You might have seen our iPad 2 review already, but we thought we’d give you a different perspective from that of a jaded gadget hound. After all, the iPad 2 really is what you make of it, a super thin conduit to all the apps available on the iTunes App Store right now.
With that in mind, we gave our iPad 2 to a musician for a week to see how he got on with GarageBand for iPad, one of our favourite new features in Apple’s tablet ecosystem. Read on to see just what they made of it.
“I’m amazed that the’ve crammed so much into what is still being called just an app,” says Andy Cowan, 26, a guitarist and pianist based in London. “It’s not far off the full program. I was expecting it to be far less useful, but actually it does pretty much the same job.”
We gave our iPad 2 to Andy Cowan, 26, a guitarist and pianist based in London. We wanted to see what someone schooled in using GarageBand on a MacBook to record music made of Apple’s finger friendly software slate conversion, and whether he could comfortably use it in place of the OS X original. In a few short days, he’s already become a convert: “I’m tempted”, he tells us when we ask him if he now plans to buy an iPad 2.
Cowan typically connects his (acoustic) guitar to his MacBook Pro running GarageBand via an Apogee One, but for testing with the iPad 2 we also gave him Griffin’s GuitarConnect accessory, which lets you plug in your guitar through the iPad 2′s 3.5mm socket, and listen in through headphones, removing the need for a bulky amp.
Though he found “a certain amount of cable noise”, that’s to be expected from a peripheral that connects through the headphone socket rather than through the iPad 2′s 30-pin port. Certainly given the price (£20.99) it wasn’t an issue: “It’s not a disaster and very probably using an electric guitar with distortion you wouldn’t notice.”
As for GarageBand for iPad itself, Cowan was impressed at how easily it allows you to add tracks and other instruments on top. “The touchscreen lets you use a keyboard and other software instruments, like drums, which is really useful, as it means you don’t need a bulky MIDI input to record piano lines, or bass or drum pads.”
The touchscreen controls of an iPad, smaller size and resolution than a Mac display naturally mean some features are streamlined or hidden away on the iPad version of GarageBand, however, and if you’re a serious musician, you’ll come up against them quickly.
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“The main difference is that whilst initial set up and multi track recording is probably a bit easier and quicker, the processing and tinkering that goes on afterwards, like correcting timing and getting rid of bum notes, is a little harder,” says Cowan. “The full program is just bigger and has more options when it comes to fine tuning.”
But is it still comprehensive enough for GarageBand veterans to use and enjoy? Does it serve a purpose for more than casual use? “Easily,” says Cowan. “The real strength of the iPad version is portability and speed of producing something – if you need to get an arrangement or demo down quickly, or want to experiment with particular layers of sound, it’s ideal. The touchscreen piano is incredibly useful as well, as in fact are the touchscreen guitars and basses, where you can tap and even bend strings on screen to get sounds.”
We asked Cowan who an iPad 2 might make the ultimate mixing deck for, and how. “For encouraging and developing creativity, it’s excellent, but probably less so for trying to produce professional demos or virtual studio recordings. For that, the full GarageBand probably still has the edge, and programs like Logic would do the job better.”
“Of course, they’re all more expensive, so the iPad option is cheaper to get started.” The iPad 2 currently starts at £399, while the cheapest MacBook will set you back £867.
“If only my MacBook had a touchscreen,” he concludes. If indeed.
Have you been jamming on your iPad with GarageBand? What do you make of it? Shout up in the comments!
