My Experience

Premier Sponsors

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue, we will assume that you agree to our privacy policy which includes details of cookie usage. Hide this notice

GarageBanjo

Join This Group

Tips, tricks, Q&A, discussion for anyone recording banjo & acoustic instruments using Apple's GarageBand

32 Members, Created 11/16/2012 -

Administrators: MrNatch3L (owner)

< Back to Home

From Slick Salmon on 11/17/2012 4:22:05 AM

I've struggled with GarageBand. I bought a MacBook Pro largely because it came with GarageBand installed, but I made the mistake of ordering a 13" model which only has one jack for microphone and headphones. The jack can be either one or the other, but not both simultaneously. This makes recording sound a little clumsy if you don't have an audio interface. Currently, I'm just using an H2 in microphone mode and running thru the USB port. That works tolerably well.

I actually read training manuals, so I bought a copy of "Mary Plummer's "GarageBand '09", which is part of the Apple Training Series. It's OK, but since it's focused on showing you the capabilities of the whole program, it short-cuts the presentation on multi-track recording. I'm to the point where I can record tracks and clip out the best parts of alternate takes, but I don't know if I'm doing that in the best or most efficient way.

Finally, I can't tell if this is a good program that I just have to get used to, or whether it's just too idiosyncratic to be of much use. I keep wondering if I shouldn't just get a copy of ProTools or some other more conventional recording interface. I understand that to route to have a long learning curve, but maybe it's worth it in the long run.

Anyway, that's my story.

2 Comments
	MrNatch3L says: 11/18/2012 5:10:15 AM Maybe it's just the way my brain is wired (or mis-wired) but I found GB extremely easy and intuitive to get started and grow with. I tried Presonus Studio 1 which came with my audio interface and couldn't figure out how to record a track even after reading the manual - which was really really outstandingly bad. (I say that as a professional software technical writer.) I tried working with Apple Logic installed on a friend's computer and the sheer magnitude of the learning curve was daunting. I understood I would lose tons of time I could otherwise spend recording just to get to where I already was with GB. Same with Pro Tools. That is, as the name said, a pro tool and you will have a huge learning curve there as well. At least they have a trial version which Logic doesn't. But maybe you would find it more approachable for you. I have thought long and hard about making the Pro Tools investment, but right now I feel like if I want better sounding recordings than I can get with GB with the gear and plugins I have, I will use GB to get the concept down and then take the project to a professional studio. Me feeling is that if you're going to seriously get into digital home recording of acoustic instruments, regardless of what software you use, you really need to invest in an audio interface with good preamps, and a good large diaphragm condenser mic.
	Slick Salmon says: 11/18/2012 10:34:54 AM Do you have a recommendation for a good large diaphragm condenser mic?
Post a Comment
You must be logged in and a member of this group to post a comment.

Tablature: St. James Infirmary Linked by nxg3 6 years ago
Forum Post: (untitled) Linked by alubin 12 years ago
Forum Post: (untitled) Linked by MrNatch3L 14 years ago