If you own an iPad you’ve absolutely got to purchase the GarageBand app. It’s the best $4.99 you’ll spend this week. I don’t care if you’ve never played a musical instrument in your life. You need this app.
Why am I so fascinated by GarageBand? First off, it’s a blast to play with. You’ll be amazed at how good your creations sound and how far your talents can take you even if you can’t tell a quarter note from a half note. Next, I’m finding it to be an incredibly inspiring experience.
Think about how hard it’s been over the years to compose music, even something simple. In the pre-computer days you had to write it all down on blank sheet music. Composers painstakingly wrote every note for every instrument. Now a tool like GarageBand not only lets you record the virtual instruments you play on-screen but it also provides an enormous amount of guidance, helping you sound a lot better than you really are.
What I love most about GarageBand is that it encourages experimentation and discovery. How will that rock guitar sound with this drumbeat? What if I overlay this bass line with that series of chords?
Now put this in terms of authoring tools. Most ebooks you read today began life as a manuscript written in a word processor. Sure, we’re starting to add bits of video and audio now that mobile devices (including tablets) are quickly gaining popularity. But I feel like our authoring tools in general are still stuck in the stone age. For the most part, we’re stuck in place using the existing tools, most of which haven’t evolved much in the past 10-15 years, while trying to create something richer and more interesting.
What if we had a content authoring platform as elegant and engaging as GarageBand? Experienced authors would find new ways to tell their stories, share their how-to knowledge, etc. But one of the great things about GarageBand is that it’s a great enabler for non-musicians. What about all those people out there who have never written their story, shared their knowledge, etc.? Would a new, powerful authoring platform like this encourage them to explore, experiment and come up with new types of content than we ever imagined before? I think so.
reposted with permission from JoeWikert’s Publishing 2020 blog
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Know your history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racter
Oy, I’m really dreading this. I’m having visions of a decade of geocities/myspace seizure inducing content coupled with the worst excesses of the CDROM media.
While there is immense potential with regard to digital media, we are very much in a learning phase. New content forms should be used when needed not simply because they are there.
Instruction videos on youtube are an excellent example of both ends of the spectrum. Sometimes a video makes an otherwise opaque procedure obvious (such as tying a knot). On the other hand many videos would be better presented as a combination of static text and screenshots.
What would be really interesting on the other hand is multitablet media. Video on one tablet with text on another and a control panel on the third. Of course this requires cheap tablets following a ubiquitous computing model.
to further mikes comment i to have found several instances of randomly generated word algorithms that may only just be fun but if used correctly could as well generate many interesting ideas that the author to be hadnt thought of and they then expand upon them.
http://www.seventhsanctum.com/about.php
http://watchout4snakes.com/CreativityTools/RandomWord/RandomWord.aspx
the 1st one has a bunch of themed random word generators as well as whole backstory generators for characters and lots more.
the 2nd one has random word,phrase,sentence,and even whole paragraph generators.
Ebooks by people who can’t write sounds about as compelling as music from people who can’t play.
Here’s a similar essay on writing music and how technology made it easier:
http://deliciouscakeproject.wordpress.com/2010/09/20/hatsune-miku-and-the-magic-of-make-believe/
I, for one, agree with Joe (even though I’m not familiar with GarageBand). Make it easier for people to create, and some will produce great stuff, even if the majority of the rest will be mediocre. Do you think we’d be better off without blogs at all, even though 90% of all blogs are crap? Why are you reading this one, then?
Yup. Definitely true. Sometimes I feel I’ve got music in me and I’m made up some songs in my head but I’ve got no accessible means of expressing it. When you simplify the process. You’ll find many musical talent who’ve happened on the wrong career path!
ps: I don’t own an idevice – yet
Just because a program helps you write or do music doesn’t mean everyone has to read or listen to it. Programs like this are for the fun of the creator. If some art comes out of it, then it is much better. There is always going to be a lot of crap!
I’m playing with GarageBand as well as other music apps for non-musicians (my fave is iSequence) and I agree with Joe: it’s all about INSPIRATION.
People see they can make a good music – so they want to make a better music.
Instagram does the same thing to photography.
If you want to spot some inspirational tools for writers, here is a bunch:
- OmmWriter – awesome text editor, the mood creator. if you’ve got writer’s block – use it,
- Bite-Size Edits – amazing tool for collaborative editing,
- Other storytelling services like Protagonize or StoryMash,
- Broadcastr – a new localized storytelling tool from Electric Literature.
My personal GarageBand for words is TypeDrawing, a little iPhone app thanks to which I originated http://bit.ly/1picstory
There are great tools here and there. It’s just a matter of picking them up – and they can make a great band together.
OK, I made a music on the GB for iPad, here it is: http://posterous.passwordincorrect.com/garageband-for-ipad-music-1
i could critique that as a musician myself on how good or bad it was but considering it was your 1st try id rather just say dont let others be the judge of how you think your music should sound like(i make an exception to off-key singers that even an autotune device would have trouble deciphering what to do with such a horrid sound)
if you enjoy doing it there’s nothing wrong with sharing with the rest of us to maybe enjoy as well.