Filed under: iLife, Multimedia, Software
Garageband '08
As you may have seen, Apple released iLife '08 (so long, 2007!) earlier today. This post will examine GarageBand '08.Most interesting to me is Magic GarageBand. It's a quick way to set up a rhythm section (drums, bass and guitar) to play a simple chord progression while you play on top. Work out new riffs, a solo or compose a new song. Select the style (jazz, rock, etc.) for your "backing band" to play. That's pretty cool.
Arrangements let you identify your parts, like chorus, verse, bridge and coda. While I'd like to make an actual chart, I guess that's what Pro Tools is for. Still, this is handy for at-a-glance organization.
Multi-track recording will save every take, so you can quickly revert to a previous recording. That's pretty handy.
There's also a new visual EQ and several new Jam Packs, but let's talk about automation. Change the tempo or volume of any song or instrument at any point. Best of all, GarageBand will remember your changes and reproduce them at another point in the song with a click. Very cool.
We're eager to get our mits on GarageBand '08. Let's jam!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Billy K said 4:15PM on 8-07-2007
I'm a heavy GarageBand user. Many times I've thoguht about dropping the cash for Logic Express, but the fact is, GB does 95% of what I want/need (I'm no stranger to ProTools and Nuendo - I just don't like dealing with all the mess). With this release, Garageband gets even closer to Logic Express. There really is no point in having the mid-level app.
The only thing really still on my GarageBand wish list is selectable effects and the ability to apply effects permanently (destructable editing).
P.S. "Arrangements" seems like goofy eye-candy. I can't see who this will appeal to. Why junk up a good app?
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Billy K said 4:17PM on 8-07-2007
D'oh! "Arrangements" should read "Magic GarageBand."
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Phil said 4:19PM on 8-07-2007
The most exciting thing to people already into recording is the apparent addition of 24 bit audio to Garageband, a feature much desired by those who would like to do more serious work with Garageband's great interface.
24 bit is not mentioned on the main iLife pages, but if you look on the iLife page under the new iMac (drool!), you'll see it. http://www.apple.com/imac/software/ilife.html
or read more here: http://residentmediapundit.com/?p=192
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Mo said 4:21PM on 8-07-2007
There's an awful lot that Logic Express does that GarageBand doesn't—Express is largely the same as Pro in terms of features, but doesn't support as many… things.
However, automation support is definitely in the “thank God for that” category. It's the one thing that's been sorely missing.
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Elliot said 4:30PM on 8-07-2007
Hmm... That's some good stuff to add. Now how about a Logic update? Between Multi-Take recording (a feature Logic doesn't have, and looks to be taken from Live, a big competitor to Logic) and the ability to automate effects (one of the big advantages of Logic over Garageband) Apple is setting up a strange relationship between it's "consumer" and "pro" audio programs.
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Elliot said 4:35PM on 8-07-2007
BTW, my mistake, when I say "Logic," I mean "Logic Express." Logic Pro does a lot of stuff Garageband will never do.
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Ron said 4:59PM on 8-07-2007
Billy K, you can just export your song and re-import it to create a "destructable" edit. (Yes, I realize it is extra steps than probably necessary, but it works).
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Billy K said 5:46PM on 8-07-2007
@7 - Yeah. That's what I do now.
@4 - Exactly. GB seems more and more like a mid-level audio product, while Logic Express just seems like a crippled version of Pro. It really doesn't make a lot of sense (like #5 said). I expect some changes in their Pro Audio lineup soon.
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Scott Reeves said 11:52PM on 8-07-2007
Multi-track recording should read Multi-take recording, no? Garageband has always, as far as I know, had multi-track recording.
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el jeffe said 4:45AM on 8-09-2007
I recently got hooked on Garage Band - at first I thought it to be a toy, but dug in and found it to be a joy.
I am a Cubase user since my Atari days, and end up spending too much time configuring and tweaking. Garage band gets straight to creating music!
I grew so fond of Garage Band I decided to buy a copy of Logic Express hoping it would be "Garage Band Pro" IT IS NOT. I HATE Logic, and will never use it. It is old (emagic) software with new things tacked on.
My best hope is Apple will come out with a new ground up build of a pro music creation software and offer me (us) an upgrade.
Skip Logic for now.
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Don M. said 2:00AM on 8-10-2007
There is a web site called icompositions.com… frequented mostly of GarageBand users. Awhile back they had a discussion forum on the future of Logic and Logic Express. You can read the whole thing at www.icompositions.com/news/article.php?pid=231. Here are three interesting excerpts:
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It has been nearly two and a half years since a major update to Logic (version 7) has graced our collective Software Update. After all that time, we are only now hearing some buzz about the next version in the form of a french blog from former Emagic (original developer of Logic) employee Philippe Brodu. He says, "There will be no Logic 8!!!!! The new app will have a new name. They have been working on it for 5 years and it will be out this year. It will be a “Pro Tools Killer” with a Logic feel but in a new user interface — new Apple hardware (a touch screen display!).
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I heard a rumor months ago that went along the lines that Apple only purchased eMagic to make GarageBand, with a view to launching a GarageBand style ProApp in the future... This certainly ties in... All Apple has been doing is adding plug-in after plug-in to Logic on the more recent updates, and have hardly touched the application itself...
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Let's think this through. We have a few clues we can build on. There is nothing that Steve Jobs likes more than setting a whole industry on it's ear. We've seen it over and over. Also, it is clear that a very big component of Apple's hardware and software strategy has always been directed towards audio—from professional tools to consumer listening.
So now let's take a little trip into Steve's head. ...hmm, looks like he isn't feeling too good about ProTools being king of the mountain. But wait a minute, I'm picking up something else… oh, look over there, more industry-wide breakthroughs are in development, clearly he is still obsessed with dreaming up the next "insanely great" product.
So let's take a moment and look at Apple's most recent huge success. Clearly Apple's current modus operandi is all about integrated hardware/software products. In fact, Steve still wakes up smiling every morning remembering how just a few months ago he gave yet another unsuspecting industry instant diarrhea. Certainly you've seen how elegant and efficient all the iPhone screens are as you move from function to function. Is this monster product the only touch screen device Apple is planning to release? Or are other touch screens products going to be in Apple's future... in a big, big way? Keep thinking: they have written a lot of sophisticated touch-screen code and have learned a lot perfecting the iPhone interface. That could all be ported over to several other apps. Maybe the iPhone touch screen is just the tip of the iceberg. Imagine a piece of hardware that uses that same touch screen technology as the cornerstone of a new generation of pro recording software... one of those hardware/software creations that is so much more than the sum of the individual parts.
So on your touch screen you will see timelines, sliders, waveforms... layer upon layer of functions that open up and change—iPhone-like—with each rapid little touch. Say good-bye to memorizing pages of keyboard shortcuts, squinting to get your mouse over some microscopic mute button. Primitive. It's all over. Go rent "Minority Report", look at that computer interface. OK, maybe it won't be multiple holographic screens surrounding the user, but maybe it will be something that takes the coordination of the human hand and eye to a whole new level. Let's summarize: Apple has been secretly developing a massively complete, jaw-dropping, hardware/software DAW— and it will be another crowning jewel for a company that is intent on becoming the undisputed king of the entire digital audio realm, from creative inception to consumer purchase.
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Gilhouse said 3:47PM on 10-02-2007
Hey, new poster here. I've been playing with, and using Gband in my media arts classrooms for a couple of years, now. I'm finally to the point where I don't want to record vocals using the internal microphones anymore. The final product is just too muddy and people can't understand the lyrics when played back on stereos, etc.
Anyone have a quick package of equipment I would need to do decent-quality recordings with gband? I'm not a pro, and don't need pro-level or industry standard equipment, just something that would sound decent and normal when played back on something other than my laptop or ipod.
Thanks
-gilhouse
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