Newbie questions: quantity instruments

[Arito]

Hi,

I hope you can answer some questions I have regarding GB to know if I'm wasting my time (and money) with this program. I want a program which allows me to create my own 'music' (mostly hiphop beats). I must admit I am a total beginner, I used to mess around a bit with qbase on a friends PC which worked real well for me.

I understand I can use my midi-keyboard as an instrument and record as I'm playing. Most of my questions are somehow related to this:

1. I saw there were about 7 piano instruments and around the same amount of variety for each instrument. Obviously, this is not enough, even MTV Music Generator 2 (on my Playstation 2) had 100's of instruments and that can hardly be called a quality program. So is there any way to get more instruments? Do you need to download them or can they be bought (as I recall was the case with Qbase where you had Roland cards with a wide variety of instruments) somehow? Or am I just overlooking a lot of instruments that are indeed in GB?

2. When I record a melody from a MIDI-keyboard, can I change that easily into different kinds of instruments without having to reset or replay the piece?

3. A bit like my first question but then specifically for drums. Do I need to buy (and do they even exist for mac) a drum computer to get my hands on some decent drums, or is there software to complement GB. Or am I again overlooking instruments in GB itself?

4. Can I import sound files? If I want to sample something for example, it should be possible but I haven't seen how this can be done. (mp3, aiff, wav or whatever would all be fine).


My greatest concern is with the variety of instruments and the ability to import sound files so if any one has experience in this area it would be GREATLY appreciated!!!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Torajima]

Re: Newbie questions: quantity instruments

Okay, let's see if I can answer some of your questions...

1. Not sure if I understand your first question, but there are more than 7 instruments. In addition to pianos, there are various synths, basses, guitars, drum kits, etc.

Additional instruments are included in the "Jam Pack" which costs $100 extra (a little pricey, IMO).

2. Yes, you can change midi recordings to any instrument you wish.

3. Again, not sure exactly what you mean, but external drum machines and synth modules will not work with Garageband. Garageband does have a few decent drum kits included.

Not sure what you mean by "drum computer", but any midi based drum machine or sound module will work with the mac... just not garageband. There are also various software based drum modules that will work with mac music software aimed at pros.

4. You can drap and drop some types of audio straight into Garageband. You can slice and dice (and even transpose) audio to your heart's content.

 

[Arito]

Thx,

What I mean by number of instruments is the variety of THE SAME instrument. For example different kinds of pianos, not just electric and grand piano. The same goes for drums and (especially) bass. The difference might not be big, but enough to at least be able to choose from different sets. I'll check out the Jam Pack you mention though,

thanks alot!

 

[Torajima]

Well, you can choose from different drumsets, but I agree with you... the variety of pianos and basses leaves much to be desired.