GarageBand on iPad: First Impressions

Being in Australia we have to wait a little longer to get the iPad 2, there has been a lot of material written over the weekend on the new iPad so mostly we have to reading for the moment (Bring on the 25th!)

There was one new release that’s out though and that is Garageband for iPad.

It’s $5.95 (Australian) and after playing with it for just an hour or so today, it is worth every cent. I’ve used Garageband on Mac OS since it was first released but immediately your start with Garageband for iPad there is something else that just takes it to another level -the touch interface, it is amazing.

It is very intuitive and in no time you’re making music. The ability to play instruments directly on the screen both a lot of fun and actually very functional.

I am running this on an original iPad and initially thought that it would struggle to run this new app but it zooms along quiet nicely. There are some sluggish screen changes between the instrument view and the track view but really nothing that is too bad.

If you’re familiar with Garageband on Mac OS you will see immediately that some of the look and functionality is borrowed directly, the track layout pictured below is very similar.

I’ve not had a chance to play with the live guitar features, where you can plugin your guitar directly into the iPad and use Garageband for amp simulations and effects. Equally I’m very keen to play with the ability to record other live instruments and even sample sounds and then use the keyboard to play them back – all very good indeed!

It’s another example of Apple really showing off what the iPad can do. The screens are very well laid out, the graphics stunning (I just love the drum kit – picture) and I think enough tools to put together reasonable music. Sure it’s not Logic Audio or Pro Tools but for most of us who want to get something going quickly, pretty much anywhere you’re hard pressed to find something as good.

Tagged as: garageband