Several questions about GarageBand

Jmurr187 · Dec 6, 2008

You could do a number of things...
1. Try just Boosting the master track itself- Click view, show master track.
2. Compressing the master track either with the compression slider it gives you, or us a plug-in compressor. (Just watch so you don't squash it too much)
3. After you export it, click the song in itunes and click "get info" and under options tab, you can boost up the volume manually.

All these ways help, garageband is horrible for mastering. But if that's all you got, you're going to have to make due.

zacman · Dec 6, 2008

You will need to get another mastering program like PEAK or AMADEUS PRO. You can also get AUDACITY which is free.

BlackHawk · Dec 7, 2008

Audacity is a good program, for simple recording (band tests on my part).

playsguitas · Dec 9, 2008

though you can't really "master" anything without having tens of thousands of dollars worth of crazy outboard gear and a room that sounds like god himself created it, you can just slap a brickwall limiter on the master buss and squash the living **** out of the material. personally, i rather like having people "crank it up" to give it some dynamics, but it's a personal call..

if you're really serious, take it to a mastering house, though.

rsherid · Dec 30, 2008

Controlling background noises in GB's guitar effects

Take, for example, the British Invasion guitar effect. I love it except for the static, amp-esque sound in the background. Is there a way to remove the background noise?

D3v1L80Y · Dec 30, 2008

You will have to use the Noise Gate.

Preventing noise from effects in GarageBand

You could also give this a try:
Download Zimple-Gate for Mac - AU noise gate for Garageband or other AU host. MacUpdate Mac Audio Software Downloads

rsherid · Feb 5, 2009

Getting drum loops to match a song

Stupid question, I know, but I already have a song done that I recorded without a loop. Now, as the last step, I want to add in a drum loop. According to GarageBand, the song has a 120 tempo. Is there anyway to get a loop to match the song's tempo or would I have to do it all manually or am I just wasting my time?

rsherid · Feb 5, 2009

How do I get MIDI piano back in GarageBand?

I'm using iDrum and need the MIDI piano back so I can play on the Mac's keyboard. How do I get it back?

rsherid · Feb 5, 2009

Edit: Nevermind, thanks.

rsherid · Feb 5, 2009

iDrum help!

Ok, I'm using iDrum in GarageBand throgh the Musical Typing/MIDI Piano thing. The thing is, only certain beats work in certain octaves. And it changes for every drumkit! Why is this? It's extremely confusing.

rsherid · Feb 5, 2009

Jmurr187 said:
3. After you export it, click the song in itunes and click "get info" and under options tab, you can boost up the volume manually.

Now will this adjust the volume only for me in my iTunes or will it be like this permanently, say if I want to send it to someone else?

rsherid · Feb 7, 2009

GarageBand: Adding a new software instrument track is greyed out

Help! I've been working with at least 25 synth/drum tracks in GarageBand and now when I go to Add Track > Software Instrument, it's greyed out. Have I reached my limit or something?!

rsherid · Feb 7, 2009

Also, GB is starting to lag during recording...what's up?

rsherid · Feb 8, 2009

Jmurr187 said:
You could do a number of things...
1. Try just Boosting the master track itself- Click view, show master track.
2. Compressing the master track either with the compression slider it gives you, or us a plug-in compressor. (Just watch so you don't squash it too much)
3. After you export it, click the song in itunes and click "get info" and under options tab, you can boost up the volume manually.

All these ways help, garageband is horrible for mastering. But if that's all you got, you're going to have to make due.

I turned up the volume to 100% in iTunes, but now it's blaring through my iPod earbuds.

rsherid · Feb 9, 2009

MIDI keyboard for GarageBand

I'm in the market for a MIDI keyboard. I want it to be able to use all the synths in GB; however, I don't know what to look for. Is a MIDI keyboard all I need? Will it plug right into the Firewire port? Do I need a mixer or preamp?

Millsy · Feb 10, 2009

I am a beginner and got this quite recently:

M-AUDIO - KeyRig 49 - Easy-to-Use 49-Note USB Keyboard

It actually plugs into USB, no firewire necessary. It's cheap and great. I have always been told that M-Audio is the most reliable.

rsherid · Feb 10, 2009

Millsy said:
I am a beginner and got this quite recently:

M-AUDIO - KeyRig 49 - Easy-to-Use 49-Note USB Keyboard

It actually plugs into USB, no firewire necessary. It's cheap and great. I have always been told that M-Audio is the most reliable.

Yeah, I saw that on eBay. Just so I'm clear: it has its own synth sounds, but if I wanted, I could plug it in and play it into GB using GB's various synths and effects filters?

AConfire · Feb 10, 2009

rsherid said:
Yeah, I saw that on eBay. Just so I'm clear: it has its own synth sounds, but if I wanted, I could plug it in and play it into GB using GB's various synths and effects filters?

No. MIDI Keyboards only act as a controller really.

They are basically just keyboards that plug-into your computer, and act as a keyboard playing the sounds that your software supplies.

A keyboard with sounds/styles built in would be something like an Arranger keyboard, and an expensive example of an arranger keyboard is the Korg PA800.

rsherid · Feb 10, 2009

AConfire said:
They are basically just keyboards that plug-into your computer, and act as a keyboard playing the sounds that your software supplies.

Right. So, all those synths and effects (known as Software Tracks vs. Real Instrument Tracks) already provided by GarageBand can be played on this keyboard into GarageBand?

Millsy · Feb 10, 2009

You got it.

Works great! You could even go a little more expensive (around $80 more) and purchase a semi-weighted MIDI keyboard, but I would only recommend this if you are using the keyboard to also actually play full songs and not just as a controller. And also if you want to pay the extra amount.

M-AUDIO - Keystation 61es - 61-Key Semi-Weighted USB MIDI Controller