'Garage Band' - Confirmed! (officially, now) - Page 5

They aren't going to know much more than we do. They won't get their hands on it until the 16th maybe the 14th at the earliest. Once they do get their hands on it they will most likely have answers to most of your questions.

Yeah, basically all they can tell you know is "it's just like soundtrack" because that's probably all they've been told.

About doing multiple tracks on one track, it would most likely be possible, though given the option I would prefer to do multiple tracks on multiple tracks, I recorded a short album once, 6 tracks, I played bass on 5, and did the drum programming on the 6th(hip hop stuff) we used a roland v-studio, but some of the tracks were broken, so I had to plug in tp the V-drums, then drums and bass went in thru 1 track, the result was that the bass ended up buried in the mix, when it really shouldn't have been, and there was no way to change that later without making the drums louder too \

64 tracks is a lot, at BEST you'd have 6-8 mics for drums
plus 2-3 vocal mics

maybe 2-3 mics on guitar amps

and 1-3 people playing DI

and then you still have lots of room to spare.

I was under teh impression that it was only 24 tracks? 64 though...daamn that's really a lot, doesn't the 64 track version of pro tools(no different than the 24 track version, just with more tracks) cost like $1000 more?

I may be wrong on the 64 tracks piece. Here's a quote from GB's loop page

Didn't Jobs say that it was limited to 64 tracks? I wonder if he meant live audio/midi input? There are lots of multi-track/sequencing apps out there that offer, say 8 or 16 tracks of audio and 64 of sequences....

I could've sworn he did say there is a 64 track limit in GB. That's why I said so in my earlier post, but I decided to check out the product pages again and that's why I posted that quote in my later post.

I'm gonna check out the keynote again and run through the whole GB segment again.

Yeah, 64 tracks for a consumer app is ridiculous. I'm curious how they are going to deal with the fact that most people's machines will konk out long before they hit that number.

In logic, I rarely use more than ~15 or so software instruments (typically a bunch of exs24s, an fm7 or two and maybe one or two of my other synths) and about the same number of audio tracks. 64 tracks is more than enough for anything.

Yeah, but if 64 tracks is true, that's crazy, I thought it was 24 myself, but 64...whew.

that'd be awesome(even if you couldn't ever use that many)

From the keynote: "Digitally mix up to 64 tracks."

Remember, this is a pro music tool...

for the rest of us.

I think it's totally cool to give a high track limit.

I like that garageband seems to be focused on giving a complete package for someone who doesn't do much computer audio while not simply delivering a totally crippled version of a higher-end DAW.

In other words, it looks like they decided to make a DAW that started with the needs of the consumer-level user in mind. That's pretty cool.

Is there a page, a PDF or some buried section at Apple's site that lists ALL the instruments included, in both GarageBand and the JamPack?

I was just curious.

I saw a little icon for a bagpipe, so that's totally cool!



I'm gonna have to go and buy an electric guitar again. Probably just a simple Danelectro Mod or Hodad model. I'm a Dano-nut.



And I sold my damn bass less than 6 months ago because I thought "ahh, when am I ever gonna get it out again?"



Argghhh...

What's the 7th string on that electric? That Dano web site doesn't seem to work well with Safari.

I believe it's a low B, ideal for that "I'mgonnastranglemymotherandcutyoureyesout" ominous, heavy tone.

I remember 7 string guitars being a bit of a trend a couple of years ago, among the Limp Korn set. Couldn't walk into a Barnes & Noble and NOT see 7-string Ibanez shit all over the cover of Guitar World and other mags.

www.conklinguitars.com



http://www.conklinguitars.com/faceba...ss8/index.html







because more=better nyuk nyuk nyuk

From Mac Teens:

"First Impressions of GarageBand
by Colin Winslow

While the iPod Minis are certainly the most controversial announcement of the keynote, to many of us, GararageBand is by far the most exciting. I spent a few minutes with an Apple rep in their towering booth playing with the new software. Its really is quite easy to create a decent sounding track from a series of loops. I made some sort of blues/harmonica thing with a vintage organ in about five minutes. The loops "ohtamatically" adjust their tempo to match your composition settings. Some electronic pianos offer a similar feature where you can lay down a rhythm track and choose tempo and key in which to play it. Unfortunately, while GarageBand lets you choose tempo, it has you locked into a particular key for each track. The only way around this appears to be to plug in your own instrument and do it yourself. "

So each track has its own key. If you want that instrument to change keys, you'd have to add the same instrument in a new key in a new track, yes? A bit clumsy, but who can complain really.

Ok, looking at the Apple screen shot, you can break up tracks into smaller chunk. So wouldn't you be able to change the key for the different sections? Or is this only for software instruments?

Them is some nice guitars.

I wonder if it's each track that has it's own key, or each composition. What I'm (pessimistically) guessing is that it automatically changes the pitch of whatever new track you stick in there to the key of whatever others loops are already there in the other tracks.

If you look closely at the loops selection list, there are various keys preset. It looks, instead, like you either grab a loops in a certain key, or assign it the key you want.

Yeah but it says it automatically changes the key to match the other stuff. So if you've already put some stuff in F in there, and then you grab something that's in D, it'll change it to F before playing it.

But that means it clearly has the capability to change keys - the question is, can you do it manually, at any point you want?

Right. Surely, if they've put so much work into having this be automatic, there's an option to change the key manually somewhere.

Surely.

Oh wait. This is Apple we're talking about, isn't it.

Does someone have a cached copy of the keynote, or perhaps just the John Mayer performance? Because I could have sworn while I was listening to him play that there were definitely key changes. There was a definite A-B-A structure to the song he created.

Well you can get the keynote from Apple.

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/mwsf04/

But although there were different loops and things happening, I'm pretty sure I didn't hear any chord changes.

Arghh! I've got to stop posting about this stuff. We'll find out in a week.

Got this post from the Apple discussion boards:

Bare with me as this is a LONG post. I spent about 10 minutes with GarageBand today and spoke to a high level product specialist who answered some of my questions. Some things AREN'T listed here as they have been covered on this forum already.

Instruments:
The system is very modular. You can pick a pre made instrument, or you can choose one, change the settings (including the actual instrument of choice) and save that as a new instrument. So you have a set of actual instrument types, and then you have a set of instrument presets that have all the settings you like for that instrument. These you can change and save as much as you want.
In each preset window, you can change things like Instrument (as mentioned earlier), Compression, EQ, 2 Effects (including Audio Units), Echo and Reverb. So all this can be saved

Its a bit confusing at first because of the two different instrument types, but after a few minutes it makes sense. I only wish theyd name the presets something like Favorites instead of instruments.

Drums:
There are a BUNCH of preset drum kits in there, not sure how many, but more then 10 I think. I mention this just as an extra, but they work the same as any instrument, so you can make a preset that has say, a techno set, and change the compression, echo, effect, etc.

Other things of importance
If you have a Core Audio compliant device, you can use it with GB. That means the Mbox and M-audio devices SHOULD work, as long as they are CA compatible.

You can record TWO DIFFERENT MONO tracks at a time, but only with something OTHER than Apples 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.

You cannot keyframe/envelope effects. You can do this for volume, but not effects. This is expected with a consumer app. If you need super power, buy Logic.

Quantizing appears to only work to the 32nd note. I played a messy beat in with some fancy bass drum patternshitting the Fix Rhythm button actually changed my pattern quite a bit.

You CAN turn on a click track, AND a 4 count count-in to your recording (which I was HOPING was in there).

Track editing:
ANY midi loop or midi recorded track can be edited for pitch and beat. Plus you can view the track by Note, Modulation, Pitchbend, and Sustain, and you can do things like EDIT pitchbend using a dot and line system just like the envelopes in Soundtrack or the volume in iMovie. I assume you can change the other items using the same system. Very nice stuff.
Theres a transpose slider on each track, though I didnt play with it at all. Drum tracks also have a Velocity slider, which I didnt test.

Loops:
Two kinds, Midi and AIF. Green loops mean Midi, blue loops mean Audio, and you can actually see a symbol that looks like a mini wave form for the blue loops to help you differentiate the two.
There is some crossover with the ST library, but its not a total duplication.
Loops work fine in BOTH apps because the Midi loops contain an AIF file, so they are SUPPOSED to work in Soundtrack just fine.
Midi loops are fully editable, just like a Midi track. Audio loops are just like those in ST, you cant mess with individual beats, etc.

Export:
Heres something interesting. All you get is Export to iTunes. Thankfully, its in AIF format, and NOT Mp3, so you can convert it to something else, but it will always spit the file out and drop it into your iTunes library. This confirms my thoughts that this really IS an iApp, to compliment iMovie for making songs for your movies, which will of course, be in iMovies music list since it taps the iTunes library.

can it open MiDi Files as multi-tracks?

That's what I want to know too.

I have to have it now. Damn it.

GarageBand looks amazing, but does anyone know if you can record midi or audio from virtual synths like Absynth or Battery and does it have effects options like normalise and reverse track? (A long shot, I know.... seing it's only just been unveiled!)

Im running Digital Performer with a MOTU 896 and, while I love the power, most of the time I dont need it....... Garageband would simplfy my recording process and selling the MOTU and DP will fund a new powerbook .... IF..... I can still use my Virtual synths....!!!

Any help on this would be appreciated....

Thanks
B

BASS guitars

those things have a 34"+ scale length and low F# strings

So you can't record to to two separate tracks using the built-in two-channel line input? You have to use something like MBox? Seems strange to me. Maybe the iMic is a cheap way around this.

The built-in line-in on what?

On a related note, I realized I don't have a microphone input on my machine (15" FP iMac). I'm thinking I'll have to get a Griffin iMic or something. The home studio dream keeps getting a little more expensive. $50 for iLife, another $100 for the GarageBand add-ons, USB audio adapter, some kind of MIDI interface so I can plug in my Korg, ANOTHER interface so I can plug in guitars and microphones...

If GarageBand takes off (and it should), the trickle of fairly low-cost audio capture devices right now could turn into a flood, which will make things really easy for the average user to get going.

For instance, M-Audio just put out a USB, bus-powered pre-amp/interface. It's essentially the same product as their Duo USB (which I own), except that it's bus-powered, has plastic housing, and costs $149 instead of $250-300. Edirol and TASCAM also are coming out with inexpensive audio interfaces, and before long, there will be a cheap $99, 2-input, S/PDIF-out, 16/24-bit, USB or FireWire preamp/audio/MIDI interface for the masses. I would think Creative Labs might get involved as they're the big player in the overall computer audio market, but they've never batted an eye at the musician niche.

I stopped recording regularly last year, as I turned my attention towards writing literature, not music. But GarageBand is the thing to get me back in the groove, and as it's been 5 years since I've bought a computer, this is just the thing to get my arse in gear! The next PowerBook 12" rev with iLife 04 and the Jam Pack are mine.

You need to shop smarter. There are devices on the GB accessories page that have MIDI I/O + Audio & preamps.

I have an iMic that I don't need laying around collecting dust. PM me if you are interested in it.

Man, those GarageBand sites that are open right now, they are just plain stankifyingly UGLY.

A story d'MacMinuté :

I guess something like this would be all I needed as far as inputs go. I'm just wary of the all-in-one deal.
I think I'm going to have to take a trip down to the local Guitar Center to see what they recommend.

Thanks, PBG4, but I actually have a closer connection here.

For all you kids hungering for GarageBand Chaosmint has screenshots posted. Clicky Here

It's a bass.

I almost got a seven string (used) back in college. But even used it was more than I could afford.

But I drooled over it for a good three months.

I don't know about today, but six- and seven-strings became very popular when I was in college. RHCP were huge--and didn't suck yet --so of course everyone wanted to be the "next" Flea (and what better way to be better than to play a bass with more strings... ). And people were even beginning to hear of a band called "Primus" and some guy named Les who did the wierdest things with a bass and made it sound like an instrument that was destined for greater things than a mere rhythm keeper. I stuck with my puny, sad, cheap but reliable 4-string Fender and became a decent--though by no means great--player.

Gawd. Even thinking about playing that 7-string monstrosity at this point makes my fingers hurt! But maybe I'll be able to once again someday soon...

The instruments on that site are pretty wild! They do have pages for guitars and basses, but it looks like they blur the difference between the two to some point. I wish they had prices up so I could see just how unaffordable those works of art are.

Actually I've seen these things go for < $1,000 used at the local GC. They had two Conklin 7 strings for the longest time. I believe they aren't that unaffordable. In fact there are 2 Conklin 7 string basses for sale on Ebay right now and the bids are at $650 & 700 US.