to help cure this or at least a limiter to control the peaks if you’re going for a fuller more open dynamic mix.

Here is how I usually set my vocals when compressing them:

• Set the attack to about 10ms or if there’s just a fast/slow setting set it to slow.
• Set the release time to about 1500ms and set the ratio to 6:1.
• Solo the track and play it. While the track is playing mess around with the threshold until the vocal sounds about right.
• Start to set the release gradually backwards until you hit the spot you like.
• Then set the ratio backwards or forwards, depending on your taste.
• If your compressor has an input section, gradually increase that to see if you like it. You don’t need to increase the input but it can help sometimes to push the compressor a little harder.
• Last, if the compressor has an output stage make sure the vocal track is no longer muted and adjust accordingly or just use your fader on the mixer.

If you’re an indie artist, try taking some of these basics to heart and give them a shot. Maybe you’ll move up a letter grade or two in your recordings and your next album will get the respect it deserves.

I’m happy to report that I’ve recently published my new book Home Music Production: Getting Started.  I have to say that I have a new found respect for anyone who’s taken on such an endeavor.

It came about because I wanted to help answer some of the great questions that I get from fellow musicians, DJs, and producers who are just starting to put together a home recording studio.  They’re eager to dive in and get going with creating music, but don’t know where to start.  They may have a limited budget (don’t we all), and they want to make sure that every bit of the funds available are well spent and not wasted on kit that isn’t needed.

And as easy and readily available as this information may seam to be, it’s really not when you begin to search the web and suddenly get bombarded with great marketing videos telling you that their product is a MUST HAVE.  It’s difficult to weed through all of the product marketing to know what’s any good, so you go to the forums.  There you see 25 responses to the question: What’s the best [you fill in the blank] to buy to create music?  And out of the 25 responses given, there are 24 different opinions from 24 different perspectives, and you have no idea what other gear they have, or within what genre of music they’re using that gear to create music.

I wrote Home Music Production: Getting Started to provide answers to these questions to get you up and running with your home recording studio in an informed way, without wasting money on non-essential items.  This book provides 120 pages of detailed information and answers to the questions:

Home Music Production: Getting Started

So if you’re a musician, DJ, or music producer who is just starting to build a home recording studio, you should check out Home Music Production: Getting Started.  It’s available in eBook formats for Kindle and iBooks, and is also available on paperback.

iTunes BookstoreAmazon KindleAmazon Paperback

Check out this video to learn more and watch a quick demo of the iBooks version for the iPad.

It seems like not so long ago when purchasing a new synth or drum machine meant a trip to the neighborhood music store, and hours drooling over the latest hardware sonic marvels.  Now you can make one hardware purchase for an iPad, and browse the latest synth and drum machine apps that are available from the Apple App Store at a fraction of the cost.

But how do you make these cool sounding synth and drum machine apps compatible with your existing DAWs such as Ableton Live, Logic or Cubase?   All music creation apps for the iPad allow you to create music using the iPad’s touch screen interface, but in order to us these apps with your hardware and computer setup, you’ll need to tap into the apps MIDI functionality.

Below we’ll take a look at some really cool and useful synth and drum machine apps for the iPad, and go over how to integrate them into your current home recording studio setup.

iPad Synths and Drum Machines

Let’s start with some of the cool synth and drum iPad apps currently on the iTunes App Store.  All of these mentioned apps will work with Core MIDI and will be capable of pairing up with your DAW.

• KORG iMS-20 ($32.99) analog synth studio is a complete recreation of the Korg MS-20 synth.  It’s an analog synth, a drum machine, 16-step analog sequencer based on the Korg SQ-10, and has dual Kaoss pads.
• KORG iELECTRIBE ($19.99) is an analog synth, drum machine and step sequencer that is a recreation of the ELECTRIBE-R analog drum machine.  It features 4 percussion synthesizer parts and 4 PCM synthesizer parts.
• Alchemy Synth Mobile by Camel Audio (Free / 14.99) is the iOS version of Alchemy synth plugin for Mac and PC.  Not only is this app a powerful hybrid synthesizer that uses additive, and granular synthesis, but the Pro version is also a controller for Alchemy synth plug-in for  Mac and PC.  The Pro version is available for $14.99 as an in-app purchase.
• Sunrizer synth by BeepStreet ($9.99) is a virtual analog synth.  It features true SuperSaw sound emulation which is a layered waveform consisting of multiple saw waves which are detuned to create an extremely full sound.   It’s possible to use two SuperSaw oscillators per voice for a total of 98 saw oscillators playing at the same time.  This synth has very inspiring sounds and works well with MIDI.
• NLogSynth PRO by Tempo Rubato ($14.99) virtual analog synthesizer features a fat analog modeled sound and 224 factory presets and full hardware synth sound control capability.
• Molten Drum Machine by One Red Dog Media (4.99) is a synth and sample drum machine with a pattern-based sequencer.  It features user loadable samples and can integrate with your Mac or PC using CoreMIDI networking over Wi-Fi or using a doc or MIDI interface.
• MoDrum Rhythm Composer by Finger Pro ($5.99) virtual analog drum machine that features a 32-step grid sequencer.
• FunkBox by Synthetic Bits ($3.99) is a vintage style drum machine designed to look, feel and sound like the drum machines from the 70s and 80s.

iPad Synth and Drum Machine Connections

In order to connect an iPad synth or drum app to your MIDI controller or computer-based DAW, you’ll need a MIDI connection device suited for this purpose.

Apple’s Camera Connection Kit

iPad Camera Connection Kit

The most common way to connect your iPad via MIDI to your MIDI controller or DAW is to use Apple’s  camera connection kit ($29.99).  This adapter connects to your iPad, and requires a separate USB cable to plug your MIDI controller or a separate MIDI interface.

If you’re only looking to play your iPad synth from your MIDI controller, then you only need the camera connection kit and a USB cable that connects to the USB MIDI connector on your controller.  The MIDI controller must be class compliant.

If you’re looking to control the sounds within the iPad synth app from your favorite DAW, then you’ll also need a MIDI interface which will transmit MIDI output and receive MIDI input signals.  The M-Audio Uno works well for this.
  M-Audio USB Uno MIDI Interface ($39.99)  Using the Uno in connection with the camera connection kit will allow you to use your iPad synth app like an external synthesizer.  In this setup you will also require an audio cable connected from the iPad into your audio interface in order to record the audio.


Here’s a recap of connection path using a camera connection kit:

1. MIDI controller to play iPad synth or drums:
   

   M-Audio Uno

   • iPad >> camera connection kit >> USB cable >> USB class compliant keyboard or other MIDI controller
2. Computer DAW to control iPad as external synth or drums:

• iPad >> camera connection kit >> MIDI interface (ex. M-Audio Uno) >> Audio Interface

Other MIDI connection Devices

There are some alternatives to using the Camera Connection Kit that will cost a bit more, but provide more functionality including multiple device MIDI input, or audio and MIDI.  Here a some of the other tools for connecting an iPad via MIDI:

• Line 6 MIDI Mobilizer II ($61.18) MIDI input and output for iOS devices that connects to your MIDI controller or DAW using a standard 5-pin MIDI cable
• iConnectMIDI by iConnectivity ($172.36) is a multi-MIDI input / output interface that features both USB and 5-pin MIDI connections.
• Akai SynthStation49 ($242.10) is a 49-key MIDI keyboard controller with Akai MPC-style drum pads, that has a built-in iPad dock that fits all generations of iPads.  The controller has 1/4″ stereo outputs and USB for connection to your audio interface and computer.  Akai SynthStation comes with the Akai SynthStation App which features a drum machine, poly synth two mono synths and a pattern-based sequencer.
• Alesis iO Dock (164.99) is a music production docking station for the iPad that features: USB and 5-pin MIDI input / output, XLR and 1/4″ audio input, and 1/4″ stereo outputs.  The iO dock makes it easy to keep the dock connected to your computer and audio interface, while easily removing the iPad to take with you when needed.
• IK MultiMedia iRig MIDI ($57.99) is very similar to the MIDI mobilizer.  It connects using the iOS 32-pin connector and connects to your MIDI controller or audio interface via 5-pin MIDI cables.

Akai SynthStation 49

Portable MIDI Controllers for iPad Synths and Drum Machines

In addition to the Akai SynthStation controller, any class compliant USB MIDI controller can be a good fit for the iPad with the camera kit.  One good ultra portable option for controlling your favorite iPad synth or drum machine are Korg’s Nano 2 controllers.  These are great if you enjoy the portability that the iPad provides, but want a little more than the touch screen control.  The Korg synths such as iMS-20 and the iElectribe come pre-configured to work with the Nano 2 control series (not the original Nano controllers).

You can also opt for a 49-key controller such as the  M-Audio Axiom 49 2nd Gen 49-Key USB MIDI Keyboard Controller.

Leave a comment and let me know what iPad synths and drum machine apps you may be using to record with your DAW.

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