Join The Jam: Make Music Like A Pro With GarageBand For iPad
GarageBand ($4.99) by Apple® is finally available for the iPad and just in time for the iPad 2 launch tomorrow.
Apple has redesigned a Mac application that looks as good as, and possibly even better, on iOS than its OS X counterpart.
It’s an app that was just waiting for a touchscreen interface. Frankly I'm surprised that Apple didn’t bring this out sooner, it seems like a no-brainer, but it's finally here and it’s awesome.
If you aren’t familiar with GarageBand it is Apple’s showcase music making program. It allows anyone from a novice with no musical background to a trained professional, to create, edit and record near studio quality recordings.
While you can’t strum a guitar, bang on drums, or play a baby-grand piano with traditional input devices, you sure can with the iPad’s touchscreen.I have a background in piano so I went there first and was not disappointed.
You have several pianos, organs and keyboards to choose from, and an almost infinite number of ways to play them.
The “keyboard” is responsive and scalable; if you are used to playing a real instrument all that is missing is the tactile feedback from applied pressure. But, you can play comfortably while you scroll the keyboard or lock it in place.
As a guitar hack, I went to check the Smart Guitar. There is definitely room for more styles, but the interface here was also responsive and highly customizable.
There are toys for musicians to take advantage of, but the GUI is intuitive enough that my seven year old was able to play in seconds. You can strum cords, pluck strings, even slide and bend to your heart’s delight.
Never played but always wanted to?
That’s easy too. Pick a scale, pick a guitar, and use the auto-play features to play like a pro.
Every note in a chord progression mixes well with any other. On keyboards or strings, you don’t need any knowledge to create pleasing original melodies.
There is also a mic for adding vocal tracks with some cute special effects, a variety of amps (jack adapter required to plug in a guitar) with neat effects including some cool vintage ones.
Of course the point is not just to play virtual instruments, the idea is to record complete songs. And doing that is child’s play.
Just pick an instrument, listen as you are counted in and play. You can follow the optional metronome if you need help staying on beat. When you stop recording your song is automatically saved to the app’s library.
You can add vocals, drums, bass, sampling tracks, and anything else you please. Mix them and voila, you have your song ready to enjoy and share.
You can export your creations to iTunes for listening on a Mac or PC. You can even e-mail them right from the app.
I didn’t spot any major glitches while experimenting, and when I was stuck there were easy to find help menus.
I would like to see an expanded number of instruments and amps, but you can bet they are coming in an update.
Also, there are advanced editing features on the OS X version of GarageBand that I didn’t see at a glance on the iPad version. But, despite saying so in the App Store description, for now you can’t edit your work on a Mac, or edit a Mac creation on the iPad.
The app is ready, but Apple has to update OS X GarageBand (included with iLife ’11 in retail packaging or individually on the Mac App Store for $14.99) before they are fully compatible.
That said, GarageBand is otherwise ready for all the new operating systems and devices. And, with the A5 processor coming in iPad 2, this app is sure to be blazingly fast and an instant classic.
