[jessejlt]

A thread over on Apple's GB Discussion page says the following:

You can record TWO DIFFERENT MONO tracks at a time, but only with something OTHER than Apple�s built-in audio input. That means if you have say, an M-audio 2 channel input device, not only can you record a stereo instrument, but you could record TWO different mono guitars at the same time to DIFFERENT tracks. Very cool.

Thread Link:
http://discussions.info.apple.com/[email protected]

So looks like good news for those wanting multitrack in GB.
jesse ;-)

[Troll]

Originally posted by jessejlt:
A thread over on Apple's GB Discussion page says the following:



Thread Link:
http://discussions.info.apple.com/[email protected]

So looks like good news for those wanting multitrack in GB.
jesse ;-)

Hmm, how bout one track via an iMic and another via the audio input ...

[Troll]

I have a rather basic question. Is there a way to split a midi file that you've downloaded off the Internet into separate instruments. All the software I've ever used brings it in as a single channel. Is this because I'm downloading crappy midi files or is there another reason. I've been doing a lot of audio recording but am a relative virgin to Midi.

[darcybaston]

Just had an interesting idea.

Find the iMovie sound effects, convert 'em to AIFF and do interesting ambient looping things in GB songs.

You can even download some to play with/edit from here (in mp3): http://www.apple.com/ilife/imovie/audio_effects.html

Take the Bang one and redo Mr. Self destruct from NiN heh. Or the Rainforest one and intro an ambient tune like Mike Oldfield.

[Troll]

Originally posted by darcybaston:
Just had an interesting idea.

Find the iMovie sound effects, convert 'em to AIFF and do interesting ambient looping things in GB songs.

You can even download some to play with/edit from here (in mp3): http://www.apple.com/ilife/imovie/audio_effects.html

Take the Bang one and redo Mr. Self destruct from NiN heh. Or the Rainforest one and intro an ambient tune like Mike Oldfield.

I've extracted audio from stuff I recorded through iMovie and then looped it. You can get some cool samples. I recorded a stream with the DV cam, extracted the sound, ran it backwards and then slowed it down. Made an awesome loop!

[york28]

Hmm, that's interesting, it can do two tracks at once. So the question is still, if you have a multi-input box with, say, eight inputs, can you record to 8 tracks at once? I guess we'll have to wait until next week to know.

[darcybaston]

If you were just capturing a stereo dump from a 64 channel mixer you'd have 64 sources in one track.

I know, sarcasm is oozing.

[Thor]

Originally posted by Troll:
I have a rather basic question. Is there a way to split a midi file that you've downloaded off the Internet into separate instruments. All the software I've ever used brings it in as a single channel. Is this because I'm downloading crappy midi files or is there another reason. I've been doing a lot of audio recording but am a relative virgin to Midi.

Melody or Harmony Assistant

[darcybaston]

My new iBook came with SoundStudio. In it, is a 30 band EQ. Maybe this could be used to EQ a mixed down song? Just import AIFF, process and export and off you go again.

[midwinter]

Originally posted by darcybaston:
My new iBook came with SoundStudio. In it, is a 30 band EQ. Maybe this could be used to EQ a mixed down song? Just import AIFF, process and export and off you go again.

I don't see why not. Once you got the levels where you want them and have exported to AIFF, you can post-process in whatever application you like.

Cheers
Scott

[Troll]

Originally posted by Thor:
Melody or Harmony Assistant

Brilliant! Thanks

[ShotgunEd]

Originally posted by darcybaston:
My new iBook came with SoundStudio. In it, is a 30 band EQ. Maybe this could be used to EQ a mixed down song? Just import AIFF, process and export and off you go again.

Yes, but different tracks/instruments will require different EQ'ing, and if it is mixed down, you'll be applying the same EQ to all the tracks.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by ShotgunEd:
Yes, but different tracks/instruments will require different EQ'ing, and if it is mixed down, you'll be applying the same EQ to all the tracks.

Yeah, but GarageBand has a built-in channel EQ, with presets for vocals, drums, etc., so the 30-band graphic EQ would probably only be used for mastering.

-s*

[midwinter]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
Yeah, but GarageBand has a built-in channel EQ, with presets for vocals, drums, etc., so the 30-band graphic EQ would probably only be used for mastering.

-s*

Any indication what the built-in EQ is like? Just a three band or something?

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by midwinter:
Any indication what the built-in EQ is like? Just a three band or something?

This is all I've seen:


Three-band parametric is my guess, though I assume the presets will be quite useful for most home recording.

-s*

[midwinter]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
This is all I've seen:


Three-band parametric is my guess, though I assume the presets will be quite useful for most home recording.

-s*

Hrm. It *looks* like those settings are editable. There's a little pencil icon just to the right... I'm with you. I'll be surprised if it's anything other than a 3-band "low, mid, high" EQ.

But hey, that's a starting point!

[Nebagakid]

http://www.chaosmint.com/macintosh/a...-screens.shtml

this page has screenshotes... yes, screenshotes

[Superchicken]

I think I'll be getting iLife soon hehe... it looks freaking sweet!

Not so happy about no free iPhoto, I can understand iMovie but I think iPhoto was kinda... just because. Anyway I told my parents that I know what I want for my birth day, before I looked at Garageband it was probably gona be a iPod mini but now I think it's gona be an Midi keyboard... hope apple doesn't come up with their own keyboard though then I'll wanna have both hahaha... anyway I really hope you can use the instruments with a G3 iBook like the 900 I can't imagine how a 350G4 could use the instruments but a 900Mhz iBook couldn't unless it's just a dumb limitation which I doubt they'd do.

I should also point out the option to take video with iMovie with an iSight is a great feature might have to get one too... sigh... to many things to get hehe...

[Eug]

I'm psyched about the Yamaha piano. It was always on a $50 add-on disc for the other consumer apps, and the free downloadable pianos sound like crap. Hopefully the Yamaha is good... I wonder what the Bosendorfer in the JamPack sounds like. If I like GarageBand, I'm buying JamPack immediately.

I still would have preferred a brushed metal look though. (Yes, brushed metal.) That woodgrain finish pays homage to equipment that's out there, but I've always thought the woodgrain look is like a 70s stationwagon. But if that's my only complaint it means I have little to complain about...

Except that my MIDI keyboard is crap. Any recommendations for an beginner velocity sensitive weighted keyboard? (I'm just learning.) My keyboard is not weighted and when my go to my sisters place I can't play anything - not used to the heaviness of her baby grand's keys.

However, I suspect from the gist of things in this thread, there might be a few prosumer limitations that might irk some people... until iLife '05. eg. iDVD had no chapter support - a major irritant for a lot of us. But it quickly became a moot point when Apple added it in the next update.

But yeah, overall this is the app I have been waiting for, for TEN YEARS. I could never afford all the higher quality instruments needed to create something like this, and the prosumer apps were too complicated for me anyway. And most of the consumer apps simply sucked. Some apps had some loops, but they sucked, or cost an arm and a leg to get good ones. As described, GarageBand truly seems to have iDVD-ified this class of software. I truly hope (for my sake and for Apple's) that it lives up to the hype.

[wadesworld]

I see a lot of people here asking about advanced features.

I think you're missing the point. GarageBand is meant for playing around, sharing with friends and family, or perhaps as a "idea notebook" for a professional or semi-professional.

I don't see it intended in ANY way for professional recording. For that matter, I think most professional musicians would question if it's of sufficient quality for demo work.

If you want professional features, Logic, Pro Tools, Reason, etc are all there for you. You're not going to get those features for $49 - period.

In short, I think a lot of people are going to have a lot of fun with GB and get a bunch of useful stuff done with it. But I think a lot of people are also going to whine that their $49 music recording app doesn't have the same feature as a $599 one. If so, your complaints are going to fall on deaf ears at Apple since you're totally misunderstanding the purpose of the application.

Just some thoughts...

[Superchicken]

I still can't believe this I havn't been excited over an app even an Apple app so much since... since... iPhoto although that was a big let down though now it seems to be good so that's even better. If I get this, and a keyboard, and an iSight and maybe an iPod mini... and throw in keynote I will have my dream computer setup... already have a few sweet graphics apps, but I'm really thinking a combo of iMovie and an iSight with keynote could make for some really interesting class presentations.

[midwinter]

Originally posted by Superchic[k]en:
I still can't believe this I havn't been excited over an app even an Apple app so much since... since... iPhoto although that was a big let down though now it seems to be good so that's even better. If I get this, and a keyboard, and an iSight and maybe an iPod mini... and throw in keynote I will have my dream computer setup... already have a few sweet graphics apps, but I'm really thinking a combo of iMovie and an iSight with keynote could make for some really interesting class presentations.

I realize you're excited and everything, but could you throw some periods in there? Pretty please?

Cheers
Scott

[jarinteractive]

Originally posted by midwinter:
I realize you're excited and everything, but could you throw some periods in there? Pretty please?

Cheers
Scott

There's plenty of periods...they are just grouped together...

...JARinteractive

[Superchicken]

Originally posted by jarinteractive:
There's plenty of periods...they are just grouped together...

...JARinteractive

I chuckled when I read that... sorry I'll try and use more periods. That's one. That's another... I like ellipses more though.

[Nebagakid]

To answer the question first posed by this Topic:

Yes,,, GarageBand is Good.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by Nebagakid:
http://www.chaosmint.com/macintosh/a...-screens.shtml

this page has screenshotes... yes, screenshotes

Uh-oh.

From that, it almost looks like you won't be able to play an external MIDI device from GarageBand, only use it as a MIDI input for GarageBand's virtual instruments.

Awtch.

-s*

[Eug]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
Uh-oh.

From that, it almost looks like you won't be able to play an external MIDI device from GarageBand, only use it as a MIDI input for GarageBand's virtual instruments.

Awtch.

-s*

If true that is quite a letdown. That would automatically make it almost useless for many average musicians.

That said, for me it's probably still fine, since I'm not a musician, just a hobbyist, and even if any of the hype is true, this is a better hobbyist app than any other app out there in the under $50 price range.

[Sven G]

BTW, am I the only one who thinks that the name GarageBand is rather lame, in the whole iLife context? It certainly doesn't fit well with the other iApps' names (BTW, sorry if this has already been covered, but I haven't yet had the time to read everything, here).

What about iTracks, or iBand, or iMusician, or "iAnything"...?

Or, on the converse, eliminate the i from the previous apps...?

What would be the best option? Not quite sure: anyway, the "iNames" have been quite cool, sofar...

[Nebagakid]

Originally posted by Sven G:
BTW, am I the only one who thinks that the name GarageBand is rather lame, in the whole iLife context? It certainly doesn't fit well with the other iApps' names (BTW, sorry if this has already been covered, but I haven't yet had the time to read everything, here).

What about iTracks, or iBand, or iMusician, or "iAnything"...?

Or, on the converse, eliminate the i from the previous apps...?

What would be the best option? Not quite sure: anyway, the "iNames" have been quite cool, sofar...

Well, no, actually, this program has nothing to do with "i." It has the least of anything to do with what "i" is defined as. Apple is moving away from the "i" prefix: Safari is a good example of this.

[Eug]

I liked iMusic, but it probably is too similar to iTunes. Oh well, GarageBand it is.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by Eug:
If true that is quite a letdown. That would automatically make it almost useless for many average musicians.

That said, for me it's probably still fine, since I'm not a musician, just a hobbyist, and even if any of the hype is true, this is a better hobbyist app than any other app out there in the under $50 price range.

It *would* be a letdown, but I think "average musicians" are much more likely to be aware of their options and expect to spend a little money on solutions.

Also, there are still three different versions of Logic available (though only two for OS X so far), and it will be necessary to differentiate the target market, so as not to cut into Logic sales.

If Apple is just going after the "hobbyists", that's still a pretty huge chunk, though.

I meet ideal iBook/GarageBand customers all the time.

-s*

[killer_735]

In reference to a couple of technical questions. I'm inferring these things and haven't seen the app yet, but follow the logic anyway...

Someone mentioned recording more than two tracks at once via the analog in. This is impossible, as the analog in is two channels. If you wanted to record more than two tracks at once, you'd need some way of going from a multi-channel out to something the sound card could work with. Devices I've seen to do this are usually replacements for your sound cards, and are mostly PC-based,but don't worry, I'm sure someone makes a hideously expensive one that works via firewire or USB and likes OS X. As far as garageband supporting it, hmm...maybe some programmers in here could tell us whether or not it's a big deal to make an app record 8 tracks at once vs. two. If it's not supported, we can always pray to the plugin gods. (bet the SDK comes with the next Developer Connection mailing!)

Someone else mentioned having to work with the midi sounds that come with garageband, not being able to use the ones that come with the piano. I see why this would be annoying-(kinda reminds me of working with fonts) but there's always analog out, and tweaking the sounds later. I bet garageband will let you import midi instruments too, and if that's not enough, how 'bout don't expect to get a thousand dollars worth of midi tonebank out of a 49$ app. It's already waaaay worth its price, be serious.

[wadesworld]

If true that is quite a letdown. That would automatically make it almost useless for many average musicians.

I disagree.

"Average musicians" - i.e. those playing at home for entertainment and not trying to do any kind of real recording, aren't worried about outputting to other gear.

They're worried about hooking up a MIDI keyboard or guitar, and playing. Perhaps they'll want to send the recording to friends, or burn a CD of it.

Now, "Average aspiring professional musicians" - i.e. those that are making an effort to make money, are not going to find GarageBand meeting their needs, and that's as it should be. They might use it for an "idea book," but when they sit down to do any recording that will be sent to prospective buyers, they'll use Logic, ProTools, etc.

Wade

[waffffffle]

Does anyone know if GarageBand can import midi files and AIFF files as audio tracks?

I have a bunch of midi files that I would like to use as parts of songs. The files have many instruments and I would really like to assign all the instruments to different software instruments.

I also would like to take some multitrack recordings (several AIFF files) and dump them into garageband to add some software instruments.

Does anyone know if GarageBand can do this?

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by killer_735:
Someone mentioned recording more than two tracks at once via the analog in. This is impossible, as the analog in is two channels. If you wanted to record more than two tracks at once, you'd need some way of going from a multi-channel out to something the sound card could work with. Devices I've seen to do this are usually replacements for your sound cards, and are mostly PC-based,but don't worry, I'm sure someone makes a hideously expensive one that works via firewire or USB and likes OS X.

If by "hideously expensive" you mean "starting at around $150 and offered RIGHT ON THE GARAGEBAND ACCESSORIES PAGE".

Originally posted by killer_735:
As far as garageband supporting it, hmm...maybe some programmers in here could tell us whether or not it's a big deal to make an app record 8 tracks at once vs. two. If it's not supported, we can always pray to the plugin gods. (bet the SDK comes with the next Developer Connection mailing!)

Maximum simultaneous track recording capacity has absolutely nothing to do with "plugins". It's a pretty fundamental design question.

Originally posted by killer_735:
Someone else mentioned having to work with the midi sounds that come with garageband, not being able to use the ones that come with the piano. I see why this would be annoying-(kinda reminds me of working with fonts) but there's always analog out, and tweaking the sounds later.

This is true, though any tweaking of sounds means that you have to play the whole part over again.

Originally posted by killer_735:
I bet garageband will let you import midi instruments too, and if that's not enough, how 'bout don't expect to get a thousand dollars worth of midi tonebank out of a 49$ app. It's already waaaay worth its price, be serious.

What do you mean by "import MIDI instruments"?

That still won't let anyone use GarageBand to control the synthesis engine built into his external MIDI keyboard, and that he's already *paid* for.

-s*

[Troll]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
If by "hideously expensive" you mean "starting at around $150 and offered RIGHT ON THE GARAGEBAND ACCESSORIES PAGE".

An iMic's less than $50. That alone COULD double the number of inputs you have. Latency is a problem I think although better under OSX.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by Troll:
An iMic's less than $50. That alone COULD double the number of inputs you have. Latency is a problem I think although better under OSX.

Only if GarageBand allows you to access TWO interfaces SIMULTANEOUSLY.

OS X has absolutely no problems with this, but I'd find it hard to believe that GarageBand has functionality that isn't even part of the �800 Logic Platinum suite yet...which I'm not entirely discounting, though, since Logic 6.5 is very likely to be released at NAMM on the 15th. Note the date? iLife debuts on the 16th. I would NOT be surprised if that date was deliberately chosen to keep the flagship ahead of the low end, even if only by one day.

Latency *is* far better under OS X - the OS itself runs an audio latency of less than 40 samples (<1 ms at 44kHz, <0.5 ms at 96 kHz), which is basically unheard of anywhere in the industry, but once I monitor through Logic, I get noticeable audio latency. This may be better with GarageBand (and the next version of Logic), if Emagic has done work on the audio engine. Which I hope.

MIDI latency should be virtually nonexistent, though.

-s*

[Eug]

Originally posted by wadesworld:
"Average musicians" - i.e. those playing at home for entertainment and not trying to do any kind of real recording, aren't worried about outputting to other gear.

They're worried about hooking up a MIDI keyboard or guitar, and playing. Perhaps they'll want to send the recording to friends, or burn a CD of it.

Now, "Average aspiring professional musicians" - i.e. those that are making an effort to make money, are not going to find GarageBand meeting their needs, and that's as it should be. They might use it for an "idea book," but when they sit down to do any recording that will be sent to prospective buyers, they'll use Logic, ProTools, etc.

Well, I guess your "average aspiring professional musicians" is my "hobbyist".

I know several acquaintances who have no inkling of ever wanting to become a professional musician or even be part of an amateur band, but who own MIDI keyboards with built-in good quality sounds and/or sound modules. The inability of GarageBand to control those instruments would be a letdown for them. (These are the types who may have taken some music classes as a kid, and like to play an instrument just for fun once in a while.)

Although I agree the price is phenomenal (It's what... $10?), still, this lack of the ability to control even just one external instrument seems like one potential irritant if true. But like I said, for me it's fine, since I'm a piano n00b and I don't have a MIDI instrument with sounds anyway. (My MIDI keyboard has no built-in sounds at all. It only works as an input device - perfect for GarageBand.)

As it is, it seems like an excellent inclusion to iLife '04. However, add this feature to the app, and it will destroy the competition. Indeed, I suspect one reason they left out this feature (obviously intentionally) was so that it wouldn't alienate their developers in this field. Same with the easily implemented but absent features in iPhoto (like nested albums and sortable keywords). OTOH, there has never really been anything remotely comparable to iDVD anyway (without going to a pro app), so anything they do with iDVD will destroy the competition anyway, because there isn't much.

[swiz]

Im curious to see if there is the possibility for developers to somehow add the ability to GB for multiple Simultaneous track recording? I know nothing about this sort of thing so I may sound like a complete ig-ner-nt.

[Toyin]

Originally posted by wadesworld:
I disagree.

"Average musicians" - i.e. those playing at home for entertainment and not trying to do any kind of real recording, aren't worried about outputting to other gear.

They're worried about hooking up a MIDI keyboard or guitar, and playing. Perhaps they'll want to send the recording to friends, or burn a CD of it.

Now, "Average aspiring professional musicians" - i.e. those that are making an effort to make money, are not going to find GarageBand meeting their needs, and that's as it should be. They might use it for an "idea book," but when they sit down to do any recording that will be sent to prospective buyers, they'll use Logic, ProTools, etc.

Wade

I agree. Garageband is not geared towards creating professional quality music. For professionals it seems more like a sketch pad to quickly get ideas down. Garageband seems great for the hobbyist. For someone like me it's perfect. I've got a Fostex DMT8-8 digital recorder/mixer collecting dust. I never use it because it always takes me several hours to figure out how to do exactly what I want. I never got into the software market for music because I didn't feel like spending the $$$$.

All that said and done, even sketches can be beautiful. I'm waiting for the 1st album or hit that's made using Garageband.

Originally posted by Sven G:
BTW, am I the only one who thinks that the name GarageBand is rather lame, in the whole iLife context? It certainly doesn't fit well with the other iApps' names (BTW, sorry if this has already been covered, but I haven't yet had the time to read everything, here).

What about iTracks, or iBand, or iMusician, or "iAnything"...?

Or, on the converse, eliminate the i from the previous apps...?

What would be the best option? Not quite sure: anyway, the "iNames" have been quite cool, sofar...

I like the name Garageband. I'm tired of the iapp nomenclature. It's getting tired. My 1st thought was thank god it's not iMusic or iBand. Personally if they decide to call all the iLife apps i'something' then get rid of iSync, iCal, iChat and any other app not part of iLife.