New IMN Podcast and Fun Loopy Goodness

The new IMN Podcast is up - download it or listen at the site or on WFYI HD2, Thursdays at 4pm and 10pm.

I'd been playing with the Everyday Looper on the iPad for a bit, and it's a useful tool (especially the ability to arm tracks and import music loops). As much as they tried to customize the touchscreen for two-handed players, though, it could be a little awkward to play and loop at the same time. One of their recent updates added MIDI control for start, stop, and record functions, though. And then I paired it with the iPad's Camera Connection Kit and the SoftStep foot controller. So, for the full setup, that's the SoftStep going into the USB port on the 30-pin connection, and the bass going into an iRig in the headphone jack.

Success! The app took MIDI controls quite easily - I'm using the SoftStep in Toggle mode to trigger the looper, and the Everyday Looper accepts multiple commands for the same control. So you enter both the 0 and 127 levels of the toggle for start, stop, and record, and you're good to go. That way, there's no double-tapping the button to get the desired effect. The added benefit that I didn't even plan was that every new record attempt automatically bounces to the next track. You're never recording over the stuff you've already recorded.

I'd love to see future updates use the X-Y capabilities of the SoftStep to handle volume on the looped tracks, but that can wait - I'm having too much fun now.