A) No synth tweaking, beyond ADSR. B) No note editing for s/w instruments. C) Drum kit interface dependent on kit chosen. In other words, if you want "rock kit" you're obliged to play on the virtual kit; no "pad option". D) VERY thin on effects per track. E) No pasteboard functionality.
Nanostudio is leagues ahead, but it could learn a thing or two from GB's elegance. Getting around GB on iPad is a dream, and it makes me want to use it, despite its lack of depth. It's perfect for basic ideas, later to be tweaked in Logic.
If NS rocked (3) basic chores:
1) Live audio tracks 2) native iPad support 3) virtual velocity (accelerometer)
IF nanostudio had an audio arranger view to mix tracks that would ROCK! That's where GB is the best despite not having volume/pan envelopes.
So for example. Export tracks from NS into an arranger type view (like cubase, garageband, logic) to further and add WAVs from other apps. Basically Multrack DAW + Nanostudio
It doesn't do anything or special. The iPad 1 works fine for garageband. The interface is great, but I can not suggest this app to serious music makers. Maybe buy it and hope for an update...
i am also very underwhelmed.. i think the u/i is very nice and it runs just fine on my ipad 1, but man it has some serious limitations.
unless i'm missing something, you can't load your own sample into the sampler. you can record a sample with the internal microphone, but that's it. -only 8 tracks at a time -lame drum kits -very limited parameters -only echo and reverb measly controls
just the tip of the iceberg.. it's kinda cool and i'm glad it's here because there does need to be some competition in mobile music making world. but still beatmaker 2 is still much better. if beatmaker 2 allowed real time track recording, this thing would be dust because that's about all it has over bm2..
Am I the only one here that actually thinks that GB is cool... I have played with GB for the past 2 hours and could not to put it down - it is lot of fun and smart instruments give you so much instant gratification. Sure it lacks in many ways, but so does NS and BM. At least it plays nicely on iPad and is CCK CoreMidi compliant and as Icepulse have mentioned, you can import your songs into Logic for further editing -brilliant. Meantime, we are still waiting for NS and BM2 to have native iPad support. For a price of coffee and a donut I can not complaint. BTW; did I mentioned that it is fun to use..?
as someone who takes mobile music composition very seriously, it certainly is 'fun'. for the most part though, it's an entry into someone that hasn't made music on the platform before (as is, garage band for osx as well)
true, there are some other more complex features here and there.. the core midi is nice, but bm2 should have that along with more stability and universal support soon.
the bottom line is: this app is a lot of 'fun' but doesn't quite measure up to something that you can make serious music with.. and yeah, for $5 it's certainly not bad at all.
you can load your own samples into GB if you have jailbroken and use iFile or use you iPhone explorer on a nonjailbroken device. Just import into the correct directory and you should be set. So far no copy/paste support.
For those that don't like using BM2 in low res mode get yourself retinapad from cydia and you will love BM2! It forces the ipad verson into retina display mode and there are no longer the jaggies that we all hate :)
In all honesty tho, the price for garageband justifies the means. Apple will not be taking business from other DEVs anytime soon.
I am really enjoying playing with GB - it is great fun!
Everything it does can be bettered by individual apps, but as a package, and for the price, it is great. The killer is its integrated approach. I know we can use audio copy/paste with other apps into, say, a multitrack app, but that's so clunky (but necessary).
A lot of pops and clicks using the guitars though, so might need a restart.
But man, 5 dollars! My kids will love this in the morning!
Anyone tried moving projects back and forth to OSX garageband yet? How's that working? Even if the ipad isn't 100% fully featured, using it as a "mobile interface" to sketch out core tracks that can be tweaked on the desktop at a later time seems work $5 to me (assuming the project transfer works that way).
I think some people hit it on the head as far as it being a good sketch pad...possible not yet for electronic musicians. That could come later.
Some high notes: -The interface is slicker and easier than anything (the trimming is pretty cool. -It seems rock solid.
The lows: -Definitely needs piano roll and more tweak-able parameters in the instruments. -Needs copy paste
What it does show to me above all is that even on the original ipad, its is clearly possible to make what I think everyone wants...a sequencer with virtual instruments running seamlessly with audio tracks. If the original ipad can easily run it...the ipad 2 could add more tracks and the features we want. All in all though its pretty impressive.
It's just that as a sketch pad I've come to expect the ability to go back and edit the parts you've recorded. I don't want to have to fight an all touch interface on a jam session and not be able to go back and move some notes in the correct place. This is a huge fail.
The multitrack recording aspect is very nice and probably will be the most used feature for garageband. I think they are on a good start here, but I would think an app like this from apple would be free as part of the "ipad" experience. If they were to make a logic light with some more pro features I'd be all over it. But ya, feel like I wasted my money here...
28 comments:
GB looks very, very good. The keyboards look amazing.
I think people's skepticism on this site seems to have been unwarranted.
Getting it as I type this. We'll see how it goes.
am I missing something? There seems to be no piano roll for editing a performance. Please let me know if I'm over looking this.
Got it. Certain limitations really hurt it.
A) No synth tweaking, beyond ADSR.
B) No note editing for s/w instruments.
C) Drum kit interface dependent on kit chosen. In other words, if you want "rock kit" you're obliged to play on the virtual kit; no "pad option".
D) VERY thin on effects per track.
E) No pasteboard functionality.
That's for starters. I'm underwhelmed.
Well,purchased but it doesn't seem aimed at the more sophisticated needs of the typical Palm Sounds reader :)
Ah maaaann. Thought it would of at least hat a piano roll editor and midi file compliant.
Nanostudio is leagues ahead, but it could learn a thing or two from GB's elegance. Getting around GB on iPad is a dream, and it makes me want to use it, despite its lack of depth. It's perfect for basic ideas, later to be tweaked in Logic.
If NS rocked (3) basic chores:
1) Live audio tracks
2) native iPad support
3) virtual velocity (accelerometer)
It would trump GB in every way.
IF nanostudio had an audio arranger view to mix tracks that would ROCK! That's where GB is the best despite not having volume/pan envelopes.
So for example. Export tracks from NS into an arranger type view (like cubase, garageband, logic) to further and add WAVs from other apps. Basically Multrack DAW + Nanostudio
Does the iPad 1 seem to handle GB well, or does a busy arrangement seem to require iPad 2?
It doesn't do anything or special. The iPad 1 works fine for garageband. The interface is great, but I can not suggest this app to serious music makers. Maybe buy it and hope for an update...
i am also very underwhelmed.. i think the u/i is very nice and it runs just fine on my ipad 1, but man it has some serious limitations.
unless i'm missing something, you can't load your own sample into the sampler. you can record a sample with the internal microphone, but that's it.
-only 8 tracks at a time
-lame drum kits
-very limited parameters
-only echo and reverb measly controls
just the tip of the iceberg.. it's kinda cool and i'm glad it's here because there does need to be some competition in mobile music making world. but still beatmaker 2 is still much better. if beatmaker 2 allowed real time track recording, this thing would be dust because that's about all it has over bm2..
...and Nanostudio even better, due to its rock-solid stability, which BM2 needs to match.
Am I the only one here that actually thinks that GB is cool... I have played with GB for the past 2 hours and could not to put it down - it is lot of fun and smart instruments give you so much instant gratification.
Sure it lacks in many ways, but so does NS and BM.
At least it plays nicely on iPad and is CCK CoreMidi compliant and as Icepulse have mentioned, you can import your songs into Logic for further editing -brilliant.
Meantime, we are still waiting for NS and BM2 to have native iPad support.
For a price of coffee and a donut I can not complaint.
BTW; did I mentioned that it is fun to use..?
I like it - far better than I expect and ludicrously cheap at three quid.
Made this with it...
http://soundcloud.com/ipad_ideas/grungy-gb-ipad-intro
Nice, edASL.
I can see how this will appeal way more to traditional "band" artists, vs. the electronic musician.
as someone who takes mobile music composition very seriously, it certainly is 'fun'. for the most part though, it's an entry into someone that hasn't made music on the platform before (as is, garage band for osx as well)
true, there are some other more complex features here and there.. the core midi is nice, but bm2 should have that along with more stability and universal support soon.
the bottom line is: this app is a lot of 'fun' but doesn't quite measure up to something that you can make serious music with.. and yeah, for $5 it's certainly not bad at all.
Damn, but the Twitterverse is lubed over GB for iPad.
The buzz is insane.
you can load your own samples into GB if you have jailbroken and use iFile or use you iPhone explorer on a nonjailbroken device. Just import into the correct directory and you should be set. So far no copy/paste support.
For those that don't like using BM2 in low res mode get yourself retinapad from cydia and you will love BM2! It forces the ipad verson into retina display mode and there are no longer the jaggies that we all hate :)
In all honesty tho, the price for garageband justifies the means. Apple will not be taking business from other DEVs anytime soon.
I am really enjoying playing with GB - it is great fun!
Everything it does can be bettered by individual apps, but as a package, and for the price, it is great. The killer is its integrated approach. I know we can use audio copy/paste with other apps into, say, a multitrack app, but that's so clunky (but necessary).
A lot of pops and clicks using the guitars though, so might need a restart.
But man, 5 dollars! My kids will love this in the morning!
Thanks for the early impressions. Saved me some euros.
Anyone tried moving projects back and forth to OSX garageband yet? How's that working? Even if the ipad isn't 100% fully featured, using it as a "mobile interface" to sketch out core tracks that can be tweaked on the desktop at a later time seems work $5 to me (assuming the project transfer works that way).
After so much hype, GB is a big disappointment. Apple has so many good engineers, have they been in vacation last months?
I think some people hit it on the head as far as it being a good sketch pad...possible not yet for electronic musicians. That could come later.
Some high notes:
-The interface is slicker and easier than anything (the trimming is pretty cool.
-It seems rock solid.
The lows:
-Definitely needs piano roll and more tweak-able parameters in the instruments.
-Needs copy paste
What it does show to me above all is that even on the original ipad, its is clearly possible to make what I think everyone wants...a sequencer with virtual instruments running seamlessly with audio tracks. If the original ipad can easily run it...the ipad 2 could add more tracks and the features we want. All in all though its pretty impressive.
It's just that as a sketch pad I've come to expect the ability to go back and edit the parts you've recorded. I don't want to have to fight an all touch interface on a jam session and not be able to go back and move some notes in the correct place. This is a huge fail.
The multitrack recording aspect is very nice and probably will be the most used feature for garageband. I think they are on a good start here, but I would think an app like this from apple would be free as part of the "ipad" experience. If they were to make a logic light with some more pro features I'd be all over it. But ya, feel like I wasted my money here...
sorry to rant
I'm not underwhelmed, I like it!
So, developers: you can relax. This is the same tinker-toy that comes with every Mac.
Shocker
Darksound
Yep, GB is the same tinker-toy as BM2, NS and all other iOS Apps, only much cheapper, more advanced and sophisticated.
2 thumbs up for GB.
Hey everyone, head over to
http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1438
and post requests there. Hopefully some apple devs will listen.
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