Question re recording on an iPad

Does anyone have any experience with recording on an iPad, say in Garageband or Cubasis etc? I have an iPad Pro and I have a project whereby I am interested in trying to record "professional" final takes of lead vocals for projects made in Logic, and then merging them back into Logic for mixing. Obviously, I know you can do this, and have always been able to record on an iPad, but I guess I am looking for advice from those with experience as to whether there are any unforeseen limitations in terms of doing this "professionally" using a compatible audio interface, in terms of quality of recording etc, like does iOS / iPadOS only support lower quality recordings, vs if I recorded directly into Logic on my Macbook Pro etc

 

Thanks in advance for any help, anecdotes, advice or tips you might have. Almost all resources / YouTube vids I can find on recording on iPad still seem to present it as kind of gamified gimmick of music maklng, not much different to how it was in 2011, and I am wondering whether there is something I am missing as to why it isn't more popular / what the limitations are etc

 

Cheers

I have done recordings in the past with an iPad2 and an Alesis IO Dock, but only because quality didn't really matter and convenience was king. The IO dock is two input channels of 44.1kHz and 16bit, but the mic preamps are noisy, but hey, what do you expect from a 200.- device, really ? Also, this have only been stereo recordings with no monitoring duties except "yeah, it does record."

You yourself put professional in quotes twice so what is it ? Is your recording professional or not ? As a professional musician myself, I would be worried if my thousands worth of gear and years of expertise would be met with a "glamified gimmick" in a recording situation, where all of a sudden the producer will want another stereo pair of mics for room ambience or the nose flute player would want his own separate headphone feed and can I have a MIDI clock feed please if I give you SMPTE timecode in return ? An iPad is woefully inadequate for all this.

In terms of complexity of session, headphone feeds for the flute player etc, all that is not an issue. My use case is literally me as a vocalist recording single mono lead vocal tracks with a single microphone, using the same audio interface and preamp I would be using if I brought my Macbook (for which I have checked compatibility). I'm not talking about trying to run professional recording sessions with multiple people with an iPad, just literally one person recording a handful of single-mic, mono vocal takes on a finished instrumental. The vocal takes would be exported back into Logic for mixing.

 

What I meant in regards to "professional" was simply that that these would be final vocal takes for an actual professional project, not some kind of rough demo process, and I used quotes more in the sense that could, or would, the iPad yield professional results....I mean, if its the same audio interface and the same sample rate, and I am almost just using the iPad Garageband (or Cubasis) as a kind of 'portable hard disk with metronome', and the simplicity of the task matches the limitations of the software (theoretically) are there any other variables unforeseen to me that would be a bottleneck?? I guess that is what I am getting at. I know, obviously, I can use my Macbook Pro as I have done hundreds of times, I am just asking about the iPad....

 

I had that Alesis IO Dock for my iPad 2 as well....I took it back for a refund after 2 days. I never took the concept seriously at the time. I always thought iPads had an interesting potential for music that never really evolved past where it was with the iPad 2, but really just as a kind of sound generation tool in a world onto itself....I always use the term 'gamified', as in the nature of app UI design for that touch screen, making squiggly noises on multitouch synth apps like playing a vaguely creative, expressive game seemed to be where its potential settled

My experience with the older iPad was that I used the Shure MV-88 running the Motiv app, which allowed for me to make pro-level uncompressed .wav recordings (24-bit, 48k; EQ, limiter and compressor; and more), then just AirDrop the files into my MacBook and import them to Logic. Now that the iPads are rockin' USB-C ports, I have to use my iPhone XS Max if I wanna keep using the MV-88 and keep the same process.

 

I'm sure you know that your tracking environment has to be as free from unwanted noise as possible, especially if you're able to use a similar method to this. The sound quality of the files, in my experience, is easily managed with some good plug-ins to rectify the 'usual suspects' (plosives, breaths, etc).

 

The only other advice I can give, if you can't or don't wanna use your Saffire, is to look into a smaller interface with at least two preamps and USB connectivity. Lots of possible tools for that job are out there.

 

I'm not aware of any limitations other than available space for all the vox takes you feel you need.

O'Darque, okay thanks for your response, that is exactly the kind of information and insight I was looking for. I will be working in the normal soundproofed studio environment I would normally use, so all the stuff about where I am tracking won't be a variable, just the iPad.

 

As for the soundcard / audio interface, I have a smaller 2 channel interface (NI Komplete Audioo) that I use for usual mobile recording with my Macbook, and am getting an iRig Pre HD, which is essentially a 1 mic pre audio interface with phantom power, in about as small and light a form factor as possible, specifically for use with the iPad

Thanx, SS - great choices on the interfaces; sounds like you have the older iPad if you're gonna use an iRig Pre. Sidenote: Let me know how the Mic Room app works for you; I might get one for me as well, for grins 'n giggles...