Five years of GarageBand

In January, 2004 Apple introduced a new addition to the the iLife software suite, GarageBand.

After programs for managing music (iTunes), digital pictures (iPhoto), home moviemaking (iMovie) and DVD creation (iDVD) with iLife 04 it was the turn of a solution that turned a Mac into a professional-quality musical instrument and recording studio thanks to technologies from German software-house Emagic, which Apple acquired in 2002.

Using Apple’s promotional images for media let’s see how GarageBand has evolved in its first five years (and five versions) although, as you can see the official screenshots in the last year stray away from showing the main interface and put the spotlight on specific features that Apple wanted to showcase and promote.

GarageBand (iLife 04): it’s clear how GarageBand belongs to the Logic lineage and the lower section with samples and instruments also resembles Soundtrack, introduced in 2003.

GarageBand 2 (iLife 05): the main new feature spotlighted here is that the program now “displays and edits musical notation in real time for people who know how to read and write music or want to learn”.

GarageBand 3 (iLife 06): the new sidebar and the lower area make it pretty much evident that GarageBand is also “a complete solution for creating professional quality Podcasts”.

GarageBand 08 (iLife 08): there are many improvements but Apple chooses to focus on Magic GarageBand, “an easy and fun way for musicians and non-musicians alike to create a song. Users can pick from nine musical genres and interact with a band of “players” on a virtual stage”.

GarageBand 09 (iLife 09): Apple transforms GarageBand into a music teaching tool and a lesson marketplace “with 18 basic lessons” for free and “optional lessons from top artists” for sale through the GarageBand Lesson Store.