[jamesuk]

Hi everyone,

Im a new mac user and i have read on the internet that you can record vocals using Garageband and I just wanted to know if you can record high quality vocals using garageband that would be good enough for a demo tape for instance?

And i also wanted to know what effects comes with Garageband to enhance the vocals recorded?

Many thanks,
James.

[slpdLoad]

It really depends on your microphone, environment, and how you have the mic hooked up. GarageBand will record as high of quality as you can give it. It would be great for a demo tape.

[jamesuk]

Hi slpdLoad,

Thanks for your response. What microphone would you recommend (Model no/make etc)? And would it have to be a usb microphone? And a condenser or a dynamic microphone?

And whats the easiest way to load the backing track from my korg triton extreme to garageband?

Many thanks,
James.

[Mr. Anderson]

It all depends on how much you want to spend. Do you want to spend $100 or $10,000?

[kelso]

I'm also curious about this. How good of quality do you think the build-in mic is on a macbook?

[gradient]

Your best bet is to get something like this: Roland U.S. - UA-25: USB Audio Interface

There are a variety of USB audio input devices with built-in microphone preamps available for a wide range of prices, but the above link is a good fit for the budget-conscious people that still want nice results (certainly nice enough for demo purposes).

In general, you want a condenser microphone to record nice vocals. You will get a much clearer and well defined recorded product. Be sure, though, to use a pop filter (which is as simple as stretching some ladies' stockings around a coathanger if you're on a budget) to get rid of the dramatic pops and sibilance of some vocalists. My personal suggestion for a very nice but not uber expensive vocal mic is the Audio Technica 4050 (Audio-Technica AT4050 | Sweetwater.com). That might still be out of your price range, but you get the idea. A cheaper option might be a Shure Beta87a (Shure Beta 87A | Sweetwater.com) - still a nice mic and you can use it as a handheld vocal mic in live applications, too.

[analogika]

The 4050 is a nice mic, sure, but jeez - this guy is a complete newbie looking to lay down some demo tracks in usable quality.

The Studio Projects B1 - Affordable Studio Recording Solution should be *well* enough and is unparalleled value at around $100.

Requires an audio interface with phantom power, though - something like the Edirol UA-25 linked to above should be fine.

The combination will result in excellent quality for around $350, all told.

You can use the audio interface to record any sound the Korg Triton makes (though you could use just the built-in audio input for that, as well - inferior sound quality, though).


The MacBook's built-in mic is fine for audio chatting. And no more than that.

[Jacke]

Originally Posted by gradient 

Be sure, though, to use a pop filter (which is as simple as stretching some ladies' stockings around a coathanger if you're on a budget)

I did the ladies' stockings once, it works surprisingly well.

[gradient]

Originally Posted by analogika 

The 4050 is a nice mic, sure, but jeez - this guy is a complete newbie looking to lay down some demo tracks in usable quality.

The Studio Projects B1 - Affordable Studio Recording Solution should be *well* enough and is unparalleled value at around $100.

You're totally right, actually - the Studio Projects stuff would probably work great for him. I figured that the 4050 was out of his price range, but you never know - the interweb being what it is, the OP could be a 40 year old millionaire stock broker for all I know - haha.

[jamesuk]

Hi everyone,

And thanks for all the responses as they have been very helpful.

I was intially going to buy a boss br600 digital 8 track recorder and a microphone but havent managed to save enough money yet and so now im looking at recording the vocals on my computer and transferring the backing track from my korg triton extreme. So i reckon i could spend about 200 pounds ($400 us dollars) on a microphone and anything else needed. I am perhaps looking for a microphone for about 60-110 pounds but wasnt sure which microphone would be best a condenser microphone needing a pre amp or a usb microphone that plugs straight into the computer like the SAMSON AUDIO C01U - USB Condenser Microphone which i read about on the internet.

So any more advice would be most welcome. And one more thing what kind of effects does Garageband have to enchance vocals?

Many thanks,
James.

[analogika]

The channel strip comes with a 3-band EQ, a simple compressor, simple reverb, and a variety of other and potentially weirding effects, including amp simulators and bitcrushers.

Why not just take a look?

Click in the "i" button at the lower right to show settings for the track you've selected, and click "Show Details" for a detailed view of the channel strip and inserted effects.

At a budget of £200, I'd go for a B1 condensor, for sure, and an interface like the Edirol.
That way, you can record both acoustic tracks, and record electronics such as the Triton. The Triton Extreme has digital out, so you can hook that up to the Edirol separately and even record both simultaneously.

Are you looking to just play your Triton into GarageBand by hand, or do you have MIDI tracks that you need controlled by and/or synced to the computer? If yes, you're going to need Logic Express, since GarageBand only receives MIDI but cannot transmit it to external boxes.

In that case also, the Edirol is a good choice, since it *also* has MIDI in/out to record from/control the Triton.
This also means that you can use the Triton keyboard to play GarageBand's internal software instruments.

[jamesuk]

Hi analogika

I would just want to copy/transfer songs i have written on the korg triton extreme to Garageband so that i could record good quality lead and background vocals over these tracks and then be able to have a completed track with vocals and backing track. I want to use it basically as a 8/16/24 track recorder so i can hear the song in its entirety.

And thanks for all your help it is very much appreciated.

James.

[canswiss]

You might find this link helpful

Apple - Pro - Profiles - Greg Laswell, pg. 1

[jamesuk]

Hi Canswiss,

Thanks for the link. I just checked it out and Garageband does sound very impressive. I bought a 20 inch apple imac in 2007 but havent had a chance to really get to know it properly and to experiment with all the features and software. But wanted to know if the garageband that comes as part of the preinstalled software is the same version that Greg Laswell is using? Or is the garageband that comes preinstalled just a smaller version of this software with less features?

I also wanted to know if Garageband has any sort of pitch correction software? And what effects it has to enchance vocals?

And how you think it compares to other types of music software like Cubase, Cakewalk, Pro tools etc?

Many thanks
James.

[analogika]

There is only one GarageBand.

It is the same engine as Logic Pro, but Logic has far more detailed editing and FX capabilities. The basic sound is the same, as all the underlying frameworks are identical.

Any GarageBand project can be taken and opened directly into Logic and edited there to professional standards, so you always have the option of taking it to a pro studio.

The audio quality of GarageBand/Logic is now (since Logic 8/GarageBand 08) absolutely on par with Cubase/Nuendo - previous versions had a subtle "Logic" sound that I never really liked, but that was a very subtle production flavor that I doubt made a difference to most people.

In terms of accessibility to newbies, learning curve, what YOU can do with it as someone who works on music and isn't as firm in the technical side of studio work: There is NO COMPETITION to GarageBand, on any platform.

None.



Regarding effects in GarageBand, I already posted this:

The channel strip comes with a 3-band EQ, a simple compressor, simple reverb, and a variety of other and potentially weirding effects, including amp simulators and bitcrushers.

Why not just take a look?

Click in the "i" button at the lower right to show settings for the track you've selected, and click "Show Details" for a detailed view of the channel strip and inserted effects.

There's also a "Speech Enhancer" which apparently denoises, gates, and compensates for mediocre recording techinique in ways that aren't quite obvious to me.

There is no pitch correction in GarageBand, but any and all third-party Audio Unit plug-ins you may find for free or purchase will be accessible within GarageBand's effects strip, so choose any pitch-correction plug-in you like.

[jamesuk]

Thanks analogika,

Your response was very helpful and informative and cleared up a lot of my questions. And has given me a much better idea about the capabilities of Garageband.

Since my apple imac was purchased in August 2007 im not sure which version of Garageband i have on there (as im still using my old windows computer!) but it helps to know that i can either upgrade to Garageband 2008 or can add on one of the many free plug ins to utilise their pitch correction capabilities.

Thanks again for all your help and to everyone who has taken the time to respond to this post.

Many thanks,
James.

[analogika]

You have the previous version of GarageBand on your machine, which is still excellent.

One of the biggest improvements in 08, though, is multi-take comping (check the GarageBand website for a brief overview of this feature), which is absolutely indispensible for things like recording vocal takes.

And recording a decent take is MUCH better than any pitch-correction algorithm - I speak from experience.

[jamesuk]

Hi analogika,

Thanks again for all your help. Is it possible to upgrade my version of Garageband to the new 2008 version? And is this an expensive process?

And yes i will check out the Garageband website to see all the information about this new version of Garageband.

Thanks again,
James.

[analogika]

The iLife 08 package is $80/€80, and included a newer version of iPhoto, a new iMovie that is structurally more similar to iPhoto/iTunes, iDVD, GarageBand, and iWeb.

If you use iPhoto, that alone is probably worth a good part of the upgrade price, and for GarageBand - well the comping feature is going to save you a lot more than $80 in time.

[jamesuk]

Hi analogika,

Thanks again for all your help! The iLife 2008 package sounds great and i have also seen a product called Logic Express 8 which looks good as well as it has a pitch correction feature as well. Im not sure if you are familar with this product?? But you can also use it with Garageband as well.

Thanks again,
James.

[analogika]

Logic Express is exactly the same software as Logic Pro, except Logic Pro is part of the Logic Studio bundle that comes with a BUNCH of additional effects and software instrument plug-ins, additional software (which is likely of no relevance to you - stuff like film scoring and audio CD mastering tools), and about forty gigabytes of samples and loops - which can be quite useful. (Logic Studio is actually about $5000 worth of software and sounds - Apple is selling them for 1/10 of what they should be to sell machines like crazy. It's working, but it's really hurting competitors.)

I wasn't sure which of Logic Pro's plug-ins were integrated into Logic Express (I only use Pro), but I can only repeat: comping dozens of takes into one decent vocal track is a FAR better solution than pitch correction. The pitch correction plug-in in Logic does really nasty things with my voice.

You have the option of starting with GarageBand and then seamlessly switching over to Logic Express/Studio should your needs outgrow the software.

[umpahimself]

what do u guys think of the road NT-1A for male rock vocals

[analogika]

The Røde stuff is okay.

You can't beat Studio Projects - Start for price - their stuff is excellent value.

You really need to try different mics to see which goes best with your voice.

[Pachango]

I'm glad I came across this thread, many of jamesuk's questions were also on my mind. I do have one more though, hope you can advise:

I've been looking at USB or Firewire audio/midi interfaces to connect a keyboard and microphone to my Mac (mini, in my case) to be able to record with Garageband.

The Edirol UA-25 that was mentioned above looks nice, but so do several others in that price range: the Alesis IO/2, the Tascam US-122l and perhaps the M-audio Audiophile. That last one doesn't have a mic input but perhaps the line input could be used for that?

User experiences and advise on which one to get or not to get would be most welcome!

[jamesuk]

Hi Pachango and everyone else,

I have managed to solve my problem! For anyone in this forum who wants to record an audio/song onto a track in Garageband from their synthesizer they will need a 1/8 mini jack-> 2 X 1/4 jack cable. I bought mine from Rose Morris in Denmark street in London near Tottenham Court Road.

The cable is manufactured by a company called Stag who can be found at staggmusic.com. The cable also has a serial number which is:
YC-03/1J2PMH. And it costs about six UK pounds. The end with the two sided jacks/plugs is plugged into the Left and Right Outputs of your synthesizer (This is how it is on my korg triton extreme 61) and of course the other jack is plugged into your computer.

If you have an apple computer like i do you are then able to transfer any songs written on your synthesizer by creating a NEW TRACK from the Tracks option in the menu bar above Garageband and then select REAL INSTRUMENT and then you have to go to GARAGEBAND in the menu bar above and then select PREFERENCES and then AUDIO/MIDI and then select BUILT-IN INPUT. Then simply click on the record button on Garageband and then simultaneously hit the play button on your synthesizer to start the recording process.

Please note that when you want to add a vocal track over the top of his saved backing track/the transferred song you have to create a new track again and select REAL INSTRUMENT again and then VOCALS and then your vocal style for example MALE RNB VOCALS or FEMALE DANCE VOCALS etc. Then yout have to go back to the GARAGEBAND option in the menu bar at the top and then select preferences again and AUDIO/MIDI again and BUILT-IN MICROPHONE if you need to use apples built in microphone which i have been doing. If you are using an external microphone and some sort of audio interface i would assume you just leave the settings unchanged and stay with the BUILT-IN INPUT selection.

Many thanks,
James.

[analogika]

Originally Posted by Pachango 

The Edirol UA-25 that was mentioned above looks nice, but so do several others in that price range: the Alesis IO/2, the Tascam US-122l and perhaps the M-audio Audiophile. That last one doesn't have a mic input but perhaps the line input could be used for that?

A line input cannot be used for microphones without a dedicated mic pre-amplifier.

I can't speak for the Alesis thing, but I've had a Tascam US-428, and it was rock-solid for years (and has been rock-solid for the friend I gave it to a couple of years ago).