Garageband + iPhone

Two months ago, I made a daring purchase (I say daring because, well, I never really buy shit online) in the app store and got myself the Garageband iPhone application.

Here's what I came up with on my first try:

  

Lonely bee, can you hear me calling? Waiting for your sting~

10 minutes to navigate around the app, familiarize myself with it, put together the instrument parts, and then write the lyrics. I know I could've made something longer, but I just wanted to try it out. Hopefully I'll get around to recording an entire song in the near future. Knowing how lazy I get when it comes to handling equipment, I'll probably be recording my next song with this baby. 

Basically, it's a really compact version of the desktop program. All in all, I'd say it's a pretty handy app to have when you're on the go and you have something you're itching to record and you don't give a damn about the sound quality (not implying that the quality is crap because it totally isn't).

If you're the type of person who enjoys making the most out of/abusing your iPhone, you might want to look into these products:

The Mikey 2.0

and...

The Amplitube iRig

The Mikey 2.0 is a stereo microphone that you can attach to your iPhone 3Gs/iPod Touch/iPod Classic (not compatible with other iPod models). The Amplitube iRig is an interface that allows you to connect your guitar directly to your phone. Pair the iRig with the built-in Garageband amps and pedals, and you've got yourself one heck of a machine in your hands. 

More about the Mikey 2.0 in the official product page -> clickityclack

And of course, the Amplitube iRig's got one, too -> clickitycloo

And just in case you're interested in reading the poorly-written write-up I did a while back on the Mikey, clickity your way over here -> clippityclap

Hit the jump for more info on the Garageband iPhone app!

I see you've fallen for my trap... MUAHAHAHAHA! Never trust a "read more" link on some lame-ass blog.

Okay no this isn't a trap, but my blog is still lame.

Back to talking about the application.

Before we  get to the amazing features, can we just pause for a minute and appreciate this glorious app?

Look at that. How can you not want to work with that? Using your iPhone to edit anything can get frustrating with the small screen and all, but the app makes it so easy to navigate from one work area to the next. Not to mention the app was designed in a way to optimize the touch screen.

You can record up to 8 tracks per project.

Like in the desktop version of Garageband, you can adjust the key, tempo, time signature, and everything else.

Sharing and importing made easy. Easy peasy lemon squeezy breezy fleezy sneezy

When adding a layer, you can choose from these 9 track types

The guitar amp is used for, well, recording guitar parts. But if you're feeling rather ~creative&adventurous~, you could experiment by using the effects on the other tracks *coughVOCALTRACKScough*

There are 9 amps to choose from

And 10 stompboxes

Each amp's EQ can be adjusted

SO MANY KNOBS~ MUST TINKER WITH ALL OF THEM

Hitting the tuning fork on the upper left corner will bring you to the tuner

The app comes with a sampler that allows you to record and save your own sample beats/audio clips

Now for the instruments.

The thing with Garageband is that, even if you don't know how to play real instruments, you can always rely on the software instruments to help you create. As someone who has absolutely no idea how to play the drums, I was thrilled that the app came with "smart" instruments. They're the members of the mini orchestra/band Garageband hired to play for you wherever, whenever you want. Using the several integrated playing patterns, the only work left for you to do is to handle the chord progression and the order in which percussive instruments come in.

Or you could always play the digital instruments as the track's being recorded. That's fun, too.

One thing that I like about the drums is that it hits just as hard as you tap. Talk about ~realistic~. The smart drums allows you to choose just how loud and how complex the beat is by dragging little icons onto and across the drumpad thing.

It sucks that you can't position your fingers on the fret board and strum the guitar manually. However, you can mute the strings, slide up and down the fret board, and bend notes. Same goes for the bass.

For the keyboard, you can choose what chords the left and right hands play. If you know music theory or if you have a good ear (which I lack), you can figure out which 2 chords go well together when played simultaneously.

Also, you can choose what kind of scale to play in (this goes for all the instruments)

There are 12 scales to choose from - Major, Major Pentatonic, Major Blues, Mixolydian, Klezmer, Minor Pentatonic, Minor Blues, Japanese, Minor, Harmonic Minor, Dorian, and South-East Asian

When recording vocals or live instruments with the mic, you can choose from a variety of effects which can be further adjusted to your liking. 

I especially like how there's a visible monitor to keep track of the input levels.


This application shouldn't be used as a replacement for real deal, but it's fun and portable. If you're on a really tight budget or if you're going for a certain raw feel to your recordings, then by all means, abuse your iPhone+Garageband to no end!