Apple’s Garageband 11 Will Make Music Easier To Create, Learn, and Fix

By NewRockstarPhilosophy • October 20, 2010 • Digital Music

Today is one of those golden days if you’re an Apple fan boy. The day Steve Jobs gives us updates, news, and goodies about all things Mac.

For musicians, the newest update to iLife, and more specifically Garageband will be of particular importance.

There’s been a few changes to everyone’s favorite demo program, starting with “Flex Time” which allows you to modify any note or beat in your performance. This is another addition to your editing arsenal in ProTo..Whooah, whoa, Garageband isn’t quite near ProTools in features, but Jobs is definitely grabbing more customers with Garageband based on sheer accessibility.

I mean Garageband is becoming so easy that even if you have a passing interest in music, if you buy a Mac you’ll have everything you need to make an acceptable recording. But I digress…

Groove Matching is another feature that will make music creation easier. It’s exactly what it sounds like. It allows you to modify the timing of an entire song even with multiple instruments. You Lock in a perfectly timed track and then the machine will match the rest of the instruments to that locked track #fml.

Guitarists get a ton of classic amp, and stomp box emulators of which you can jam and record with till Jimi Hendrix rises from the grave (2012 btw).

Garageband also has 22 new lessons for both guitar and piano. HD video demonstrations, plus sheet music, plus an animated instrument that shows you exactly where to put your fingers.

So as if guitar teachers haven’t had enough problems dealing with the YouTubes now iLife has pretty much put them out of business. Sad face.

Also a new feature “How Did I Play” will track just how shitty your piano playing is and then scold you properly after. Only kidding. How Did I Play keeps track of your progress and shows you how you’re developing. Yay.

Some interesting additions to Garageband for sure. But it’s interesting to note that as I was watching the Garageband talk, my Twitter feed began filling up with people who essentially asked “Do you need any talent to make music anymore?” While talent has always been somewhat of a subjective term, it is safe to say that there will be a lot more people trying to make music with the assistance of such friendly programs like Garageband.