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2 Hours With GarageBand for iPad - A Review and a Demo

101 points by freerobby 16y ago

sudont 16y ago
Interesting, however Apple's intake level implementation must be solely pegged to the input box from Apogee. The standalone app works great for sketching, playing and people making background noise for videos, but any type of advanced use requires hardwired inputs. It's definitely a different idea for a "pro" upgrade, compared to the typical digital unlock. I wonder if we'll see the mythical "Asteroid" project rise again. On a side note, this will be great for my AV nerd descendants, I used to run a media lab and we always wanted to move the people on GarageBand elsewhere to keep the place quiet.
- GHFigs 16y ago
  I have a theory that Asteroid was actually the Apogee Duet. It's essentially what Asteroid was thought to be (a Firewire breakout box with integration built into Apple's software) and was released in roughly the right time frame. http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/duet.php http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/duet.php
tricky 16y ago
fun and a great replacement for writing on the go, but I think porting something like Ableton Live to the iPad is more suited to the form factor.
- cageface 16y ago
  Agreed. If anything, none of these sequencers make sense to me as iPad apps. The small form factor combined with the inherent imprecision of a touch interface makes all the fiddly detail work that full-fledged sequencing requires extremely tedious. Tablets make a lot more sense to me as control surfaces and novel instruments, not as DAW alternatives.
wiredfool 16y ago
My impression of GarageBand on the iPad 1 is that it's pretty laggy. But I might have a more demanding test environment. * pull up a drum kit. * give iPad to 18mo old * he bangs on iPad like a chimpanzee. That ain't working. * take away iPad * drum kit keeps playing for 20 seconds or more with no input. * he yells for a minute or more to get it back But overall, its totally worth the $5.
- zoul 16y ago
  This has to be some weird issue on your side, I don’t see any latency on my 1G iPad when playing the drums. (Otherwise there would be little point to the whole application, right?)
  - S_A_P 16y ago
    I concur, I dont think that something like that would be commonplace or it wouldnt even be allowed on the iPad 1.
    - wiredfool 16y ago
      I've done another test, this time with the 4yr old and I've now replicated the issue with two different test cases. It's clear that the ipad is queueing the events and not dropping them if it gets lagged. Under normal circumstances, it's not a problem. But when you have wee monkeys, it does seem to happen with some repeatability.
      - ralphgoodtimes 16y ago
        Maybe it has to do with the amount of apps "open" (albeit dormant) at the same time?
- pohl 16y ago
  I'll have to try that experiment with my 15 month old. He's spent a lot of time on the keyboard, and he and I played with the sampler, but I didn't have him try the drums. I didn't notice any lag, but maybe that's because my son can't stop himself from making the app go away: the home button is too irresistible. Someone needs to come out with a slip case that makes the home button unreachable.
Hates_ 16y ago
As a guitarist, this is going to get a hell of a lot more interesting when Apogee's Jam is released at the end of the month (As is seen in the iPad 2's GB video).
- sjmulder 16y ago
  I looked at the Apogee One way back but thought it was a little pricey still, and this Jam at $99 isn’t cheap either. Are you getting genuine quality or is it like getting golden HDMI cables?
  - freerobby 16y ago
    Apogee has a good reputation in the music industry, and this is a product where manufacturing quality matters a great deal. Unlike HDMI cables, the 1/4" adapter must perform analog-digital conversion. This is a lossy, signal-altering process, so you want to use the highest quality converter available.
    - cma 16y ago
      There is a price performance tradeoff at some point.
  - jammur 16y ago
    Apogee is known to make some of the best AD/DA converters around. IMO, the Apogee Duet absolutely blows away everything else in its price range. The difference between the Apogee Jam and something like the iRig is huge. The iRig is very noisy, and doesn't do AD conversion, it just alters the signal level to a mic level signal instead of instrument level. The end result is less than stellar. The Apogee Jam does AD conversion itself, using Apogee designed converters. I can't speak from experience with the Jam, but if its anything even close to the Duet, the sound quality will be excellent. The only disappointment for me was that it didn't come with a microphone, like the Apogee One.
tintin 16y ago
Seems like 2 minutes of intense webserver usage killed his review? edit the page finally loaded.. and I'm amazed by the sound quality of the recordings! Seems like the iPad can be a great 'on the road' sampler! Does anyone have experience with recording quality on other (tablet) devices?
- freerobby 16y ago
  Sorry, had to restart the web server just as this was crawling up the front page. Bad timing but should be fixed for good now.
marksoper 16y ago
Sounds great. I like the song. Amazing progress from needing a professional studio to record music a few decades ago to being able to do it on a comic-book sized pad. I'm not sure I see big cost/performance advantages to an amateur musician of using this arrangement ($700) versus a basic dedicated or pc-based recording setup (maybe $1500-$2500) considering the other costs (instruments) that come into play. Convenience, maybe, in terms of being able to record outdoors, while traveling, etc., but how feasible are those scenarios anyways?
cageface 16y ago
GarageBand for iPad is the most complete and capable all-in-one music creation package available anywhere. Not sure exactly what he means by "all-in-one" but if an app running on a distinct, general purpose device counts I'd take Ableton Live on a Macbook over this a million times over. There are certainly some appealing things about this but it's still a toy compared to the alternatives.
- freerobby 16y ago
  Two points: 1) I was referring to portable all-in-one units like the Boss Micro BR, Tascam field recorders, etc. Maybe I should have been more explicit about this. 2) Ableton is great for recording and processing, but for creating virtual instruments without external hardware, I'd prefer the iPad interface.
  - cageface 16y ago
    I agree about preferring the iPad to something like a Boss Micro. What do you mean by "creating virtual instruments"? Do you mean presenting a virtual instrument interface on screen? If so, I do think the touch surface has some real advantages over a mouse. I'm still not sold on virtual keyboards and drum surfaces on touch screens though. So far I haven't seen one I'd prefer to a real midi keyboard and drum pads.
    - freerobby 16y ago
      Yeah, I mean I prefer creating virtual instruments on the screen with the touch interface as opposed to using a mouse and/or keyboard. Definitely agree that MIDI keyboards are preferable to on-screen keyboards, but I do a lot of songwriting on-the-go so it's not always practical for me.
- runinit 16y ago
  He also says "The condenser mic in my iPad (again, first generation) is acceptable, but leaves something to be desired, particularly on the high end" If the mic on the iPad is acceptable to the reviewer. it goes pretty far to show how he reviewing the product (not as a DAW. but as a really awesome toy). TouchOSC + your choice of DAW is going to be pretty common for a while I think.
smackfu 16y ago
Like pretty much every other music program, I played with it for 5 minutes and probably will never touch it again.
- smackfu 16y ago
  Hey, this wasn't a criticism, it is just a fact. Do any non-musicians really use these beyond the initial playing stage? GarageBand in iLife on OS X was the same way.
  - frou_dh 16y ago
    How does someone become a musician in the first place if they won't go beyond noodling?
  - jsz0 16y ago
    They do serve some purpose in encouraging non-musicans to dig deeper. I think the first time you record your own music and are reasonably happy with the output it's a huge confidence booster.
uptown 16y ago
The chords sound a lot like what you used to hear from Elliott Smith.
- freerobby 16y ago
  Wow, thank you. Elliott is a musical idol of mine so this is one of the nicest compliments I could receive.
  - spudlyo 16y ago
    I also enjoyed your two hours of work, and noted the Elliott Smith influences. Keep it up.
- daeken 16y ago
  Definitely seconding this. Very "From a Basement on the Hill", especially around the 1:40 mark.
bengl3rt 16y ago
I did something like this, though much less serious: http://blog.miazmatic.com/post/3799771400/i-decided-to-test-drive-garageband-for-ipad-by http://blog.miazmatic.com/post/3799771400/i-decided-to-test-...
- l0c0b0x 16y ago
  Bump the pain away!!!!
bryanh 16y ago
Is that "Optimizing Performance" message the bouncing of an untouched track to an audio file instead of rendering it in real-time? Most software packages have that "lock track" function.
- freerobby 16y ago
  Good point - it happened mostly when shuffling things around so that would make sense.
Samuel_Michon 16y ago
Nice modal dialog: jPlayer 2.0.0 : id='jquery_jplayer_1' : Error! No solution can be found by jPlayer in this browser. Neither HTML nor Flash can be used. Review the jPlayer options: support and supplied. Context: {solution:'html, flash', supplied:'mp3'} I'm using Firefox 4 without Flash plugin on Win7. Both VLC and QuickTime browser plugins are installed, so the site can throw any audio file at me that it wants. Too bad that it doesn't even attempt to do so.
- freerobby 16y ago
  Sorry about that, there's a direct download link at the top you can use if the HTML5 player isn't working for you.
Tycho 16y ago
Very impressive (the recording/song). I actually have a Boss Micro BR, and while it's superb in many ways - lots of great effects, good built-in microphone, much capacity for layering and fiddling - it sadly does not see much use. It's just to much hassle to prat about with the interface when you're used to iPhones and the like. In fact I have a simple 8-track recorder app for the iPad called Mini Studio or something that sees more use. I suppose it helps that I've always got the iPad out for other purposes, though.

101 points by freerobby 16y ago

Interesting, however Apple's intake level implementation must be solely pegged to the input box from Apogee. The standalone app works great for sketching, playing and people making background noise for videos, but any type of advanced use requires hardwired inputs. It's definitely a different idea for a "pro" upgrade, compared to the typical digital unlock. I wonder if we'll see the mythical "Asteroid" project rise again. On a side note, this will be great for my AV nerd descendants, I used to run a media lab and we always wanted to move the people on GarageBand elsewhere to keep the place quiet.

GHFigs 16y ago
I have a theory that Asteroid was actually the Apogee Duet. It's essentially what Asteroid was thought to be (a Firewire breakout box with integration built into Apple's software) and was released in roughly the right time frame. http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/duet.php http://www.apogeedigital.com/products/duet.php

tricky 16y ago

fun and a great replacement for writing on the go, but I think porting something like Ableton Live to the iPad is more suited to the form factor.

cageface 16y ago
Agreed. If anything, none of these sequencers make sense to me as iPad apps. The small form factor combined with the inherent imprecision of a touch interface makes all the fiddly detail work that full-fledged sequencing requires extremely tedious. Tablets make a lot more sense to me as control surfaces and novel instruments, not as DAW alternatives.

wiredfool 16y ago

My impression of GarageBand on the iPad 1 is that it's pretty laggy. But I might have a more demanding test environment. * pull up a drum kit. * give iPad to 18mo old * he bangs on iPad like a chimpanzee. That ain't working. * take away iPad * drum kit keeps playing for 20 seconds or more with no input. * he yells for a minute or more to get it back But overall, its totally worth the $5.

zoul 16y ago
This has to be some weird issue on your side, I don’t see any latency on my 1G iPad when playing the drums. (Otherwise there would be little point to the whole application, right?)
- S_A_P 16y ago
  I concur, I dont think that something like that would be commonplace or it wouldnt even be allowed on the iPad 1.
  - wiredfool 16y ago
    I've done another test, this time with the 4yr old and I've now replicated the issue with two different test cases. It's clear that the ipad is queueing the events and not dropping them if it gets lagged. Under normal circumstances, it's not a problem. But when you have wee monkeys, it does seem to happen with some repeatability.
    - ralphgoodtimes 16y ago
      Maybe it has to do with the amount of apps "open" (albeit dormant) at the same time?
pohl 16y ago
I'll have to try that experiment with my 15 month old. He's spent a lot of time on the keyboard, and he and I played with the sampler, but I didn't have him try the drums. I didn't notice any lag, but maybe that's because my son can't stop himself from making the app go away: the home button is too irresistible. Someone needs to come out with a slip case that makes the home button unreachable.

Hates_ 16y ago

As a guitarist, this is going to get a hell of a lot more interesting when Apogee's Jam is released at the end of the month (As is seen in the iPad 2's GB video).

sjmulder 16y ago
I looked at the Apogee One way back but thought it was a little pricey still, and this Jam at $99 isn’t cheap either. Are you getting genuine quality or is it like getting golden HDMI cables?
- freerobby 16y ago
  Apogee has a good reputation in the music industry, and this is a product where manufacturing quality matters a great deal. Unlike HDMI cables, the 1/4" adapter must perform analog-digital conversion. This is a lossy, signal-altering process, so you want to use the highest quality converter available.
  - cma 16y ago
    There is a price performance tradeoff at some point.
- jammur 16y ago
  Apogee is known to make some of the best AD/DA converters around. IMO, the Apogee Duet absolutely blows away everything else in its price range. The difference between the Apogee Jam and something like the iRig is huge. The iRig is very noisy, and doesn't do AD conversion, it just alters the signal level to a mic level signal instead of instrument level. The end result is less than stellar. The Apogee Jam does AD conversion itself, using Apogee designed converters. I can't speak from experience with the Jam, but if its anything even close to the Duet, the sound quality will be excellent. The only disappointment for me was that it didn't come with a microphone, like the Apogee One.

tintin 16y ago

Seems like 2 minutes of intense webserver usage killed his review? edit the page finally loaded.. and I'm amazed by the sound quality of the recordings! Seems like the iPad can be a great 'on the road' sampler! Does anyone have experience with recording quality on other (tablet) devices?

freerobby 16y ago
Sorry, had to restart the web server just as this was crawling up the front page. Bad timing but should be fixed for good now.

marksoper 16y ago

Sounds great. I like the song. Amazing progress from needing a professional studio to record music a few decades ago to being able to do it on a comic-book sized pad. I'm not sure I see big cost/performance advantages to an amateur musician of using this arrangement ($700) versus a basic dedicated or pc-based recording setup (maybe $1500-$2500) considering the other costs (instruments) that come into play. Convenience, maybe, in terms of being able to record outdoors, while traveling, etc., but how feasible are those scenarios anyways?

cageface 16y ago

GarageBand for iPad is the most complete and capable all-in-one music creation package available anywhere. Not sure exactly what he means by "all-in-one" but if an app running on a distinct, general purpose device counts I'd take Ableton Live on a Macbook over this a million times over. There are certainly some appealing things about this but it's still a toy compared to the alternatives.

freerobby 16y ago
Two points: 1) I was referring to portable all-in-one units like the Boss Micro BR, Tascam field recorders, etc. Maybe I should have been more explicit about this. 2) Ableton is great for recording and processing, but for creating virtual instruments without external hardware, I'd prefer the iPad interface.
- cageface 16y ago
  I agree about preferring the iPad to something like a Boss Micro. What do you mean by "creating virtual instruments"? Do you mean presenting a virtual instrument interface on screen? If so, I do think the touch surface has some real advantages over a mouse. I'm still not sold on virtual keyboards and drum surfaces on touch screens though. So far I haven't seen one I'd prefer to a real midi keyboard and drum pads.
  - freerobby 16y ago
    Yeah, I mean I prefer creating virtual instruments on the screen with the touch interface as opposed to using a mouse and/or keyboard. Definitely agree that MIDI keyboards are preferable to on-screen keyboards, but I do a lot of songwriting on-the-go so it's not always practical for me.
runinit 16y ago
He also says "The condenser mic in my iPad (again, first generation) is acceptable, but leaves something to be desired, particularly on the high end" If the mic on the iPad is acceptable to the reviewer. it goes pretty far to show how he reviewing the product (not as a DAW. but as a really awesome toy). TouchOSC + your choice of DAW is going to be pretty common for a while I think.

smackfu 16y ago

Like pretty much every other music program, I played with it for 5 minutes and probably will never touch it again.

smackfu 16y ago
Hey, this wasn't a criticism, it is just a fact. Do any non-musicians really use these beyond the initial playing stage? GarageBand in iLife on OS X was the same way.
- frou_dh 16y ago
  How does someone become a musician in the first place if they won't go beyond noodling?
- jsz0 16y ago
  They do serve some purpose in encouraging non-musicans to dig deeper. I think the first time you record your own music and are reasonably happy with the output it's a huge confidence booster.

uptown 16y ago

The chords sound a lot like what you used to hear from Elliott Smith.

freerobby 16y ago
Wow, thank you. Elliott is a musical idol of mine so this is one of the nicest compliments I could receive.
- spudlyo 16y ago
  I also enjoyed your two hours of work, and noted the Elliott Smith influences. Keep it up.
daeken 16y ago
Definitely seconding this. Very "From a Basement on the Hill", especially around the 1:40 mark.

bengl3rt 16y ago

I did something like this, though much less serious: http://blog.miazmatic.com/post/3799771400/i-decided-to-test-drive-garageband-for-ipad-by http://blog.miazmatic.com/post/3799771400/i-decided-to-test-...

l0c0b0x 16y ago
Bump the pain away!!!!

bryanh 16y ago

Is that "Optimizing Performance" message the bouncing of an untouched track to an audio file instead of rendering it in real-time? Most software packages have that "lock track" function.

freerobby 16y ago
Good point - it happened mostly when shuffling things around so that would make sense.

Samuel_Michon 16y ago

Nice modal dialog: jPlayer 2.0.0 : id='jquery_jplayer_1' : Error! No solution can be found by jPlayer in this browser. Neither HTML nor Flash can be used. Review the jPlayer options: support and supplied. Context: {solution:'html, flash', supplied:'mp3'} I'm using Firefox 4 without Flash plugin on Win7. Both VLC and QuickTime browser plugins are installed, so the site can throw any audio file at me that it wants. Too bad that it doesn't even attempt to do so.

freerobby 16y ago
Sorry about that, there's a direct download link at the top you can use if the HTML5 player isn't working for you.

Tycho 16y ago

Very impressive (the recording/song). I actually have a Boss Micro BR, and while it's superb in many ways - lots of great effects, good built-in microphone, much capacity for layering and fiddling - it sadly does not see much use. It's just to much hassle to prat about with the interface when you're used to iPhones and the like. In fact I have a simple 8-track recorder app for the iPad called Mini Studio or something that sees more use. I suppose it helps that I've always got the iPad out for other purposes, though.