Processing Power Required for Garageband

[sunlikeblood]

I have a Dual 533mhz G4 with 896mb of RAM runnning OS X 10.2.8 - my question is how well will this machine cope with Garageband and recording multiple tracks? I would typically record at least 4 tracks for a five minute song - drum loops, bass, guitar and vocals with additional tracks for guitar overdubs or different sounds. I would like to be able to apply effects on each track but I'm wondering if this G4 will be able to handle it. I am only intending to use Garageband as a writing tool - no plans on using it for anything other than demos for my bandmates so they can learn the songs I write and get a feel for the vibe of each one.

I use ProTools Free in 9.2 at present, using an iMic to get sound in and out. Are there latency issues with Garageband?

 

[sethypoo]

Looking at your setup, it should work fine. just don't expect to get much of anything else done at the same time.

 

[sethypoo]

All that rendering the GB is doing takes a lot of processor power.....just so you know.

 

[sunlikeblood]

As long as I can have Garageband open by itself and it works fine I'll be happy. Pro Tools Free runs well enough on this machine but does start to struggle with more than about five plug-ins loaded! Of course that's only using one of the processors, whereas I'm assuming Garageband makes use of the dual processors.

 

[Hapkidoman]

I was running 10.2.8 on my G4733 and had some problems with processing limits when running just two audio recorded tracks with effects.

I upgraded to 10.3 Panther and the problems have pretty much dissappeared. I can easily run 4 tracks (all recorded- not loops or midi) with multiple effects without a hitch.

Well worth the upgrade price as not only did GB run faster, but so has everything else that I am currently running.

Hope this info is helpful.

 

[johnnyjibbs]

Software tracks (i.e. MIDI) seem to take up far more processing power (far too much IMO) than real instrument tracks (i.e. audio recording). Therefore, you'll be fine with audio recording. I really think they need to optimise GarageBand more because it takes up far more processing power than many other similar apps.

 

[sunlikeblood]

Thanks guys, appreciate your replies. Might upgrade to Panther at the same time as buying iLife.

 

[CrackedButter]

Panther is supposed to add some speed.

I'm on an emac with 640megs of RAM, i run GB with alot more loops, yes i see a slow down, but i cannot stop folding either!

 

[spencecb]

I have a PowerBook G4 @ 667 MHz....I usually don't have a problem running GB, but if there are multiple tracks, I get a message saying "System Overload. The song exceeds the processing power of your computer and can not render the song in real time" I'm sure your dual processor machine has better performance than mine...but I don't believe Garage Band is multi processor aware.

 

[tjwett]

Originally posted by johnnyjibbs
Software tracks (i.e. MIDI) seem to take up far more processing power (far too much IMO) than real instrument tracks (i.e. audio recording). Therefore, you'll be fine with audio recording. I really think they need to optimise GarageBand more because it takes up far more processing power than many other similar apps.

that is exactly how it goes. it's not actually the MIDI that eats CPU, it's the virtual instruments. audio tracks don't use hardly any CPU. in Logic i use the "Freeze" feature which instantly takes the data from a virtual instrument track and converts it to an audio track, freeing up lots of CPU. when i need to make changes to the MIDI data or instrument i simply Unfreeze.

you can do a similar workaround in GB by soloing a track(s) and recording it's output onto a free audio track in GB, or elsewhere. you can then disable the track with the MIDI data and virtual instrument, saving you loads of CPU. just a little tip.

 

[johnnyjibbs]

Originally posted by tjwett
that is exactly how it goes. it's not actually the MIDI that eats CPU, it's the virtual instruments. audio tracks don't use hardly any CPU. in Logic i use the "Freeze" feature which instantly takes the data from a virtual instrument track and converts it to an audio track, freeing up lots of CPU. when i need to make changes to the MIDI data or instrument i simply Unfreeze.

you can do a similar workaround in GB by soloing a track(s) and recording it's output onto a free audio track in GB, or elsewhere. you can then disable the track with the MIDI data and virtual instrument, saving you loads of CPU. just a little tip.

Yeah, I know, that's a good tip. It'd be nice if they added a freeze function in the next version to cut down the hassle of doing that.

 

[sunlikeblood]

Great ideas guys, these suggestions will get me around any potential problems as they arise.

 

[janey]

i dunno...i keep getting system overload messages on everything from iBook G3s to dual 1.8ghz Power Mac G5s.

Maybe its something i'm doing...eh...*sigh*

 

[johnnyjibbs]

Some optimisations need to be done if a dual 1.8 is struggling... At least it hasn't limited my creativity so far, but it would be nice if you could actually record software tracks without delays and muting tracks... Other software can so...