GarageBand Released: Make Music

[x86isslow]

quote:Originally posted by kingjr3
no integration into iTMS like some had rumored but pretty cool nonetheless.

quote:Originally posted by Fender2112
Did you watch the presentation? It will save a project right into the iTunes playlist.

actually, kingjr was talking about itms integration in the sense that bands could cut the record companies out of the process and directly upload tunes onto the store for people to buy.

what you are referring to is simply the itunes integration.

itunes being an audio-media player, and itms being the actual store.

 

[Torajima]

Re: You guys suck...

Originally posted by jcroft
Seriously, how can you complain about this app? I understand it doesn't have every feature under the sun -- but neither does iMovie, iPhoto, iDVD, or even iTunes.

Well, I'm disappointed because it isn't the app I was hoping for... but I *do* think it's a great addition to iLife.

And $49 is a steal for the entire package.

 

[SilentPanda]

I'm going to order GarageBand on the 16th no question. First I'll get it via EDU so it's only $29 for the whole iLife package... I have FCE but I tend to go to iMovie because most of what FCE offers is too technical for me... I've always wanted to dabble in music and this will allow me to do it on the cheap and if I feel that I'm "good" at it I might be inspired to work up the line (although that probably won't happen ). I'm quite happy that Apple is providing an incredibly cheap way to play around with music...

 

[erstokke]

Originally posted by autrefois
...And it's part of iLife, just $49...for all 5 apps! That means just $10 for GarageBand more or less....

Wrong! I already have all the other apps downloaded for free, except iDVD which I am not able to use anyway. So it´s actually $49 for Garage Band - which seem to be a great buy anyway!

 

[NoVi]

Originally posted by mainemike
Yeah, something like iJam?

But I guess Garage Band isn't so bad. I think the name reflects amateur or indie musicians in a home setting....makes sense.

Garage Band = Entry level

Super Stars = Logic (to be announced )

 

[shp]

Actually, "Logic Express" (with midi out!) for OSX is already available, it just seems to be a well-kept secret! I bought a copy at my local bookstore here in London before Xmas for £15 (around $25) - it's now on sale for £11-99.

The secret is that it is not marketed by Apple or by eMagic, but by the publisher Dorling Kindersley (hence it's found in bookstores not computer stores). It comes as part of their "Hit Kit" package, which is essentially the emagic software bundled with a microphone and a CD of drum tracks.

The software is very similar to the old eMagic MicroLogic for OS9.

For more infromation, check out

http://uk.dk.com/static/cs/uk/11/features/hitkit/index.html

 

[quantegy]

Re: Sample rates?

Originally posted by D*I*S_Frontman
I just checked out the Apple Garage Band page. No mention of sample rates. I assume everything is limited to 44.1k/16 bit recording, which is fine for really good demo stuff. Certainly won't replace higher end stuff (Logic/DP/ProTools) but a lot of fun.

If anyone else spots the sampling rate specs, post them here.

Man, I cant seem to find anything about sample rates which isnt a good sign. I was really hoping for 24/96 support. I record and am very close to buying an iBook and thought this would be perfect for my USB out on my preamp but just cant get too excited yet. With this and the iPod not being able to record even 16/44 I'm getting the feeling that Apple doesnt want to go that route, which sucks. Oh well.

 

[Flowbee]

Originally posted by erstokke
Wrong! I already have all the other apps downloaded for free, except iDVD which I am not able to use anyway. So it´s actually $49 for Garage Band - which seem to be a great buy anyway!

You've downloaded today's iPhoto and iMovie updates for free? Where

 

[spankalee]

Originally posted by CaptainScarlet
How can you NOT have MIDI out!!

Because it's NOT a sequencer. It's not like Digital Performer, it's more like BIAS Deck; just a multitrack recorder, but with the added feature of virtual instruments.

This combination actually makes a lot of sense. Live and Reason both have relatively simple user interfaces because they only do audio or midi respectively. Adding MIDI sequencing and editing would add quite a bit of complexity to the interface and the app as a whole.

Just take it for what it is - a multitrack recorder with virtual instruments - and it's not disappointing.

 

[tomdavies]

Originally posted by Doctor Q
I like the product but not the name. Why not iStudio or iMusic? It doesn't sound like the software is intended for "everyone" like the other iApps. For me, the name evokes an image of stuggling beginner musicians playing (badly) in the garage.

Or Jobs and Woz making a computer.

Tom

 

[balconycollapse]

Wow! You guys haven't even tried it yet but seem to think you know everything about it. But i should expect that as you are the same individuals who claim garage bands can't make good music. If i remember right most big time rock stars started in a "garage". I know of a company that did that as well.
It appears to me to be a trim logic. Apple never puts as much detail about apps on their site as they should so it may infact have support for AU instruments or midi out. It's not as if Apple is in the dark about what computer musicians want.
I am very much into computer based recording and have lots of experience with digital performer 4 reason samplers soft synth (ni stuff) mixing and so forth. I was debating the purchase of an mBox to move away from digital 8 track completely. But if this app can do the majority of things dp4 or pro tools can do then i will use it instead because surely it will be more efficient and quickly allow me to focus on the song. Soundtrack allows users to pen their own loops and surely this will allow you to import them. Besides if you already own some quality au plugins and know what your doing you can create a great mix. People have been doing it with 4 track tape decks long before computers. Seems like some of you aren't for that and think that recording music should be a prestigious club, that gb is infringing on your territory, a great sound requires hours of difficult twiddling, high priced machines, mercurial plugins, and pages of correspondence on message boards. You can go on for hours like tech heads debating the wood used in a guitar or bit rate of a sample. In the end though the song is the thing, this looks like it will make that the focus for computer based recording as it should be. Someone finally did it right!

--------------------
vote howard dean

 

[Perseus]

GarageBand a lot like Ableton Live!

the new audio/music software from Apple called GarageBand looks a lot like Ableton Software's Live!.

http://www.ableton.com/

i don't think Apple's other cheap audio app does automatic loop adjusting in terms of pitch and length and so on.

i noticed that the website for GB does not say whether or not you can make your own Loops to use instead of the ones it comes with. i can't imagine they would prevent it, but you never know...

anyway, it's nice to see Apple FINALLY getting wise to one of their core markets - musicians.

i know the guy who made SuperCollider now works for Apple, so hopefully they will put out a new version of that too.

 

[Edge100]

Re: Sample rates?

Originally posted by D*I*S_Frontman
I just checked out the Apple Garage Band page. No mention of sample rates. I assume everything is limited to 44.1k/16 bit recording, which is fine for really good demo stuff. Certainly won't replace higher end stuff (Logic/DP/ProTools) but a lot of fun.

If anyone else spots the sampling rate specs, post them here.

Ummm, the quality of the recording is not absolutely governed by the sampling rate/word length.

An Apogee A/D converter working at 16/44.1 will sound A TON better than the crappy A/D converters in most consumer sound cards operating at 24/96. It is a misnomer to call 16/44.1 "CD quality". "CD specs", yes, but quality is governed (mainly) by hardware, not software.

Since the optical I/O on the G5 supports 24 bit, I expect that GarageBand will suppost at least 24/44.1, which is considered a nice compromise by many pros. 24bit vs 16bit has a much bigger influence on the sound quality than 44.1kHz vs 96kHz.

Anyway, the point is, higher sample rates and word lengths dont necessarily mean better quality. You must consider the hardware.

Mike

 

[Timo_Existencia]

I can't find this anywhere...

Will Garage Band record only a single-track at a time? Or, can I record mutiple tracks providing I have a multiple-track interface?

 

[zach]

Originally posted by jeffy.dee-lux
i really wanted to believe you, but the store says

" Macintosh computer with a PowerPC G3, G4, or G5 processor
-600MHz G3 or faster required for GarageBand; G4 or G5 required for GarageBand software instruments"

so do you think i'll be able to run it and it would just be a little slow?
what does minimum requirements usually mean, i've never tried downloading any games that require a fast processor than what i got.

Well, it won't run at all. However, you can edit your info.plist file to change the minimum proc required to a 500 MHz rather than 600.... If you want some help with this you can PM me..

 

[El Capitano]

Spankalee wrote:

Because it's NOT a sequencer. It's not like Digital Performer, it's more like BIAS Deck; just a multitrack recorder, but with the added feature of virtual instruments.

Hey, if it's got individual instruments which can be multi-tracked, and a piano-roll type editor (which the screenshots demonstrate it has), then I'd call that a sequencer.

 

[Spagolli94]

Originally posted by cr2sh
Look at the dark brushed metal interface... and wood. Hmm.

Ew... That's UGLY!

I have no use for this app, other than to mess around with it. And now, because of it, I have to pay for the other iLife apps that I do use. Great.

 

[El Capitano]

shp wrote:

Actually, "Logic Express" (with midi out!) for OSX is already available, it just seems to be a well-kept secret! I bought a copy at my local bookstore here in London before Xmas for £15 (around $25) - it's now on sale for £11-99. The secret is that it is not marketed by Apple or by eMagic, but by the publisher Dorling Kindersley (hence it's found in bookstores not computer stores)...

That's interesting. I saw the HitKit in Ottakar's bookshop in Worcester of all places a couple of weeks ago... might have to go back and buy it.

I liked someone's comment (sorry, forgot the name) about Cakewalk... that's exactly what we need on Mac OS X. GarageBand for free/$49 versus Logic at $699 - sorry, but there's a pretty big gap there. People don't magically go from clueless amateur to Top-10 recording artist. (And Soundtrack isn't relevant.) MIDI Out would go a long way to bridging that gap.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Beauty

Well I've been wanting something like this for a while.

Makes you wonder why Apple didn't think of this before when they first launched iLife........more than likely they did, since even with this new app, the pieces of the puzzle still aren't complete.

now this app may not be professional, but just think about what you can do.

I'm not that great at any musical instrument that can be plugged into a Mac, I use an Alto Saxophone (actually all Sax's got that sax appeal with me, hehe!).
But here it is........remember in the late '80s when Techno music launched..............Derrek May, Lil' Louis, and sooOOOooo many others had an app just like this with a basic Midi keyboard (okay Mr. May had a Korg), an Atari computer with software that could only handle 16 tracks maximum, and synthesize instruments, compose their tracks combining a session into 1 track and continuing to add more (16tracks max into 1 track as a semi final, then continue with another 15 to get a final when composing). Then add a DAT portable deck carry it on over to the recording studio, submitt your "Master" then press a few "white" label 12" records for distribution to the undergroung record stores, then Local or world-renowned DJ's pick it up and play it at the club.....then the crowd desides who's the "pro"


Nowadays you could burn your own CD as a master, mail it to yourself for copyright protection (have a lawyer open the mail in your presence, sign some papers..) then take it into a recording studio and voila press a multitude of cds for distribution with cover app from your other iLife apps (iPhoto).

Common ppl use your imagination.......this is how Apple broke into the majority of musicians recording on Mac by preference in the first place; because Atari computers really suck after 3 yrs of owning them way back when.

 

[kevinvh]

electric guitar hookup?

Is all that is needed is an adapter in order to hookup an electric
guitar to the mac? No preamp is necessary? (I guess I don't
know the inner workings of an electric guitar that well.. )

 

[greenstork]

Originally posted by G4scott
Wow, people are already ragging on Garage Band hardcore... This app isn't meant for professionals to drop what they're using and flock over to use it. It's meant for home users and people who want an easy way to make music they can call their own.

I'll bet before long, people will be complaining about the wooden finish on the left and right edges of the app's window...

I agree with you, it's probably the same folks who complain about the iMac not being powerful enough.

 

[iPegboy]

this looks awful neat. i would really like to play around with it. as a sucky guitar player, this could be a lot of fun.

As a musician, I think it's time we did away with the middle man (the RIAA & the entire recording industry). Why can't bands sell directly to consumers?

last i checked it wasn't illegal to sell directly to fans. just make a web site and spread the word. if you sold on iTunes, you still would have the middle man (apple), so i don't know what you're talking about.

btw.. i think the "garageband" name in genus as it relates to apple's beginnings. and maybe getting away from everything being "i" this and "i" that. like my name:

-iPegboy

 

[jettredmont]

Originally posted by shp
Actually, "Logic Express" (with midi out!) for OSX is already available, it just seems to be a well-kept secret! I bought a copy at my local bookstore here in London before Xmas for £15 (around $25) - it's now on sale for £11-99.

The secret is that it is not marketed by Apple or by eMagic, but by the publisher Dorling Kindersley (hence it's found in bookstores not computer stores). It comes as part of their "Hit Kit" package, which is essentially the emagic software bundled with a microphone and a CD of drum tracks.

The software is very similar to the old eMagic MicroLogic for OS9.

For more infromation, check out

http://uk.dk.com/static/cs/uk/11/features/hitkit/index.html

Saw this kit (Hit Kit) at the local Sam's Club just prior to Christmas. $25. Wasn't sure of the version of eMagic or anything, though ... Apple wasn't mentioned anywhere. Also didn't contain any manuals whatsoever, just the disks.

Is it a good kit (meaning, for $25, not as a replacement for Logic Platinum or somesuch )?

 

[Doctor Q]

Originally posted by Timothy
I can't find this anywhere...

Will Garage Band record only a single-track at a time? Or, can I record mutiple tracks providing I have a multiple-track interface?

You're right. I can't tell. The description claims you can "digitally mix up to 64 tracks" but that doesn't say how many you can record at once.

How long before GarageBand: The Missing Manual is published?

 

[ClimbingTheLog]

Originally posted by gerardrj
What the other poster probably wants is MIDI output, so they can run hardware synths and drum machines, etc.

In theory, software instruments on a G4 ought to be as good as a dedicated hardware synth, unless it's a real analog synth. There's not that much in the way of horsepower in a hardware synth. Assuming, of course, they took the time and effort.