GarageBand

GarageBand '11 is the latest iteration of Apple's recording studio application. With it you can record instrument and vocal feeds (with the right interfaces) or audio tracks, then mix your magnum opus. There's a built-in "learn to play" feature for both guitar and piano. GarageBand '11 installs easily but is a large download, and costs $14.99.

The GarageBand '11 interface is split into panes. The main area shows you tracks layered one on top of the other. Beneath that is an output track representation. To the right are images of devices and effects you can … Read more

Apple's GarageBand gives wanna-be and real-world musicians alike the instruments they need to make music on an iPad. But when it comes to drums and guitar, there's something lost in translation; your fingertips just don't measure up to the feel of drumsticks and a guitar pick.

Of course, the real deal won't work on an iPad's screen; wood and plastic aren't conductive materials, so their taps and strums will go unrecognized.

Enter Pix & Stix, which give you a rubberized, conductive guitar pick and pair of drumsticks. (Slogan idea: "For those about to … Read more

GarageBand got a few tweaks, but they are mostly limited to fixing stability issues. Apple says a bug that formerly would crash the app when uploading songs to iCloud, and another that caused an error when logging into SoundCloud with a Facebook account, have been fixed.

iPhoto received mostly bug fixes and enhancements to streamline use as well, but did get a minor interface tweak that will be useful. Now when you publish a journal to iCloud, a new button lets you copy the link to clipboard -- useful for sharing freshly made journals with friends right away.

iMovie received … Read more

This was a big week for Apple with the announcement of the new iPad, and though I got to play with it a little bit at the event Wednesday, I really can't wait to put it through its paces when it's finally released March 16.

With that said, the new iPad wasn't the only thing released on Wednesday; Apple also announced the availability of several updates to iOS apps, including the new iPhoto for iOS.

This week's collection of iOS apps is a little different than usual. Instead of a themed collection, I'm going to list the Apple apps released this week so you can have them all in one place. Click the name of the link to head to our download page, or click the link at the end of each one to read our hands-on articles about each of the apps.… Read more

As part of the new iPad announcement Apple released new versions of iPhoto and GarageBand for iOS, but in addition Apple updated the existing versions of these programs for its Mac OS X platform.

The update for iPhoto is fairly sizable at 354.57MB, which may seem a bit strange given that its only new feature is the ability to delete photos from the iCloud Photo Stream (a feature that Apple also included in iOS 5.1); however, the update does also include fixes and enhancements included in the previous 9.2.0 update, such as problems with rebuilding libraries, … Read more

Though iPhoto is the newest addition to the iPad's iLife apps, GarageBand also got a few updated features and instruments to add to its arsenal of music tools. The original version of GarageBand for iOS already impressed me with intuitive touch-screen instruments, smart instruments that required no prior musical skill, and multitrack recording features anyone could use, but the new GarageBand adds even more to like, with wireless connections of up to four iPads for live music creation, and more.

The new version is by no means a complete makeover, but it adds a new category of instruments, the … Read more

Apple has released a few updates for its iLife suite of media creation and management applications, which have been made available through the Mac App Store as well as by conventional means. Because of the way Mac App Store applications are coded, the version of iLife distributed through it will require updates issued through the store instead of via Software Update. Therefore, if you have installed iLife via the Mac App Store, you will need to use the Store to update your applications, and if you have iLife installed by conventional means then you can download updates either via Software … Read more

Now that you've finally gotten your taxes (or your request for an extension) to the Internal Revenue Service on time, better turn your attention to composing your magnum opus for our first-ever crowdsourced, multitouch-produced music album.

The deadline is April 30 and there are just a few rules:

The composition needs to be wholly your own--no sampling or remixing.

It needs to be done completely without instruments, using a multitouch-based audio production software program like GarageBand for the iPad. All interaction with the software should be done through a touch screen, in other words. Adding your own vocals is … Read more

Apple has released a new version of GarageBand, which is a small update that fixes a number of small stability issues with the program. The focus of this update is to add support for opening projects that were created on GarageBand for iPad, and is a recommended update if you use GarageBand on both OS X and iOS devices. This update is for the OS X version of GarageBand, and not for iPads or other iOS devices.

The update is 47.44MB as a standalone updater and can be downloaded through Software Update for those who already have GarageBand installed, … Read more