GarageBand ’11 was released today at Apple’s Back to the Mac press conference, as part of the new iLife ’11 multimedia productivity suite. Some standout new features include:
Flex Time – Flex Time is a new tool that lets you quickly change the timing of your recording, so your song has perfect rhythm. Something sounds a little off? Use Flex Time to fix timing mistakes on the fly. Just click and drag any part of a waveform to change the timing of a note or beat. You can move, stretch, or shorten individual notes without changing the good parts of your recording. And Flex Time is great for creative inspiration: Extend guitar riffs, alter vocals, try different rhythms, and get new ideas. Your Flex Time edits are highlighted so you can easily see your changes. Click the Flex Time button at any time to compare your edits with the original performance.
Groove Matching – Instantly match the rhythm of your whole band to a single track. If you’re working with a bunch of different tracks — like a guitar, bass, keyboards, percussion, and a drum loop underneath it all — chances are that one (or all) of them could be a little out of rhythm. Groove Matching brings all your tracks together beautifully. Just select any track in your song and make it the Groove Track, and all other tracks instantly match it. If not every track needs adjusting, you can choose only the tracks you want. Groove Matching helps Apple Loops fit the feel of your song even better, too.
New Guitar Amps and Stompbox Effects – GarageBand brings you seven new guitar amps for a total of 12. They’re modeled after the most revered gear in the world — from clean sounds to heavy distortion and everything in between. You can also reproduce the sound of classic foot pedals with five new stompbox effects, making 15 to choose from. Mix amps with stompboxes and find thousands of ways to rock. And with the Apogee GiO (sold separately), you can control GarageBand hands-free, so you don’t ever have to stop playing. The GiO lets you control stompbox effects, recording, and transport controls with your feet. Plug an electric guitar into your Mac, crank it up, and let it rip.
“How Did I Play?” – Put your skills to the test while you’re jamming on a lesson. First GarageBand taught you how to play. Now it tests your chops. As you play along with any lesson, record yourself. GarageBand listens in real time and tells you how you’re doing. You’ll see how well you played with colored notes, a progress bar, and a performance meter. You can check your rhythm and note accuracy, keep track of your progress, and beat your best score — all while perfecting your skills.
New Lessons for Piano and Guitar – Learn to play piano and guitar even better on your Mac. With 22 new genre-based lessons (40 in all), you can pick up the basics of piano, guitar, or even both. Video demonstrations, synchronized notation, and instrument animations make lessons fun and easy to follow. And you can learn at your own pace. You’ll jam with the Blues Guitar and Rock Guitar series. You’ll master classical piano pieces by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, or Chopin. And you’ll play Top 40-style piano with the Pop Piano series. The new built-in glossary is a great reference for tuning your guitar, changing strings, reading music, finding basic chords and scales, and more. With the Chord Trainer, you’ll master the most important guitar chords by shape, which makes it easier to keep them straight.
iLife is a $49 upgrade for existing Mac users, and comes free with every new Mac. It’ll be listed on our site for sale and shipment shortly.