Defending GarageBand

[sethypoo]

Needless to say, I was thrilled to hear that Apple was going to release a real audio creation application in iLife '04.

I've heard and read all the complaints about not having a MIDI editor, or being able to export only to iTunes, and so on, but I think it wise to remember that this is only v1.0!

Does anyone else here besides me remember iMovie, or any other of the iLife apps when they were at v1.0?!? They were severely limited in their capabilities.

GarageBand v1.0 is a start. We should all remember that Apple, over time, created some great apps in the iLife suite. Sure, they started out lacking, but are now some of the best on the market.

Give it a few months, and we may see a MIDI editor in GarageBand, the ability to export to Logic, and more.

Seth

[ChrisH3677]

Well said Seth. It has amazed me some of the things people have expected of GB. "Logic can do this, Soundtrack can do that, etc etc" Yes - and they cost 70 and 30 times more.

The other iApps at v1.0 were excellent and very useful and enabled many people to do things *easily* they'd never previously been able to.

I don't here people complaining saying "but FCP can do such and such - why can't iMovie?"

GB at this stage of its life is for making music, not creating it.

In a few iterations I imagine Apple will start to introduce tools to enhance the creative process.

[scan300]

I agree with sethypoo and ChrisH3677. This is an opportunity for Apple to develop a simple way to create music. It's the simplicity which is the potential of this app, because it brings in a whole new crowd of potential musicians, who may find the rest of the digital recording/sequencing world too complicated to get into. I can see this as a great jamming companion... another member of a band—as the name implies.

If the features are too many and complicated it will lose it's spontaneity, and will just be another Logic or Cubase, only cheaper.

The lack of features isn't a barrier to musicianship or creativity, only your imagination (or lack of it) can do that.

[C14ru5]

Originally posted by sethypoo
Does anyone else here besides me remember iMovie, or any other of the iLife apps when they were at v1.0?!? They were severely limited in their capabilities.

I had the same feeling when I tested SoundTrack: The application feels like a typical 1.0 release. Here are some arguments to support my claim:

- The editing procedures in SoundTrack are nonconsistent and nonintuitive. Too many options are hidden and depend on Ctrl-click (not very Apple-like), but that's not always what you need to do, either. For instance, on the transport bar you must not Ctrl-click to add a marker, you must double-click instead. Also, adding automation points doesn't require Ctrl-clicking, here you must option-click. And of course you have the ambiguous option-M and shift-M keyboard shortcuts (instead of something like Command-LeftArrow and Command-RightArrow). Maybe it makes sense to those who are used to Final Cut Pro, but it made no sense to me.

- The transient recognition window in the SoundTrack Loop utility seems unfinished. Moving the transient points around does not seem to affect the timestretching effect in any way, and for us accustomed to ReCycle it seems like Apple could have added a lot more to that window without the risk of making it uncomprehensible to rookies.

I wouldn't be surprised if Garage Band has many similar flaws (like SoundTrack) that are typical of a 1.0 release. Luckily, Apple has shown that they take their customers' feedback seriously, so it probably won't be a disaster if such issues should come up. I'm really looking forward to trying out Garage Band as soon as it comes out in a couple of days...

[Torajima]

Originally posted by ChrisH3677
I don't here people complaining saying "but FCP can do such and such - why can't iMovie?"

That's because iMovie is capable of doing almost everything that Final Cut does, thanks to it's plug-in arhcitecture. Sure, it may be harder and slower in iMovie, but with a little work it can be done.

[Furious Tiger]

I think that some people need to keep in mind that it is intended for CONSUMERS. children even.

My Daughter is an iMovie Diva Director. She saw me using DVD Studio Pro and asked my why I was using that instead of iMovie.

She saw right off the bat that the iLife apps are much easier to use and I just showed her the basics of how to use them and she took off with it. She has done things with them that amaze me.

Anyways, They are great apps for the rest of us. If you need those capabilities then use the other more expensive apps. Apple is doing it right as far as I can see.

[Torajima]

Originally posted by Furious Tiger

Anyways, They are great apps for the rest of us. If you need those capabilities then use the other more expensive apps. Apple is doing it right as far as I can see.

It shouldn't be "either or". You should be able to start projects in the consumer apps, and finish them in the pro apps. And until Garageband was released, we could do just that.

[Trekkie]

Originally posted by Furious Tiger
My Daughter is an iMovie Diva Director. She saw me using DVD Studio Pro and asked my why I was using that instead of iMovie.

Mine is two. I try not to lay awake at night thinking of the possibilities when she gets to the age where she can really go at it with things like that.

I remember what we did with 8mm and VHS in the late 80s in Jr. High and High school, and i've seen stuff on th web that young adults and such have done with FCP, iMovie, and such and it just boggles my mind.

Every once in a while I think I was born too soon.