Do you still use Garage Band? [Archive]

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HOM

2004-07-05, 23:13

I played around with it when it first came out, but since then I haven't even thought about opening it.

I created one 30 second song (http://homepage.mac.com/hom1/skunk.m4a) (900k AAC), but soon found the brass section laughable.

The question stands, do you still use Garage Band and if so do you want to share some of your creations?

Bones3D

2004-07-05, 23:38

I haven't done much with it lately, but I did get the Jam Pack and a MIDI controller to use with it. A few other projects I'm working on have taken priority for the time being.

But just generally speaking, I've always been intrigued by the old Amiga .mod music files which were popular years ago. Antoine Rossett's PlayerPRO is probably what got me into it though... a really neat program from the late 80's/early 90's that was actually a lot like Garageband, only not as fancy looking. It's still worth checking out and has been re-released as freeware now.

I'm hoping Apple releases more Jam Packs before too long. I'd consider possibly using Soundtrack, except it sounds like I'd just be rebuying the same loop sets we already have.

Ironically though, I'm not a musician by any means and couldn't tell you how to read sheet music for the life of me, but Garageband is still flexible enough to let me create audio tracks that can accompany my other projects I'm currently working on.

ThunderPoit

2004-07-05, 23:56

garge band was what convinced my brother to go mac instead of pc when he bought a laptop. he plays bass guitar and all it took was 5 min in the apple store to convince him :)

Barto

2004-07-06, 02:09

Yeah, I still use it. And if you have Garage Band and it works for you, don't bother with Soundtrack.

My best mix (http://homepage.mac.com/barto_act/music/reversed.mp3).

Barto

Mac+

2004-07-06, 02:53

DMBand0026

2004-07-06, 03:04

I use it all the time, mostly for short recordings that I don't feel like firing up all the expensive and complicated equipment for. I don't use the built in tracks and stuff, but the effects are really handy.

As for your Ti550, GB would most likely bring that thing to its knees. I don't know if I'd do it. Depending on your RAM and remaining HDD space.

I wouldn't waste that gift on it though, find something else cool. Unless you need GB, which I doubt you do.

Mac+

2004-07-06, 03:19

Thanks DMB - Believe it or not, I have not done any music on this laptop whatsoever. :(

However, I just got a healthy tax return back and I'm going to buy MOTU's dp and a Studio Electronics SE1X. :) I used to sequence with Performer back in the early 90s like a mad-man and I think it's time I got back into the music production side of things once more. All I've been doing lately is playing live gigs and teaching. I need to get creative again.

Even though, my TiBook running dp will probably stuggle with the audio side of things, it should easily handle the amount of MIDI I want to send it, so I'm not too concerend about the performance hit. Besides, when I do upgrade this PowerBook, I want to hit the ground running and the time I invest with dp now will be time well spent!

As for GB with all the audio looping technology, I can see what a handy tool it will be - and what a good advertisement it should be for schools considering implemementing a Music Technology Program. I'm still tempted to pick it up - b/c a new version of iPhoto would also be nice, but I understand that the processing of audio loops will be painful on this ol' thing. :grumble:

Barto

2004-07-06, 03:27

nice work Barto. :)

Can you do "stops" or 1 beat hits with GB? That would help break up the 4 beat phrase repetition that seems so prevealent on all the tracks I've heard so far.

Also, can anyone tell me please whether or not GB would cripple my 550Ti? I'm tossing up on purchasing iLife '04 - since I got a gift voucher for Christmas and haven't bothered to spend it yet. :rolleyes:

If my TiBook won't cope with it, then I think I'll wait until I purchase a new machine at some stage and pick it up as part of the package.
You can use Garage Band's soft instruments to include whatever you want. You can remix the individual loops or just make your own... at Garage Band's core is functionality like a MIDI editor but with a totally different look and feel.

Wrao

2004-07-06, 03:29

I still use it all the time, but I haven't really published much lately, I'm working on a couple songs right now, but nothing finalized.

A couple days ago, we were noodling around on this riff, it's very sloppy, we were just messing around, but it's still kind of neat, I'm playing drums on this one.
Squarepusher theme (http://www.icompositions.com/auditorium/showphoto.php?photo=4108&password=&sort=1&cat=500&page=1)

the rest of my stuff (http://www.icompositions.com/auditorium/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=798)(that's online)

pscates2.0

2004-07-06, 08:29

Funny this thread should appear. I haven't touched it in months, but Friday, out of the blue, I launched it and pretty much messed with it, off and on, all weekend. How weird.

:)

I never got around to getting that keyboard, which I think would make it more fun. Maybe I should...

hobbit.2

2004-07-07, 12:06

Used to play the piano at my parents' but when I moved out, the piano stayed. Simply couldn't fit it into my new place. Too big and heavy. :(
But I always meant to get back into playing somewhen.

When I got my rev.C 12" PowerBook I finally bought a decent midi controller with 88 keys and now use GarageBand to play it.
And it's fantastic that I can play so many instruments now!
:)

Haven't done much with the loops yet as I find them too limiting speed-wise. I like to be able to change and variate tempo within a song.

But I did buy the Apple Jam Pack, as well as the AMG Enhancement Pack (http://www.samples4.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=598&osC) to get my hands on more instruments.

While the Jam Pack adds a great new grand piano, vibraphone and acoustic guitar, the Enhancement Pack adds a great brass section, more fancy pianos like Hammond organ, Wurlitzer or Rhodes, plus more rare instruments like accordeon, harpsicord, mandolin and even bagpipes. All are sampled, and sound really good.

Mac+, regarding your Ti550: forget about it. My 1.33GHz 12" PowerBook barely copes with GarageBand. Loops should do better, but software instruments take a lot of CPU power, especially when combined with effects, echo or reverb. On some songs I found that my PB barely manages 8 instruments, sometimes as little as 6 before I get the message that GarageBand can't play the song in realtime anymore.

Xaqtly

2004-07-07, 22:05

yeah I use GarageBand all the time too. You can go to iCompositions (http://www.icompositions.com) if you want to hear what other people are doing with it. You can even listen to my stuff (http://www.icompositions.com/auditorium/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=228) there. :)

yeah, shameless plug, etc. Sorry. :D

Moogs

2004-07-07, 23:41

I find that GarageBand is one of those impulse type apps. I go several weeks without using it, then I'll use it like four days in a row making a bunch of songs. I am kind of stuck now though as I've been waiting to buy the JamPack and the loop collection from that British company. Apple's canned stuff and the freebies out there get old quick.

Dave

2004-07-08, 02:31