Garageband help: PLEASE!

you have recorded too many things

quota reached

It is good to have a thread to express despair about computer recording.

I can't do it at all, because my Zoom box will not consort with Windows Vista.

Can anyone contradict this / report that a Zoom box does or will consort with Vista? Zoom say it will. I think.

1. Check that under Preferences -> Audio/MIDI, Built-In Microphone is selected for Audio Input. (You aren't really using the built-in mic for this, are you?)
2. When you create a new real instrument track, double-click on the track to get the details pane to open up and make sure that Input is set correctly.

Pinefox, do you have Vista drivers for your Zoom box?

Waiting for a girl who goes 'poot' everywhere/Waiting for a flatulent girl. -- from an unrecorded Rolling Stones tune

In terms of various Menus, I did what it said on the instructions. Built-in mic? ... don't think I've heard of that.

I don't think I got as far as a new instrument track.

I think Naus is getting to the heart of this problem perhaps - no, I don't. Do you? If so, how?

I was in touch the ZOOM CORPORATION last year about this.

1.
Here is the first email they sent me when I asked them about compatibility:
--

Thank you for your inquiry.
Unfortunately, the ZOOM A2.1u and the bundled software "Steinberg Cubase LE" are not compatible with
Windows Vista.
Your kind understanding is highly appreciated.

Sincerely yours,
ZOOM Corporation.

--

2.
I then sent a reply suggesting that this was not a good state of affairs. They said:

Unfortunately, we have no immediate plans to make it compatible with Windows Vista.
Anyway, we will forward your feedback to the A2.1u development team for future reference.

Sincerely yours,
ZOOM Corporation.

--

3.
Three months later I wrote to them again and asked if things had changed. They said:

We have checked the compatibility with both Windows Vista and Mac Leopard.
Currently, we haven't found any problem yet.
(We plan to update the OS compatibility information next year.)

Sincerely yours,
ZOOM Corporation.

--

4.
I wrote back seeking clarification. They said:

Actually, the A2.1u can be used with Windows Vista and Mac Leopard.
Since we didn't have sufficient duration to check the compatibility three months ago, we had no confidence to tell you the A2.1u works properly with Windows Vista. We hope that you will understand our position.

Sincerely yours,
ZOOM Corporation.

so that's what ZOOM Corporation said!

Has anyone, then, managed to make a Zoom box work with Vista?

I realize that as a Vista user I don't belong on the Garageband thread (if I'm right to imagine that that is Mac only).

Is there a Garageband equivalent for a PC? I want to mix and make podcasts an' ting.

lol get a mac

Try Reaper

Steinberg Sequel.

http://www.sequel-music.net/whats-sequel.html

thanks dg! but you see I'VE ALREADY GOT A PC. do you have £799 handy? no? then please at least pretend to be more helpful.

i have now discovered audacity, which seems to be quite good; but i'll have a look at reaper and steinberg in due course as well. ta.

You might also want to have a look at FL Studio

Helpful? Here's helpful: No, there is nothing as easy, inexpensive, and as relatively featureful as GarageBand for PC, period.

hello.

i'm curious to know if anyone else has this problem with garageband: it pops up with error messages saying "you have too many tracks or effects" even when you've just started a file, with only a couple of tracks.

it seems to be getting overwhelmed, when i haven't even created many tracks (at all) in a file.

the other night, it gave me a msg like this and then proceeded to mess with all my levels. granted, in that file, there were too many tracks. but i just want to know if this is a common problem i have to watch out for.

I've seen an error message like that (in a file that actually had too many tracks), but it was nothing that restarting the program didn't fix.

yeah i usually fix it that way too. i just don't want to wind up in other situations where i lose a lot of work because of this thing. i wonder if i need to get iLife '09.

Sounds like you have a fucked-up preference or maybe the prototype file is messed (if GB uses one). Try nuking yr GB prefs. Have you monitored CPU+mem use while using GB?

now do i nuke the prefs?

i have not monitored CPU+mem... not that i even know what that means! :o

Open Activity Monitor when you are using GB. Take note of how much CPU and real memory GB is using, and who else might be larger consumers. If GB has difficulty obtaining resources, it'll give you the error you are seeing.

To nuke the prefs, remove

(Home) -> Library -> Preferences -> com.apple.garageband.* (* = anything)

Here's an Activity Monitor tip: Choose view -> dock icon -> show memory usage. This puts a little pie chart in the dock that breaks down how yr memory is used: If there's some green pie left, you are OK. If there is no green and very little blue, you are seriously short on memory.

A similar thing can be done if you choose "show CPU usage".

Since you said that GB messed up all yr levels and shit, it sounds more like a preferences issue to me, or something similar. I don't know all the static settings files GB uses, so I can't suggest anything beyond the prefs.

i have a newish, fast comp so i can't imagine it is having difficult obtaining resources. hmm

OK, so i remove "com.apple.garageband.whatever." this better not fuck anything up.

now what about this option in GB prefs where it asks you how many tracks you want to allow it to record at once. what do you have set for that?

yeah it fucked up all my effects, out of the blue. like i changed one volume thing, next thing you know the vocals are reverbed to the hilt and another track sounds like darth vader.

Even if you have a new computer, you still could be starved for resources if there are other applications consuming yr CPU and memory. It's definitely something to look out for. Sporadically, ARDAgent spikes my CPU, so I have to kill it (not that you'd have ARDAgent running at all; just an example).

If you are worried about removing the prefs, save them on yr desktop instead of nuking them.

If you are recording to a lappy, I would set GB to allow as few tracks to record simultaneously as possible. Lappy disks are SLOW.

ok, so my MO should be as few tracks as possible. better to save multiple files than to royally screw over one huge file.

thx libby

You can record as many tracks as you like, HOWEVER, limit the number that you record simultaneously.

does anyone know a handy way to sequence drums in garageband?

i want to actually program a beat rather than play the sounds through a MIDI controller. any ideas?

You can do that in the editor. Set quantize to yr pref, and go to town. You may have to "seed" with a single note that you copy & paste, but GB isn't really a MIDI editor by design.

Set quantize to yr pref,

sorry to be thick but where do i do that?

Open the editor (scissors), then click the little ruler in the upper-right corner of the editor sub-window.

Hint: option-drag copies notes.

thx very much!

While we're at it, does anyone know a very cheap or free drum-machine/drum-loop type program for mac? I want to create beats outside of garage band (using non-garage-band sounds) and then import them into garage band.

hi.

when i pan to the right on any given track, the audio becomes very quiet. this did not used to be the case, and this does not happen when i pan left. does anyone know why this would have started to happen suddenly? this only happens on my headphones. when i turn the volume up on my speakers, it's all good. is it my hearing? i'm scared.

it's your headphones, fiddle with/replace the cable

ok thx dude

if that fails plug a bass into the headphone out

obv

wow it was the fucking little thing -- the quarter inch adapter i have going into my system

that little fucking thing was messing me all up!

i switched to a gold one

thanks crackles

If anyone is interested in talking about Garageband I am trying to get advice on it here:

If you record something using Garageband...

basic Garageband question:

you record to a track, then when you go back to it and click Real Instrument: Edit, you can't get at the Echo and Reverb dials. They're visible but greyed out, won't move.

What to do?

actually found the answer:

http://www.bulletsandbones.com/GB/FAQPages/EffectsDisabled.html

Has anyone tried the new GarageBand for the iPhone or iPod Touch? I can't imagine how you could use it on such a small screen, but the idea of being able to create music whenever the inspiration hits on something I carry around in my pocket is tempting....