iLife 05: GarageBand Speculation

[Moogs]

I am totally psyched for the second generation of GB to be released. I have had so much fun with the first one because of the confidence it has given me to know that I can get a tune from my head to my Mac in just a few minutes.

But it's also a 1.0 product and there are sure to be interface improvements, new whiz-bang features and hopefully a motherload of new loops too. Given what has been delivered with Logic Express 7, what new features do you guys see being incorporated at the consumer level with GB?

(Asteroid not withstanding)

[CoreMac]

How about combining iChat with Garageband? Check out the speculation at this link:
http://www.apple-x.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1184&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

[Moogs]

For efficient music sharing or some type of online improvisation between band members, maybe, but in general I don't see a big link between the two. Generally those types of tasks are carried out in person. I think if everyone had a fibre-optic connection something like GB Live could have tremendous impact, but right now it would be like video-conferencing: even the best systems like iChat AV have their limitations depending on hardware, bandwidth, and system knowledge. Far better than what MS offers but still not like talking on the phone IMO in terms of reliability, etc.

I was more curious what the music production gurus in here have in mind as "sure bet" new features / enhancements. I think the interface could stand some retooling in terms of how custom instrument settings are viewed for example. Also on the main window the "drag to view" sample library thing is a little clunky in its implementation IMO.

Just stuff like that. I'm sure music buffs have more refined / interesting insights than I do; hopefully a few will chime in.

[Jim S.]

Application performance should be at the top of the list of improvements. I would imagine this is one reason Apple would like all of their computers to use the G5. There are a lot of recent Apple machines that can barely run Garageband (or not at all).

[Xaqtly]

I agree with performance. I also think Apple should add panning and effect automation into GarageBand.

[tdszero]

As far as a combination iChat/GarageBand, there is really no need. I already pretty much do that now.

I record something into GarageBand, save the file and send it to my one guitar player through iChat. He opens it, adds to it and sends it back. The whole time we talk through iChat and can work on things in the middle of the night no matter where in the country either of us are.


As far as what we'll see in the new version?

Well, performance improvements are always welcome. If the rumors of Apple releasing an audio interface are true, support for that to give it Apple's ease of use. Beyond that, possibly some UI tweaks to bring it more inline with the rest of the iLife apps (not that I think it needs it really) and hopefully a few surprises.