So I just bought a lightling to USB adapter so I can connect my digital piano (Yamaha P-125) to my iPad. My main use of this is to be able to use software like SimplyPiano. The app teaches you how to play the piano by asking you to play a note and waiting to hear the sound via the microphone. That's not very accurate (especially when playing chords). In order to be more precise they recommend to connect your keyboard to the iPad so they communicate via the MIDI interface. My problem is actually with GarageBand. I can hear both the normal piano sound and the instrument that i've chosen in the app, at the same time. How do I only hear the instrument in the app?

If you want to hear the chosen GarageBand Instrument and not the piano sound from the P-125, you'll have to turn Local Control off in the P-125. To do this on the P-125 (according to its MIDI Reference manual) you simultaneously hold down the [METRONOME] and [RHYTHM] buttons, and press the C5 key, which will toggle between Local Control On and Off. Turing Local Off disconnects the keyboard from the internal sound engine, so it won't trigger the internal sounds, letting you use it as a MIDI controller to trigger only the sound(s) in GarageBand instead.

Thank you so much! Now I feel a bit ashamed because I haven't read the manuals. 🙈

Glad to help :-) That's one of those details where if you didn't already know what to look for, poring through the manual wouldn't really be all that much help—and that bit wasn't even in the main manual anyway..

Thank you so much! I was looking for this everywhere but couldn't find it. Much appreciated :)

Hi Joe, noticed your response and was wondering if you also know how to get the metronome timing right when playing a percussion rhythm on my Yamaha P-125 and wanting it to record as a track in Garageband. There appear to be no automatic sync with the metronome in GB and when doing it manually (pressing the rhythm button on the keyboard after count-in of the metronome in GB, it is alway off. Love the rhythm sample of the keyboard and would like to use it as a base track. Thanks in advance, Herb

Hi Herb - I'm not sure if that's going to be doable without the law of diminishing returns kicking in. There's a real lack of definitive information on whether GarageBand outputs MIDI Clock [sync] -- nothing in the Apple docs, and the general consensus seems to be no MIDI output. Couple that with the uselessly cross-referenced set of impenetrable manuals for the P-125 -- they seem to suggest there's an option for slaving to an external clock, but I couldn't find any specific instructions as to where to go to set that up. All told, it seems that if it is possible it may involve the use of some extra software, and a fair bit of poking around in the keyboard to suss it out.. It might be easier to just record the audio in un-sync'd, and try to use GB's Flex to telescope warp [Flex] it to the correct Project Tempo. Another option might be to upgrade to Logic, which does output MIDI Clock, though you'd still have to poke around in the P-125's manuals/utility pages to find the settings for external sync. Just in case you get to that point, here's the link to those manuals on the Yamaha website.. https://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical_instruments/pianos/p_series/p-125/downloads.html#product-tabs

Thank you for the quick response. I am getting more and more the feeling that the P-125 is on purpose very siloed and not meant for use with GarageBanD or any other. Even their own Smart Pianist app is way too limited and besides Simone recording and exporting of audio files only, not much you can dimwith it. It even has problems setting the tempo right before recording (seem arbitrarily to switch to 120 base settings instead of the one you chose). Frustrating...could be soon awesome :-(

Yes, Yamaha's digital piano/Clavinova line is targeted more to students learning piano [a substitute for an acoustic piano], and not meant as a general-purpose MIDI controller for use with a DAW [no wheels, controllers, etc]. While those digital pianos do incorporate MIDI & computer connections, I don't think functioning in a multitrack DAW environment is intended to be a primary application. That said, GarageBand is also quite limited in many ways -- Apple figures when people start bumping up against its limitations they'll just upgrade to Logic..

for Christmas I got a yamaha bought a Yamaha p125 and I own a iPad pro 12.9inch ucb c,..... I can get the garageband to record using garageband sounds from the p125...but I can't get garageband to playback the recorded sounds using my p125 instrument? I have tried toggling on and off all the c4 thru c6 keys for channels, local on off...etc...I am very concerned that the garageband won't send playback to my p125 instrument...it only recieves and plays only the garageband sound on playback?