How to connect the guitar (bass) to the iPhone to practice with the iRealBook player?

[ghodaddyyo]

Hello, new to the forums. I love this app.

Regarding the iRig, that's the first thing I bought when I picked up a new iPhone. I love portable solutions for guitar practice. iRig is just an interface to hook a guitar into the iPhone. You will need some kind of amp simulator app to get a processed sound. For that, I picked up Ampltube for iPhone which is a pretty good amp sim. Only problem is, you cannot multi-task to run both the iRealbook and Amplitube at the same time. This completely bummed me out. I'll have iRealbook playing a chart, which continues to play as I use the multi-tasking function to launch Amplitube. However, once Amplitube launches, iRealbook goes into a "suspend" mode and stops playing. All the phones resources are used to run the foreground app, Amplitube. The same scenarion happens when you open Amplitube first, then launch iRealbook. Like I said, that was a real dissappointment to me as I was really hoping to jam over iRealbook without hooking up further gadgets, defeating the mobile aspect I intended. I can already play along with BIAB on my computer and Line 6 interface. I was hoping I'd have something portable to sit on the porch, by the fireplace, or for travel.

I'm hoping that some solutions are found, either from Apple or the 3rd party app developers to accomodate this. I already understand the concerns about battery drain, but I know how to watch my battery meter.

Other than that, I love the app! I've plugged it into my practice amp (not exactly mobile) and it sounds great! Even better than BIAB which has latency/stuttering problems on my old dog computer.

[dflat]

....All the phones resources are used to run the foreground app, Amplitube. ...

does this mean you cannot listen to your MP3s at the same time as using Amplitude?

[ghodaddyyo]

Yes. I just tried it as a test. I launched iPod, pick a song, let it play, launch Amplitube using the multi-tasker function, and the iPod stops playing the song once Amplitube is fully started.

Amplitube does have a function where you can wifi transfer a song from your computer into the app to jam along with it. I think its a pretty roundabout way to get an mp3 into the app that already resides in my iPhones music library.

Update to this... IK MultiMedia released an update that now allows you to transfer up to 50 songs from your iPod library. Also in the update is the ability to record a track (expandable to 4 tracks as a purchased add on) and the addition of a speed trainer that allows you to loop a portion of a song and manipulate the speed.

[dflat]

Ampkit updated:
http://agilepartners.com/
update includes multitasking support (audio in background)

[RV35Guib]

Ampkit updated:
http://agilepartners.com/
update includes multitasking support (audio in background)

Hello,
Does this means that I can use Ampkit+ 1.2 on my iPhone 4 with iReal B in background ?

[dflat]

Hello,
Does this means that I can use Ampkit+ 1.2 on my iPhone 4 with iReal B in background ?

Yes should work - just tested it on iPad. You have to have Multitasking ON in Ampkit (I had Settings>Background audio ON in iReal b) and can change amps in Ampkit etc. Fun.

[Lyle]

I've read through the thread, and have a couple of questions:

If you don't need amp modeling or effects, the easiest solution would seem to be an external headphone amp like the Vox Amplug or PocketRocket. In this case, iRB runs as the only task on IOS, and the iRB output is mixed with the instrument in the external box. Sound right?

If you want amp modeling etc, the iRig or Ampkit Link will send the instrument signal into the iPhone where it gets processed and mixed with the mp3 or iRB output. OK so far?

In the second case, either the iRig or Ampkit Link can be used with iRB playing, as long as you have the new version of the Ampkit app. Yes/No? Either of these hardware choice preferable?

Other hardware options are popping up:
* Line-6 Mobile In
* Sonoma WireWorks Guitar Jack 2
* Alesis iO Dock
These seem focused on recording, but anyone tried them for just practicing?

Thanks....Lyle