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Keep it Simple with GarageBand
Keep it Simple with GarageBand promises to teach you the ins and outs of Gargageband through a series of simple musical tasks. You start off my 'laying down of fresh tracks,' as people in the biz say, and you end up adding your vocals to the project. The best part is that each segment of the project is available for download, so you can compare what you have with what you should have. You'll be ready to rock out in no time flat. Watch out, Chemical Brothers!The books clocks in at 96 pages and will set you have $14.95 ($19.95 CAD).
Music Thing: The USB Lightsnake and other ways to connect your axe
Each week Tom Whitwell of Music Thing highlights the best of the new music gear that's coming out, as well as noteworthy vintage equipment: Connecting a guitar to a USB socket is one of those technical questions that nobody has ever asked, but lots of people have tried to answer. The latest, and possibly neatest, solution is the SoundTech Lightsnake, a simple 10-foot guitar cable with a quarter-inch jack on one end and a USB plug on the other. Plug it into a USB socket and it will glow green (mmm… retro!), and it promises to pump your guitar neatly into GarageBand or whatever. There’s a big cultural barrier between the two ends of the cable. Quarter-inch jacks are indestructible, ancient and roadworthy. They were introduced in 1878, for use in telephone exchanges, and they’re still in almost any piece of musical equipment you’d ever want to use, from a Les Paul to a Moog Modular. They never break, and if they do happen to fray, can be mended by anyone who knows which end of a soldering iron to hold. With no tools, a combination of sharp teeth and nimble fingers can make a workable repair. Meanwhile the new-fangled USB plug, introduced in 1995, has no place in rock’n’roll. It’s invariably plastic, and was literally designed by a committee. Neutrik does produce a nickel-housed USB socket that could almost fit on a guitar amp, but would be unlikely to survive attack from a flying bottle of beer. In the last year, USB/Guitar hybrids have been everywhere. The GuitarPlug does the same job as the Lightsnake, without the attached cable or the glowing LED. Towards the end of 2005 there was a rash of USB guitars, released by many, bought by few, culminating in the Behringer iAxe, a $149 guitar with a built-in USB socket and a bundle of free software. I’m sure it sounds great.
Software Update: GarageBand 3.0.2
TUAW reader Mark H noticed that a software update is available for GarageBand. Version 3.0.2 weighs in at 32.2 MB (though both Mark H and I are on Intel Macs so your mileage may vary) and: "addresses issues with video handling, podcast exporting, and importing QuickTime markers. It also addresses a number of other minor issues."Enjoy.
GarageBand updated to version 3.0.1
It's time to launch Software Update once again, as Apple has released GarageBand 3.0.1. According to Apple, this update "...addresses an issue with Podcast production using the French or Finnish localized versions." So there you go.
I Love My Mac: Now in iTunes
Do you remember that "I Love My Mac" song that was making the rounds a few months ago? If you don't, it was created by Mac geek Daphne Kalfon with GarageBand. Well, today it's available in the iTunes Music Store [link], and Daphne has made this promise: "...if 'I Love My Mac' makes it to iTunes’ top 10 song downloads, at that time I will donate 10% of my proceeds to a music education charity."Sounds like a plan to me, Daphne. Good luck!
Have it your way: With GarageBand
First Trent Reznor did it. Now it's The King's turn. No, not Elvis. I mean The Burger King. During last weekend's Super Bowl, Burger King ran an ad that featured a good, old-fashioned musical production number, complete with dancers dressed like Whopper components (the meat patty dress was especially disturbing). If you wish you could relive that moment, or if you think you could do better with the music itself, rejoice. BK has made the "Whopperettes" music available for download as a GarageBand project.* Make your own brainwashing propaganda enchanting jingle on your Mac. Does anyone else want a Whopper all of a sudden?*There's no direct link, so once you're on the site, click "Bonus Material" and then "Music."Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
A full list of Apple's World Music Jam Pack loops
At the Macworld Expo earlier this month, Apple released its latest Jam Pack for Garageband, called "World Music." Apple notes that the collection contains 3,000 loops and 40 virtual instruments, but don't you wonder precisely what is included in these packages? Don't worry about trying to comb through all of those loops and instruments yourself, for iCompositions has done it for you. Noting that the Jam Pack actually contains 3,235 Apple loops and 42 software instruments, they list them all, from the African Kalimba and the Irish Bouzouki to the Brazilian Sun Panderio and the Japanese Katana Flute. I'm just happy I'm not the one who had to compile this list.
GarageBand 3: First Impressions
After some initial impressions of iPhoto 6, I figured GarageBand should be next on my list, as it too seems to have received some of the most significant updates in the iLife 06 suite. As with the iPhoto impressions, it's the same drill here: I opened GarageBand, poked around in the Podcast Studio and thought I'd post some impressions as a prelude to a real TUAW review: Once again, it feels like Apple was able to add in a bunch of new features while at the same time making the app feel generally zippier and more responsive. Bake those code ninjas some cookies When scrolling back and forth in a track, GarageBand also has a popup/overlay, like iPhoto's, that displays a real-time scrolling track time. Awesome You can add a parental advisory to your podcast right within GarageBand The New Project window has both new "Podcast Studio" and "New Movie Score" options. I imagine the movie score works in tandem with iMovies I absolutely love the media browser. I don't remember if the previous version had anything like this, but it's present in the same form in all the other iLife apps, and it's incredibly handy GarageBand asks you to change the podcast track to a video track if you simply drag a movie onto it. Effortless swapping between the two. It also splits a video's audio into a separate track for you to do with as you please GarageBand has an "Export" preference pane with pre-set podcast export settings like mono, spoken, musical and higher That "ducking" feature Jobs demoed is about one of the coolest and handiest additions I can think of, especially to a podcasting app So that's it for now. Stay tuned for more lengthy reviews from TUAW as soon as we can put them together.
Apple posts podcast tutorials
Now this is pretty cool: Apple has posted a series of eight video podcasts to the iTunes Music Store [link] that explain how to make a great podcast (both audio and video) with iLife '06. Topics include setting recording levels in GarageBand, making use of introductory music and sound effects, adding web links and images and editing video with iMovie HD.Check out these video tutorials, they contain some useful information.[Via Micro Persuasion]
Garageband Jampack: World Music
If your attention slipped for one second during the Keynote you may have missed that a new Jam Pack has been released for Garageband. 'World Music' is the name of the game for the 4th Jam Pack.It includes drums from Africa and Asia, Ethnic wind instruments, and exotic strings. All told this pack includes over 40 instruments to add a little flair to your songs or podcasts. 3000 loops are also included for all your loopy needs (ha! Get it?).The Jam Pack is available now and will set you back $99.
Apple releases iLife 06, Photocasting, iWeb addition
Apple today unveiled iLife 06, a major update to their award-winning suite of multimedia applications. The largest updates came to iPhoto, which can now handle 250,000 photos and features better, full-screen editing options. A major new feature is called Photocasting, which will allow an iPhoto user to publish their photos to the web using RSS technology, allowing anyone to subscribe to a feed of their images and the ability to be notified of updates. You can also subscribe through your own copy of iPhoto 06, which will allow you to actually download the images and use them as if they were your own, enabling editing as well as ordering prints, cards and now calendars.GarageBand 3 now features a "Podcast Recording Studio," along with professional podcast sounds, a Podcast Radio Engineer, iChat Interview Recording and iMovie Scoring.iMovie HD 6 adds Apple-designed iMovie themes, real-time effects, cinematic real-time titling, enhanced audio tools and effects, multiple open projects and video podcast/blogging abilities.iDVD 6 brings Magic DVD, widescreen DVD abilities, an enhanced map view and the much-requested compatibility with 3rd-party DVD burners to the table.A new addition to the iLife family is iWeb, a much rumored new app that does what everyone had assumed: it will allow .Mac members to easily publish content from other iLife apps such as podcasts, imovies, photos, blogs and more to their .Mac space. It features Apple-designed templates, easy flexible site creation, and iLife media browser and one-click .Mac publishing. I guess there was a reason behind that 1 TB bandwidth upgrade back in Dec.Even with all these great new features, iLife 06 still sells a single license for only $79, with a 5-license pack for $99, and is available today at the online store. I'm sure local stores will have it in soon, as well.
