I’m currently building my first pedalboard (bass guitar). I have never used a MIDI controller so this is all new to me, but I plan to buy one to manage presets on the Source Audio Ultrawave and C4 Synth pedals I’ve bought (but not yet opened). The new MC4 Pro has my attention due to its smaller size. I also ordered an AirTurn pedal to turn pages on my iPad (via Bluetooth) for my bass tablature, but now I’m wondering if I can just use the MC4 for that functionality and save the money and space the AirTurn would have taken.
I’ve read certain iOS apps (like ForScore) support MIDI page turns, but can I also do keystroke-based page turns on apps like Notes or OneNote using the MC4? I intend to have the MC4 connected to a USB hub with the Source Audio pedals and have the hub connected to my iPad via USB-C. And if no keystroke-based page turns, does anyone know of other iPad apps that support MIDI page turns?
ForScore and OnSong are the most commonly-used apps. You can use MIDI commands AND keystrokes for page turns with forScore BUT to use keystrokes, you must be connected via USB.
MobileSheets is also good. Many music-reading apps support MIDI for page turns.
Thanks. So if I’m connected to the MC4 via USB, can I assign keystrokes to foot switches, which would allow me page up/page down functionality in all IPad apps that support those two key combos (Fn + down arrow, Fn + up arrow)? The Morningstar Editor allows assignment of keyboard shortcuts to switches?
Yes, you can assign keystrokes to presets/switches. However, I’ve just seen that Fn key isn’t supported….are you sure that you specifically need the Fn key and that Page Up and Page Down aren’t sufficient on their own?
Good question. My Mac keyboard has Page Up/Page Down keys but the smaller Apple keyboard I use with my iPad does not, so I’ve never tried an actual Page Up/Page Down key in iOS apps.
UPDATE: I tested my Apple Extended keyboard and the Page Up/Page Down keys do work on the iPad, at least in OneNote.
Can you bind a keystroke to switch action on the Morningstar, like single tap for Page Down and double tap for Page Up? Or is a switch limited to single tap/single action?
You can bind different keystrokes to different actions. But you would need to configure a release and a double tap, instead of a press and a double tap.
There’s a dedicated iOS app for the editor. Just search for “Morningstar engineering” or “Morningstar midi editor” in the iOS App Store. You can connect your controller directly to your iPad via USB cable, or you can use the MC4 Pro built-in Bluetooth to connect to the iPad. However, note that the controller uses Bluetooth MIDI and as such, it uses a different connection protocol as opposed to “regular” Bluetooth. See the following link for instructions…it refers to the MC8 Pro but it is exactly the same as the MC4 Pro. Bluetooth Connection to the Editor | Morningstar Engineering