[Xeo]

Here is a list of loops from Soundtrack that were used in GarageBand. The list includes both the GarageBand and SoundTrack filenames, and their locations relative to /Library/Application Support/GarageBand/Apple Loops.

There are over 700 duplicates, so if you imported your Soundtrack Loops to GarageBand, it will save a lot of disk space to remove them. Once I have the Jam Pack, I will run the script again to find the additional duplicates and update my list.

[edit] I added the duplicates between Soundtrack and the Jam Pack, and between GarageBand and the Jam Pack. I have yet to write a script.

Loop Duplications for GarageBand and Soundtrack - Total: 726
Loop Duplications for Jam Pack and Soundtrack - Total: 1429
Loop Duplications for GarageBand and Jam Pack - Total: 20

If interested, I could probably make an AppleScript or shell script which will automatically remove one set of the duplicates. I am going to make one for myself anyway. I just have to regenerate the list with only one set. I'll post back once I have it.

[ourisman]

Can anyone post a list of the 100 instruments included with Jam Pack. I'm evaluating whether the purchase would be worthwhile. thanks...

[Xeo]

I added the Jam Pack duplicates. I hope someone other than me finds this information useful. Perhaps it is the script that people will find more useful. As of now, I'm trying to find out if there is a more official way to delete the loops other than just removing the files. After all, there is an index I do not want to screw up as I've seen no way to regenerate it.

Any ideas just let me know.

[Thor]

Re: Jumping through loop hoops...

As far as re-indexing... I have found that the best way to do this is to:
1) Drag an .aif file to the
/Library/Application Support/GarageBand/Apple Loops/Apple Loops for GarageBand/
folder
2) Drag this loop from the Finder to the Loop Browser. This will index the loops... BUT this index may not be accurate.
3) Remove this loop from the loop folder.
4) Click on the removed loop in the loop browser. This will re-index the loops accurately.

Note: If you don't do step 1 (i.e., if you just drag an .aif file from some other location on your hard drive), you may end up with duplicate loops in the loop browser, or the index will be inaccurate.

There's got to be a better way.

[Cadaver]

Thanks for the info! Very helpful.
I have both Soundtrack and Garageband, and wasn't sure if the Jam Pack would be worth while. Guess I'm still unsure, but for now I'll add the Soundtrack loops to GB and go from there.

[Xeo]

I made the script and posted it to Mac OS X Hints. Assuming Rob posts it, the script and detailed information about it will be available there. I don't want to retype the instructions here if I don't have to.

If it isn't up in the next few days, I'll repost the info here.

[dwishbone]

id really like to get a copy of that script. id prefer one that removes the duplicated from soundtrack and leaves thes ones from garageband in place...since ive made several tracks in GB already. im getting FCP4 soon and ST and all its loops will come with that. i dont want to mess up my current GB creations.

[- - e r i k - -]

Originally posted by Xeo:
[B]Loop Duplications for GarageBand and Soundtrack - Total: 726
Loop Duplications for Jam Pack and Soundtrack - Total: 1429
[url=http://homepage.mac.com/xeo/[/B]

So If you have soundtrack, JamPack just gives you about 500 new loops?

[Moonray]

Originally posted by Xeo:
I don't want to retype the instructions here if I don't have to.

If you still retype text you might want to learn about the great copy and paste feature of your Mac. It lets you duplicate text and even other data with only a few keystrokes or mouseclicks to other locations.

-

[Xeo]

Originally posted by dwishbone:
id really like to get a copy of that script. id prefer one that removes the duplicated from soundtrack and leaves thes ones from garageband in place...since ive made several tracks in GB already. im getting FCP4 soon and ST and all its loops will come with that. i dont want to mess up my current GB creations.

That's what my script does. It deletes the ones from the Soundtrack directory rather than the GB directories.

[dwishbone]

can u post the script...or email it to me? i didnt see it on that site.

[macintologist]

Is this it?

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.p...mp;query=loops

[macintologist]

bump... I really would like to see that script. Just in case this thread is lost

[Xeo]

Originally posted by macintologist:
Is this it?

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.p...mp;query=loops

No that's not it. I'll just post it. I really thought it would have gone up Monday, or now today. Bah...

Here's mostly what I posted at OS X hints, with a little extra info:

Many people have GarageBand and Jam Pack now that iLife '04 has been released. And quite a few also have Soundtrack. Many of those that have both have dropped their Soundtrack loops into GarageBand to get an extra 4000 loops in their GarageBand collection. There's only one problem. 2000 of those are duplicates of your GarageBand and Jam Pack songs. I have compiled a list of the songs that are copies from Soundtrack. I have also created a shell script which will delete the duplicates from the Soundtrack files, over 2 GB worth of unneeded loops!

Here are lists of the duplicates. These lists are only for informational purposes and are not needed to run the script.

List 1 - Loop Duplications for GarageBand and Soundtrack - Total: 726
List 2 - Loop Duplications for Jam Pack and Soundtrack - Total: 1429
List 3 - Loop Duplications for GarageBand and Jam Pack - Total: 20

The script can be downloaded here.

The script has three options. It can delete only the loops in list 1, only the loops in list 2, or all the loops from both list 1 and list 2. I will give examples of each use.

If you don't have the Jam Pack, you only need to delete the songs from list 1. The ones from list 2 aren't duplicates for you. So you need to use the -g option.

% ./gb-deletedupes.sh -g Soundtrack\ Loops

If you do have the Jam Pack installed, then you'd want to delete all the duplicates from both lists 1 and 2. To do that, use the -b option.

% ./gb-deletedupes.sh -b Soundtrack\ Loops

If you have already run this script to delete the loops from list 1, and then installed the Jam Pack and only need to delete the loops from list 2, then use the -j option.

% ./gb-deletedupes.sh -j Soundtrack\ Loops

Finally, if you run into any snags, there is a fairly detailed readme built-in. You can access it with the -h option.

% ./gb-deletedupes.sh -h

This script has basic checking and verification built-in. Running it with no arguments or badly formed arguments will result in a reminder of what the proper form is. It asks for confirmation before doing anything and lets you know exactly what you chose to do before you do it. It is best to run this script before you add the loops to GarageBand. To do that, simply copy the Soundtrack Loops folder off the Soundtrack Loops DVD. Then just run the script with that folder as the directory. If you have already added the Soundtrack Loops to GarageBand, simply use the Soundtrack Loops folder inside /Library/Application Support/GarageBand/Apple Loops. Make sure GarageBand is not running when you remove the files. Then, you must have GarageBand reindex the loops. You can do this simply by selecting one of the deleted songs, such as "Edgy Modern Rock Bass 22". It will see the song is missing and ask to reindex.

I have tested the script many times and it has worked for me. It only deletes files from the directory you specify and only works if the directory structure has not changed from the original Soundtrack Loops layout. If you experience problems with it, please post here and let me know what you have encountered.

Hope this helps someone.

[dwishbone]

thanks. im sure that will help when my copy of FCP4 arrives.
thanks a bunch.

[macintologist]

Ok this isn't working.

I have ST installed with all the loops in /Documents/Soundtrack Loops/ and I have Garageband installed with the Jam pack.

I open Terminal, drag the script into it.. then I type -b after it. I press return, say yes, and everything says "permission denied". So then I redid it, I typed in sudo before loading the script.

When I did it again, it had permission, but now it said "file does not exist" for each one. I dragdropped the "Soundtrack Loops" folder in the /Documents/Soundtrack Loops/ folder. That's not how I write it of course, terminal does that for me.

How can I make this shell script work?

[Xeo]

Originally posted by macintologist:
Ok this isn't working.

I have ST installed with all the loops in /Documents/Soundtrack Loops/ and I have Garageband installed with the Jam pack.

I open Terminal, drag the script into it.. then I type -b after it. I press return, say yes, and everything says "permission denied". So then I redid it, I typed in sudo before loading the script.

When I did it again, it had permission, but now it said "file does not exist" for each one. I dragdropped the "Soundtrack Loops" folder in the /Documents/Soundtrack Loops/ folder. That's not how I write it of course, terminal does that for me.

How can I make this shell script work?

So inside /Documents/Soundtrack\ Loops is another directory called "Soundtrack Loops"? Are you saying the full directory is /Documents/Soundtrack\ Loops/Soundtrack\ Loops?

If so, then you need to specify the full path, including the second "Soundtrack Loops" directory. It expects you to give the directory that contains "Apple Loops" and "PowerFX Loops" just like off the Soundtrack Loops DVD.

If I am not correct, please post a few lines of the "File not found" error so I can see what is going on.

[memento]

the easiest way to make it work is to type

./gb-deletedupes.sh -b

into the terminal. Note the space after -b. THEN drop your Soundtrack Loops folder onto the terminal, which will point the script to your folder. Then hit return.

[Xeo]

Originally posted by memento:
the easiest way to make it work is to type

./gb-deletedupes.sh -b

into the terminal. Note the space after -b. THEN drop your Soundtrack Loops folder onto the terminal, which will point the script to your folder. Then hit return.

I trust that means it worked for you, which is a good sign.

There isn't much to the script. It just deletes files relative to the directory you point it to. So as long as the directory structure is the same as it expects, it should work flawlessly.

[mrchin]

So does one need to download a script or is this ./gb command all that is happening?

If so, what is the command comparing againsts the Soundtrack folder if nothing is listed? What tells it to compare to the garage band folder with its loops?

And if you do delete the loops, what happens when you then launch Soundtrack? Will you have to then re-index the loops to include the garageband folder to ensure you still have them all?

[Xeo]

Originally posted by mrchin:
So does one need to download a script or is this ./gb command all that is happening?

If so, what is the command comparing againsts the Soundtrack folder if nothing is listed? What tells it to compare to the garage band folder with its loops?

And if you do delete the loops, what happens when you then launch Soundtrack? Will you have to then re-index the loops to include the garageband folder to ensure you still have them all?

The script here is all you need. It doesn't compare the two folders. I have already done the comparing to see what files are duplicated, and it simply deletes those I found to be duplicates based on their file name and location relative to the Soundtrack Loops directory. This script is best done on a copy of the Soundtrack Loops directory, just to be safe. If you want to use the same set of loops, in both GarageBand and Soundtrack, then you need to drop the Soundtrack Loops directory onto GarageBand, delete the Soundtrack Loops from wherever else they are installed, and point Soundtrack to use the Loops that GarageBand does. From what I understand, GarageBand does not allow you to change the location of the loops but Soundtrack does.

So when this is all done, you should only have on copy of loops on your system, in /Library/Application Support/GarageBand/Apple Loops, and both GarageBand and Soundtrack use that directory.

[Nonsuch]

Originally posted by Xeo:
From what I understand, GarageBand does not allow you to change the location of the loops but Soundtrack does.

Does Garageband tolerate dividing the loops into subfolders? I totally overhauled the Soundtrack loop folders so that Apple and non-Apple loops are sorted by instrument. I then have each instrument folder as a "Favorite" in ST and browse them that way. I'm not keen to have to dump my ST loops into a big undifferentiated folder, nor do I really like ST's loop browser interface, so I'm looking for a compromise here.

[forkies]

I think...

[Xeo]

Originally posted by Nonsuch:
Does Garageband tolerate dividing the loops into subfolders? I totally overhauled the Soundtrack loop folders so that Apple and non-Apple loops are sorted by instrument. I then have each instrument folder as a "Favorite" in ST and browse them that way. I'm not keen to have to dump my ST loops into a big undifferentiated folder, nor do I really like ST's loop browser interface, so I'm looking for a compromise here.

Well, to my knowledge and experience, whatever directory structure you drop onto GarageBand will be retained. I don't know that GB's loop browser will use that directory structure, but accessing through the Finder should be the same.

If you have 4 GB of extra space on your hard drive, you should test it out. I guarantee that whatever you drag in won't be mixed in the same directory as the GarageBand stuff. When you drag music in, it is copied over so it won't mess up the location it's already in either. With that in mind, you can't screw anything up and it's worth a shot.

Keep in mind that with your altered directory structure, the script I provided will not work for you in deleting duplicates. Hopefully the lists I provided will be of some use to you, though.

[memento]

Originally posted by Xeo:
I trust that means it worked for you, which is a good sign.

There isn't much to the script. It just deletes files relative to the directory you point it to. So as long as the directory structure is the same as it expects, it should work flawlessly.

It worked flawlessly for me. 2GB reclaimed.

[dwishbone]

Xeo
ive talked to a few people that cant figure out how to get this to work...or have a little difficulty. would u be willing to let me use this and try to construct an application wrapper around it?

[dwishbone]

no matter what i do it always says
"Action cancelled. No changes have been made."
what am i doing wrong?
i dragged the script into the terminal...i typed -b and then dragged the soundtrack loops folder (/documents/sountrack loops for me and told it to do its thing. i tried with and without sudo. its not working.

edit:
ok now its working...have to use a capital Y. i got a permission denied the first time. now i try to do it and sudo and every one is "no such file or directory"

2nd edit:
upon further review it looks like all the duplicates are gone. it gave the permission denied error but deleted them anyway.

[JLL]

Originally posted by Xeo:
I added the duplicates between Soundtrack and the Jam Pack, and between GarageBand and the Jam Pack.

Huh? Why would they put 20 loops in the Jam Pack that are already present in GB? And why on earth do they give them different names?!?

[Xeo]

Originally posted by dwishbone:
upon further review it looks like all the duplicates are gone. it gave the permission denied error but deleted them anyway.

Glad to hear it worked. Just to note: it couldn't have deleted them without permission. So it mush have deleted what it could while having permissions errors on others, then when you sudo'ed it, it deleted the ones it couldn't before and gave file not found errors on the rest. Just a guess but seems right to me, just because it's not possible for it to delete what it doesn't have permission to.

[Xeo]

Originally posted by JLL:
Huh? Why would they put 20 loops in the Jam Pack that are already present in GB? And why on earth do they give them different names?!?

That is a good question. I wasn't even going to compare the two but decided to try it anyway. I expected to get 0 duplicates but was surprised to find out there were 20.

[DahlBryn]

I'm a confused newbie.
GarageBand came with my Dual G5 & I like the idea of getting additional loops.

But why would I buy JamPack for 50% of the price of Soundtrack? -
when I would only get 50% of the AppleLoops - 1400 of which are repeats anyway
and I'd get only a FEW of the amazing plug-ins or 'sends' that come with Soundtrack.

Soundtrack by far, seems to be the better deal and have more pro controls.
So, sorry for my confusion, but am I missing something here - why bother with JamPack?