It’s no secret that I love my iPad and use it for tons of music and music therapy-related purposes, from taking lesson/session notes to organizing and displaying my gig music to teaching my students music theory.
One of the first apps I downloaded when I got my ipad was Garageband, and I’ve used it many times in sessions with music therapy clients. But I never preferred using my Macbook version of Garageband when it came to recording myself and my voice students, because the iPad version was missing one thing: a real microphone.
However, that has changed — all thanks to Bonnie Hayhurst of The Groovy Garfoose. I had no idea that there was a way to connect my beloved Blue Snowball USB microphone (the mic I’ve been using and recommending since 2008) to the iPad, until I read her “12 Apps of Christmas” series. Bonnie featured the Camera Connection Kit for iPad and mentioned that she was using it to connect her Blue Snowball mic and record with GarageBand.
Thanks to this little guy, I’ve been recording up a storm using my iPad. The Camera Connection Kit also comes with an adapter meant to read SD cards, if in fact you actually want to use it for it’s main purpose of transferring photos. It’s SO much easier to record my students with the iPad rather than the laptop, and they love it too!
The next item on my iPad-related wish list is a 1/4 inch adapter for my guitar. I’ve been researching but haven’t decided on one yet…any suggestions? Bonnie? :)
Great post, Rachel! =) I used mine for the first time last month to record a family Christmas CD for my grandparents and I haven’t stopped using it since! I actually prefer to record vocal with my ipad now over my Macbook Pro for it’s ease of use. Not to mention the ipad version of Garage Band gives you all kinds of fab interactive instruments to create original loops with…I’m in technology love! lol
Here is the ipad adapter I use for my guitar…it’s reasonably priced and highly reviewed: http://store.apple.com/us/product/H2169VC/A I’m confident you will love it!
Wow, you two are my techno-gurus! I didn’t know you could plug all this stuff into an iPad! Is it only for the iPad 2 or will they work with iPad 1 as well, do you know? Hm. Thanks for some very interesting stuff, ladies!
I’m almost positive you can use it with both the iPad 1 and 2, Roia. Pretty cool, huh! :)
Yep….you can. I used it with my 1 and I now use it with the 2. =)
Rachel, you should check out the iO Dock by Alesis at http://www.alesis.com/iodock. This will allow you to do whatever you desire to do with the ipad.
Whoa, this looks AMAZING! Thanks so much, James! Also…I am having a total fangirl moment right now. Love your music, and so do my kiddos!