With the iPhone 4 sporting a new operating system and Apple’s A4 1Ghz processor (which it shares with the iPad), the question has to be asked; will the iPhone/iPad be fast enough to be a reliable simple synth for live use?

Of course, there are a plethora of synth apps, from Theremins to drum machines, available for the iPhone, and if you just want a common-or-garden General MIDI synth there’s Crimson Tech’s Wavesynth, which is perfectly serviceable.

On course, the only problem has been that while a touchscreen interface is cute, and maybe even useful in a musical situation, it’s not exactly the same as, say, a real music keyboard. That’s where Line 6’s new MIDI Mobilizer comes in. It’s the first MIDI interface for the iPhone. So far, however, it only works with Line6’s own app which essentially allows you to record and play back MIDI data, It can’t really be used to control other apps on the iPhone. Yet.

I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before the dots are joined and we can start using the iPhone/Touch/iPad as a tiny little synth module, for just dialling in a string pad or whatever. I’m not saying it’ll be any good, but I like the notion of turning up at a gig with just a MIDI controller and an iPhone or iPad. A 1Ghz processor should be plenty to do some reasonably simple sample playback, considering that it wasn’t that long ago that a 1Ghz processor in a desktop was considered state of the art.

Til then, I’m still dragging the laptop around I guess!

With that in mind, I’ve decided to publish my own Logic 8 pkl file, with transport buttons and a few extras besides (including a handy toggle between screens 1 & 2 and, of course, Save). I hope some people might find it useful. Of course, this is optimized for use with the standard Logic key commands, so I am not responsible if you accidently delete everything!

The people at PowerKeys are promising us an editor for PowerKeys, and I’m sure they’ve their eye on the iPad too, so expect some new features! I, for one, am very much looking forward to running apps like PowerKeys on the iPad.

You can find the Logic 8 pkl file here. Just change the .txt to .pkl and drag it to your PowerKeys dock icon, and enjoy controlling Logic from across the room or house.

Of course you’ll need the latest version of PowerKeys OS X, currently at 1.2, and the latest version of the iPhone app too. Oh yeah, and you need wi-fi. And Logic Pro 7 and upwards. And an iPhone/Touch. And a Mac. You knew that, right?

The entire entry is available here. Personally, I was amazed at how the whole thing reads a bit like a programming language, with Xs marking information which needs clarification, and lots of “(IF STOCK RISES)” caveats all over the place. Basically, when someone famous dies, an intern in Bloomberg fills out the publishing equivalent of an iTunes Smart Playlist, and hey presto! the obituary will hit the stands. Freaky, but true.