# Metagrid or Lemur with Composer Tools? Or Something Else?



## DaddyO (Aug 17, 2017)

Just received an iPad Pro 10.5. Among the reasons I did was wanting to use it for MIDI control for Cubase/Dorico, VI Pro, and VE Pro.

I am aware of Lemur by itself, Lemur with Composer Tools, and Metagrid.

I will not be doing any live recording, only orchestral MIDI composition and arrangement.

I'm fairly certain both will do well, but I'm interested in whether the Lemur/Composer Tools is worth the additional expense. I do notice that Composer Tools is only $75 right now.

I don't want to fuss directly with Lemur. In fact the less fuss or programming the better for me.

Comments? Thoughts? Suggestions?


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## procreative (Aug 17, 2017)

Composer Tools and Metagrid do different things mainly. CTP shines at creating triggers for Keyswitch based libraries and has a huge memory bank to store and tag presets. It also has extra tabs for all sorts of controllers such as faders, multiballs and knobs. I use it and think its really nice.

Metagrid which I dont own excels at DAW shortcuts mainly. It looks a really nice app, but not really for keyswitching currently. It also does not have enough preset storage for my needs. But those that use it love it.


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## DaddyO (Aug 17, 2017)

The main thing I want to do is trigger switches for VI Pro and control Cubase. Thanks for the input.


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## Thorsten Meyer (Aug 18, 2017)

The money expense for Lemur and Composer Tools Pro is well spent at the current sale price.
I wonder if I should get c_brains, kind of a low price right now.


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## wcreed51 (Aug 18, 2017)

Doesn't VI Pro already have a (free) app for keyswitching?


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## Nils Neumann (Aug 18, 2017)

despite the fact that I'm a little bit of a fanboy when it comes to Metagrid, there is one big selling point (I can only speak for cubase 9 users): if you wan't to use Metagrid effectively you need to understand the "Logical Editor" and the "Project Logical Editor". These tools can boost creativity and effectiveness to another level. Ironically I spend 15€ on a third party software and learned Cubase instead. Best investment since Ark1^^



procreative said:


> Metagrid which I dont own excels at DAW shortcuts mainly. It looks a really nice app, but not really for keyswitching currently.


I have to politely disagree, Metagrid can excel at keyswitching too.
Here is a beta of my keyswitching system:




CSS - Cinematic Studio Strings and Cinematic Strings 2
Cap - Capsule by OT
With this system I can convert midi data for different keyswitching systems, a basic example: I record a string staccato pattern with staccatissimo and staccato articulations. Now I can drag the midi file to the Ark 1 Trumpet section and press CSS to Cap and the trumpet plays the same articulations. 
Right now I'm planning a sythem which can compensate the delay for different articulations for every single instrument, this could be game changing for me.

Here is my main template for Metagrid:







Setup with 2 iPads is perfect (tipp:look for cheap old iPad 2, they work perfectly).
Don't miss @jononotbono content, his threads and videos about metagrid is everything you need to know: https://www.youtube.com/user/Mrjononotbono/videos


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## MatFluor (Aug 18, 2017)

Just to throw another option in the ring:
TouchOSC

Cheaper then Lemur - different, but I use it to great success.


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## procreative (Aug 18, 2017)

Nils Neumann said:


> despite the fact that I'm a little bit of a fanboy when it comes to Metagrid, there is one big selling point (I can only speak for cubase 9 users): if you wan't to use Metagrid effectively you need to understand the "Logical Editor" and the "Project Logical Editor". These tools can boost creativity and effectiveness to another level. Ironically I spend 15€ on a third party software and learned Cubase instead. Best investment since Ark1^^
> 
> 
> I have to politely disagree, Metagrid can excel at keyswitching too.
> ...



Looks good. One of the reasons I went for Composer Tools Pro though was the number of presets. I currently have 197 stored. I wanted every instrument to have pads labelled for each articulation.

I use it in conjunction with ArtzID and so many use the same Articulation ID for shared articulations so I can reuse the midi between tracks if needed.

The second thing that attracted me was preset recall on track selection.

However Metagrid is also a very good app. But currently there are nowhere near as many slots for presets and from my research for keyswitching has the most options.


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## Shad0wLandsUK (Aug 18, 2017)

procreative said:


> Composer Tools and Metagrid do different things mainly. CTP shines at creating triggers for Keyswitch based libraries and has a huge memory bank to store and tag presets. It also has extra tabs for all sorts of controllers such as faders, multiballs and knobs. I use it and think its really nice.
> 
> Metagrid which I dont own excels at DAW shortcuts mainly. It looks a really nice app, but not really for keyswitching currently. It also does not have enough preset storage for my needs. But those that use it love it.


Working with both here, though I think I need another iPad as they do not play well when switching between apps really :/


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