Own a recent iPhone? Then you’ve got a powerful, Logic‑friendly recorder in your pocket!

In 2016, Apple released Music Memos as a companion app to GarageBand. However, this was discontinued in 2020, leaving Voice Memos as the only option for making musical sketches on your iPhone. But this app does what it needs to with aplomb, and now offers multitrack recording... up to a maximum of two tracks. So it’s quite literally sound‑on‑sound recording! This can be genuinely useful to, for example, put down a chord sequence before adding a layer of melody.

This may not seem particularly groundbreaking (after all, we’ve had this kind of technology for almost 80 years), but there is actually a wild new feature making use of the power of Apple’s latest chips: overdubbing without headphones. The first track plays through the speaker while you record the second, and when you separate the layers, you’ll only hear a smattering of bleed from the first track.

To use this, record your first part, then tap the waveform icon (Edit) and press ‘+’ to enable the second track. Once you’ve exported the resulting file into Logic Pro, it will be split into two separate, fully editable tracks.

A quick tip: I recommend recording a count‑in on the first track, which you can trim out afterwards by clicking on the ellipsis (...) then using Trim to adjust the yellow marker accordingly. You can also Enhance the audio, which, in theory, removes some background noise and room reverberation. Finally, there’s the option to record your performance in Spatial Audio, which we’ll discuss in a moment. For overdubbing, though, it’s probably best to leave this switched off. If you prefer clarity and a strong, direct sound that can be processed later, stick to Mono.

If, like me, you just find it useful to have your rough work‑in‑progress ideas available to refer to in your Logic project, the updated Voice Memos app and associated workflow are an incredibly useful tool. But if you miss the auto‑generated backing tracks of Music Memos yore, then there’s always GarageBand. To move an iPhone GarageBand project into Logic Pro, first save the project to iCloud Drive (GarageBand folder) or share it directly via AirDrop. On your Mac, open Logic Pro and choose File / Open, then navigate to the ‘.band’ project file. Logic will convert it automatically, preserving tracks, regions and other settings.

But for quick captures of song ideas, perhaps where you don’t want to be bound by the tyranny of the tempo grid just yet, Voice Memos takes a lot of beating. And don’t forget to switch Logic’s tempo setting from Keep Tempo to Adapt before importing, as this will enable bars and beats to conform to your noodling. You can also drag the audio...