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I was wondering if someone could advise me on the best possible setup for my needs.

Firstly, I would like to connect my eigenharp pico to my ipad (I'm aware I would still need to use a computer for this). I know there have been posts on this before, but I've read them all and am still confused as to the exact hardware requirements (my technical knowledge is pretty woeful). From what I gather, I will need:
- an audio interface
- a cable for laptop to audio interface (usb to midi?)
- a camera connection kit
- a cable from the audio interface to the camera connection kit
- hardware to get the audio out of my ipad and possibly connected to a PA system (although I'm not sure what hardware I would need for this)
I have seen the iconnect midi being mentioned frequently. Would this serve as an audio interface?
I also recall reading someone mentioning they use the irig instead of the camera connection kit. Is this a preferable alternative? What would I need for this setup?

Secondly, I like the idea of being able to access different effects and to alter their parameters whilst improvising. If I assign volume to touch sensitivity and pitch to up/down key motion, that leaves just side-to-side motion for another effect. There's also breath control, although I was wondering if it might be an idea to have this option affect the intensity of the effect. Therefore, I was thinking about using pedals to provide more effects.

I've read about bluetooth operated pedals and found that those by Airturn seemed to receive more favourable reviews than others: http://airturn.com/bluetooth-pedals. I also found out that there may be midi pedals available. If I went for this option, would I connect the pedals to the audio interface? Does anyone have any experience or opinions on this?

Thanks in advance and apologies for my ignorance. I have spent countless hours on the internet trying to gain some clarity, but to no avail.

sorry don't own an iconnectmidi, but Geert has been quite complimentary about them in the past, they provide an easy way to connect iPad/computer and other midi gear together.
(im not sure they have an audio input for a microphone though, which you need for your sax, so would need another audio interface for that.)

midi pedals, some have midi din, which could connect to some audio interfaces (including iconnectmidi) , others are usb.
you have to decide how often you want to use it, without the computer powered on.
pedals are, I think, surprisingly useful, as theres quite a few functions you want to execute without removing your hands from the eigenharp e.g. activate recorders.
I dont tend to use a pedal for expression, as I find the eigenharp already has so many options with breath/strips/keys.. but its possible to wire in pedals into eigenD to do this if you wish.

bluetooth, hmm interesting, but not sure… given you already have to have wires for the eigenharp, does being wireless offer much of an advantage?

Also, I am still confused about the types of cable I need to buy.

I would find it really helpful if there were a comprehensive list of each piece of equipment needed including cables as well as interfaces etc. I wish I also understood the purpose of each piece of hardware. Geert has previously posted this: http://www.eigenzone.org/2012/11/22/eigenharp-ipad-synth-setup. Although this is very helpful, it doesn't say what cables he uses are, and it tends to give product names rather than state what each part actually is. I tried googling this all, but still can't quite get my head round it!

All help is greatly appreciated. I have had the eigenharp for about a year now but it has gone unused because of the big learning curve I seem to be facing every time I try to do something with it.

It is not clear to me what you are trying to do and the possible solutions differ.

Whatever you do, you will be using the Pico via a computer so from there you can either output audio and use the iPad for effects or you can output MIDI and use the iPad as a sound generator or you could do both.

iconnectMIDI works well for the MIDI side and is comprehensive for all your MIDI uses (USB or DIN, IOS or computer). I have one and can vouch for that. That said, it really isn't something that I use much because it is just simpler to do whatever I want on the computer and the iPad does not bring much (anything?) that adds capability. Also, the solution involves additional complexity that I don't need.

The only time I really use it is to connect my VL1m synth (because it is the best modelling I have for wind instruments) but even then, it would make more sense to just go direct to the VL1 from my WX5

m

There's a lot of good advice on this thread, and of all of it I would tend to agree with Mike. When you want to use an iPad for pro-audio of any description you have to remember that Apple make it very, very difficult (deliberately so for commercial reasons of their own) to interface to. This results in a very non-optimal environment for third party manufacturers - they have to jump through all sorts of weird hoops to try and make interfaces work and the offical Apple sonsored 'correct' way of doing so is simply lnaccessible to all but the largest companies, it's crazily expensive, cumbersome and restrictive. None of this is particularly of interest to you I'm sure, but the end result for you is that it's really awkward to use an iPad in the same way that you use a laptop for music - there is no way, for example, that EigenD could ever use it, or certainly not without extraordinary effort on our part. From the point of view of simplicity (and when playing music, this is always good I think) just using a decent laptop with your Eigenharp is certainly the way to go. Adding in an iPad is certainly not going to make your life simpler in any way, and it will certainly add considerable complexity and consequent unreliability to your setup. If you are technically fluent then this is not really a problem, and people like Geert use iPad's for the availability of some nice softsynths (like Animoog) that only run on that platform, but from the point of view of learning a new instrument, the iPad is just a big extra pile of hassle to get used to really. There really does need to be a compelling reason to use one, and improved usability is very unlikely to be that reason.

Interestingly, I own an iPad, but I find it very irritating for music for a number of reasons, and I only really use it these days to read the paper or run Onsong on stage for lyrics and music. I have a Macbook Air that is near as small and light as an IPad, works really well and I find much more usable for music. Not only will it run full blown Logic if I want, but also Sibelius, it interfaces to all the great pro-audio interfaces and just works with no extra wires or junk. It will also run a lot of great VST/Au softsynths that won't run on an iPad.

John