by Zac Shaw

It looks like a newly redesigned version of the awesome home studio program Garageband will be free with all iOS 7 devices, and that is huge news for musicianship around the world.

In reality, the app will be more “freemium” than “free”, with additional instruments and sounds available as an in-app purchase. This still does not diminish the impact of bundling a more-than-adequate home recording studio with tens of millions of consumer devices.

Apple is doing more to convert the average music fan into an amateur recording artist than any company in recent memory. Not since cheap Tascam casette 4-tracks began propagating in bedrooms across America has the barrier of entry to being a recording artist so low… it’s now essentially equal to the cost of an Apple device and an instrument. Maybe a lot of that music will be nothing you want to listen to, but that’s a small price to pay for the diamonds that will emerge from the rough mixes.

And let’s not knock Garageband’s utility for the aspiring career musician — or in some cases, the professional recording artist. Apple’s astonishingly accessible recording suite does dumb some things down for pro musicians, but for simple ease and joy of use, it’s hard to beat Garageband’s user interface, even in the professional suites that can cost thousands. Now that Garageband will be free… you can’t beat free.

Far from “studio training wheels”, Garageband is now firmly ensconced as the budget digital audio workstation du jour. Now every musician at every level has, at the very least, a kick-ass demo studio that they can carry across all devices.

Not to get all fanboy, but thanks Apple!

Have you used Garageband? Was it your gateway to mixing or does it disappoint? Let us know in the comments.