Apple has released an update to GarageBand that celebrates the history of Chinese music with new instruments and extensive Chinese language localization throughout the app. Building on GarageBand’s collection of sounds, this update adds traditional Chinese instruments — the pipa, erhu and Chinese percussion — along with 300 Apple-created Chinese musical loops. GarageBand for iOS users also get two new Chinese templates for Live Loops, and new sharing options to Chinese social networks.

The pipa, erhu and Chinese percussion instruments in GarageBand can be played on iPhone or iPad using Multi-Touch, and on Mac through the built-in Musical Typing feature or by connecting a third-party USB music keyboard. Each instrument includes different playing articulations, including rapid picking and note bend for pipa, and trill, grace note and glissando for erhu, making it easy for a novice to create a realistic performance. iPhone users can also use 3D Touch with the erhu and pipa to dynamically control vibrato and intensity, and both the pipa and erhu include Autoplay, letting users tap on any chord and get a complete performance. Users can also play a collection of Chinese percussion instruments including drums, wood blocks, cymbals and gongs.

This update adds 300 Apple-created loops from a variety of instruments and styles, including guzheng, dizi, yangqin and Peking Opera, to the library of Chinese musical content in the app. These loops can be mixed and matched with Chinese instruments in GarageBand to create traditional music or entirely new styles. GarageBand for iOS also supports Live Loops, a new way to create music by tapping cells and columns in a visual grid to trigger different looped instruments and samples. And, Live Loops in this update adds two new Chinese Live Loops grid templates, one traditional and one modern, showcasing a variety of Chinese instruments and percussion that are all playable via the Live Loops grid.

Today’s GarageBand 2.1.1 for iOS and GarageBand 10.1.2 for Mac updates are free for all existing users, and GarageBand is available for free with all new iOS and Mac devices. Users with older, non-qualifying devices can purchase the app for $4.99 via the App Store and Mac App Store.