Dorchester — Mar 10th 2015
Garageband has come on a long way since Mick demonstrated the Mac version of the program in January 2012 and John Lemon followed that up two months later with its first incarnation on IOS. So for this meeting John Lemon brought us up to date on both versions with a fascinating presentation and demonstration first on the Mac and then on IOS using an iPad. He showed the huge range of virtual instruments to pick from and the wide range of sound loops. By building up a number of sound loops and then overlaying a simple tune – in this demonstration using a simple USB MIDI keyboard, John showed the fun and challenge to anyone willing to have a go. One can have a simple virtual keyboard can be used on the screen but a MIDI keyboard adds greatly to the creative freedom. John professed not to be musical but he was demonstrating some good sounds! Seldom have we had a meeting with so many members on the edge of their chairs with big grins on their faces. That did not change when John turned from the Mac to the IOS version which whilst similar in many ways was overwhelming in its sheer scope on such a small device and how effectively the touch screen worked with the App. The sound emanating from our small JBL speakers was amazing. John ended by calling the bluff of us all by challenging us to create our own compositions ready for a competition at the May meeting!
Drew showed how one can make a table in pages and then, by copying and pasting it into the body of an email, the email recipient can alter and add data in the table. David showed how a simple table can also be made in TextEdit and be used in the same way.
Jon Jenkins' Hotmail (POP) account was retaining emails far longer than Mail on his computer. He was advised to check his Mail Preferences > Advanced settings to set when emails are deleted from the server.
