Madddcow

Q: Mainstage setup with iPad for BOTH Wi-Fi

Hi guys

I often use the iOS ForScore and MIDI Designer apps on my iPad Pro at different gigs to change MainStage patches and general controls and have always connected my iPad and MacBook Pro via an ad-hoc WIFI connection using OS X MIDI Network.  However, I encountered a situation at a gig this past weekend whereby the WIFI connection with my iPad kept disconnecting; I can only assume it was due to WIFI congestion at the club where I was playing.  I tried changing WIFI channels but with time constraints, I couldn't find a usable channel during my break.  As a side-issue, the iPad <> MacBook Pro connection always disconnects during my breaks and this must be due to some form of OS X MIDI Network time-out that I've never been able to resolve. This means that I always need to keep an eye on the MIDI Network connection and to be honest, it's a pain in the arse.

 

In any case, I've decided that I need to have a redundant lightning cable-based connection method between my iPad and MBP but it needs to use OS X MIDI Network because a number of controls in my concert are configured to use bi-directional communication via MIDI Network....if I have to switch to a cable connection due to a WIFI issue, I won't have time to go into Layout Mode and change all the hardware input settings for my screen controls i.e. "MIDI Port" and "Send Value To" settings.  These are currently set to the default "Session 1 Network" value.

 

My issue is this: I can't seem to find a method to connect my iPad to my MacBook Pro that can use both wired or WIFI connectivity that uses OS X MIDI Network, except for creating a 3G hotspot on my iPad and sharing this with my MBP.  This works and no settings in my MainStage concert need changing but this method also uses 3G data (even with a lightning cable connection) and that can get expensive.

 

Does anyone know of a way to connect an iOS device to a MacBook Pro using OS X MIDI Network that can use both a lightning cable AND WIFI?

 

Cheers

Gary

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014), OS X Yosemite (10.10.5), MOTU Ultralite Mk 3 (Firewire only)

Posted on Jun 19, 2016 8:59 PM