I know there are purists out there…and gawd bless ya! But, I’m a bit of a tech geek so I’m interested to know (especially from those who connect to it with a digital piano through MIDI) if and if so, how you use your iPad in your piano practice/performance set up and any recommendations you have.

I use Tonara for my sheet music, which is a free app, although you have to pay on average a couple of pounds/dollars for each score you add. I love this app because it follows your progress via a scrolling bar (provided you’re not making cock up after cock up!) and more importantly it turns the page for you when you need it! A great idea and it works. Saves me the price and technique worry of a page turner! It also automatically records each time you attempt a piece which is fantastic for checking on progress. It works via the microphone so very much compatible with acoustic pianos too.

I use Piano Notes Pro for sight reading tests. It can generate random sequences for you to sight read. They are very much random and not very musical so you can only do this for so long before you start going a bit crazy, but it’s very useful for tracking your progress. It has different ‘quizzes’ for chords, broken chords, scales etc which are also good to have in your learning toolkit!

As the sound of my Korg LP180 is a little bit on the naff side to my ears, I invested in IK Multimedia’s iGrand app. Now it actually sounds like a real piano and it removes a lot (not all obvs cos nothing can replace the feel of an acoustic piano) of the synthetic sound. The only thing to watch out for is latency if you have other apps running, but just shut them down and latency isn’t a problem at all.

Other tools I use that aren’t piano specific but get regular use are Rhythm Trainer (does what it says on the tin!) and Musicopolous, which is a very good and comprehensive music theory tutor app.

Your turn x

If you enjoy iGrand you may like Korg Module.
Runs best on the newest iPad.
I also like forScore for cataloging and using digital copies of physical sheet music I already own.
And GeniusScan for making those digital copies with my iPhone camera.
Works great.

Ah yes I also use forscore too!

Thanks will check those out!

Anyone else? x

More for teaching:

Home Concert Xtreme for MIDI file playback with notation display. Now adding Roland Sound Canvas for MIDI output.
Piano Maestro for beginners through intermediates. I love this app for teaching!


Occasionally use iGrand or Korg Module for some variety in sound.

Again, more for teachers, here's a blog by the author of "The iPad Piano Studio."

http://leilaviss.com

Interesting reading Susan! Thanks a lot. I imagine (for those who embrace it) it can be a valuable teaching tool!

For a very good piano sound I can suggest you "CMP Piano" better than iGrand and with a hudge poliphony compared to Korg Module (and cheaper than it too).

Thanks for the tip Zippo! I do like iGrand a lot so will definitely check out CMP Piano.

I'm in the dark re Korg Module. I've loved the vintage Korg analogue synths in the past but never been bowled over by their sampling output.

My opinion:
1. iGrand is definitely better than CMP piano (I have both).
2. Korg module in itself doesn't have a very good sampled piano (natural grand) but Korg was smart enough to ask one the best software piano makers (Synthogy) to make a ipad version of their own Steinway German D (Ivory II) and you can buy that as an add-on, and that is, in my opinion, the best piano for ipad you can find, better than iGrand (so you need to buy both Korg module and Ivory add-on).

Thanks Digitalguy. I'll try and find a demo to listen to.

Digitalguy I know tastes are subjective, but CMP is 3.2 Giga samples size with the perfect Bechstein addOn, iGrand is almost 600Mb with over 20 piano omdels. If we want talk about the interface, quality price, usability, and so on, maybe we can agree that iGran is the best or so, but if we talk about quality of samples and simulation of a real piano sound (supposing that you have the opportuninty to play it) the difference between iGrand and Cmp is like from me and the Pope (with all the respect for the Pope

I like iGrand because it's simple to use and has a nice variety of grands and uprights. The built in recorder is very easy to use as well.

....plus it's easy on the eye in my opinion. If I was doing any serious recording work you can't top a well miced acoustic piano!

But I will definitely check out CMP and Korg Module demos.

is this connecting the iPad to the keyboard and outputting the sound from the iPad to a set of speakers (or maybe back to the pianos speakers?)

how do you connect MIDI or USB to an iPad?

See the FAQ of Synthesia about the link between a iPad and a MIDI device. http://www.synthesiagame.com/keyboards/help

Note that cheapest MIDI-USB should be avoided. (I have read someone having some trouble in a forum)

Maybe some technical details. igrand is not 20 different pianos but the bulk of it is 2 sampled pianos with some modifications. Also it's lossless compressed, which makes it much smaller, everything else being equal. As you say, sound is subjective. However I definitely prefer igrand to CMP (I own both). The worst is the CMP add-on, IMO, purchased and uninstalled. But more the sound the problem with CMP is playability. Maybe the topic starter can try both (sorry you need to buy them, although with igrand you have a limited demo) and give us his opinion. Having said all this, I use Ivory II American (my favorite) on a Windows tablet rather than ipad most of the time.

I have the very cable it says not to use on this page!! and it does cause problems when i use it with my old Yamaha DJX and Ableton, causes a delay between pressing the keys and it registering on the pc

http://www.synthesiagame.com/keyboards/Help/ipad_lightning/midi

I don't have an iPad but thinking of getting one

I have iGrand, CMP and the Korg with Synthogy. If I had to pick one, I'd pick the Synthogy because it seems to hit a happy medium between the iGrand and the CMP. It's a matter of taste, but to my ears iGrand sounds too synthetic, and CMP sounds too harsh. But all three seem more like works in progress. None of them are at the level of the built-in voices on my CP4 or Pianoteq running on an old i5 Windows box.

Thanks for the Piano Notes Pro tip, I'll have a look at that. I use Piano Tutor for the same thing.

Then I really like Synthesia for training pieces. You should have a look at that, free for a limited number of songs.

I am also using Piano Maestro and my daughter Piano Dust Buster (both from JoyTunes) which are a bit much on the gamification side, but of value.

You're welcome Hendrik42. I prefer piano notes pro to piano tutor for sight reading tests but it does have its uses. I will also check out Synthesia. Thanks for the tip.

I use the Behringer iStudio to connect everything to my iPad2. It has a 30 pin connector. And I also prefer iGrand to CMP.