Using an iPad live to play sequences

[scoobystig]

Wasn't sure of the best place to put this, but here goes

I want to Use my iPad to play some sequences and sound effects live while the band are playing

Primarily I want to be able to record a strings section at home and then press a button in the iPad to play it back when we are playing live
I've seen these apps which are just a block of pads to press

It's not massive parts and not worthy of a full music package like ableton live to run a complete. Backing track and our drummer won't play to a click, however he is massively accurate with his timings luckily

It is generally more synth sounds and strings to create an atmospheric intro or ending

Any one do this in their band at the moment ?

[simonlittle]

You could try something like iMPC maybe and load your own samples onto the pads through iTunes file transfer. Should be nice and simple plus iMPC is a fun app to muck about with regardless...

[crez5150]

regardless of your drummer not wanting to play to a click, if you are using these sequences during or at the end of a song, you will need to make sure that you are at the correct tempo from the outset as you do not want to trigger the sequence and then have to speed up or slow down to match.

[scoobystig]

The timing won't be such as issue as I just want to hold a strings note say on a D chord before the band enter or at the end of a song
We won't generally be playing along with the sequence
It's more that the band or the sequence take over from each other if that makes sense?

A few sound effects may be triggered during songs, but timing will not be important on these

Edited April 25, 2015 by scoobystig

[The Badderer]

there's no issue with this. it's easy to do, you just need to choose your software, have the clips loaded, and then have you iPad's volume at the right level and Bob's your uncle. You can pre-record the tracks. There are also things called ambient / infinite pads where you can hit what note you want on your iPad and it plays the pad sound/chord on an infinite loop until you hit stop or hit another note. I'd personally recommend looking at MainStage 3 / Garageband / Logic / A basic copy of Ableton (not the full Suite version) and see what is most suited to your needs.
You could even try out a simple thing of saving the sounds as MP3 / WAV files and playing them from a player like iTunes and you just play each track in sequence with a blank track saved in between each one so you don't accidentally move from one sound to another.
You could also look at using the Behringer MIDI foot controller to trigger MIDI commands hands free if you're wanting to play tracks whilst you're still playing http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/FCB1010.aspx

[bumnote]

This will do what you want

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/backtrax/id345007170?mt=8

[Woodinblack]

Make sure you have notifications turned off

[bigd1]

Not wanting to steal this thread, but does anybody know of Android programmes that can do the same tricks.

Ta very glad