There’s no better way to put a creative stamp onto your favourite songs than by mashing two of them together to tease something really original out of the edits. Maybe you want to put Daft Punk and the Bee Gees head-to-head, or you might just fancy blending a dozen different artists together – whatever tunes you want to play with, you can do it using GarageBand and djay 2.

One of the less talked about updates that formed part of iOS 7 was the introduction of Inter-App Audio, a feature that enables you to record audio from third party apps directly into places like GarageBand. This is very handy for when a creative streak hits you, as the quick setup and seamless linking removes the occasionally stop-start process of having to move and share files between locations.

djay 2 was updated to support Inter-App Audio, and this means that should your time at the digital turntable produce an interesting result, you can record the track directly into GarageBand and continue working on it there. The app is now smarter at analysing and pairing up tracks from your library, too, and the new sampler and drum pads brings more creation than ever before as you can now create beats as well as mix existing ones.

The potential is huge, thanks to this hook-up with GarageBand. Here’s how to make the most of the feature.

Step-by-step: Record djay 2 into GarageBand

1 Your track

Before beginning work in djay 2, you need to set up GarageBand for Inter-App Audio. Open the app and either create a new song or tap on an existing one to add to it.

2 Inter-App Audio

Taking the route of creating a new app, the insrument screen then appears. Swipe through the Smart Instruments until you find the Inter-App Audio option. Tap it and then select djay 2 from the next screen.

3 djay 2

You’ve now been transported to the mixing deck of djay, and you’ll see that you’re linked up with GarageBand thanks to the red record bar at the top of the screen and GarageBand icon below.

4 Sampler and Drum Pad

Once you have selected the tracks you want to mix, take advantage of the new sampler and drum pad section of the app by tapping the grid icon between the two decks.

5 Record

Having played around with the sampler and found effects you want to use, tee-up your track and tap the Garageband icon, then the record dot in the pop-up window. This will capture your track in both apps.

6 GarageBand

Once you’ve recorded all you need, hit that red button again and then Open to jump back to Garageband, where you’ll find your creation waiting for you on the waveform screen. Let the editing begin.

Quick tips

Waveforms

djay has a parallel scrolling eave view, which enables you to touch and interact with two songs at the same time, side-by-side.

Single deck

djay 2, unlike its predecessor, supports portrait orientation, so rotate your device to focus on just one deck at a time, or if you’re mixing with just a single track.

Sampler and Drum Pad

There is a dedicated synth and sampler section, where you can try out different sounds and drop them straight into your track.

Streamline your library

To help save time when it comes to selecting tracks that are suited to one another in terms of compatibility, djay 2 can scan and analyse your music library, making a note of BPM and then ranking tracks in order so that you can pick out the perfect matches for the sound you’re looking to make.