GarageBand, Apple's new music creation software, makes it easy to make and mix multi-track audio recordings at home. The software combines pre-recorded audio loops and software instruments with an audio recorder that can capture audio input from real instruments like guitars and midi keyboards.

I've been playing with GarageBand for about a week now. Here are some early observations:

Anyone can use it. During my first session with GarageBand, my children asked me to turn down the iMac's volume so they could hear the TV. Five minutes later, they were gathered around the computer, watching me make my first song. Five minutes after that, they were begging for a turn.

Since then, video games and TV have taken a back seat to "playing" with GarageBand. Both Alex (10) and Kate (7) have spent hours working on their special songs and discovering new song loops and special effects. (Toby, age 4, wants to use "the guitar game" too, but he will need some help.)

My brother Jon, a professional drummer, spent nearly three hours building his first song. It's much more interesting than the simple tunes I've made so far. Jon located and used rhythm loops and jazz instruments I haven't tried yet.

GarageBand is fun. I keep saying we've been "playing" with GarageBand, and I mean that. Unlike iMovie and iDVD, where the point of the software is the destination (i.e. a finished movie, DVD), GarageBand makes the process fun.

It's desktop publishing for music. In the early days of desktop publishing, most of the documents produced by home users contained five or six garish fonts jumbled together, and all kinds of oddball layouts and images. It took a while for these new users to settle down and learn how to use the tools well.

The pre-recorded loops and sound effects that come with GarageBand remind me of the exciting font and layout options from those early desktop publishing packages. Users had to learn restraint. If you use all the effects at once, you don't get a masterpiece. You get noise.

I think we're going to hear some great things from GarageBand users in the future, especially from very young musicians. It's just going to take a while for the novelty to wear off.

It's social software. GarageBand creations beg to be shared. With this in mind, the sudden appearance of sites like MacBand, SonicCat and MacJams should not have surprised me. After all, previous Apple software releases have spawned online communities (e.g. iCalShare.com). Still, the passion and enthusiasm at the GarageBand community sites is amazing.

Too many musicians, not enough audience. After you invest a few hours in GarageBand, getting your digital creation just so, you crave an appreciative audience. However, you'll quickly discover that no one wants to hear your little snip of music for the tenth time. (But I've added a banjo! Don't you want to hear it again? Hey, come back!)

As comedian George Carlin famously observed, my junk is "stuff" but your stuff is "junk." The beauty and complexity of most GarageBand songs I've heard so far exists only in the mind of their creators.

The Competition. Although GarageBand is only available for Mac OS X, Windows users may wish to check out Sony's Acid XPress -- a free, stripped down version of the $400 Acid Pro package. (It has fewer features than GarageBand, but it's free.)

Copyright and DRM implications. My kids have already discovered that they can import a song from a CD then add their own music to it. This will present some interesting challenges for lawyers and copyright holders in the weeks and months to come. We've already seen commercial artists taken to court for sampling others' work. What if it's done by home consumers for fun rather than profit? Is it a crime to post a song on the Web if it contains samples from commercial music?

I've already had one really interesting conversation with my son about sampling. He was keen to "borrow" music from a band he likes to make a derivative song, but soon realized that his own song might be ripped off by someone else if he posts it online. (Suddenly, he sees copy-protection in a new light.)

GarageBand is a hit at my house. What do you think of it?

Quick tips for GarageBand users: Click the eyeball to display available loops. Drag the gray bar upward after that to reveal more loop categories. You can find GarageBand manuals here.