20 Mobile musicmaking tips

01 KEEP IT TIDY

You will need to practise good housekeeping and resource management on your iOS device, just like you do on your computer – perhaps even more so. Whereas computers can be upgraded with more RAM, faster hard drives and sometimes even new CPUs, iOS devices can’t, and so the amount of power available to you is determined by the particular device you have. Very broadly speaking, an iPad 3 or newer and an iPhone 5 or newer are the baselines for decent performance – and the newer the better. There are some good rules of thumb to remember; make sure you have a decent amount of storage space free. Force quit apps you’re not using and restart prior to any serious audio work. Switch on Do Not Disturb so you don’t get calls, texts and other notifications in the middle of trying to record.

02 GET A MIDI INPUT DEVICE

Touchscreens are great, but a dedicated MIDI input device will make your life much easier if you work on the move a lot. IK Multimedia makes lots of these: the iRig Pads, Keys and Blueboard in different versions. The company also makes the iRig MIDI, which can be used to connect conventional MIDI gear to your iOS