Connect to a computer

With RigAstra you can control the software on your computer: a DAW such as Logic Pro, Ableton Live, Cubase or FL Studio, virtual instruments, lighting or visuals software. For that, the computer has to receive the MIDI that RigAstra sends. This chapter explains how to connect it depending on your device and your system.

In every case, the last step is the same: choose the output in Settings > MIDI Outputs > Destination inside RigAstra, and enable the matching MIDI input in your software.

iPhone or iPad with a Mac, by cable

This is the most stable connection, with the lowest latency. Use the same cable you charge your iPhone or iPad with (USB-C or Lightning), and the Mac recognizes it as a MIDI device (IDAM: Inter-Device Audio and MIDI).

1. Connect the iPhone or iPad to the Mac with the cable and unlock it.
2. If the Trust This Computer? alert appears, tap Trust.
3. On the Mac, open Audio MIDI Setup (it's in Applications > Utilities).
4. Choose Window > Show Audio Devices. Your iPhone or iPad appears in the list on the left: click Enable.
5. In RigAstra, go to Settings > MIDI Outputs > Destination and check the Mac output, which appears as [USB]. If it isn't there, tap Scan Outputs.
6. In your DAW, enable the MIDI input named after your iPhone or iPad.

If you unplug the cable, you may have to click Enable again in Audio MIDI Setup when you plug it back in. RigAstra remembers your destination and uses it again as soon as it reappears.

iPhone or iPad with a Mac, over Wi-Fi

Useful when you don't want cables. Latency is somewhat higher than by cable, and it depends on your network.

1. Connect the iPhone or iPad and the Mac to the same Wi-Fi network.
2. Open RigAstra. The first time, when the app asks for access to the local network, tap Allow.
3. On the Mac, open Audio MIDI Setup and choose Window > Show MIDI Studio.
4. Double-click Network. Under My Sessions, create a session with + if you don't have one, and check its box to enable it.
5. Your iPhone or iPad appears under Directory. Select it and click Connect.
6. In RigAstra, go to Settings > MIDI Outputs > Destination and check the network session, which appears as [NET].
7. In your DAW, enable the MIDI input with the network session's name.

Over the network, RigAstra sends Start and Stop but not MIDI Clock pulses, so as not to flood the network. If you need your DAW to follow RigAstra's tempo precisely, use the cable. See Tempo and clock.

iPhone or iPad with Windows

Windows doesn't recognize an iPhone or iPad as a MIDI device over the charging cable. You have two options.

Over Wi-Fi, with rtpMIDI

1. On the computer, install rtpMIDI (free, by Tobias Erichsen).
2. Connect the computer and the iPhone or iPad to the same network.
3. Open RigAstra and, if asked, allow access to the local network.
4. Open rtpMIDI. Under My Sessions, create a session with + and enable it.
5. Your iPhone or iPad appears under Directory. Select it and click Connect.
6. In RigAstra, go to Settings > MIDI Outputs > Destination and check the [NET] network session.
7. In your DAW, enable the MIDI input with the rtpMIDI session's name.

If the iPhone doesn't appear under Directory, check that Windows Firewall allows rtpMIDI to use private networks.

With a USB MIDI interface

1. Connect a USB MIDI interface to the iPhone or iPad. Depending on the connector, you need a USB-C to USB or a Lightning to USB adapter.
2. With a MIDI cable, connect that interface's output to the MIDI input of your computer's interface.
3. In RigAstra, choose the interface in Settings > MIDI Outputs > Destination.

With this option, MIDI Clock does get through in full.

Android phone or tablet with a computer

Android can work as a MIDI device connected over USB, on both Mac and Windows, without installing anything.

1. Connect the phone or tablet to the computer with its USB cable.
2. On the phone, open the USB notification (for example, Charging this device via USB) and, under Use USB for, choose MIDI.
3. In RigAstra, go to Settings > MIDI Outputs > Destination and choose the phone's USB port.
4. On the computer, the phone appears as a MIDI device (on the Mac you can see it in Audio MIDI Setup). Enable that input in your DAW.

Many phones go back to charging mode every time you unplug the cable: repeat step 2 when you reconnect. On some models you can set MIDI as the default in Developer options > Default USB configuration.

Bluetooth

RigAstra sends MIDI to Bluetooth devices already paired in the system, but it doesn't advertise itself as a Bluetooth device to a computer. For the computer, use the cable or Wi-Fi.

If MIDI doesn't arrive

• Check that the destination is checked in Settings > MIDI Outputs > Destination and that the control's channel matches the one your software expects.
• In the DAW, the input must be enabled and the track must be armed or have monitoring on.
• If you changed cables or networks, tap Scan Outputs.
• More cases in Troubleshooting.