GarageBand

Apple has released a pair of updates for GarageBand and Aperture 2.0, now available via the Software Update panel. GarageBand 4.1.2 "improves overall stability and addresses issues with the automation of software instrument parameters, FireWire and USB based audio devices and Magic GarageBand". Aperture 2.0.1 "addresses issues related to performance and overall stability. It also fixes a number of other minor issues".

Creative Commons, Modiba Productions and Global Beat Fusion are pleased to present the Vieux Farka Touré / "Ana" Remix Contest. Vieux Farka Touré — a highly talented guitarist, singer, songwriter, and percussionist from Mali (and son of the late Ali Farka Touré) — is offering the audio source files from the song “Ana” online under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license, so that producers worldwide can use the sounds in remixes and new compositions.

Apple has released a GarageBand update to version 3.0.2. This update addresses issues with video handling, podcast exporting, and importing QuickTime markers. It also addresses a number of other minor issues. You can get the update here or via Software Update.

Drum Werks Vol. VI: Blues and Bluesy-Rock Drum Loops and Samples for GarageBand from Beta Monkey Music

A complete Apple Loops songwriting resource for blues and bluesy-rock. Beta Monkey's Drum Werks Volume VI offers 13 song-based drum loop sets with 12/8 feels, shuffles, and swinging blues-rock grooves. With 700+ loops (grooves, variations, fills, one shots), and a complete multi-velocity collection of drum and cymbal samples (almost 200 total single hits), this is a versatile collection of acoustic drum grooves and samples. A must for any bluesman or blues-rock guitarist!

Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails has released the full multi-track audio session for "the hand that feeds" in GarageBand format. It requires a Mac with GarageBand 2.0 and lots of RAM ("the more RAM you have the better").

iCompositions.com has partnered with loops producer Bandmateloops to give away another package of free loops for GarageBand, Logic, and Soundtrack.

MacJams.com and Tune Media have announced the availability of a free collection of Apple loops for users of GarageBand, Logic, or other compatible programs. The collection, Tune-up Mini, is an extension of Tune Media's Tune-up for GarageBand series of loops. Tune-up Mini contains over 100 high quality loops composed and recorded especially for this package and not available anywhere else.

iCompositions, the world’s largest community for sharing music made with Apple’s GarageBand, has partnered with the leading producer of drum loops, Drums on Demand, to give away a package of free loops for GarageBand, Logic, and Soundtrack. The collection, available exclusively for registered users of iCompositions, consists of 90 drum loops, 19 "single hit" sounds for applications such as sound effects, and 9 "loop layers" for building your own drum loops.

iCompositions.com has posted a detailed analysis of GarageBand Jam Pack 4: Symphony Orchestra. The article includes a full list of all loops and software instruments included in the expansion pack and exposes a list of interesting changes in Jam Pack 4 such as different loop locations, incompatibility with GarageBand 1 and a loop with 128 variations with the same name.

GarageBand community iCompositions announced on Thursday that it has teamed up with AMG, MusicMakingTools and O'Reilly Media to offer more than 200 free GarageBand loops, free QuickTime tutorials and free book excepts to all members in celebration of GarageBand's birthday.

The free loops come from AMG's popular loop libraries as well as some from unreleased packages, and the books excerpts are chapters from GarageBand: The Missing Manual, and iLife: The Missing Manual.