Apple today announced it has released a free iOS app called Music Memos that enables musicians and songwriters to record and analyze high-quality, uncompressed audio using the iPhone's built-in microphone, or an external microphone. The app is currently rolling out on the App Store worldwide.



Music Memos displays a small recording button when first opened, along with a waveform at the bottom of the screen while recording. The app can analyze rhythm and chords of acoustic guitar and piano recordings, and instantly add drums and a bass line to provide a virtual, customizable backing band.

Music Memos automatically analyzes the basic arrangement and suggests chords you played for each track. Then you can hear how your music sounds with a realistic virtual drummer and bass player jamming along. If your performance speeds up or slows down, so does the band. You can even tweak the energy and performance of the drums or bass with a few simple controls.

Music Memo, which Apple says was inspired by Voice Memos, can tag songs based on sound, location or a rating, and recordings can be shared on Apple Music Connect, SoundCloud and YouTube. The app is closely integrated with GarageBand for iOS, which has received a major update today.

GarageBand 2.1 for iOS introduces Live Loops, a new feature for creating music by tapping cells and columns in a grid to trigger different looped instruments and samples. Live Loops includes a preset library of Apple-designed loop templates in multiple genres, including EDM, Hip Hop, Dubstep and Rock, or you can create your own.



The new GarageBand for iOS also adopts the Drummer feature from GarageBand and Logic Pro X on Mac, with nine EDM and acoustic virtual session drummers to choose from. The app also gained 3D Touch support, new automation features for advanced users, a new simple EQ and more.

Music Memos is free on the App Store for iPhone 4s and later, and iPad 2 and later. GarageBand 2.1 for iOS is bundled free with new iOS devices 32GB and larger, is available as a free upgrade for existing users with compatible iOS 9 devices or later, and is otherwise available for $4.99 on the App Store.