At some points in this video it is hard to believe you are listening to a guitar simulation, played on a touchscreen computer by YouTube user TelevatorMuzak (a.k.a. Francis). It's a track we are very fond of anyway, but we also think it is a remarkable demonstration of what can be done with the right know-how and a lot of musical talent.

We contacted Francis to find out about his musical interests, creating music using GarageBand and the improvements that version 1.2 brings.

iPad Creative: Tell us something about yourself and your love for music making.

Francis: I've been making music (or just mere 'sound like things' when I was younger!) as far back as I can remember, from banging pots and pans to finally, real instruments. Although I've been in bands, I'm not really a band guy. I mostly enjoy making solo post-rock music, like modern acoustic guitar fingerpicking and solo piano, and probably that's why I enjoy making music on the iPad.

iPad Creative: What do you think of GarageBand for the iPad?

Francis: Oh, I'm really stoked with the iPad GarageBand. I usually do recordings on DAWs but this app is just so liberating for me because the playable instruments are self-contained. I think Apple nailed it with their accelerometer velocity sensors. The instruments are remarkably expressive. One thing I didn't really like about other iOS music apps before GB was exactly this, everything sounded robotic and electronic (which may sound good with some genres) but Apple took it to the next level with the expressive range of the instruments. So now, I could sneak convincing recordings on the couch, at work, in my car, on the toilet, LOL, pretty much anywhere, without lugging around extra equipment. Granted, it's like learning new instruments altogether, but once you get the hang of, it's satisfying what you can create.

Again, I'm not a band kind of guy and I'm mesmerized by the idea of performers doing all the parts amazingly on their own despite the limitations of their instruments and that precisely what's so challenging but rewarding when working with the iPad GarageBand app.

iPad Creative: And your take on the improvements that arrived with version 1.2?

Francis: I think it's great they took it to another level. The note editor opens it up further for everyone, all you need is a good ear. I'm glad I could transpose notes now especially with the guitar sound since in the old version, it was a bit limited in range.

It's also convenient for tweaking the parts a bit. You don't have to nail each riff each time. You could just go in and shift a few notes in time and pitch if you mess up. But as with any synthetic music, there's a danger of sounding too synthetic, so real-time expression is still important if you're aiming for that sort of thing. I think Apple provided iPad GB with ample expressive tools to make your songs subtly nuanced.

iPad Creative: Besides GarageBand, what other iPad apps excite you, for music creation or otherwise?

Francis: Pretty much any app that will take the leap from the desktop to the tablet excites me. I like how Apple keeps the iPad versions of their software clean and simple so as not to take away from their more powerful desktop versions. They're more like spontaneous sketchpads than real workstations but, of course, that might change in the near future.

Francis has something very interesting in the pipeline, we'll bring you more news soon. In the meantime listen to this stunning cover again, particularly the last couple of minutes. Just think, this was produced on a computer that some people claimed would be the death of creativity. Fortunately, that argument has been well and truly quashed.

Further reading: TelevatorMuzak

Francis really is the GarageBand guru. You'll no doubt remember his 'Just Like Heaven' cover from a few months ago, well now he's back with another stunning cover and an absolutely gorgeous original piece of music of his own composition. It's also worth noting that Francis has really been working on his vocals this time too, Whirlpool Heart features a stellar vocal performance!

While we are excited to see Francis using some external hardware, in this case the Alesis Q49 USB/MIDI Keyboard Controller, we hope he doesn't abandon the GarageBand only projects anytime soon.

Further Reading: TelevatorMuzak

We must have played Francis' cover of The Cure's 'Just Like Heaven' 20 times or more. If ever we need reminding of why we blog about Apple's multi-touch post PC device, listening to Francis as he conjures up such emotive sounds with a £2.99 app keeps us on the straight and narrow.

Francis has been busy in June. Check out his latest tunes here and here. The Silos cover is quite superb!

Further reading: Televatormuzak

Wow! We absolutely love this! Dare we say that the intro sounds better than the original classic by The Cure? It just sounds a bit more epic to us. Francis admits that his vocal performance might need some work, but keep in mind that it was recorded using the mic on his iPhone headset. Also note that not one single external instrument was used, it's all GarageBand native.

We are hoping to speak to Francis (YouTube user TelevatorMusak) about his experiences with GarageBand for the iPad, but in the meantime here's some information directly from the YouTube link.

"Here's my full song recreation on the iPad 2 featuring of one of my favorite songs growing up, The Cure's Just Like Heaven.

Everything was done in the GarageBand app from scratch. No external instruments were used. For the voice, I just used an iPhone headset's mic, which worked adequately but not the best. It would have probably sounded better if I were a better singer. haha

There were a few bugs I found out while doing this. Some notes will cut out after the app "optimizes for performance". I discovered that the fix for this was re-quantizing the tracks.

The guitar also has a lot of limitations (esp. on the range of the fretboard) which is annoying.

The interface is also not as intuitive as it should've been ( no level envelopes nor automation) but hey, this is the first song I've mixed partly on the toilet.

Anyway, it was a fun first attempt and the iPad GarageBand app is definitely a great creation tool!"