The Gig Easy

With new technology comes new problems and thankfully, new solutions. For the increasing number of musicians using iPads on stage, The GigEasy is a practical solution for securing your iPad to your music stand, while you get on with making music hassle free.

In the weeks following Apple Mac creator Steve Jobs' death, we've all realised just how far-reaching his influence has been on modern society. The music industry too, has felt the benefit of Mr Jobs' wonderful inventions. The Apple brand is linked intrinsically to so many aspects of music in both the studio and on stage. First there was the desktop Mac, then the laptop, and now the  iPad has become the item of choice for so many tech-savvy musicians. Most musicians who perform on stage like their set up to be as practical and easy to use as possible. The more they can focus purely on making music, the better for the muso and the audience. The increasing use of the iPad on stage makes perfect sense, particularly for those who work with sheet music.  Who wants to flick through sheet music when you could be preparing for your next tune or giving your audience total focus? With the iPad, there's no worry about sheet music slipping off the music stand or a pen dropping onto the floor. With new technology however,  comes both new problems and new solutions. The problem? How does a musician keep their iPad secure and useable while they perform? The solution? TheGigEasy!

TheGigEasy is an American made stand mount designed for iPad use in the arts. The folks at Engadine Music, Australian distributors of TheGigEasy sent us a product to test out in the Australian Musician test lab (for the purposes of this review, go with me on this one and imagine we actually have a test lab in which we're suited up in white coats). So how do you justify a whole review on a stand-mount? Well, it's actually quite simple when the product makes so much sense, is so well made and is so damn practical. At the very basic level,  TheGigEasy is a plastic mount which connects easily to your microphone stand or music stand and holds your iPad steadily in place. What sets TheGigEasy apart from any other holding mechanism for an iPad (not that I've come across any others yet), is it's practicality. It checks all the boxes! Problem-free connection to a music or microphone stand? With it's universal camera thread width … no doubt! Ability to hold your iPad steady? With it's four spring loaded and adjustable arms, custom designed for iPad … yep! Ease of use and flexibility … of course. It's allows for 360 degree rotation of the iPad, so you can view your iPad screen in landscape or portrait view in a second. Plus, the unit comes with a retrofit kit for those who might what to upgrade to iPad 2. Simply peel and stick the bumpers provided which compensate for the thinner design of the iPad 2. However for those who already own the iPad2, there's a also dedicated version with no adhesives required.

Out of the 'test lab' and into the hands of a working musician, TheGigEasy really showed it's worth. We decided to send the unit along to a local school band rehearsal and connect the unit to the music stand of the Tuba player. In the past, we'd seen this guy struggle to flip pages between tunes. He's not the tallest tree in the forest! With TheGigEasy now holding an iPad loaded with the required music score (thanks to the hard working fund raising efforts of the school bands' parents), the Tuba was as always, cumbersome, but now it only took a mere touch of the screen to change the pages of the music. Neither the stand or the iPad moved at all, and no time was wasted waiting for our brass friend to be ready for the next song. Result? One happy music teacher. Next up we headed to the home studio of one of our gear reviewers to screw the unit into a microphone stand. This guy generally runs programs through his laptop but has been enjoying playing around with affordable apps on his new iPad. Previously he'd been resting his iPad on the bookplate of his music stand, which he admits wasn't so bad but not ideal. He did swing his guitar around too quickly once, resulting in the iPad falling to the floor. Once we'd hooked up TheGigEasy to his stand, he was able to navigate production apps such as iELECTRIBE and Studio Track, comforted in the knowledge that the iPad was firmly entrenched in front of him, going nowhere.

TheGigEasy attracted a lot of attention earlier in the year at the NAMM Show and some high profile musicians quickly saw the advantages of using it and have jumped on board as ambassadors. Dream Theater's Jordan Rudess is one. The GigEasy is highly recommended to anyone who uses an iPad in their music making. However it's not only musicians who will find peace of mind with this bit of kit ... lecturers, photographers, in fact anyone in the arts who uses an iPad will find TheGigEasy useful.

RRP$99

What sets TheGigEasy apart from any other holding mechanism for an iPad (not that I've come across any others yet), is it's practicality. It checks all the boxes!