Using iPad with an old MIDI piano

December 19, 2011 2:44 AM

MIDI / iPad Newbie question: I have an old MIDI electric piano and am wondering what I might be able to do with it connected to the iPad.

I just moved my old Yamaha Clavinova CLP-350 (ca. 1988?) home and am wondering what I might do with its MIDI functionality and the iPad. I am a complete newbie to this, but looking at things like iRig and some of the apps, I am wondering if it would be possible to wire the iPad into the loop somehow and use it to control the sounds / waveforms that the piano can produce or play along with. It seems to me like this is the kind of use the in/out/thru plugs would bring to what is otherwise a fairly hard-wired bog standard electric piano with five voices.

I'd be much obliged if anyone could comment on the doability of such a set-up and advise any apps that are suited to this. We have the Korg iMS20 app.

posted by sagwalla to computers & internet (4 answers total)

You'll need a MIDI interface for the iPad. Google shows several available.

From the iPad's point of view, the Clavinova is just a MIDI device. The iPad will send it commands. The Clavinova will respond. It will likely be iPad->iRig->MIDI In(Clavinova/Korg).
If you want both Clavinova and Korg then you'll also go from MIDI Thru->Korg.

The Clavinova will only be able to play things on the 5 voices it supports (so don't expect percussion, for example).
posted by plinth at 3:15 AM on December 19, 2011

Here's a pretty exhaustive article from Create Digital Music.
posted by Magnakai at 7:26 AM on December 19, 2011 [1 favorite]

The simplest setup would be: Yamaha > (MIDI Out) > Interface > iPad. The Yamaha would then serve as an excellent keyboard for playing whatever softsynths you have on the tablet.

The Clavinova is a straight digital piano, not a programmable synthesizer; the factory presets are the only sounds it's capable of producing. The most you could get from plugging the iPad into it (rather than vice-versa) is to turn the Clavinova into a player piano.
posted by Sys Rq at 11:44 AM on December 19, 2011

Thanks to all of you. This has given me some things to think about. I think what Sys Rq notes is what I have in mind, and the input from the Magnakai article is possibly pointing me away from the iRig. Three answers, all best answers. Cheers!
posted by sagwalla at 2:17 AM on December 20, 2011