Hal Leonard Announces TrackPak Software for GarageBand

Hal Leonard Announces TrackPak Software for GarageBand New Software-plus-Songbook Series Debuts at Macworld SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Macworld Expo -- The world's largest music print publisher, Hal Leonard Corporation has released TrackPak, a new software series specially designed for use with Apple's popular GarageBand recording software. Four titles featuring top songs will be available at Macworld. Users can pop TrackPaks into their Mac and instantly have 12 hit songs orchestrated out and ready to drop into GarageBand. They can then manipulate the tracks in any way they wish, such as removing the part for their instrument so they can jam along with the song. They can remix and modify any or all of the tracks, and use them as a springboard to create their own music. "GarageBand has opened up an entirely new world to consumers and aspiring professionals wanting to create their own music," explained Doug Lady, Hal Leonard Vice President of Sales. "We're really excited to deliver this innovative new series of popular hit songs for learning and jamming along with inside GarageBand. Our access to a vast library of print rights lets Mac users have lots of fun remixing or playing along with their favorite songs." "GarageBand presents unique opportunities for developers in creating plug- ins and content such as Apple Loops for an extremely large GarageBand fan base," said Ron Okamoto, Apple's vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. "Hal Leonard has taken a unique approach with their TrackPak series for GarageBand, by providing Apple Loop-compatible content that is both educational and fun. We look forward to seeing more great titles from Hal Leonard in the future!" Part of Apple's iLife suite of applications, GarageBand is a digital recording program that comes standard on all iMac computers. GarageBand turns a Mac into a recording studio packed with hundreds of instruments, pre- recorded loops, amps, effects, editing tools and even virtual recording engineers to assist in production. The program lets anyone -- from novice to pro -- create, perform and record music. TrackPak titles feature software plus a songbook with sheet music notation for reference. This highly anticipated product includes loops for complete songs ("projects" in the GarageBand vernacular), plus individual beats, grooves, loops and riffs for all of the instruments in each song. TrackPak titles representing a dozen of the best songs in four genres will be available at Macworld, and many more are planned for future release. -- Classic Rock culls hits of the '60s and '70s, by artists including Aerosmith, The Beatles, Cream, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Tom Petty, Van Halen and ZZ Top. -- Modern Rock assembles mainstream rock chart hits from Blink-182, The Darkness, Incubus, Jet, Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine and more. -- R&B gives users complete tracks for 12 Motown and soul favorites, from James Brown, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, Aretha Franklin and other favorites. -- Hip-Hop includes megahits from such chart-toppers as 50 Cent, Eminem, Ja Rule, Jay-Z, Nelly, Snoop Dog and others. GarageBand-compatible TrackPaks from Hal Leonard retail for $29.95 US each. For more information or to place an order for TrackPaks, please visit your local Apple retailer or Hal Leonard music dealer. About Hal Leonard Corporation Founded in 1947, Hal Leonard Corporation ( http://www.halleonard.com/ ) is the leader in the music print industry, producing songbooks, sheet music, educational publications, reference books, videos, DVDs, CD-ROMs, children's music products and more. In its more than 70,000 available publications, the company represents in print some of the world's best known and most respected publishers, artists, writers and arrangers. Hal Leonard is headquartered in Milwaukee, WI and also has offices in: Winona, MN; New York; Nashville; Melbourne; Hong Kong; and London. Source: Hal Leonard Corporation CONTACT: Lori Hagopian, Advertising and PR Manager of Hal Leonard, +1-414-774-3630 x406, lhagopian@halleonard.com Web site: http://www.halleonard.com/ http://www.macworldexpo.com/live/20/events/20SFO05A/conference ------- Profile: International Entertainment