iPad Bluetooth connection

General user help and bug reports for Playground Sessions for iPad tablets
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johhanna
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2016 1:05 pm

iPad Bluetooth connection

Post by johhanna » Sat Mar 11, 2017 6:58 pm

So I just got the Yamaha P115 and I love it! I have no problem connecting with my cable, but I would love to be able to wirelessly connect to Playground so I can charge at the same time. I can't quite decide how to go about that and I am wondering what has worked for people and what I need to buy for success :)

Thanks!

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sw1tch73ch
Posts: 539
Joined: Tue Oct 18, 2016 1:23 pm

Re: iPad Bluetooth connection

Post by sw1tch73ch » Sat Mar 11, 2017 8:51 pm

Yamaha has a Bluetooth connector, but I don't know if the P-115 is compatible with it. I should buy one to see if my ancient YPG-635 will work with it. But I'm not wealthy enough for the experiment if it doesn't work. :shock:

However! On the iPad, you can get a "Camera Connection Kit" that includes a charging pass through. I have one for the iPad I nearly never use that does exactly that. I got it straight from Apple to be sure I got one that works. A lot of the Third Party connectors don't do the job. The one I have was $40 and works very well.

Sadly, my digital piano is not "Class Compliant" - I don't think that even existed in 2010 when I bought it. So the iPad and my Android tablet can't see my piano. They will see my Yamaha PSR-E353 (a nice 61 key instrument I intended my daughter to use, but she decided against!). The keys are the soft mushy "Synth Action" type and I really prefer the weighted key action.

The cable I have for the iPad is this one:
http://www.apple.com/shop/product/MK0W2 ... r?fnode=91

You can plug the USB MIDI cable to the adapter and a Lightning power charger at the same time. This of course assumes your iPad is one that uses the lightning connection. If you have the older 30 pin "Fat" connector I'm not sure if Apple sells a Camera Connection kit that allows simultaneous charging for those. I didn't find one.
== Just keep playing. Just keep playing. Just keep playing, playing, playing! ==

-- jbs --

GeorgeA
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Aug 15, 2017 6:12 am

Re: iPad Bluetooth connection

Post by GeorgeA » Fri Sep 01, 2017 5:11 pm

Hi,

I use the Yamaha BT01 with my P-115 and my iPad Air 2. It works fine, except I normally have to connect to it through GarageBand before Playground wll see it.

Best,
G

debraf
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Sep 06, 2017 1:24 pm

Re: iPad Bluetooth connection

Post by debraf » Tue Sep 12, 2017 2:12 pm

I will second the use of the Yamaha BT-01 connector.

I have an ancient (1988) Yamaha Clavinova and purchased the MD-BT01 Yamaha connector a couple of weeks ago. It works like a charm with the iPad app.
As mentioned in the previous post, you do need to 'activate' the bluetooth connector by using another program, as Playground Sessions doesn't directly support the midi over bluetooth protocol. Instead of using GarageBand, I use a free app called Midimittr to get things going. I have no latency at all with my iPad2.

If you don't have the old style midi (5 pin round) connectors, I believe that Yamaha has a similar type of device for keyboards that use the newer USB connector. I expect that it will work just as well.

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