Apple introduces two new Jam Packs

AppleInsider

Apple today introduced two new Jam Packs for its GarageBand music creation software, giving musicians and aspiring musicians alike all of the loops and software instruments they need to create music in the genre of their choice.



Jam Pack 2: Remix Tools makes it easy to produce compelling dance, hip-hop and electronica tracks; and Jam Pack 3: Rhythm Section offers songwriters a complete backing band to help build a professional sounding foundation for their rock, alternative and country music.



"GarageBand and the original Jam Pack made it possible for anyone, regardless of their musical background, to easily create great sounding music on their Mac," said Rob Schoeben, Apple?s vice president of Applications Marketing. "With these two new Jam Packs, musicians and aspiring musicians can delve deeper into their favorite genre. GarageBand just got better."



Jam Pack 2: Remix Tools offers more than 2,000 additional loops, 20 new beat kits (Techno, R&B, House, Trance), new synth and sound effect instruments and classic drum machines from Roland (TR-808, TR-909, TR-606, CR-78), turning the Mac into an easy-to-use, all-in-one dance and urban music production tool.



Jam Pack 3: Rhythm Section includes an additional 2,000 loops and over 50 new instruments to make GarageBand an even more powerful music creation tool. New drums (Jazz Brushes, Indie Rock, Warehouse Kit), basses (Motown, Liverpool, Progressive Rock, Unplugged) and guitars (Dobro Slide, Bluegrass Banjo, Bluesy Acoustic, Heavy Metal Electric) are a sample of the professional-quality software instruments that come with Rhythm Section.



GarageBand, part of Apple?s award-winning iLife '04 suite of digital lifestyle applications, allows both novice and seasoned musicians to easily play, record and create amazing music using a remarkably simple interface. With GarageBand, recorded performances, digital audio and looping tracks can easily be arranged and edited like building blocks to create a song. Songs made with GarageBand can be imported into iTunes and used within movie or slideshow projects created with iMovie, iPhoto and iDVD.



Pricing & Availability



The new Jam Packs are available now through the Apple Store, Apple?s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $99 (US) each. Jam Pack 1 is also available for a suggested retail price of $99 (US).

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placebo

Oooh, techno jam pack....nice.

buonrotto

Check out the bottom of Apple's Jam Pack page:



http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/jampacks/



There are low- and high-bandwidth Jamp Pack players -- inline quicktime files. I assume this is to hear some of the samples included in each before paying, but they're not working on my work PC at the moment. Nice touch though!

dcat

What's the fuss about? Can I really use (a Mac through) Garageband and Logic Express to make my own pro-quality music?



The thing is, I was a guitarist (I know how to play bass and the piano too) for a metal group in the Philippines back in my teens. I quit the band to pursue my studies, now I'm in my final undergraduate year in Japan. I still like music a lot though and joined a band club here in my university. I see a lot of Japanese making their own record with MTRs(Muti-Track Recorder), the price of which varies from $500 to $1000. I wanna record my own compositions too, so I was thinking of buying one. My Japanese friends say they're quite good for recording your own music. Though I've never used them, I think they're pretty complicated machines. And because I'm also in to Macs (I've used them since high school), and because of this Garageband thing that Apple just recently introduced, I'm confused on what to focus on. I've toyed a little with garageband and it seems ok. But my friends (recently converted mac users) say Garageband is too amateur for recording. Well, maybe they just don't know what they're talking about. I just don't know which is better in recording professional-sounding records (Macs or MTR) - especially now that Garageband has new jam packs and Logic Express just arrive.



Well, what the hell! ! you know what I mean, can somebody just give some advice on this!...please

brussell

One issue with GarageBand is that you can't record lots of multiple tracks at the same time. So, for example, you couldn't put a mic on a voice, have another input from a guitar, another from a keyboard, and another mic on drums, and then record them as separate tracks. (You could of course mic the whole thing, but you wouldn't have them on separate tracks to do your mixing.) You essentially have to layer them one track at a time, which is OK if you're just one person at home playing a few different instruments, but people in bands usually like to record several separate tracks at the same time.



What's great about GarageBand that you won't get in a mixer is the pre-made loops that you can fiddle with to create your own music without playing any instruments. But to record several tracks at once, mixing midi and mics and guitar inputs all at once, you'll probably want to look at Logic or Logic Express. That software with a computer will be vastly superior to most stand alone multi-track recorders.

carson o'genic

dcat-

I've used GarageBand to record my guitar and voice (the noise that comes from my mouth) as individual tracks, which I then put together with drum loops etc. I'ts lots of fun and really quite powerful except for the single track recording issue. The effects you can use are really quite amazing if you think what you would have to shell out for the hardware equivalent. GB is a great way to practice and make basic recordings. It's also very cheap, si I don't think you have much to loose by starting with it.



I think I'll be moving up to Logic Express just because of the extra track possibilities. I think Apple has played it very smart to include an easy path to bring your GB work over to Express.

danviento

What's been said so far is especially true. Garageband is really meant for the all-in-one musician, really, but my friends are impresses with what I've done with it. If you think about it, this really is the perfect recording studio for the individual without much gear. All I have is a MIDI keyboard, a guitar, the internal mic, and a set of studio monitor headphones. You can really do a whole lot with just a little, and at far less $$ too . Now, I'd like to have something like GuitarRig for more versatility, but that's just way to pricey at the moment.



And yes, believe it or not, you can preform with garageband. All my little group had to do was plug my computer into the soundsystem at church, and it greatly impoved leading services. When you lay down tracks in practice sessions, you can be playing live while pre-ecorded stuff is playing. So, just as an example, a drumset, acoustic guitar, keyboard, and vocals turned into a drumset, acoustic guitar, keyboard, vocals, string syphony, organ, vocal effects equalizer, and chorus with the same people + my computer. It's great stuff.



Well, I had originally posted to give my two cents on the new jam packs. With the $$$ really adding up at full price, I'd start to look into a pro audio app that didn't have to have so many add ons, that is, of course, if I couldn't get as cheap as I do at my school. Believe it or not, my university affiliation with apple lets us get software at much lower prices. iLife was only $25 here, and mind you, this is only a week after it came out, and the Jam pack was only $50. I find that really amazing. I'm just hoping these two packs come out at the same price.



Anyone know anything about hooking up a digital drum pad set up to Garageband? If it's works well, I'd say it'd be worth looking into.