Apple figured it out for musicians. The Mac combined with Pro Tools revolutionized recording a decade ago, putting top quality recording capabilities in the hands of independent musicians. The recording studio business took a big hit on that one. Successful studios today employ Pro Tools with all the latest plug-ins, etc. Todays successful studios are run by guys that "get it" and have top drawer mics and physical space that maybe the average independent musician can't afford.
Then comes a little program called Garageband. I first saw it running on a Macbook about 7 or 8 years ago. It could be seen as a very simplified Pro Tools. But it had more. It incorporated loops of preloaded instrument sounds...or you could make your own. Pretty slick tool for the songwriter who wanted to hear his ideas without having to own a drumset, or hire musicians. The songwriter can just make some loops and get a quick listen.
Or, like my daughter Erica, you can use external tracks imported into Garageband and record your vocals over them. Here's her page.
Enter the iPad, this little marvel that will change life as we know it. Just looking at its portability alone, lighter than a laptop, a user interface thats simple to fly, and it revolves around apps. Yesterday, I downloaded Garageband onto my iPad...for $4.99. As you know, I'm a train commuter. On the way home, I started to noodle with Garageband on the iPad and, within 45 mins, had a pretty cool funk track going with drums, bass, guitar, and bari sax. If I hadn't arrived at my stop, I probably would've done more.
What an awesome tool for musicians! Songwriters and musicians can create tracks to try ideas, practice, record demos, or....dare I say...record an EP! When your work is done, you can share it via email, iTunes, etc...directly from Garageband!
Next up for me is to try to record some harmonica parts on it.
Yes, Apple figured it out...
Hi Chris, this is Jon clark, N6NQ, back from committee time in lala land. I was your article and thinking about my son Cody. He's been taking guitar lessons for couple of years now and starting to do some pretty decent stuff. I've been working on trying to get him together with some his friends. He also has been doing a little home recording. That garageband could be a real kick for him. Thanks for talking about it.
ReplyDeleteJon
n6nq@roadrunner.com
Hey Jon! Great to hear from you! How's the gang??
ReplyDeleteGarageband is an incredible program. The full version that comes with a Mac is very powerful. My daughtet uses it with tremendous results! The ipad version is much like the old multitrack cassette machines...it allows a musician to try some ideas, lay down some basic thoughts. It's incredible what can be done these days! Say hello to everyone on the radio!!