Garageband On GS5 ???

musicworld · Oct 19, 2014

Hi, just wondering if anyone knows if it's possible I can install Garageband on my GS5 and connect it to a digital piano to produce MIDI recordings? Had previously done this using a Mac book but no longer in possession of. Could I do the same with the GS5?

LumpyLouis · Oct 20, 2014

Garage Band is Apple's proprietary software. I believe that there are some apps that will allow micro-usb to MIDI but the problem is low latency audio. Android has never been fast enough for real time music processing. In the best case, latency is somewhere around 100ms on late model nexus devices running stock android. This is about as integrated as software/hardware get on our OS. Unfortunately, this problem has been around since day one and was number 2 on Google Code's bug report forums for several years until Google locked the topic thread. There are several reports that proper low latency will be implemented on L, but honestly, I have been chasing down that rabbit hole for many years and finally just gave up and got an iPad to complement my S5. Audio in/out is like 5ms on proper iOS apps. This has been Android's Achilles heel from the start for live music processing.

Maybe someone else is more up to speed on the issue and can convince me to sell my stupid iPad for a Nexus 9 with proper low latency real-time audio processing. I have lost all hope at this point.

musicworld · Oct 21, 2014

Thanks for your response LL, of course I didn't consider latency, how absent minded of me. In that case i may as well wait until I have the money for an Mac Book pro.

mistaj33 · Oct 21, 2014

LL is right, according to Google, Android L will indeed support low-latency recording. I guess we'll have to wait and see if it's true. I plan on upgrading my Nexus 7 next month and trying it out. Will post back with results.

Firewill10 · Oct 22, 2014

Here's something I found. Not sure if it's what u need.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rubycell.pianisthd

LumpyLouis · Oct 22, 2014

mistaj33 said:
LL is right, according to Google, Android L will indeed support low-latency recording. I guess we'll have to wait and see if it's true. I plan on upgrading my Nexus 7 next month and trying it out. Will post back with results.

I did some reading up on L. It seems that devs have latency somewhere in the 20 ms range for audio in/out. This is a pretty remarkable improvement, but unfortunately, not good enough for casual real-time processing. Most users who have played an instrument (most especially keys or percussion) before will notice an unacceptable delay at that speed.

This is not to say that composition is still not possible on our OS. As long as the goal is not live music or real-time processing, like with composition arrangement or production, the software and processing power is definitely there in Android.

Ill keep my eye on future updates. I know some outside developers have had some success in the past (Google: Sonoma Wire Works), and the L release is definitely a step in the right direction.

mistaj33 · Oct 22, 2014

Hrm, well, thanks for the update at least. I agree that it's a big step in the right direction. Unfortunately, I mainly want to use my tablet for multi-track recording of guitar. 20 ms isn't going to cut it. I need like <6-7 ms to do what i want. Guess I'm stuck using my PC for recording until they can figure it out.

Garageband On GS5 ???

musicworld

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LumpyLouis

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musicworld

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mistaj33

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Firewill10

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LumpyLouis

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mistaj33

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