MusicRadar

• Related News
• Review

When we recently suggested to Apple that deciding what new features to add to GarageBand must be difficult – the company must continue to give users a reason to upgrade to its Logic products, after all – the response was a nod and a wry smile.

In some ways, the software has become a victim of its own success: pros now use it to draft their tunes, and many home users find it to be so comprehensive that they simply don't need to buy anything else.

So, where to take it next? As before, the application ships with the latest version of the iLife software suite, and for the GarageBand '09 update, Apple has gone off on something of a tangent.

As we'll discover, this is good news for people who want to learn to play music, but not so great for those who use GarageBand for production purposes.

Getting started

Boot the software for the first time and you're presented with an updated splash screen that lets you choose from a range of options. You can now pick from a range of project templates (eg, Songwriting Loops, Piano, Acoustic Instrument), and each of these provides a different configuration of pre-loaded tracks for you to work with.

It's a nice enough touch, but sadly, there's currently no facility for adding your own template(s).

You can also choose to enter Magic GarageBand mode, which automates the process of creating songs in a variety of styles.

This has been extended slightly since GB '08 – there's now level adjustment, an Arrangement Track, randomised selection of instruments and even a recording option – but it's still very much aimed at total novices.

Speaking of beginners, the opening splash screen also provides access to the new Learn to Play feature, and to the Lesson Store, from which you can buy Artist Lessons (more on these later).

What's new?

Click through to the main GarageBand application and the first thing you'll notice is that several cosmetic changes have been made.

Your selected Software Instrument is now accompanied by a nice graphic in the Track Info section, and the Loop Browser now appears to the right of the timeline, rather than below it.

Most obviously, the software's main background colour has turned darker than the light grey of before, with the result being that GarageBand now looks very much like a baby version of Logic (which is essentially what it is). It's no more intimidating, but the '09 update does feel a touch more 'pro'.

Appearances can be deceptive, though – dig a little deeper and you realise that, from recording perspective, the GarageBand feature set has actually changed very little. One area that has been addressed, however, is that of guitar amp and effects modelling.

These types of processing were included before, but they weren't considered a standout feature. This time around, you get a dedicated Electric Guitar option when you create a new track, and choosing this puts the Track Info panel into its Guitar Track mode.

This gives you an amp graphic at the top (you can choose from five models) and a selection of ten stompboxes below.

A decent selection of presets is included, and these are named in such a way that you usually know what you're going to get before you call them up (examples include Bluesbreaker, Honky Tonk and Seattle Sound).

You can also create your own guitar rig: up to five stompboxes can be used in each preset, and both these and the amps are editable via their tidy interfaces.

The sound is pretty respectable, too – Apple confirmed to us that the technology behind the new amps and effects has come down from Logic Pro, and just that little bit more quality is audibly evident.