GarageBand
More info
- Creator
- Apple
- Released
- 2004
- Type
- DAW
Apple's simplified music app for Mac, iPhone and iPad — for a lot of people the first DAW they ever opened.
Steve Jobs unveiled it at Macworld in January 2004 as part of iLife. The technology came from Emagic, the German company Apple bought in 2002, whose Logic became Logic Pro. GarageBand runs on the same engine but hides most of it: ready-made loops that follow the song's tempo and key, virtual amps, and from 2013 a Drummer feature that plays the drums for you.
The 2011 iPad version showed that a touchscreen could pass for an instrument, and the app now ships free with Apple devices. Projects open straight in Logic Pro, which makes it a very effective on-ramp. It supports Audio Unit plug-ins but not VST. A fair number of demos that later became records started life as a GarageBand project.