By Graham K. Rogers

A press release from Apple on Wednesday evening told me about a new app called Music Memos that lets musicians and songwriters quickly capture, organize and develop their musical ideas on their iPhone. There was also a major update to GarageBand for iOS that introduces several new features, including Live Loops, so anyone can make music like a DJ using only their iPhone or iPad.

When I tried the link, I was taken to the Apple pages for Thailand which showed the app information. There is a direct link for the app Music Memos.

A great many artists use Apple products to create music and the iPhone or iPad are often the closest to hand. While some had used the Voice memos app, this new app takes the functionality even further by adding musician-friendly features designed specifically for songwriting and developing musical ideas.

Instruments can be recorded using built-in microphone of the iOS device then the sound can be organized and analyzed, "and instantly add drums and a bass line to provide a virtual, customizable backing band that plays along to match the feel of your song."

The musician Ryan Adams was impressed with the new app when he first saw it and the way it could transform musical ideas into "a whole composition with a virtual drummer loose enough that it felt like you were having your mind read by some A.I. musician and a choice of stand-up or electric bass accompaniments".

The app uses iCloud so can synchronize output to make it available for use on a Mac in Garageband or Logic Pro X.

I can see users having a lot of fun with this. I installed it on the iPad Pro and sang a few bars of something I just made up. I was then able to press the guitar and drum icons and suitable tracks were added that matched my scratchy input.

In addition, Apple has updated GarageBand for iOS to version 2.1. This also includes the new Drummer feature with nine EDM and acoustic virtual session drummers that provide their own signature sound, as well as an expanded selection of amps for bass players. There are also over 1,200 new loops and sounds available and it is possible to record up to 32 tracks simultaneously.

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs. He is now continuing that in the Bangkok Post supplement, Life.