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Introduction
Many beginners in music production hesitate to buy a MIDI keyboard because of the cost, even though having a MIDI controller can significantly streamline the composition workflow. Wouldn’t it be convenient if the tablet you already own could act as a MIDI controller?
In this article, we’ll cover how to turn a mobile device (specifically an iPad) into a wireless MIDI controller. We’ll start by introducing some iPad MIDI apps, then explain how to configure the computer side, and finally do a quick test to confirm everything works.
iPad Setup
App Download
You’ll need an app that can send MIDI signals. Here are a few options:
| App | Platform | Price | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| WiFiMIDI | iOS/iPadOS | Free | A MIDI controller with keyboard, drum pads, and control signal sending. Transmits MIDI over the same Wi-Fi network to DAWs like GarageBand or Reason. |
| Lemur | iOS/iPadOS | $24.99 USD | A MIDI/OSC controller for iOS. |
| TouchOSC | iOS/iPadOS | $4.99 USD | Lets you add knobs and custom controls on a touch interface. Compatible with iOS 5.1.1 and later. |
The following guide uses WiFiMIDI (free) as the example.
Computer Setup
Make sure your iPad and computer are on the same Wi-Fi network before proceeding!
macOS
| Step | Screenshot |
|---|---|
| 1. Open Audio MIDI Setup |  |
| 2. Go to Window > Show MIDI Studio |  |
| 3. In the MIDI Studio window, click the 🌐 button in the top-right to open MIDI Network Setup |  |
| 4. Click + in the top-left to add a new session, then check it |  |
| 5. Select your device (iPad) and click Connect |  |
| 6. Configure the MIDI input device in your DAW |  |
Windows
| Step | Screenshot |
|---|---|
| 1. Download and install rtpMIDI |  |
| 2. Open rtpMIDI: using Apple Bonjour |  |
| 3. Click + in the top-left to create a new session and check it |  |
4. Click + in the bottom-left to add a destination. Enter the iPad’s IP address (found under Wi-Fi settings) and set Port to 5004 |  |
| 4.1 Note: check the iPad’s IP address under Wi-Fi settings |  |
| 5. Click Connect |  |
| 6. Configure the MIDI input device in your DAW | Same as macOS Step 6 |
Testing
Test Environment
- Devices: MacBook Pro 2020 (13-inch, 16GB) / iPad Air 4
- OS: macOS Monterey v12.4 / iPadOS 15.5
- DAW: Reaper v6.57
Result
| iPad | MacBook (Reaper) | |
|---|---|---|
| Screenshot |  |  |
| Description | Sending MIDI via WiFiMIDI | DAW receiving MIDI signal (yellow bar) |
Conclusion
In this article, we showed how to turn an iPad into a wireless MIDI controller using the rtpMIDI protocol. We tested the method on both Windows and macOS and confirmed it works on both platforms.
Although this guide focuses on iPad, the same approach applies to Android devices by swapping out the iPad app for an Android equivalent (just replace the app in the iPad setup section with an Android MIDI app).