GarageBand comes to iPad

Along with the iPad 2 itself, Apple today announced a brand new productivity/entertainment software that we believe will make quite a splash in tablet land. We're of course talking about GarageBand!

For a while now, we've been enjoying almost professional-grade photo-editing software for the iPhone and iPad, but now it looks like the time has come for audio enthusiasts to have their share of fun as well. But the question is, just how far has Apple gone with GarageBand for iPad? What will you actually be able to do with it? We're really happy to see that they have included the so-called Touch Instruments, which are actually preloaded instruments you can play in real time using your fingers. All the basics are covered including keyboards, guitars (along with amps), bass and drums. All the instruments have unique graphical interfaces that should make the experience as close to as if you're playing an actual instrument. Additionally, it seems there will be some very nice options with all of them, like tweaking the pitch of a keyboard note, or adding vibrato to it, for example. And it all seems very intuitive with the iPad's multitouch screen.

For those who are completely unknowledgeable about music, however, there's also the smart instrument functionality, which will let the application pretty much do all the work for you. For example, you can strum the guitar and it will automatically provide you with compatible chords to continue the melody.


Although this doesn't sound that professional, wait till you hear that GarageBand for iPad will have an 8-track recording studio built in. It will allow you to mix your tracks, trim them and more. Don't look for any mastering tools here though. Nevertheless, it looks like music makers will have a cool new toy here to play with, and, you know, great ideas don't require professional equipment to be quickly sampled while on the go, and that's just what GarageBand for iPad will allow you to do.

Finally, once you're ready with your masterpiece, you'll be able to email it, or export it and add it to your iTunes library. GarageBand for the iPad will be available starting March 11 for $4.99. Unfortunately, it hasn't been specified yet if it will be available for the first-generation iPad, but we sincerely hope it will (after all, they're not calling it GarageBand for iPad 2).

source: Apple