Ricky EngerMar 2
after all the #movuary posts, I have questions about whether it makes sense for me to #MoveIntoMusic, or something. I have a birthday coming up and this seems intriguing. Here's my situation. I've played an instrument before but my skills are quite basic and I have almost no experience making multi-track things. Not looking to set the world on fire, just want a fun creative outlet. I'm playing with Ableton Note right now, and it's fun save for how difficult it is to play what I want using the on-screen pads. Questions: I have very little space, i.e. could I play this thing on my lap?
I don't have an external midi controller (see also lack of space) but given my current skill level, would the onboard pads likely be enough?
I'm fine with a learning curve, but am curious how much I could realistically do almost immediately.
Is something like this overkill for someone starting from my level? If so, what's a more sensible and accessible alternative?
What glaring thing have I not considered but should have?
Show threadScottMar 2
@ricky_enger One other option occurred, get a small MIDI controller hooked up to iOS, that way you could play parts in to Note on a mini piano keyboard, physical drum pads etc. That doesn't have the standalone magic musical doodah factor Move has now that it can actually be used standalone accessibly, but would be just as quick of a way to get you plonking down parts for a lot less money. If you're at all fussy about the speech synth you want to hear, this option might come out ahead too. At the moment there's only ESpeak and Flight speaking on the Move when you want to use it as a purely standalone device.
Show threadBorris

@Scott @ricky_enger Also worth considering:
If you want zero latency monitoring through something that isn't just the phone's speaker, and you also want a MIDI controller, you have a few options:

1. A Bluetooth MIDI controller, with some audio output connected to USB-C.
2. A USB-C hub with built-in audio output, or an audio device plus a MIDI controller connected to the hub.
3. An audio interface with MIDI ports with a controller connected to that, which is then connected to the phone via USB-C.

Want all that plus charging at the same time? Your hub needs power delivery.

Then, on top of that, it's just way more fun having a bunch of buttons and knobs for controlling the device. Automation is certainly possible with Note and a controller with knobs, but you have to first map out what each of the knobs do. You get more tracks and more power, but you sacrifice some of the best things that make Move worth having with Note.

Mar 2 at 3:29pmWeb
Show threadRicky EngerMar 2
@BorrisInABox @Scott Oh, that'll teach me to read all notifications before responding. Yep, that does a nice job of answering some of the questions I had about a setup with a controller. Sounds like there's lots more room in a setup like that for me to misunderstand/break things, though glad to know it's not impossible to do.