I had given up last week and was about to buy another Apple Pencil. However, I get a blip on my iPad saying the Apple Pencil was low on battery and was still connected!! Knowing that the range of the Apple Pencil isn’t very far, I knew it had to be close to the iPad. After about an hour of searching I found the Apple Pencil inside my couch! I am a GarageBand newbie. I'm working my way through the lessons in the book. I purchased an AKAI MPK Mini, and I have a couple of questions: 1) I can hear the device when I listen through headphones, but when I play a project through my macbook's speakers, I can't hear my device. 2) I can't figure out how to use any of the controls. I have tried to connect my new Akai MPK Mini mk2 with my Ipad Air 1 (iOS 10.3.3) using a lightning to USB 3 camera adapter having my IPad charger connected to the adapter in the additional lightning socket, but the iPad still complians that my Akai MPK Mini requires too much power. SANTA has been quite generous this year - I got a nice AKAI MPK 225 and I prefer it to the Mini as the piano keys really much larger sized. To my surprise, basically none of the iPad DAWs or synths is able to cope with the on-board functions of the MPK - I am able to assign the rotation potentiometers to it, but nothing else really. This video explains how to connect the AKAI MPK Mini MkII (or any other USB Powered midi controller) to an iPad while solving the power issue by using the Ap.
Let’s Multi-Instrument! Bass Rig Keyboard Setup
Connect Akai Mpk Mini To Garageband On Ipad Wireless
Ever since seeing Greta Kline from Porches alternate between bass guitar and bass keyboard duties, I’ve been semi-obsessed with creating a bass rig keyboard setup of my own. Greta plays a Novation Bass Station II. At some point I’d like to try out that keyboard out, but I ended up landing on the Akai MPK Mini MkII keyboard controller, with an iPad brain, and Garageband Keyboards for the software.
I play an Ampeg SVT-VR which has 4 inputs so I got this crazy idea that I should be able to use one of those inputs for the keyboard setup, when I’m not playing bass.
Connect Akai Mpk Mini To Garageband On Ipad Pro
My Bass Rig Keyboard Setup
I selected the Akai Mini because it has both keys and drum pads. It has enough features to be ‘professional’ but is simple enough for a beginner electronic musician such as myself. The final reason I chose it is because you can find them for as little as $20 buck or new for $99. I already had an Apple iPad with Garageband on it so I thought I could have a great keyboard/drum pad set up for about the cost of a round of beers…it’s never that simple.
Getting the iPad to connect the Akai was a nightmare…I easily connected my Android phone and my Macbook Pro to the Akai so I knew the Akai was working.
Here’s all the different crap I tried getting this stuff to work:
- USB hub – Internet says this will work but you need a specific adapter and it will run your iPad out of power.
- Powered USB hub – Internet says this will work, but you still need the same lightning to USB adapter.
- USB A to USB C Adapter – Don’t try this, I lost my mind and thought Apple switched over to USB C. I was able to used it for my phone though.
- USB B to lightning Adapter – Doesn’t work, iPad complains that Akai is drawing too much power.
- Apple Lightning to USB Camera Adapter – WINNER WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER!
The Remedy
In the end I recommend using the Apple Lightning to USB Camera Adapter because this is the simplest, least expensive, working solution. This adapter converts USB A to lightening and delivers power to the iPad. Any solution involving a hub, also requires a USB to Lightening adaptor…even if you think it doesn’t, it does.
If I end up loving this set up, I may switch the iPad with a iPod Touch that is dedicated to running Garageband. This would make my set up even more simple and compact.
My Setup Bass Rig Keyboard Setup:
- Multi-input Bass Amp