Apple updates Logic Pro X with Touch Bar support, GarageBand for iOS with new options & in...

Posted:
in macOS edited January 2017
Apple on Wednesday released updates to two of its audio production apps -- Logic Pro X for the Mac, and GarageBand on iOS -- adding customizable Touch Bar support on the former, and features like a redesigned sound browser on the latter.




The Touch Bar support in Logic Pro X 10.3 lets users navigate projects in a timeline overview, and get quick access to volume and Smart Controls for tracks. Users can even play instruments including drum pads and a piano keyboard.

Other upgrades include a 64-bit summing engine, 192 extra busses, and full control over stereo panning. A feature called "Track Alternatives" lets people switch between playlists of regions and edits, making it possible to consider different creative branches. Selection-based processing, meanwhile, should let users combine any assortment of effects plug-ins and apply them to one or more regions.

Apple has also implemented two-way iCloud integration. A GarageBand-compatible version of a Logic project can be uploaded to iCloud, and later opened on an iOS device. Projects then saved back to iCloud will transfer any changes to the original Logic file.

The 10.3 update is free to existing Logic Pro X owners. New the softare costs $199.99, and requires OS X 10.11 or later.

GarageBand for iOS




GarageBand's new sound browser is said to make it easier to find instruments and sounds. The company has also redesigned the Audio Recorder, giving it single-tap vocal effects, and processing options like pitch correction and delay. These even include a visual equalizer, and support for third-party AU (Audio Unit) effects.

Porting from Logic, Apple has also implemented support for Alchemy, a popular synthesizer which in its iOS form has 150 Apple-created patches.

Lastly users have access to Multi-Take Recording, which will record and save multiple takes of an instrument so that people can later pick a favorite.

GarageBand should be free to most users, new or as an update, but costs $4.99 otherwise. The latest version requires at least iOS 10.2.

"Music has always been part of Apple's DNA, and we are excited to deliver yet another fun and powerful update to our music creation apps, GarageBand for iOS and Logic Pro X," said Susan Prescott, Apple's vice president of Applications Product Marketing. "These updates bring a wide range of new and highly requested features to both hobbyists and the community of pro musicians and audio engineers who rely on our software and hardware to create amazing music."
dysamoria

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 16
    OMG. These are yet more fantastic updates bringing iOS GarageBand closer to full blown Logic for iPad. 

    My request to Apple:  Please update the guitars and drums. I'd love to customize each to my preferences by changing the pickups on the guitars and adding a tremolo bar (whammy bar) and I'd most like to be able to build my own drum kits (custom drum head tunings, add roto-toms, add splash cymbals, etc.).
    Rayz2016
  • Reply 2 of 16
    JinTechJinTech Posts: 1,022member
    OMG. These are yet more fantastic updates bringing iOS GarageBand closer to full blown Logic for iPad. 

    My request to Apple:  Please update the guitars and drums. I'd love to customize each to my preferences by changing the pickups on the guitars and adding a tremolo bar (whammy bar) and I'd most like to be able to build my own drum kits (custom drum head tunings, add roto-toms, add splash cymbals, etc.).
    I suggest you give them the request officially: https://www.apple.com/feedback/garageband.html
    dysamoriairelandargonaut
  • Reply 3 of 16
    anomeanome Posts: 1,533member

    I need to get Logic Pro X. I have felt this way since long before I bought my rMBPtb.

    SpamSandwichdysamoriaargonaut
  • Reply 4 of 16
    JinTech said:
    OMG. These are yet more fantastic updates bringing iOS GarageBand closer to full blown Logic for iPad. 

    My request to Apple:  Please update the guitars and drums. I'd love to customize each to my preferences by changing the pickups on the guitars and adding a tremolo bar (whammy bar) and I'd most like to be able to build my own drum kits (custom drum head tunings, add roto-toms, add splash cymbals, etc.).
    I suggest you give them the request officially: https://www.apple.com/feedback/garageband.html
    Yes, yes. I do so on occasion. They have some terrific people there. They also read these boards on occasion.
    ireland
  • Reply 5 of 16
    what about garageband on macOS?
    dysamoria
  • Reply 6 of 16
    what about garageband on macOS?
    Updated and it's very cool. Tons of cleverly thought out recording options.
    dysamoriaireland
  • Reply 7 of 16
    sphericspheric Posts: 2,560member
    what about garageband on macOS?
    That got Touch Bar support about two months ago. Minor update available today; no Alchemy patches at this point, though.
    dysamoria
  • Reply 8 of 16
    spheric said:
    what about garageband on macOS?
    That got Touch Bar support about two months ago. Minor update available today; no Alchemy patches at this point, though.
    It has Alchemy now.
    dysamoria
  • Reply 9 of 16
    dysamoriadysamoria Posts: 3,430member
    Like all Apple software, the GUI in Logic is continuing to get flatter and lower contrast. Ugly and hard to look at.

    Knock it off, Apple!!!!!
  • Reply 10 of 16
    sphericspheric Posts: 2,560member
    spheric said:
    what about garageband on macOS?
    That got Touch Bar support about two months ago. Minor update available today; no Alchemy patches at this point, though.
    It has Alchemy now.
    Ah, you're right. I apologise. 

    GarageBand on OS X got Alchemy patches back in June 2015 — it was the first of the Apple apps to integrate the newly-acquired Camel Audio Alchemy instrument. 


    SpamSandwich
  • Reply 11 of 16
    sphericspheric Posts: 2,560member

    dysamoria said:
    Like all Apple software, the GUI in Logic is continuing to get flatter and lower contrast. Ugly and hard to look at.

    Knock it off, Apple!!!!!
    I like it better.
  • Reply 12 of 16
    spheric said:

    dysamoria said:
    Like all Apple software, the GUI in Logic is continuing to get flatter and lower contrast. Ugly and hard to look at.

    Knock it off, Apple!!!!!
    I like it better.


    Dysamoria always has something negative to say about Apple.

    Knock if off, Dysamoria!!!!!

  • Reply 13 of 16
    sphericspheric Posts: 2,560member
    Also, Apple says the lighter design is in direct response to feedback from users who complained that the dark theme was difficult to work with in some lighting situations on location.
  • Reply 14 of 16
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,727member
    OK at first sight I am either missing the obvious or it's not there.  Surely there is a way to 'share' the project via iCloud (as in collaboration mode) with a fellow musician remotely as you can with Numbers and Pages for example.
  • Reply 15 of 16
    sphericspheric Posts: 2,560member
    MacPro said:
    OK at first sight I am either missing the obvious or it's not there.  Surely there is a way to 'share' the project via iCloud (as in collaboration mode) with a fellow musician remotely as you can with Numbers and Pages for example.
    For now, only the possibility to share with GarageBand on your own iDevices. 

    This seems like an inevitability, and it would certainly help some of my projects, but it will be really difficult to make absolutely bullet-proof. 

    And thinking about it, I'm not sure it really makes sense. Collaboration is one thing, but imagine simultaneous editing - you're just sitting there working on a section mix, and your colleague suddenly starts cutting up and rearranging stuff under your ears... 
    argonaut
  • Reply 16 of 16
    spheric said:
    MacPro said:
    OK at first sight I am either missing the obvious or it's not there.  Surely there is a way to 'share' the project via iCloud (as in collaboration mode) with a fellow musician remotely as you can with Numbers and Pages for example.
    For now, only the possibility to share with GarageBand on your own iDevices. 

    This seems like an inevitability, and it would certainly help some of my projects, but it will be really difficult to make absolutely bullet-proof. 

    And thinking about it, I'm not sure it really makes sense. Collaboration is one thing, but imagine simultaneous editing - you're just sitting there working on a section mix, and your colleague suddenly starts cutting up and rearranging stuff under your ears... 
    The ultimate "sharing" feature would be the ability to assign every recorded work to an "album", then publish the album for sale from the desktop, iPad or iPhone directly to one's iTunes artist account. That would be a production breakthrough.
    edited January 2017
Sign In or Register to comment.