Manual

Merik for iOS plays MIDI backing tracks on stage: songs from a setlist, with lyrics and chords on screen and on the phones of the band. This manual explains who it is for, how to start, and every part of the app.

Who it is for

Merik for iOS is for musicians who play live to backing tracks made of MIDI files (and, in Advanced mode, recorded audio). It replaces a laptop or a hardware MIDI file player on stage. You need two things: songs (MIDI files) and a sound for them. The sound is either the iPad itself, through a SoundFont, or an external sound module or keyboard.

It is not a recording app or a sequencer: you do not make or edit songs in Merik. You play them, in the order of your setlist, and the whole band sees where you are in the song.

Typical set-ups

EasyThe solo or duo act

Songs and lyrics on the iPad, sound from the iPad through headphones, a speaker or a small mixer. Choose a SoundFont, add your songs, play.

EasyThe singer who needs lyrics

The lyrics and chords run along with the song; the band page shows them on other phones and tablets, no app needed there.

AdvancedThe band with a sound module

The MIDI goes to a hardware module (e.g. a Roland DS-330 or SC-55) through a USB-MIDI interface, or to a keyboard. Family faders mix drums, bass, keys and so on.

AdvancedMixed MIDI and audio

.merik files hold recorded stems per family next to the MIDI; families with audio play the recording, the rest stays MIDI. A nanoKONTROL2 gives you hardware faders.

First start

Choose a SoundFont. The first time, Merik for iOS asks for one: a .sf2 file with the sounds of all instruments. See SoundFonts for where to get one.
Add a folder with songs. In Browse, tap Add folder and pick the folder with your MIDI files: iCloud Drive, On My iPad or a USB stick. See MIDI files.
Play. Tap a song in Browse. Or make a setlist: in Setlists tap New, then add songs.
Optional: the band page. The address is at the bottom of the screen (port 8888). Open it on the phones and tablets of the band, on the same Wi-Fi.

Easy and Advanced

The switch is at the very top of Settings. Merik for iOS starts in Easy.

	Easy	Advanced
For whom	Getting started, solo and duo acts, anyone who plays on the iPad's own sound	Bands with sound modules, keyboards, mixers, or recorded stems
Sound	The built-in sound with a SoundFont; audio output and reverb	Plus MIDI outputs to modules and apps, a route per family, Audio Unit plug-ins, EQ
Songs	MIDI files	MIDI files and .merik files with audio stems
Per song	–	Transpose and volume per song (long-press the title)
Lists	Titles only	Badges for MIDI/MERIK, lyrics, audio and chords
Controller	–	MIDI control (e.g. Korg nanoKONTROL2) with LEDs
Band page, lyrics, setlists	Yes	Yes, with more display options

Nothing is lost when you switch. Easy and Advanced each keep their own SoundFont, output and reverb; all other Advanced settings stay stored while Easy is on, and come back when you switch to Advanced again.

The screen

Player (top)

Top bar: Clock and battery (red without charger). The view tabs Setlists, Browse, Channels, and the buttons Lyrics (show or hide the lyrics panel), Web (the band page) and Settings. In portrait the buttons show words, on a narrow window icons.
Families: Eight buttons with faders: Drums, Bass, Guitars, Keys, Strings, Winds, Others and Click. Tap a name to switch the family on or off; drag the fader for its volume. A light under the fader shows activity. In Advanced, a family with audio shows AUDIO and the name of its stem.
Title: The song, the next song, the setlist and the time left, the beat and the tempo. The title blinks while paused.
Transport: Play/Pause, Stop, Next, Search (find a song in all Browse folders) and Panic (stops all notes). Drag the position bar to jump in the song.

Setlists, Browse, Channels (middle)

Setlists: Your setlists on the left, the songs on the right. Tap to play; press Edit to reorder, select, copy or delete. Next and automatic next follow the setlist.
Browse: The folders you added, as a grid. Tap a song to play it; long-press for play next, add to setlist and more. Search finds songs in the folder.
Channels: The 16 MIDI channels: instrument, family, volume and activity. Tap the switch of a channel to mute it for this song (orange) or always (red).

Lyrics and chords (bottom)

Lyrics run along with the song: the words light up as they are sung, the next line slides up. The chords below show the current chord and the next ones, with a bar for how long each lasts. Drag the handle between the panels to make the lyrics larger or smaller: the text size follows the panel. In Advanced, Settings › Display sets the number of lines, smooth scrolling, and lyrics/chords/both.

The band page

On any phone, tablet or laptop on the same Wi-Fi, open the address at the bottom of the screen. Everyone sees the lyrics, chords, sections and beats. With the key in the address (?key=…) the page also gets play, stop, next, search, the setlist and the family mixer.

Settings, item by item

EasyIn Easy mode

Mode: Easy or Advanced, see Easy and Advanced.
Sound: SoundFont: choose the .sf2 file (the app keeps a copy). Audio output: where the sound goes; a USB interface is chosen automatically, AirPlay and Bluetooth with the button; on a device with more channels, the channel pair. Reverb: how much room sound.
Web page for the band: On or off, the addresses (name.local and the IP address, port 8888), and the key for the controls.
Help: Getting a SoundFont and songs onto the iPad, with a link to this manual.
About: The version of the app.

AdvancedIn Advanced mode

Display: Theme, full screen, columns of the Browse grid, memory use; the lyrics panel: show lyrics and chords, what to show, number of lines, smooth scrolling.
Playback and setlists: Tap starts a song at once; automatic next song; level the channels against the drum channel (normalize); keep the screen on; download everything from iCloud for offline use; editing without the Edit button; restore setlists from a file.
Web page for the band: As in Easy.
MIDI: The MIDI outputs that get the song (none chosen = all); a virtual MIDI source for other apps, one per family; GM System On before each song; no XG drum kits (for GS modules such as the DS-330); a test note.
MIDI control: A controller such as the Korg nanoKONTROL2: choose it as input (nothing is listened to until you do), the LEDs (LED mode External in the Korg Kontrol Editor) and every CC number, with Learn and a reset to the nanoKONTROL2 layout.
SoundFont: The built-in sound on or off and its volume, the audio output, the SoundFont, reverb (type and amount), equalizer and two Audio Unit effect slots.
Families: Per family (or drums apart, or every family): the output (MIDI module, app or built-in sound), a delay to line up outputs, an Audio Unit instrument; for .merik files the channel pair per family and the audio level.
Click: The click on or off, its MIDI channel and the notes of the first and the other beats.
Help, About: As in Easy.

Files onto the iPad

SoundFonts

A SoundFont (.sf2) holds the sounds of all General MIDI instruments. Merik for iOS does not include one, but good ones are free. Our favourite is Matrix SoundFont (about 1 GB, free, CC BY-SA licence on its page). Smaller is GeneralUser GS by S. Christian Collins (about 30 MB, sounds good everywhere, free with its own licence).

Download the .sf2 file on the iPad with Safari (it lands in Files › Downloads), or on your computer and copy it to iCloud Drive or the iPad (see below).
In Merik, Settings › Sound (Easy) or Settings › SoundFont (Advanced): Choose a SoundFont… and tap the file. A file you send with AirDrop or Open in Merik lands in On My iPad › Merik › Ontvangen; choose it from there.

Big is fine. Merik for iOS loads only the sounds a song uses, so even Matrix SoundFont (about 1 GB) plays well, tested on an iPad Air 2 and on M1 iPads. If an iPad does run out of memory, choose a smaller SoundFont.

MIDI files

Merik for iOS reads your songs where they are, it does not copy them. In Browse › Add folder you choose a folder; any of these work:

iCloud Drive: put the songs in a folder in iCloud Drive (from a Mac in the Finder, from Windows with iCloud for Windows or icloud.com). Turn on Download everything in Advanced if you play without internet.
On My iPad › Merik: connect the iPad to a Mac, open it in the Finder, Files tab, and drag the songs onto Merik. On Windows the same works in the Apple Devices app (or iTunes).
AirDrop: send files from a Mac or iPhone and choose Merik; they arrive in the folder Ontvangen (Received) under On this iPad.
A USB stick or drive, connected to the iPad (with an adapter if needed).
The Files app: move or copy files from anywhere into a folder you added.

Lyrics and chords come from the MIDI file itself (karaoke lyrics, chord events), as in Merik for Mac and Windows.

Advanced.merik files

A .merik file holds the MIDI and recorded audio per family (stems), with lyrics and chords, in one file. You make them with Merik for Mac or Windows. Because of the audio they are large: often 50–200 MB per song. They show up in Browse and Setlists in Advanced mode only.

Tips for large files

iCloud storage: a set of .merik songs can need several GB; check your iCloud plan. The iPad also needs room to keep them downloaded.
Download before the gig: turn on Download everything (Advanced › Playback) and open Browse once on Wi-Fi.
Without iCloud: a USB stick or SSD with the songs, connected at the gig; or the Finder on a Mac (On My iPad › Merik) — this is the fastest way to copy many large files.
AirDrop works for a few files at a time; for a whole set, use the Finder or USB.

Questions or something missing? Mail erik.nouveaupays@gmail.com.