The questions that come up most, sorted by topic, with their answer and the place in the app where each thing is set. If yours is not here or something fails, write to [email protected]; at the end of the page is what is worth telling in the email.
Getting started
What do I need to use it?
An iPad with iPadOS 18 or later, in landscape, or a Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later) and macOS 15 or later, and at least one device that receives MIDI: a synthesizer or a drum machine over USB, a MIDI interface with DIN connectors or an app on the iPad itself. NULTAKT generates no audio: it sends MIDI notes and your synthesizers and drum machines make the sound.
Does it work on the Mac?
Yes, on Macs with Apple silicon (M1 or later) and macOS 15 or later, with the same program and the same purchase as on the iPad. NULTAKT is made for playing without a computer, on a device you carry with you, and that is why on the Mac it is operated with the mouse or the trackpad, one contact at a time. The cables leave through the Mac's USB just as through the iPad's.
USB-C or Lightning?
The notes leave through the port of the iPad, or that of the Mac. On models with USB-C, the cable goes straight to the device or to a hub. On the Lightning iPads that support iPadOS 18 you need a Lightning to USB adapter. Devices that follow the USB MIDI standard (class compliant) show up by name, with nothing to install.
Several devices: the hub and the power
With more than one device, use a USB hub with its own power supply: the iPad's port supplies little current and a hub without power can fall short. Anything that only has five-pin MIDI goes in through a USB-MIDI interface. After plugging in or switching on a device, tap SEARCH in MENU › MIDI so that its row shows up.
Can I play an app on the iPad itself?
Yes, with no cables. In NULTAKT choose NULTAKT VIRTUAL, the virtual port, as the DEVICE, and in the other app choose the NULTAKT Out source as the MIDI input.
How was it made?
It is a project I started a year ago. With the help of AI I have been able to polish it and reach limits I would not have reached without it.
If it does not sound or sounds odd
I press PLAY and nothing sounds
Every new track is born silent. Tap the machine's card, in the track panel, and in MIDI OUTPUT choose the DEVICE and the CHANNEL; you can also connect it in the ROUTING matrix, by tapping the crossing of its voice with a channel. Then check that the device receives MIDI on that channel and has its volume up.
If it still does not sound, look at the track strip: a lit M mutes the track and an S on another leaves only that one playing. THE ANVIL and THE CHAIN are born without hits, and with PREPARATION on, what you hear stays still on purpose. If no device is connected, the app says so when you press PLAY.
It sounds out of tune or in the wrong key
The notes of the machines with pitch always come from the key of THE POWER STATION, so what sounds odd is usually somewhere along the way. The most common cause is two tracks on the same channel of the same device: their notes blend into a single sound. In ROUTING that crossing carries a red ring, and it is enough to give each track its own channel.
If everything sounds at a fixed distance from what you expect, check the transposition and the tuning of the device. Each maker names the octaves its own way, but the note number that arrives is the same.
The slides do not slide or the acid line sounds odd
THE VAT and the MID voice of THE DYNAMO write slides, and a slide is only heard if the synthesizer plays legato. On an acid-line synthesizer, keep the firmware up to date and the multi-trigger off: when it is on, the device attacks again notes that should be tied. On other synthesizers, switch on portamento in legato mode; the ones with no legato of their own do not slide cleanly. If the accents cannot be heard, the device may be ignoring the velocity that arrives over MIDI.
Chords step on each other on a one-voice synthesizer
The chord machines send several notes at once, and a monophonic synthesizer can only play one: they step on each other and a note may get stuck. Use a polyphonic device or, in THE TORCH, switch on MONO, which plays a single note per hit; PRIORITY chooses which one gets through.
A note got stuck
Hold PLAY for 0.6 seconds: that is the PANIC. It switches off all the notes on the 16 channels of every device in use and of the clock one, without stopping the transport. If the note keeps sounding, that device does not obey the message and has to be silenced on the device itself. Some long notes are on purpose: THE FURNACE holds drones and TAIL, to the right, ties the notes.
I unplugged a device and plugged it back in
When a device disappears, NULTAKT says so, stops sending it notes and moves its voices to the virtual port, NULTAKT VIRTUAL; in ROUTING the device shows in red while it is missing. When you plug it back in, everything that went to it returns on its own, the clock included, except what you moved by hand to another output while it was missing. If it does not show up, tap SEARCH in MENU › MIDI.
NULTAKT does not resend it the start command, so as not to start it out of time, so if the device has a sequencer of its own and it has stopped, it starts again with the next PLAY.
Tempo and clock
My device does not follow the tempo
The MIDI clock, 24 pulses per quarter note with start and stop, goes to a single device at a time: the one you mark with CLOCK in its row of MENU › MIDI. That device has to be set to follow an external MIDI clock and to accept start and stop. The others do not need a clock to play in tempo, because each note reaches them at its own instant; only a device that has a sequencer or an arpeggiator of its own asks for it.
Something drifts out of time
In MENU › MIDI, MIDI HEALTH has four counters that should be at zero; if the clock arrives 50 ms late or more, a warning also shows at the top. With everything at zero, the delay does not start in NULTAKT: try the same device over a direct cable, with no loaded hub or Bluetooth in between. Remember that GROOVE, FREEDOM and VEER loosen the rhythm on purpose: at the centre or at zero, the grid sounds straight.
The tempo does not match the computer
NULTAKT shares the tempo with a computer or another app over Ableton Link, on the same network. In MENU › NETWORK choose FOLLOW, to take the tempo of the session, or LEAD, to publish yours; it is off by default. If the session is at another tempo when you join, NULTAKT asks before moving, and when you press PLAY it waits for the next Link bar so that you come in together. If the other device sounds shifted, LATENCY moves the output earlier or later.
If no peer shows up, check that both devices are on the same network and that NULTAKT has local network permission in the iPad settings; some guest networks do not let Link through. Over Link travel the tempo and the start, not the notes. It is tested in simulation; it still needs testing with other programs on the same network.
The trial and the purchase
How does the trial work?
Without the purchase, NULTAKT works completely for 20 minutes from the moment the app opens, every time it opens: the time runs continuously, whether or not the transport is playing and also with the app in the background. What is left shows under MENU, in the bar, and turns red in the last two minutes. When it ends, if the transport is playing it stops without leaving stuck notes, and what you have made stays there. A window then offers to buy it or START AGAIN, which gives another 20 minutes with a blank project and deletes what was there before. Opening the app again also gives another 20 minutes. The only thing the trial does not do is save or open named projects; autosave does work.
What happens when I buy?
It is a single payment inside the app, with no subscription or account, and it unlocks the full version for good: the transport without limit and the named projects. All the updates are included. It is done in the FULL VERSION window, which opens when the trial ends, when you try to save with a name or from MENU › ABOUT › LICENSE. The price will be announced at launch.
What if I want a refund?
Refunds are handled by Apple, which is the one that charges for the purchase: NULTAKT does not receive your payment details and cannot return the money from the app. To ask for one, go to reportaproblem.apple.com with the Apple ID you bought with, choose the NULTAKT purchase and tell them the reason. The answer comes from Apple, by email. If you hesitate before paying, the 20-minute trial is the whole app.
I changed iPad or reinstalled the app
RESTORE PURCHASES, in the same window, recovers the purchase with the Apple account it was made with, and REDEEM CODE is for a code from the store. Projects live on the iPad: before changing iPad, export them from MENU › FILE.
Projects and languages
Do I lose what I do if the app closes?
You should not. The app saves the live state on its own every 30 seconds, if you have touched anything, and when it goes to the background, and it recovers it when you open it again. While PERFORMANCE or PREPARATION are on it does not autosave, so as not to recover a half-done experiment. Apart from that, in MENU › FILE you save with a name, make copies with AS… and export the project as a .nultakt file to any folder on the iPad.
What does REVERT do?
It goes back to the last thing you saved with a name and discards what has been done since, so it asks for confirmation first. It only appears if the project has a name.
Which languages is it in?
Spanish, English, German, French, Italian, Dutch, Brazilian Portuguese, Japanese, Korean and Simplified Chinese. You change it in MENU › LANGUAGE, instantly and without restarting; SYSTEM DEFAULT follows the language of the iPad. Only what you read changes: neither the MIDI nor the projects are touched. This website is in the same ten languages.
What it does not do yet
Can it receive MIDI or follow the clock of another device?
Not yet. NULTAKT only sends: it does not receive notes from a controller or a keyboard, and it does not follow the MIDI clock of another device. MIDI input is planned for after launch. To follow the tempo of another app or of a computer there is Ableton Link.
What else does it not send?
It does not send Program Change, control CCs or pitch bend; the only CC that goes out is 123, which switches the notes off when stopping and in the PANIC. And it generates no audio: the sound is always that of your devices, and on the iPad only the metronome click sounds, if you switch it on through the speaker.
Does it work with Bluetooth MIDI devices?
This version does not pair Bluetooth MIDI devices. If the iPad already has one paired from another app, it may show up in MENU › MIDI, but it has not been tested, and a Bluetooth connection adds delay and makes it vary. For playing live, the USB cable is the safe choice.
Writing to support
What to say in the email
Write to [email protected]. To be able to help you quickly, include:
- the model of iPad or Mac and the version of iPadOS or macOS;
- the build of NULTAKT, which is in MENU › ABOUT;
- which MIDI devices you use and how they are connected: directly, through a hub, through an interface or to another app;
- what happened and what you expected to happen; if it is about timing, the numbers from MIDI HEALTH;
- a screenshot or a short video and, if the failure depends on a project, the exported .nultakt file.
If the failure is the app's, such as a clock stall or a stuck note, MENU › ABOUT › SEND REPORT prepares an email with the technical log of what happened last. Before sending it shows what it carries, and the project only goes along if you switch on INCLUDE MY PROJECT. The detail is on the privacy page.
How long does the answer take?
Normally, within 48 hours during the first week after release; after that, 1 to 4 days. If a failure needs more time, the answer says what is going to be looked at.
Other matters
For general questions: [email protected]. For press: [email protected]. Failures and questions about use go to the support address.