A new look is pleasing to the eye, but it’s
the changes you can’t see that are most attractive.
The latest
version of GarageBand has received a mixed response from dedicated users of the
app, and we can see why.
The latest version of GarageBand
Apple’s claim
that anyone can pick up the app and make music may accurately describe the iOS
version, but the Mac upgrade is a rather different beast. Some teething
problems, as well as features that have been dropped, have angered veteran
users.
First off,
the app looks great, with the darker styling of Logic Pro X, and the fl atter,
design of iOS 7. Unfortunately, the desktop version isn’t nearly as intuitive
to use, in spite of its extra functionality.
During
testing, we wanted to see if anything has changed when it comes to adding a
soundtrack onto a movie.
We selected a
video from our library and started to lay down a few Cuban beats, but at this
point the app crashed, and did so repeatedly. This issue has been widely reported,
and although others have reported the crash on varied commands, in our case it
was Play.
A further
search on the web revealed that the problem seems to be most common on 2007
iMacs, which is one of the machines we used during testing. We hope that Apple
will address this issue as GarageBand has some handy new options.
One of these
is the Drummer track. This feature first made an appearance in Logic Pro X and
allows you to add a virtual session drummer to your track. You can customise
how complex you want the drum track to be and the type of drums and cymbals
used.
The free
version of GarageBand has just one rock drummer. To access 14 more, you’ll need
to pay an extra $5.49 for the in-app purchase.
‘
The free version of GarageBand has
just one rock drummer.
Also from
Logic are Smart Controls. These instrument controls will be familiar to
musicians. For example, when you choose a vintage B3 organ you’ll see the
instrument’s drawbars and switches rather than generic sliders and text fields.
Select an electric guitar and you find gain, tone, delay, boost and reverb
knobs.
Guitar amps
and stompboxes were included in the previous version of GarageBand. Bass
players now get amps of their own, and the application’s tuner is also more
accurate. One significant addition to GarageBand is that it will now save your
compositions to iCloud, which can then be accessed from any iOS device.
Unfortunately, while you can import songs started on your iPad, iPhone or iPod
touch to your Mac (as long as you’re using a later version than, 6.0.2) and
continue to work on them there, that option isn’t available the other way
round.Some dedicated GarageBand users are also disgruntled by the removal of
some options. While you can record audio tracks that might be included in a podcast,
the dedicated Podcast track, podcast vocal effects, and chapter and embedded
links features used in enhanced podcasts are gone.
One significant addition to GarageBand
is that it will now save your compositions to iCloud
Bottom
line. The choice to
upgrade from an older version of GarageBand is easy – especially considering
it’s free. When you upgrade, the old version stays on your Mac and is renamed
GarageBand 6.0.5. Should you be unhappy that you can’t create podcasts in the
newest version, you can always use the older version.
Price: FREE;
$5.49 (complete collection in-app purchase)
