By Julie Clover
The iOS 18.2 update announced today by Apple brings multi-layered Voice Memos recordings to iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max for the first time, making it easier for musicians to flesh out song ideas and experiment with new ones.
Apple teamed up with Canadian singer-songwriter Michael Bublé, country star Carly Pearce, and record producer Greg Wells to showcase the feature. The trio recorded Michael Bublé’s new song “Maybe This Christmas” with vocals recorded using the Voice Memos app on the iPhone 16 Pro.
“I don’t think people realize how important Voice Memos on iPhone is to the creative process for musicians,” Bublé said. “And now, with Layered Recordings, when an artist has a moment of inspiration, not being encumbered by a traditional studio experience becomes an advantage rather than a limitation. That’s so typical of Apple — creating something we didn’t know we needed — that we now can’t live without.”
With iOS 18.2, iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max users can layer vocals on top of an existing instrumental, without the need for headphones. Instrumentals can be played through the iPhone speaker while recording vocals using the iPhone 16 Pro's microphones.
Apple says the feature is powered by the A18 Pro chip, which uses advanced processing and machine learning to isolate vocal recordings. Voice Memos can create two separate tracks so users can apply additional mixing and production in apps like Logic Pro.
Various background instrumentals, such as acoustic guitar or piano, can be used as the first layer to record, and with Logic Pro, artists and producers can send the instrumental music mix as a compressed audio file directly to Voice Memos to layer vocals on top of it.
Michael Bublé's “Maybe This Christmas” can be streamed on Apple Music in Spatial Audio format.
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