January 2006 Archives

GarageBand is an awesome tool for bedroom rockstar wannabees. It provides a slick, easy to use interface that lets you record audio from mics, guitars and other live instruments, and also record MIDI from keyboards and other such devices.

I typically record a drum track on the keyboard (when I'm not using the supplied samples). But playing an entire kit on the keyboard (and keeping the fills in time!) is pretty tricky, so I usually record them in layers. First, bass, snare and high-hats, then toms, then cymbals. And often yet another one for percusson (shaker, triangle, and so on). That ends up being a lot of tracks, and it would be much easier to work with (and extend across many bars) if you could merge them once you've laid down a good pattern. But copying and pasting MIDI data onto a track would replace the existing data, and there is no "Paste and Merge" function. I figured it wasn't possible, but with a bit of persistence I figured out a way to merge MIDI tracks.

First, record your pieces on separate tracks as you need. Once you're happy with the final result, solo the tracks you want to merge and play them so you can verify it sounds right together. Then select the source track and go into the track editor (the "eye" button on the lower panel) so you are now viewing the notes. Make sure that the lower panel has focus (this is important, as it behaves differently when the upper track view has focus) and press Cmd-A to select all the notes, then Cmd-C to copy them.

Then select the target track, click on the track editor to give it focus, position the time bar at the start of the recording, and press Cmd-V to paste. This will add the notes to the existing track. Solo the combined track to verify it, then you can delete the source track. Repeat as required for all your other tracks.

So it turns out it is pretty easy to do, once you realise that copy/paste is destructive (ie. will replace) in the upper panel, and is non-destructive (ie. will merge) in the lower panel. Just make sure it really does have focus (the background goes a different shade of blue) and the timeline is positioned at the start. Rock on! :)

I've been playing around with writing some Cocoa apps recently, and I am often struck by the UI differences when comparing the different generations of Apple applications (as has been commented on by various luminaries before). There's the original "brushed metal" look (such as can see seen in Safari and iCal), the smooth look (that most 3rd party apps adopt), the "burnt" square look (introduced by iTunes and later by the new iPhoto et al, sans borders).

When I saw Safari next to iPhoto, I realised that something should be done to bring this wonderful web browser back into the fold, and give it a makeover. So I did the logical thing and fired up Interface Builder. And here is the result...

(Safari with the unified Tiger look - click for full image)

Safari with the new Tiger unified window style.

Safari under Tiger using the new unified titlebar/toolbar window style. No more brushed metal!

I came across a link to a transcript of a speech by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to the Sierra Club on the environment. It is one of the best speeches I have read in recent years; an incredibly eloquent, impassioned discourse on the current state of US environmental policy, pollution, corporations and the way the Bush administration is complicit in the destruction of our children's legacy.

So if you really do care about the environment and our future, please read this speech. You can't help but be at once moved and outraged. And maybe even do something about it.