Journal: News & Comment

GarageBand improvements

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Sent to Apple's GarageBand Feedback form today:

One frustrating feature problem with GarageBand is that when you move an audio region, the panning and volume automation (if any) doesn't move with it. It can be quite difficult to select a set of volume changes and match them up exactly if you've moved the region they apply it, and it's hard to imagine when their NOT moving would be all that useful, since the volume is usually keyed to the particular audio segment.

Also, you can't zoom out far enough, especially with podcasts. If you have an hour-long show, moving segments around gets tired really fast from all the scrolling.

Finally, while it's okay to have GB export podcasts as M4A files, MP3 export is also necessary for many podcasters who want a decent audience (especially for those who listen on phones or other devices that don't support AAC). I find it puzzling that, once you're in Podcast mode, you can't export as anything BUT M4A, not even AIFF, even though that's possible in Music mode.

I know these things work in Logic, but for GarageBand to work for podcasters (for whom it is much better suited than Logic), these are pretty key features. And we musicians would like them too.

P.S. Why is there no "Podcast" option in the "What do you primarily use GarageBand for?" drop-down on your feedback form?

I'm hoping Apple will improve some of those issues in GarageBand '07. I'll definitely shell out the money for iLife if they do.

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