I think I need an iPad??

Got Logic Remote? Works with Logic and Garageband... its free too.

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/logic-remote/id638394624

 

The only downside to getting an ipad when you use a pc is that you miss having all your files accessible from all your devices.
The complaints about apple using proprietary tech is as much jealousy about the system as it is because Gibson necks are hard to fit on Fender guitars.
An iphone can actually do a lot of what an ipad can do, though the little screen is obviously less work friendly due to being little.
I record my guitar on my iphone every day and the files are then on my ipad mini in a few minutes.
I do pay for a big cloud storage though.
Handy tools.

 

I have a 7 year old iPad Air original bought for the Logic Remote app.

I’ve hardly ever used it for that but for GB and general messing about. It still works fine but has got slower which could be for a multitude of reasons.

Buying a 2 year old model on the cheap won’t let you down because it’s 2 year’s old. Get one with lots of RAM. WiFi version is fine.

You will need an interface and expect to pay as much for one of these as for the iPad itself.

It’s the best writing tool ever. Probably.

 

I got the 1 terabite iPad Pro about 2 months ago. I cost a fortune but, I think it cant be beat for recording. I have used Auria Pro for about 7 years now and the new iPad works great with Auria. Plenty of memory and processing power. The larger screen is great for waveform editing etc,. The work flow with an iPad is something a PC cant touch. My wife can just run it from the vocal booth and just flies through multiple vocal tracks in no time. It keeps the energy and flow going which is killer important. The Apple Pencil is too cool!!!

 

onedrive, Google Drive, Office 365 and office apps, Dropbox.. all there. You can choose to keep files on or offline.

Just google drived recordings from auria on ipad to Google cloud to pick up on mac. Learn the iOS file manager.. you can share with most any app you install. There are specialist music sharing apps and you can usually upload to soundcloud direct.

 

I only use it with iRealbook but all the old iPad or iPhones I have still work for play along... haven’t tried any recording features though. I like that they all still sync to the speakers I have so I turn them on to practice with.

 

I think you will be happy with it. I have a 32 gb iPad Pro that is a few years old and still works like a champ.

There is a cool, free program for it called music memo that allows you to record something, then set the start and end point to loop it, then have the program add bass and drums. It is a great recording app and you can export everything as discrete tracks from music memo right into garage band.

I also use it to manage my band's playlist with an app called On Song. You can import tabs into it or write your own and then set it up to scroll like a teleprompter.

 

I love using the iPad as a remote control when recording myself singing or playing mic'ed up acoustic guitar into my DAW. The Splashtop remote app is free if you're only using on the same WiFi network, and works great to control the PC via the iPad. And the Apple Pencil makes hitting tiny points on the screen (like the DAW's recording button) so much easier. I also use a Bluetooth keyboard to type in the beginning and ending bars for looping takes to be comped.

I've been using the Simply Piano app to slowly (and painfully) learn to play the keyboard beyond the basic block chord shapes I already know. I use the voice memo app on the iPad to record scratch guitar tracks all the time when I come up something on the spur of the moment and don't want to forget it. But over the summer, my wife and I have occasionally rented houses for the weekend, since neither of us have a great desire to fly during the Covid outbreak. Since I've had an RME Fireface UCX and an Oxygen 8 Keyboard for ages, on the next upcoming trip, I think I'm going throw (err, gently place) the Fireface, the keyboard and my Fender Strat on the backseat and record more fleshed out demos in Garageband, if only to experiment more with the program:

 

I love Drummer. iPad GB has more or less the same drummer as Mac GB. So much fun. Easy to get drum parts fast. Without mess.

Gimme Logan, playing Stillwater, whatever tempo I'm in the mood for. Soft and simple verse, loud and complex chorus, no cymbals for bridge. Boom, drum track 95% to 100% done. Throw a bass track on with the fake bass instrument and jam out for hours. Then add orchestra and sitar and crazy it up. Fun.

I'm PC Android but I'll get another iPad just for music. Apple hit where I live in terms of mobile music and if you need, it's possible if clunky to export stems in wav or mp3 to get serious with it.

Camera kit with Rocksmith cable or USB interface works too. I can do good enough vox with zoom h4n XLR plus built ins into iPad with camera kit.

That alone would be worth the cost for me. Plus Loopy, MS word plus bt keyboard, zoom, to work in a pinch, and other features of a tablet. And for all the issues with Apple's overall philosophy build and battery life are great.

It's hard t imagine being unhappy with an iPad for music, EXCEPT by getting an older one. I have old ones around and they can do GB but not a recent enough version to have drummer. That would be missing the best part.

 

I've exported (or converted, I forget which) WAV files out of Garageband. I figure worse comes to worst, whatever MIDI recording I'll do on Garageband, I can always send it out as a WAV, and then convert it back to MIDI in my DAW via Melodyne. Or just replay it.

 

Although I rarely use GarageBand on the iPad, when I have it functions fine with no issues. I might start a recording there and export it to Logic but sometimes it's great on it's own. You can buy a bluetooth keyboard for it. As to screen size, folks had much less on the standalone portastudios and all-in-one digital workstations.
It works well for some folks as it is.

All computers become obsolescent. My daughter is still rocking a 2011 MacBook Air. It doesn't support some of the new software but it still functions. It will run circles around my neighbors 7 year old Dell laptop. Both need to be replaced because there is better technology. Eventually they'll die. I have a new iPad but I also have a functioning 3rd gen iPad. It doesn't run iOS13 but it's still plenty functional. I don't find a whole lot of limitations compared to a PC or a Mac other than running power intensive programs like audio and video editing (or engineering for work). You are correct that you buy it for what it is.
I think Jobs made this point when it was introduced and he kept referencing the post PC world. He compared mobile devices like the iPad to a car and a PC/Mac to a truck. Most folks don't need a truck. They just need a car to get them from point A to point B.
I teach mobile devices in an adult ed program sponsored by the local college. I have helped a number of folks convert from a PC to an iPad. They get an iPad, wireless keyboard, (pencil if they want to do art), and a wireless printer. They can do spreadsheets, banking, word processing, photo editing, email, web browsing, etc.

 

For what my humble opinion is worth . . . it sounds like you know what you're getting into, so good luck. Will be interesting to learn how you go with your music.

On my side, we've learned the hard way that iPads do die, all at once, and take everything with them. The older the iPad, the sooner this seems likely to happen.

My own approach is to buy the newest item with the greatest amount of grunt that I can afford, take care of it, and expect to keep it a good long while via updates, upgrades etc. Unlike the iPad, I can easily slot various external drives or even a new hard drive into my beast of a laptop, and keep all my apps and files. That said, I run a business off it, so we're looking at different requirements. But still.

As a last thought, I wouldn't buy a used computer or similar device from a stranger, any more than I'd buy a used toothbrush. In either case, they could have some horrible stuff lingering in them, and by the time you found out you could be in all varieties of trouble. ;-)

Again, good luck. Sounds an interesting project.

 

I use my iPad for playing and recording a lot

Playing: I have JamUp Pro from Positive Grid. I think it cost $30, includes effects and amp simulations, tuner, looper, phrase trainer etc. Makes it easy to import a song and then try and play along / learn phrases etc and the sounds are pretty good to my ears.

Recording. I often start new songs on Garageband on the iPad. I like how intuitive it is. It as not as heavy as opening up logic. You can focus on the music more easily.

Only one thing bugs the **** out of me. The iPad has a pretty decent internal mic, but it isn't possible to use it for recording as once you plug headphones in (e.g. to get a click track) the audio is routed to the bottom connector (USB-C in my case). This drives me mad, as an acoustic guitar, set of headphones and an iPad would be the perfect lightweight and portable musical sketchpad, but it is not possible to do. All you can do is record a single track with no headphone monitoring, so no click. So you need an interface to plug into and if you want to record acoustically you also need a separate mic. All because of a dumb software decision.

But even given this, I still love the iPad experience, also Live Loops for doing more electronic type music. Like this:


Somebody above said the camera adapter kit method did not work. I can confirm that at least on iPad 2, with the old 30 pin connector it did work and I used to connect to an M Audio Fastrack interface and recorded a lot of music that way 5...10 years ago. But perhaps it no longer works? My current setup with iPad Pro is just a USB-C powered hub and the Fastrack.

At some point I move the iPad Garageband project into Logic on the mac and that's where I usually finish the track. During this phase I use Logic Remote on the iPad, which connects via WiFi to Logic on the Mac. This gives you lots of MIDI controller functions for different software instruments, including things like chord strips and autoplay features that are super useful if you don't play keyboards. When mixing also get to move faders and knobs on the touchscreen rather than using your mouse, which also feels nice. You can also move a project back from Logic onto the iPad and use the iPad to do e.g. real-time effects on it, but I haven't done so much of that.

In summary, I feel phenomenally lucky to have access to an iPad and a Mac, to run this Garageband / Logic based musical workflow. It's great.

If I had to choose one device to use out of the two, I think it would be the iPad.

 

I have an old iPAD Model MD510LL/A, Ver 10.3.3. I bought it second hand from the private school where my son taught...~5yrs ago? It is okay for most internet stuff and I use it for Zoom...but it is beginning to get finicky and slowing down, so I suspect the end is near. Meh, it had a good run and it has been nice, but I won't replace it. Get the newest one you can afford...but, as many have said, it is not a computer.