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GMS is a patter based Midi sequencer. It turns your iPad into a mobile brain for your MIDI gear. With GMS you can sequence single patterns or an entire song. GMS handles pattern changes in realtime so you can mix it up DJ style without breaking the groove. GMS send and receives MIDI clock messages so you can use it alongside your drum machines and arpeggiators. It also exports and imports general MIDI files so its easy to integrate with desktop apps.
GMS is fun easy and portable. Whether you want to make music from the couch, in a hotel room or on stage GMS is the right tool for the job. Maybe you are looking to try an alternate studio setup or looking for a sequencer you can bring to band practice. Or maybe you are just looking for an easy to use sequencer or looking to lose the laptop from your setup.
By default, GMS will attempt to connect to any MIDI devices it detects. So if you plug in your MIDI Mobilizer or CCK CoreMIDI device, GMS should start sending MIDI to it right away. If you need to edit your devices or if you want to do Network MIDI, then click on the MIDI icon (it’s the first icon in on the left in the Top Bar. It’s shaped like a MIDI plug). On this page you can edit your settings and toggle which devices GMS is sending MIDI to.
If you wish to slave GMS to external timing sources (such as a drum machine), you can toggle ‘External Clock’. When this is on, GMS will not do anything until it starts receiving Clocks.
NOTE: You cannot use both CoreMIDI and the Line6 MIDI Mobilizer at the same time.
NOTE: Whenever the device setup changes (such as plugging in a USB device), the MIDI icon will flash yellow.
The sequencer page is where you can create new patterns and choose which ones are currently playing. GMS can handle playing up to 16 tracks of MIDI. Each track can have any number of patterns but only one can play at once. The tracks are displayed in the main area, running vertically. You can swipe this area to scroll the tracks.
By default each of the 16 tracks corresponds to the 16 MIDI channels. You can edit which channel a track is sending by clicking ‘i’ (info) for that track. You can have multiple tracks sending on the same channel if you so desire.
To create patterns press the ‘+’ icon. Once created, you can tap a pattern to turn it ‘on’ (meaning it’s currently playing). To edit the playing pattern, press ‘Edit’. You can also tap and hold any pattern to start editing it (even patterns that aren’t playing).
At the bottom of the sequencer page is the Song editor. You will see an on / off button next to the word ‘Song’. When this is off (the default), the cubes at the bottom function as snapshots of all the patterns that are currently playing. You’ll notice that each cube is made up of 16 squares. These squares correspond to the 16 tracks. The color of each square corresponds to the color of the playing pattern. This way you can easily identify your snapshots. Taping the cubes switches between snapshots.
When song mode is ‘On’, GMS will play the cubes in succession, allowing you to create a song. Functionally it’s no different than sequencer views in desktop music apps, just presented much more compactly.
NOTE: Insert will add a new step before the currently selected step. If you wish to paste at the end of the patterns, add a new pattern first.
The pattern page is where you edit patterns. It features the standard ‘Piano Roll’ style interface; Time is on the X axis, and pitch is on the Y axis. Entering notes is easy – just tap to start drawing. A note can be as long as you want – when you reach the edge of the pattern, it will start scrolling to the right so you can keep making it longer. By default, patterns are one bar in length – press the ‘i’ button in the top right to edit the length of the pattern.
!IMPORTANT: GMS uses two finger gestures for scrolling. Tap the piano roll area with two fingers in order to start scrolling. Swipe up, down, left or right to move the view area.
GMS also uses a two-tap gesture for selection. With two hands, tap a few inches apart to start a Box Select. You can imagine that you are drawing a box with your fingers – your fingers represent two opposite corners of the box. Once you have selected some notes, you can use the Copy / Cut / Paste icons on the left side toolbar. You can also tap on a selected note to start dragging the entire group.
GMS’s Piano Roll always scrolls in one bar or one octave increments. This means that notes will always fall in familiar locations and will have you spending less time getting your bearings. Whenever you begin a two-finger gesture, a ‘mini-map’ appears in the top right corner to help you navigate around the pattern. Yellow squares indicate that notes
To change the velocity of notes use the ‘Vel’ slider on the bottom left. Changing this will cause newly drawn notes to have this velocity. If you have notes selected, it will modify their velocity.
Keyboard Control Surface
At the bottom of the pattern page is a tab for the Keyboard control surface. The keyboard can make it easy to enter chords. When you tap a chord on the keyboard, those keys will be selected red. Tapping in the piano roll area will start to draw that chord (you’ll be limited to just drawing the chord).
CC Automation Mode
The top icon on the left toolbar switches between note mode and CC mode. In cc mode you can draw automation curves (just tap in the piano roll area). To switch the CC you are currently drawing and manage a list of CC’s for that MIDI instrument, you can press the CC button (which replaces the ‘Vel’ slider in the lower left). This brings up a popup where you can add new CC’s, edit cc’s and save and load sets of CC’s. The currently selected CC is indicated in blue.
NOTE: Pitch bend and After touch are not technically CC’s, but they are handled here too.
NOTE: If you want a more fine grained CC curve, make the grid smaller (right toolbar). CC’s are snapped to the grid.
Pattern Page Icons
Here’s a run down of all the buttons on the pattern page:
Left Toolbar
Right Toolbar
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