What isn’t lost is the sonic quality of the built-in instruments and loops. However, unless you have small fingers, it’s difficult to register a three-finger tap on the iPhone or iPod touch. And a three-finger tap, more interesting still. A two-finger tap is a little more complex. A single-finger tap produces a basic pattern. When using autoplay, you can invoke different variations of a guitar, bass, or keyboard pattern depending on the number of fingers you tap with. The size of the screen is also a factor when using an instrument’s autoplay feature. Still, it’s a nice feature to have when you can’t be bothered or have the time to tap the Up or Down octave buttons.

It’s a technique that takes some getting used to and not one you can use when you’re playing fast. As with the original version of the app, you can configure the keyboard so that when you drag the keyboard to the left or right, you move up or down the instrument. Two-hand playing is out of the question and playing a triad with one hand can be challenging. GarageBand’s developers have done a nice job ensuring that the note you intend to play actually plays, but an octave doesn’t give you a lot to work with. With the small version of the app, you get a one-octave keyboard only. By default the iPad version offers a two-octave keyboard (though you can also choose a two-and-a-half or one-and-a-half octave layout in a one or two keyboard arrangement). The Keyboard instrument is a different matter, however. It’s also very easy to whap the correct drum when using Drum instrument. Naturally they’re roomier on the iPad, but it’s not difficult to tap the correct fret on the app’s smaller version. The guitar and bass instruments feature the same eight frets. It depends on which instrument you’re playing.

To hide the mini-track, just swipe up from the bottom of the display.Īnyone who’s attempted to make music on a surface about the size of a playing card likely wonders how easy it is to perform on an iPhone or iPod touch GarageBand instrument. Within the mini-track, you can edit the track to the extent that GarageBand allows (meaning you can cut, copy, delete, loop, split, shorten, or split the track-the ability to edit notes still isn’t supported).

This is exactly like the track you find in the Tracks screen and behaves in much the same way. If you swipe down on this bar, a mini-track appears. When in an instrument screen-the Keyboard screen, for example-you see a green bar just under the play controls where measures are denoted. On Track: On the iPhone/iPod touch version, swipe to the right to expose the track controls.Ī nice new feature found on both the iPhone/iPod and iPad versions that makes it easier to edit tracks on either size screen is the mini-track. On the iPhone/iPod touch version of the app, swipe this area to the right to expose each track’s mute, solo, and volume controls. This Effects button is also the avenue for exposing the smart instruments’ Autoplay controls.īy default, the Tracks screen shows you an icon of the instrument associated with the track-a guitar or organ, for example-along the left side of the screen. When it does, you can still play some or all of the instrument-you can tap on some of the drum pads in the Smart Drum instrument or play chords using the Smart Guitar, for example-allowing you to hear how the effect alters the sound of the instrument. For example, if you want to adjust an organ’s effects or draw bar settings, tap on the Effects button at the top of the screen and the effect pane rolls down from the top of the screen. You also use a pop-over menu in the iPhone/iPod touch version to adjust instrument parameters that are normally found on the main screen in the iPad version. Organ Effects: The Effects pop-over menu provides access to effect controls such as these organ drawbars. Should you wish to play with track, section, or song settings, tap the Tools pop-over menu in the top-right corner, and in the resulting screen tap the Track, Sections, or Song tab to be taken to the corresponding screen. When within the Keyboard, Drums, Guitar Amp, Smart Drums, Smart Bass, Smart Keyboard, or Smart Guitar screen, you use this same pop-over menu to choose instruments sounds or, in the case of Guitar Amp, another amp model. For example, to travel to the My Songs or Instruments screens, simply tap the downward-pointing triangle at the top-left of the display and choose the function you desire. Apple has cleverly redesigned the interface for the iPhone and iPod touch so that you use pop-over menus and tabs to select the functions you need.

After all, the app demands not only that you be able to view multiple tracks (in the iPhone/iPod touch implementation you can see four tracks at once), but also muck around with settings screens and configure and play instruments. At first blush, it’s hard to imagine how GarageBand could work on any iOS device other than an iPad.

How to use garageband app on iphone