Garage Band for iPad always seemed like a no-brainer to me, and it’s clear that Apple thought so too—they were just taking their time to get it right. It looks like it’s gonna be an impressively capable solution for sketching out music on your tablet. And it looks like it’s gonna be a blast to use.
The iPad studio offers 8 track recording, over 250 loops, and is fully compatible with the Mac version of GB. It’s got touch instruments—piano, synths, guitars and the rest—so you don’t have to lug anything with you, but you can plug in a guitar and shred for real with virtual guitar amps and effects if you so choose. A feature called Smart Instruments allows for the less musically-inclined to get involved—it’ll let you pick chords for a guitar, say, and do the strumming for you.
The accelerometer helps with dynamics—tapping the virtual keys harder will produce a different sound than just giving them a little touch—and sustain and octaves can be quickly toggled. Bringing up the drumkit puts you behind a kit yourself—tap on the cymbals and toms to knock out your beat.
Track view lets you edit just like you would in the desktop app—you can rearrange, trim, and edit tracks all with your fingertips. You’ll be able to record your (probably surprisingly polished) bedroom pop with Garage Band for iPad on March 11, the day the new iPad launches, for $US5. [Apple.com]