'GarageBand' is a
software application that allows users to create music or
podcasts. It is developed by
Apple Inc. for
Mac OS X.
Features
Audio Recording
GarageBand is a miniature
digital audio workstation (DAW) which can record and play back multiple tracks of audio. Built in audio filters allow the audio track to be enhanced for recording guitar instruments, etc.
Loop-base music generation
GarageBand belongs to the genre of loop-based music sequencing software first popularised during the late-1990s by Sony's
ACID Pro. The application comes with 1,000 pre-recorded
sampled and
sequenced loops. Additional loops are available in the five ''GarageBand
Jam Packs'', separate products offered by Apple Computer; each expansion pack costs approximately $100 USD and adds more than two thousand loops.
Virtual software instruments
GarageBand can play virtual software instruments for creating songs or playing music live using 50 sampled or
synthesized instruments which can be played using a
MIDI keyboard connected to the computer, or using an on-screen
virtual keyboard. Additional instruments are available in the five ''GarageBand
Jam Packs'', separate products offered by Apple Computer; each expansion pack costs approximately $100 USD and adds dozens of virtual instruments.
MIDI editing
GarageBand can import
MIDI files and offers piano roll or notation-style editing and playback. GarageBand cannot export MIDI files.
Availability
GarageBand is only available as a part of
iLife, a suite of applications (also including
iPhoto,
iMovie,
iDVD,
iTunes, and
iWeb) intended to simplify the creation and organization of users' digital content. iLife is included on new Macintosh computers; upgrades can be purchased separately. Any minor updates can be downloaded from Apple's website or from
Software Update. The application is not aimed at professional
musicians, but it is intended to help
amateurs produce music easily.
There are several 3rd-party companies that offer Garageband Apple loop sample content, both on CD and in downloadable loop packs. Users can also record their own loops through a
microphone or via a
MIDI instrument.
History
GarageBand was developed by Apple under the direction of Dr. Gerhard Lengeling, formerly of the German company
Emagic, makers of
Logic Audio. (Emagic was acquired by Apple in July
2002.)
The application was announced during
Steve Jobs's keynote speech at the
Macworld Conference & Expo in
San Francisco on
6 January,
2004; musician
John Mayer assisted with its demonstration.
GarageBand 2 was announced at the (2005)
Macworld Conference & Expo on
January 11,
2005. It shipped, as announced, around
22 January,
2005. Major new features included the abilities to view and edit music in
Musical Notation form, to record up to 8 tracks at once, to fix timing and
pitch of recordings, to automate track pan position, master volume, and master pitch, to transpose both audio and MIDI, and to import MIDI files.
GarageBand 3, announced at 2006's Macworld Conference & Expo, includes a '
podcast studio', including the ability to use more than 200 effects and jingles, and integration with
iChat for remote interviews.
The latest version of GarageBand is part of
iLife '08. It incorporates the ability to separately record sections of a song such as
bridges and
chorus lines, support for automation of
tempos and instruments, and a "Magic GarageBand" feature that includes a virtual
jam session with a complete 3D view of the instruments.
Interface
GarageBand features a block like interface in which different strands of notes, referred to as loops, fit together on separate levels, referred to as tracks or instruments. The program comes with pre-made loops that you simply drag-and-drop into tracks. There are three types of tracks:
software instruments, real instruments and imported MIDI tracks.
Software instruments are instruments built into the application similar to how instruments are built into a synthesizer. Since all of the instruments use the same concert pitch, you have the ability to alter software loops. For instance, a loop designed for an electric piano could be placed into a church organ track if you were looking for a more religious feel. The real writing process comes in with the software instruments. You can only write music for the software instruments since their notes are built into the system. There are several ways of inputting musical notes and rhythms. You can click different piano keys on an on-screen virtual piano keyboard window but that makes it difficult to play in time. The most practical way if you really want to record as if you were playing the piano but without any hardware attachments is the musical typing feature. This will bring up an on-screen keyboard in which keys correspond to keys on a piano. Editing of recorded tracks is possible via a piano-roll or staff (standard notation) edit mode. Notes can be created/added, modified or deleted. In the piano-roll edit mode, for a note to be longer you simple elongate the block. If you want the note to start earlier you move the block closer to the beginning. In the standard notation edit mode, notes are dragged in their position. You can only edit the notes of loops that are in software tracks.
The other type of track is called a "Real Instrument" track. This is where the recording process of GarageBand comes in. Using a microphone or plugging the instrument directly in (or through an audio interface/mixer), you can record an instrument being played or a voice-over. You can apply several effects to the recorded mesh such as "Glam" if you wanted an electrical guitar sound or "Deeper Vocals" if you wanted a voice to sound lower. Real instrument tracks could be seen as universal since imported music or recorded sound are displayed as real instrument tracks. It is even capable of putting software track loops into real instrument tracks.
Both tracks can be used together in the final production. You could have a software instrument drum line that is looping over and over again, while a real instrument track has you playing a melody on the trombone or any instrument. In that sense really comes the essence of GarageBand which is the combining of the tracks to create a block of sound composed of different instruments and parts.
In GarageBand 3, a movie track was added to allow for accurate film scoring. The new interface allows you to watch a movie while creating or playing back your music in GarageBand. To keep the interface simple, you must drag the movie from the Macintosh Finder to the video track to import a video into GarageBand 3. This is similar to the way that editable MIDI files are added to GarageBand 3.
Limitations
While GarageBand can be used to produce professional-quality recordings, the software has limitations that in practice make this difficult.
Tempo for each track and
key signature cannot be changed within a song, but since version 2, the master pitch can be changed mid-song. Automation of effects parameters is also absent, as is a (native) MIDI out capability. (The '08 version removes the tempo -- and some automation -- limits.)
Jam Packs
Jam Pack is the brand name for Apple's official add-ons to Garageband. Each Jam Pack contains loops and software instruments.
All current Jam Packs to date are:
★ GarageBand Jam Pack: Remix Tools
★ GarageBand Jam Pack: Rhythm Section
★ GarageBand Jam Pack: Symphony Orchestra
★ GarageBand Jam Pack: World Music
★ GarageBand Jam Pack: Voices
All the Jam Packs have a
single homepage.
There was also another GarageBand Jam Pack, initially known just as "Garage Band Jam Pack," later "Garage Band Jam Pack 1" that was discontinued in the January of 2006. Beginning with the release of GarageBand Jam Pack: Remix Tools and GarageBand Jam Pack: Rhythm Section, ending with the release of GarageBand Jam Pack: World Music in the January of 2006, each Jam Pack was designated with a number. The release of GarageBand Jam Pack: World Music also saw a redesign in packaging.
A selection of demonstration loops from each of the Jam Packs are also freely downloadable to users who own a
.Mac account.
Instrument packages designed specifically for GarageBand
In addition to Apple, other companies offer virtual software instrument packs designed specially for GarageBand.
Free software instruments
★ Boldt 24-Pack by Ben Boldt is a free download of symphonic instruments
[1]
★ Boldt 24-Pack Volume II 1.0 by Ben Boldt is a free download of symphonic instruments
[2]
★ Fitch Cello by professional cellist Claire Fitch was converted to GarageBand by Ben Boldt. Free download.
[3]
Commercial software instruments
★ SynthPack for GarageBand contains software instruments for GarageBand which sound like the classic synths of the 80s and 90s.
[4]
★ PowerPack for GarageBand - Apple Loops & Instruments contains 55 software instruments for GarageBand
[5]
★ R&B for GarageBand - Apple Loops & Instruments contains 20 software instruments for GarageBand
[6]
★ Hip Hop for GarageBand - Apple Loops & Instruments contains 8 software instruments for GarageBand
[7]
Other virtual software instruments that work inside GarageBand
GarageBand can use any softsynth that adheres to the Core Audio (Audio Unit) standard which includes the Kontakt, Battery, Atmosphere, Reaktor, FM7 engines.
However, there are limitations. Here is an example
:
★ MOTU Symphonic Instrument has symphony orchestra insruments which will work with GarageBand and Logic.
:Note: While MOTU will work with GarageBand, it is not set up for direct use in GarageBand. Therefore, this package is much more awkward to use and setup than Apple's Jam Pack:Symphony Orchestra. MOTU Symphonic Instrument also requires much more memory and computer power. Therefore, MOTU does not even include instruction for using these instruments in GarageBand with the package.
Using SoundFont instruments (.sf2) in GarageBand
★ SoundFont Synth is an Audio Unit plug-in which uses Apple's DLS synthesizer engine to make instruments using Sound Fonts in GarageBand. To make the SoundFonts work with GarageBand, you must place them in Library/Audio/Banks and then select the DLS synthesizer as a new instrument.
[8]
Creating your own software instruments
★ PolyPhontics GB is a software instrument toolbox for making software instruments for Apple's GarageBand. (
[9])
Notable users
★
Nine Inch Nails frontman
Trent Reznor released singles "
The Hand That Feeds" and "
Only" from their
2005 album ''
With Teeth'' as GarageBand files, allowing people to freely remix them. The first single from their
2007 album ''
Year Zero'', called "
Survivalism", has also now been released in this way, as well as "
Capital G", "Me, I'm Not", and "My Violent Heart"; Reznor has stated their intention is to release the entire album in GarageBand format.
★
Fort Minor also used a GarageBand file ("Orchestra Strings 8") in their single "
Believe Me".
★
Panic! At The Disco is another notable band that used GarageBand when the band first started out.
★
Mindless Self Indulgence used a loop included in the program called "Secret Agent Guitar" in their song "My World."
★ In the movie ''
Constantine'', during the end credits the included loop "Edgy Synth" can be heard in one of the songs.
★
Crazy Frog also used a GarageBand file in their song "In the 80's."
★
Limp Bizkit frontman
Fred Durst has noted on his
MySpace profile that he has made countless songs on GarageBand, including "Masturbation".
★ The end theme of
12 oz. Mouse episode "Auraphull" was made with GarageBand loops, most noticeably "Fusion Electric Piano 09" and "70s Ballad Strings 02." The end credits appear to state that this was made by
Schoolly D.
★
Sean Callery used loops from GarageBand in pieces from the ''
24'' Season 5 soundtrack.
★
Brand New, a popular alt-rock group, used GarageBand to record their "New Album Demos" that were leaked onto the internet in early 2006.
★
Courtney Love used GarageBand to record the demo for the song "Dirty Girls", off of her upcoming album ''
Nobody's Daughter'', and featured on her official website
[1]. The vocals and guitars of the song were, according to her Myspace blog entry
[2], tracked at the ballroom of her house.
★ In 2007 synthpop duo
Erasure made available their song "
When a Lover Leaves You" as GarageBand files for a fan remix competition. The winner's mix will appear on the single release of the song.
[3]
★ Jay Glatfelter of the popular podcasting duo for
The Lost Podcast With Jay and Jack and
Jay and Jack's RambleCast has revealed at the 2007 San Diego Comic Con that he uses GarageBand to create and produce those podcasts as well as
The Married Man Podcast.
[4]
★ The first three
Bomb The Music Industry! albums were made using GarageBand.
★
Smosh uses GarageBand for all of their music videos.
See also
★
Logic Pro - A professional audio production application by Apple Inc.
★
Logic Express - The "light" version of Logic Pro, intermediate in features between GarageBand and Logic Pro.
★
iTunes - GarageBand's songs can be exported to Apple's music player. Both are part of the
iLife application suite.
GarageBand-like software
★
Sony ACID Pro for
Windows
★ Acoustica
Mixcraft for
Windows
★
Jokosher for
Linux
★
Steinberg Sequel for
Windows and
Macintosh
External links
★
Official home page
★
GarageBand Jam Packs
★
List of the contents of all five GarageBand Jam Packs
★
GarageBand Tutorial: Built-in Audio Unit Effects, a detailed explanation of GarageBand's
Audio Units filters
References
1. http://www.courtneylove.com
2. http://www.myspace.com/courtneylove
3. http://www.erasureinfo.com/garageband/
4. http://www.jayandjack.com/?page_id=353
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