If you’re considering a mobile music recording solution for your iPad, then you’re in luck. Things have come a long way with iPad DAW recording apps in just a short time. While recording software for PCs and laptops are called DAWs or Digital Audio Workstations, I believe these new iPad DAWs will be referred to as Mobile Music Workstations or Mobile Audio Workstations. Whatever we’re calling them, the recent release of FL Studio Mobile HD by Image Line and more recently the native iPad release of BeatMaker 2 by INTUA are game-changers for providing near-complete solutions for mobile music recording.
iPad DAW examples
I say near-complete because currently none of these mobile music workstations has everything. For example GarageBand is currently the only app that allows you to record an audio track from the built-in iPad microphone, but it’s lacking time signatures other than 4/4 and it doesn’t allow for piano roll MIDI note editing. Likewise, BeatMaker 2 which is the most complete mobile music workstation lacks the ability to record audio tracks. BeatMaker 2 does allow you to record audio into it’s drum or keyboard sampler for playback, but this isn’t very useful if you’re a singer/songwriter.
Since there are increasingly more iPad mobile DAWs available and their feature sets may not be so clear, I’ve created a comparison chart below to give you an idea of their various capabilities. The DAWs mentioned below are not to be confused with the various loop-based music apps for the iPad such as Looptastic HD or the synth-based sequencer apps such as KORG iELECTRIBE. I specifically wanted to focus on music recording apps that allow you to create and record your own original music and not simply loop or remix existing recorded material.
Note: Use the page arrows or the “show entry” pull-down menu to see all of the entries.
| BeatMaker 2 | FL Studio Mobile HD | GarageBand | Music Studio | iSequence HD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $19.99 | $14.99 | $4.99 | $14.99 | $14.99 |
| iOS Device | iPad / Universal | iPad | iPad | iPad / Universal | iPad |
| Version Compared | 2.1.1 | 1.1 | 1.0.1 | 1.6.1 | 2.2 |
| INSTRUMENTS | |||||
| Built-in Instrument / Drum Presets | 179 | 133 | 94 | 40 | 160 |
| Built-in Loops | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| In-App Instrument / Loop Purchase | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Create Custom Sampled Instruments | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Sample / Loop Editor | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Built-in Touch Keyboard / Drum Pads | Yes | Yes | Yes | Keyboard Only | Yes |
| MIDI and Audio Record | |||||
| CoreMIDI / Line 6 Midi / Akai Synthstation | CoreMIDI | CoreMIDI | CoreMIDI | All | None |
| Audio Built-in Mic Record | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| SEQUENCER | |||||
| Track Limit | Unlimited | 99 | 8 | 128 | 8 |
| Time Signatures | 2/4 - 19/4 | 2/4 - 7/4 | 4/4 | 2/4 - 7/4 | 4/4 |
| Move / Copy / Paste / Transpose Sequences | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Piano Roll Editor | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Step Sequencer | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| MIXER / FX | |||||
| Volume/ Mute / Solo per Track | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Configurable Master FX (Reverb, Delay, Etc.) | 10 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 5 |
| Individual Track FX | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| FILE TRANSFER | |||||
| .MIDI and .WAV Import / Export | Yes | Yes | Import: Audio Export: Audio / GarageBand | Yes | Yes |
| WiFi / Email Export | WiFi | WiFi | WiFi / Email | WiFi | |
| AudioCopy / iOS Pasteboard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
iPad DAW conclusions
Lastly, one of the features that make these apps very usable as your only music recording solution is their ability to work with 
an external MIDI controller using CoreMIDI (iSequence is currently not MIDI compatible, but this should change in the next version update). To learn more about how to connect your iPad to a MIDI controller or your computer using MIDI, please read my post titled Using Your iPad as an External Synth or Drum Machine.
More iPad goodies? Check Touchable App for iPad
Loading ...
