I finally got my iPad Pro (First version) to talk MIDI with GP on an M1 MacBook Pro. I was having trouble, moved from ForScore to MobileSheets and it didn’t solve it, but it has (mostly) better MIDI support. Note that I’m using Wi-Fi for now, and I have an Ethernet dongle for the iPad arriving Friday.
Step 0 could be to set fixed IP addresses on your Mac and iPad for the network that you will use. It might be over a wired IP connection or through a Wi-Fi router that is not connected to the Internet that you use for gigging. A fixed IP address is helpful when discovery fails.
Step 1 is to set up MIDI over IP on the Mac.
- Open Audio MIDI Setup
- Show the MIDI Studio window
- Open MIDI Network Setup
- Create (+) a Session in “My Sessions”
- Change the name to represent the other end, so “iPad”, “MobileSheets”, or something like that.
- Set it so that “Anyone” can connect.
- Launch MobileSheets on the iPad. Hopefully, 'iPad" will show up in the directory. (It seems that iPad is the default name that can’t be changed on MobileSheets.)
- Select iPad and connect it. (If it doesn’t show up, create a connection to the IP address and name it “iPad-IP”, then connect it.)
- The only Participant should be the iPad.
- Enable the session by checking the check box.
GigPerformer will now have access to a MIDI connection called “iPad” or “MobileSheets”, depending on what you called it.
Step 2
- In MobileSheets on the iPad, go to a score, touch it, and you should see a gear/setup icon in the lower right. Click it.
- Click MIDI Settings.
- Click Configure MIDI Connections.
- Select Wi-Fi. (Maybe I’ll get an Ethernet button when I get my dongle?)
- Enable “Network Session 1” for both the input and output ports. If you get any errors, reboot everything, restart MobileSheets, and ensure that the connection is active on the Mac.
- Go back to a score and select the marker? cigar? icon in the upper left.
- Select the MIDI tab.
- Click the + button to add a command.
- Label it “PC”
- Command Type: Program Change.
- Inout and Output ports: Network Session 1.
- Set the command to something unique for that score. Let’s start with 0 and repeat this process for a second score with command = 1.
- Enable both Send and Receive and hit OK.
- Go back to the score.
You might think that you can now go to GigPerformer and get things to quickly work, but you’d be wrong. You could set up a monitor, but you won’t see the program change when you select the scores. On to…
Step 3, GigPerformer.
- Go to Options|Global MIDI
- Enable the “iPad” network connection in the Program Change Control secrtion.
- I enabled “Only accepte program changes messages” on channel 1.
- Enable MIDI Song select to PC and use MIDI Channel 1.
- Go to the Setlist option. Enable PC and Next/Prebious MIDI assignments switches to Setlist view automatically.
- Set the MIDI Out Device to Network iPad on Channel 1.
- Go to the MIDI Ports option window and make sure that your Network iPad connection is enable.
- Go to the setlist.
- Double-click a Song.
- Enable Send program change number when song activates.
- Set PC # to 1. Bank MSB and LSB stay at 0.
- Repeat for a second song, setting its PC # to 2.
That’s it. You should now be able to select songs in MobileSheets or in GigPerformer and have the two programs and devices sync’d.
Mobile sheets has some limitations. The name is simply “iPad” and the connection is simply “Network Session 1”. Also, it doesn’t seem to implement the Bank MSB and LSB, which severely limits the number of songs available. Frankly, this seems weird, as the developer is sensitive to having a huge collection of scores and pages. I expect that he will address this before long.
Overall, I much prefer an iPad in front of me for performing. I had a setup that held a laptop, but it blocked much of my view and was clunky.
Also, separating GigPerformer from the score view makes some sense. I might have a ton of piano scores that all select PC1 for a song on GP called “Piano”. I might do the same for Rhodes and B3 organ. But I might also have specific songs with lots of Song Parts and Variations, but it keeps GP focused on sounds and MobileSheets to focus on presentation.
I will also use the mod wheel control to advance pages, but first, get the song selections to work.There are lots of presentation options for MobileSheets, so that’s a whole 'nother topic.