Sidecar MIDI Controller

What it does

Sends MIDI from an attached Bluetooth or Magic Keyboard, turning the bottom rows of keys into a piano, the number row into assignable pads and the QWERTY row into a switch between ten MIDI slots. Pads hold a note, a chord, a program change or a CC message, so a modulation wheel or pitch bend can be dragged with a finger. It runs standalone alongside other apps or as an AUv3, and an iCade mode covers game controllers.

In the demo

Jade drags it in beside Animoog, Gadget and GarageBand and plays each in turn, changing instrument by tapping a letter. She assigns chords to the number row, builds a rack in AUM with four instruments on separate MIDI channels, then repeats the setup in Loopy Pro and runs into notes that hang on.

Worth knowing

The panel has to stay visible for anything to arrive, which costs half the screen. Chord pads worked in standalone mode for Jade but not as an AUv3, and GarageBand would not accept it until every other music app was shut down. Anyone who already travels with a small MIDI keyboard is covered already.