Making music on an iPad
Tin Pan Rhythm was designed to plug into the wider iOS music setup: it supported Audiobus, Inter-App Audio, Dropbox, AudioCopy and AudioShare.1 Two of the tools in that setup are still the usual starting point.
GarageBand
Apple's GarageBand for iPhone and iPad comes with Touch Instruments (keyboards, guitars, bass and traditional instruments such as the guzheng and koto), Live Loops, where you tap cells in a grid to trigger loops, and a Sound Library of free loops, instruments and Producer Packs.2
Audiobus
Audiobus routes live audio and MIDI between music apps on iOS, so you can play one app through another app's effects, layer performances and mix sources. Setups can be saved and shared as presets, and the developers say it supports well over a thousand compatible apps.3
| Tool | What it is for |
|---|---|
| GarageBand | Instruments, loops and recording in one app2 |
| Audiobus | Connecting several apps into one signal chain3 |
What you listen on matters as much as the app: see listening gear.