6 reasons Apple’s Music Memos app is the ultimate tool for the mobile musician

Apple’s brand has been built on the bedrock of creative professionals. If you didn’t know this, perhaps you’ve been huddled up in a nuclear bunker. Before the iPhones, iPods and iPads came the Macs, iMacs and software tools like Logic, GarageBand and Final Cut Pro.

Some of these software products have been industry standards for creative professionals. Heck! Final Cut Pro is even used in the India Today TV newsroom.

Now, seemingly, with the iPhone being the most popular consumer electronic product on the planet and Apple’s vision of a post-PC era with products like the iPad, the company has supercharged these software tools for its mobile-first products.

The first one was iMovie, then came GarageBand, and now comes a new app - Music Memos. The app which was launched yesterday evening is the ultimate tool for a musician on the go.

I have been using it for the last few hours, and without beating around the bush, here are some reasons why I think it is the quintessential tool for the mobile musician:

1. Imagine you’re noodling around on your guitar. Perhaps, you’re on a bus on your way to a place like the Jaipur Literature Festival and you come up with a nice little musical passage or a riff.

Normally, you’d probably use the "Voice Memos" app on your iPhone, but Music Memos will not only help you document that little idea, but will let you explore it in-depth. The app will automatically add drums and bass to the melody you’ve come up with.

It is magical to be honest, and I say this with the same amount of conviction as Apple’s late co-founder and CEO, Steve Jobs had when he described the iPad.

2. For an amateur like me who struggles to maintain a beat while playing an instrument, it is even better. Now, I have an accompanying drum/bass beat to my deadpan guitar solos and riffs.

This is important because I gave up practicing years ago. Now, again, I have a reason to pick up the guitar every day and try my hand at Jimi Hendrix’s "Little Wing".

3. It is perfect for recording them winter bonfire jam sessions. These are often the most fun and inspirational musical moments but are usually forgotten. No longer! An added benefit is that the app is designed for recording music. So if you stick to humane volume levels, using the iPhone’s microphone, the recording will not distort and will be perfectly usable.

4. If you plan on attending a concert, this could come in handy for creating those bootlegged recordings of your favourite bands that you will probably never find on the internet or any record store.

5. With apps like GarageBand and the popularity of Apple’s galaxy of products, there is a full ecosystem of accessories that allows artists to connect their instruments with the iPhone and iPad. Music Memos isn’t only useful for ideation, but in case you use something like GarageBand to create your music, then from head-to-toe, you can create your next hit single on the iPhone.

6. It is also great for a musician who doesn’t want to deal with the complexity of a digital audio workstation (DAW), like a GarabeBand or Logic. You just press the record button and you’re good to go. As I’ve mentioned before, the drums and bass come in automatically.

Apart from Music Memos, Apple has also released a massive update for GarageBand, which now will catch the fancy of DJs and electronic musicians. Apple is truly priming the pump with these cool tools for its post-PC products.

And as it has always been the case, it is the ecosystem of apps that makes Apple’s products so delicious, not only the gorgeous hardware. Music Memos is yet another example of this fact.