Help me make the most of GarageBand
August 5, 2008 12:29 PM
Pimp my GarageBand! Looking for tips and advice on how to make the most of a limited program.
OK, so: I use GarageBand. It's the only thing I use to record music, because I've never taken the time/money to learn ProTools or anything like that. I know almost nothing about recording other than how to record several tracks, pan left and right, adjust volume, and other uber-basics. I am quite good at "musical typing." I do have a midi keyboard which I have not used much, and a Tascam US-122 interface.
My question for y'all is: what can I do to make the most of the program and what might be available, for free or cheap? Compression tricks (I've never dealt with compression), gear tips, etc? Let me have it! I want to make my recording sound better. If the general answer is "there's no way," well then, so be it.
posted by ORthey (12 comments total)
9 users marked this as a favorite
OK, so: I use GarageBand. It's the only thing I use to record music, because I've never taken the time/money to learn ProTools or anything like that. I know almost nothing about recording other than how to record several tracks, pan left and right, adjust volume, and other uber-basics. I am quite good at "musical typing." I do have a midi keyboard which I have not used much, and a Tascam US-122 interface.
My question for y'all is: what can I do to make the most of the program and what might be available, for free or cheap? Compression tricks (I've never dealt with compression), gear tips, etc? Let me have it! I want to make my recording sound better. If the general answer is "there's no way," well then, so be it.
While I can't really give specific advice. I would recommend you stop looking at it with the eyes of Cool Edit Pro. It works much more elegantly/simply than anything I've ever used before. It is almost too simple sometimes.
posted by dobie at 1:35 PM on August 5, 2008
posted by dobie at 1:35 PM on August 5, 2008
Learn lots of keyboard shortcuts like spacebar for start/stop, return to go back to the beginning, command-U for toggling the metronome on/off, command-T to splice a track at the playhead or command-J to join 2 together, that kind of thing. (Off the top of my head that's all that's popping up...) Saves tons of time and clicking.
I assume you know about the tuner.
I just recently tried using my monophonic anologue synth to play the keyboard sounds through midi and was surprised at how good some of the sounds are.
The track automation is super-easy to use, and for the new Garageband they added EQ and Echo/Reverb to the existing Volume and Pan.
I'm sure I'll think of more.
posted by chococat at 5:32 PM on August 5, 2008
I assume you know about the tuner.
I just recently tried using my monophonic anologue synth to play the keyboard sounds through midi and was surprised at how good some of the sounds are.
The track automation is super-easy to use, and for the new Garageband they added EQ and Echo/Reverb to the existing Volume and Pan.
I'm sure I'll think of more.
posted by chococat at 5:32 PM on August 5, 2008
What's nice about Garageband is that it can use standard AU effects. Take a look at the FX forum at BigBlueLounge; there are stickies on there with links to lots of free AU effects. Some are good, some are bad. But hey, they're free.
I can't really offer any specific GB tips, though; all the one-slider controls always threw me for a loop. I gotta twist more knobs, damnit.
posted by uncleozzy at 8:26 AM on August 6, 2008
I can't really offer any specific GB tips, though; all the one-slider controls always threw me for a loop. I gotta twist more knobs, damnit.
posted by uncleozzy at 8:26 AM on August 6, 2008
It's what I use (and I notice four of you have commented on my music in the past! nice!), and let me tell you the best way to learn is to screw it up a couple hundred times. Just experiment and see where it takes you.
posted by grubi at 12:04 PM on August 6, 2008
posted by grubi at 12:04 PM on August 6, 2008
The built-in reverb in Garage Band sucks. Ambience does not suck at all. It's actually very, very good -- it's the only 'verb I'll use any more besides Space Designer.
Also, for an unusual compressor, try Blockfish. It's got a "Close-up Vocal" preset that's pretty unique.
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:01 PM on August 6, 2008 [2 favorites]
Also, for an unusual compressor, try Blockfish. It's got a "Close-up Vocal" preset that's pretty unique.
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:01 PM on August 6, 2008 [2 favorites]
Seconding Devils Rancher's endorsement of Space Designer. That's one hell of a plugin, and it's all I ever use. Amazing.
And thanks for the heads up on Blockfish, DR. Looks great: love that interface that lets you "remove the front panel" and tinker with the circuitry. Cute!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:32 PM on August 6, 2008
And thanks for the heads up on Blockfish, DR. Looks great: love that interface that lets you "remove the front panel" and tinker with the circuitry. Cute!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:32 PM on August 6, 2008
I'll have to check out those plug-ins, D.R. Gonna check them out.
I use Cubase and absolutely hate how the effects and EQ are set up for each track, it's so counter-intuitive and clunky.
posted by chococat at 8:25 PM on August 6, 2008
I use Cubase and absolutely hate how the effects and EQ are set up for each track, it's so counter-intuitive and clunky.
posted by chococat at 8:25 PM on August 6, 2008
Wow, that's cool. I'd love to see more free plug-ins like these. Anyone got more?
posted by grubi at 6:25 AM on August 7, 2008
posted by grubi at 6:25 AM on August 7, 2008
Oh, Massey's TapeHead is a great distortion plug. I use it just about everywhere (really). The AU version is free, but not as full-featured as the TDM version (he gave up on AU development).
The Airwindows plugs are mostly not free, but they are cheap, and really, really good. Lots of great color and texture plugs. I hear the de-esser is really good, too, although I haven't used it. That new ShortBuss plug he's got sounds fantastic, too (and not just because the output is hotter; that's some really pleasant distortion).
All of these are mix plugs, but hey, everybody's got to mix sometime. One of the biggest problems with lofi digital recordings is how sterile they sound. Sometimes a little distortion goes a long way to making a more musical mix.
posted by uncleozzy at 8:02 AM on August 7, 2008
The Airwindows plugs are mostly not free, but they are cheap, and really, really good. Lots of great color and texture plugs. I hear the de-esser is really good, too, although I haven't used it. That new ShortBuss plug he's got sounds fantastic, too (and not just because the output is hotter; that's some really pleasant distortion).
All of these are mix plugs, but hey, everybody's got to mix sometime. One of the biggest problems with lofi digital recordings is how sterile they sound. Sometimes a little distortion goes a long way to making a more musical mix.
posted by uncleozzy at 8:02 AM on August 7, 2008
Wow, that's cool. I'd love to see more free plug-ins like these. Anyone got more?
I've no doubt someone's mentioned it previously, but KVR Audio has a huge selection of free/shareware VSTs across all platforms, effects and synths and other fun goodies.
posted by First Post at 3:16 PM on August 7, 2008
I've no doubt someone's mentioned it previously, but KVR Audio has a huge selection of free/shareware VSTs across all platforms, effects and synths and other fun goodies.
posted by First Post at 3:16 PM on August 7, 2008
I've found that probably the most important thing to remember about GarageBand is that some of its edits are destructive. It pretty easy to accidentally loose big chunks that you can't recover by a careless edit. The "always make backups" rule applies pretty heavily for GarageBand.
That said, I'd like to point out that if you're planning on using GarageBand software instruments for drums sounds, ALL of the default drum sounds suck. I bought the Rhythm Section and World Music Jam Packs and have been pretty happy with some of those drum sounds - particularly the studio toolkit from Rhythm Section. A nice trick I learned recently is that you can make custom drum kits by selecting the sound effects instrument generator, opening the musical typing keyboard, and then dragging sound files (aif, wav, etc) on to the keys. I use this to import sounds from open source drum samples meant for other platforms, but you could also record your own sounds and then program them as a software instrument in GarageBand.
posted by mexican at 9:32 PM on August 7, 2008
That said, I'd like to point out that if you're planning on using GarageBand software instruments for drums sounds, ALL of the default drum sounds suck. I bought the Rhythm Section and World Music Jam Packs and have been pretty happy with some of those drum sounds - particularly the studio toolkit from Rhythm Section. A nice trick I learned recently is that you can make custom drum kits by selecting the sound effects instrument generator, opening the musical typing keyboard, and then dragging sound files (aif, wav, etc) on to the keys. I use this to import sounds from open source drum samples meant for other platforms, but you could also record your own sounds and then program them as a software instrument in GarageBand.
posted by mexican at 9:32 PM on August 7, 2008
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posted by cortex at 12:55 PM on August 5, 2008