Another new issue of iCreate magazine hit the stores last week. Issue 106 contains a total of 6 pages from me, all in the shape of GarageBand and OS X tutorials.
Kicking off on page 48, I show you how to use GarageBand’s Groove Match feature to tighten up the timing of wayward audio and MIDI tracks. This is a really useful feature that can improve your project’s groove with a click of your mouse.
Elsewhere in the issue, page 74 features a tutorial for OS X Mail about how to tighten up your junk mail filter to prevent your inbox filling up with spam, while over on page 76 I demonstrate how to set up and use Mail’s Smart Mailbox feature, a really simple yet effective way of keeping your messages organised and easy to find.
Lots of other great stuff from the iCreate team in this issue too, including a definitive 16-page guide to the new iPad, an exploration of the new features found in Mountain Lion, and tutorials for iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand for iOS.
It hardly seems like 4 weeks has gone by, yet here’s another issue of iCreate stuffed full of lovely stuff, and four pages of it is by me! I have two GarageBand tutorials this month, the first on combatting hiss in your recordings (hot on the heels of my Computer Music guide to audio restoration last month!). The second tutorial demonstrates an interesting and simple technique for breathing new life into your Apple Loop library, by reassigning different software instruments to your existing MIDI loops. All this, together with an in-depth guide to iCloud, introduction to OS X Mountain Lion, a look at iBooks Author and a host of other goodies make for another great issue from the team. Go get it!
Good to see Imagine Publishing getting the year off to a cracking start with another feature-packed issue of iCreate magazine hitting the shelves this week. All the hours I put in before Christmas have resulted in a total of eight pages from me in this month’s issue. On page 40 you’ll find a 4-page mega-tutorial on how to use GarageBand to score your iMovie projects, while elsewhere in the issue I demonstrate how to customise the toolbar in Mac OS X’s Mail app and how to create your own Dashboard widgets using Safari webclips. All useful stuff, especially when combined with the brilliant cover feature detailing 50 secret tips for iLife. If you want to see more, get down to your newsagent or subscribe to the digital version via Newsstand.
The review of IK Multimedia’s fabulous iRig MIDI that appears in this month’s issue of iCreate magazine has received its own mini-review on IK Multimedia’s news page. You can find out what I thought of the device by checking out the full news item at http://www.ikmultimedia.com/Main.html?MainPage.php (Clue: I kinda liked it!). Many thanks to Paul Kaufman at IK for putting the excerpts up on the site.
Issue 102 of iCreate magazine hits the shelves today, just in time for Christmas, haha. Unusually this month, I’ve been reviewing stuff rather than telling you how to use stuff. Page 120 is where you’ll find my comprehensive 2-page review of IK Multimedia’s astounding iRig MIDI. This is a proper MIDI interface for your iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, if you can believe it. It’s the size of a Zippo lighter and means that you can hook up a full size MIDI keyboard to your iPhone, or swap things around and use your phone as a multi-touch MIDI controller. My last MIDI interface was a 19″ wide rackmounted unit, so I look upon this device with almost religious awe and wonderment.
Elsewhere in the issue, I get to have a play with Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac. Another amazing bit of kit, this allows you to fire up a virtual PC running Windows on your Mac, but does it so that you can switch and transfer files and data back and forth seamlessly between Windows and OS X applications, with no restarts required. After a while, you forget it’s there, it’s incredible technology. If you regularly need to access Windows software and documents but prefer using a Mac, this is your answer right here.
Issue 101 of iCreate hits the news stands today! This month I have a hefty 6-page feature about ways to make Lion faster – other than dressing up like an antelope and dancing around in front of its face that is. You’ll find the feature on page 64 🙂
It’s finally here, the day we thought would never arrive – iCreate’s 100th issue! I’m proud to have been writing for every issue of this magazine now since issue 41 in 2007, and am really happy to see it reach this milestone. Contributions from me this month include a feature celebrating the last ten years of the iPod, and a tutorial explaining how to work with GarageBand’s Notation View. As always, you can find the mag at WHSmiths and most large supermarkets. Here’s hoping the next 100 issues will be as good as this one 🙂
iCreate issue 99 is out today for all you creative Mac-type types. With iWeb being quietly and discreetly ushered out of Apple’s back door, I was tasked to produce a feature dealing with how to build a stylish website using alternative services and solutions such as SquareSpace, Blogger, WordPress and Flavors.me. See the results in this issue, on page 15! Very proud to have the lead feature this month, and thanks to the team at iCreate for making it look so good!
Teaser shot of the first two pages of my iLife feature in issue 97 of iCreate – in shops now! As long as they haven’t sold out, of course…
Issue 97 of iCreate magazine hits the shelves today, and this time I made the front cover! I have a feature in this issue on how to enhance and go beyond iLife, and also two GarageBand tutorials: one on mastering keyboard shortcuts and one highlighting a little-known feature that allows you to build your own basic sampler instruments. Only three more issues til we hit the magic 100!
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