Apple launches new Music Memos app

Apple has announced it is releasing a new app named Music Memos, which aims to transform iOS devices into portable studios.

The idea for the app came from stories of musicians using the Voice Memos to record song ideas onto their phones on the go in moments of inspiration.

Ryan Adams revealed that "sometimes ideas come faster than I can get them into my notebook so I've used Voice Memos and Notes to quickly capture songs before they're lost. Music Memos is like if those two apps came together to form some kind of superpower for songs."

A host of features to provide easy usability and high recording quality have been included, such as the ability to analyse recorded rhythm and chords and automatically add drums and a bass line from a virtual backing band, an uncompressed recording format, and the means to name, tag and rate song ideas to keep track of them in an organised library.

GarageBand has also received a major update, with the new Live Loops function enabling users to produce tracks by tapping areas of the screen that correspond to different looped instruments and samples, either self-made or taken from an Apple-designed library.

T-Pain has commended the update, saying: "I recorded my first album using GarageBand and I continue to use it in my music today.

"I love how the new Live Loops in GarageBand lets me quickly build tracks and beats, and even perform effects like a musical instrument. It'll change the way an entire generation makes music."

Music Memos and GarageBand 2.1 are available on the app store now. For more information visit Apple's website.

Patrick Hinton is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow him on Twitter here