Apple Introduces iLife '08 with New Version of GarageBand and New iMacs
Aug 7, 2007 6:41 PM
Today Apple introduced a new version of GarageBand, GarageBand '08, as a part of the new $79 iLife '08 suite, available today. iLife '08 also comes with new versions of iPhoto, iMovie, iWeb and iDVD.
Possibly the most welcome addition for producters, GarageBand has improved it automation capabilities to include effect amount automation for both GarageBand's built-in effects and Audio Unit plug-in effects. You can also automate tempo changes and volume for tracks and master volume, which was available before.
GarageBand '08 has added support for 24-bit audio and multi-take recording, as well as a new visual EQ feature. The 4-band EQ lets you drag the EQ slopes up and down at the frequencies you wish to sculpt sound in an intuitive way. With GarageBand '08's multi-take recording, aka "loop recording" in other programs, you highlight a region in the timeline in which to record. GarageBand will then loop back on that region while you're recording, so you can record as many takes as you want in that region until you stop recording. When finished, you can choose your favorite take to use, but GarageBand will save them all in case you want to switch takes later.
With GarageBand '08's new Arrangements, you define regions in your songs according to common structure, such as Intro, Chorus, Verse, Bridge, etc. With a region defined, all the tracks under it become part of that section, so you can easily move, copy, paste and in other ways edit that section.
An entire new feature called Magic GarageBand will help people of varied experience levels start GarageBand projects for many styles of music. It starts with a graphic interface of a stage with instruments on it. You choose a style of music, including rock, reggae, blues, funk, jazz, country, latin, etc. and a generic bed of music plays. From there, you can swap instruments in an out or mute them entirely. When you have the bed of music that you want, it will open the project in GarageBand, where you can add your own parts and edit the existing parts from the starting point music bed to your liking.
Apple has also released a new Jam Pack for GarageBand: Jam Pack Vocals. it includes more than 1,500 Apple Loops of professional soloists and choirs in multiple genres and styles. There are also 20 new vocal-oriented software instruments in the pack, including voices, choral ensembles and drum kits based on the human voice and body.
Apple's new iMacs offer powerful, yet affordable desktop computing option for musicians. There is a 20-inch model for $1,199, a more powerful 20-inch iMac for $1,499 and a 24-inch iMac for $1,799. All of them have Intel Core 2 Duo processors, 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.0 wireless built-in and an iSight webcam with a microphone built-in.
The new iMacs have been redesigned with aluminum, glass and high-qualily plastic as the main materials, with a mind to recycleability. The computers and their keyboards are appreciably thinner than the previous models. The have three powered USB .20 ports (plus two unpowered in the keyboard), one FireWire 400 port and one FireWire 800 port. They can be upgraded to as much as 4GB RAM. All include an 8x SuperDrive and are available for sale today.
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