If you record something using Garageband...

I can't say for certain, but I don't think that GB lets you record above 44.1/16. Now, insofar as "noticeably better" is concerned, that's a complex issue. Suffice it to say that you never get WORSE sound quality using the best settings yr interface has.

I hear you on going GB -> Logic, though. GB is so dead-easy that it's the hands-down UI ease-of-use winner. Too bad GB -> Logic file xfer is imperfect.

I'm just trying to bang out a track when I go up to New Paltz this weekend and were planning on using my friends garageband...

I was just thinking, should I bring up my Logic 8? Will it make the final product better?

Its probably better to just use garageband though...

What kind of interface does he have?

ill find out tomorrow and let you know

He said he just has some thing which allows him to plug a microphone into his computer, he didn't really specify but it sounded really basic...

I have a Motu 828 mkII I could bring up but the value and param knobs are missing so I can't adjust the volume to proper levels so its use might limited if I did want to bring it...

I don't know.

Any advice?

I have an 828mkII also. Most of the settings are controllable through software, at least on the Mac.

I checked GB just now and the MOTU definitely refuses to record above 44.1, so if you want 96/24, you'll probably have to use Logic. If it's lo-fi or you don't care, then GB should suffice.

Get there an hour early and have a few drinks while the MOTU drivers and Logic install, 'cause it's gonna be awhile.

I am not one hundred percent sure what all the 96/24 stuff means cuz I'm a newjack but I take it you're saying I should bring Logic and the Motu cuz the lack of a volume knob isn't as insurmountable as I thought.

I have from Wed night to Sunday to finish writing and to record this song so I think it should be enough time.

Thanks for the advice.

:0)

96 = 96KHz. Thats the number of samples you get of the sound per second, so 96KHz = 96,000 samples per second. 24 = 24 bits, which represents the "depth" of each sample. CDs are 44100Hz and 16 bits. If you go to a pro studio, they'll almost certainly record you at 192KHz and 24 bits, unless you request otherwise. The 828 doesn't do 192, and many people think that the bit-count is more important than the Hz, and some folks think that it's better to mix 88.2 -> 44.1, but that's getting into religious areas.

The upshot of this is that you probably won't be unhappy if you use Logic, the 828, and record at 96/24. Just be sure to take a firewire disk too.

..Um...

So how do I know that I'm recording at 96/24 if I'm using Logic and the motu?

And, what is a firewire disk how do i get it and use it and why do i need it?

Sorry for being such a noob.

There's a bit of software that you can download from MOTU that'll let you set the input parameters for recording. You can probably do this thru Logic too, but since I just bought Logic, I can't say yet how to do it there. The firewire disk is just an external hard drive you can record to. I mean, if you are recording on HIS system, you'll need to take the audio back to yr pad for mixing, right? Firewire is definitely better than USB2, in my opinion.

Um.

I don't have the faintest idea how to mix the song, maybe ill get it mixed at a later date (I wasn't going to mix it at my own house).

I have a .mac account so I think that I can save it online using iDisk and that will do the same thing that a firewire disk will do right?

Raw audio files are LARGE, dude. Uploading a song in AIFF 96/24 might take a few days, depending on how many tracks you have. We're talking gigs here, quite possibly.

I don't mean to throw cold water on yr project, but maybe you should spend a little time going through the entire recording process before you do this. Believe me, it'll save you quite a few headaches and lots of aggravation.

I'm doing the song mainly to put it on my myspace.

Its a sort of birthday/valentine dedication to someone.

The importance rests mainly just on getting my message across, and having the song sound okay.

So whether or not I get to save it and mix it at a later date isn't that important.

I strongly suggest using GarageBand, then. You will get good-sounding results in reasonable time.

Thanks...

I'm sort of a perfectionist so now that you said Logic would make it sound better I sort of want to bring Logic with me but yeah maybe using Logic would be too much for what I want to do...

Thanks again...

Perfectionism has its place. Getting a nice song up in 5 days for V/D where GB will do a swell job in log time is not the place for Logic-fueled perfectionism.

Yeah good call

In need of some advice here: Basically I'm using Garageband and so far I don't feel like I need anything fancier EXCEPT more sounds (samples and or synths). Is is worth upgrading to Logic just for this or is there a cheaper/better alternative to adding more sounds? Thx.

The choice of synths is WAY better in Logic (assuming you go for the full version), and it's not that hard to start using if you're familiar with GB - but it IS a lot more complicated overall to use.

Otherwise I think you'll have to download or buy AU samplepacks to use in GB, but I don't know what's good/bad or cheap. There are free AU synths out there but frankly I haven't seen any that are as good as the stuff you can fool around with in Logic except for some basic chiptune synths. Start at KVR Audio.

Thanks Nhex! What about Logic Express tho?

Express has many of the synths but is missing a handful of the better ones in Pro from what I understand. It doesn't come with the DVDs of extra instruments though, and it doesn't have all the amps, loops, effects, plug-ins and so on that are in the full package

all that logic express misses is the vintage instruments (organ, clavinet and piano -- it still comes shipped with plenty of studio quality sample packs of such instruments), the physical modelling synth sculpture, space designer (reverb) and delay designer. it has everything else that logic pro has

the other difference is that it doesn't support surround sound mixdown

honestly, just upgrade to logic express unless you want to mix in surround -- you won't regret it. the logic pro plug-ins it doesn't have aren't all that special tbh, you won't be missing out at all

i mean, there's already 5 excellent reverbs that come shipped as standard with express that also feature in pro, you won't really need another one

Thanks wavestation, that's really helpful. I've found a very good second hand deal on Craigslist. But since I've never bought second hand software before I'm kind of worried it may have issues with the installation if it's already been installed somewhere else. Should I be?

I have never posted to this board before (though it looks interesting, though also probably too technical for me).

But I have been trying to record with Garageband for two years now and have encountered one obstacle after another. The extent of the problems, the length of the delays, the insurmountability of things, has been depressing and debilitating for me.

I thought I might be able to ask here for advice.

So here is a question.

Today I summoned a new round of confidence and (as I can't record with my proper mic) tried to record something with just an electric guitar and the iMac's built-in mic. It was working OK. Then when I went back to one of the guitar test tracks to record it again, though it did record, what I was playing did not come through the headphones.

I had not changed anything. It was as though a monitor had been switched off. I somehow found a Monitor control and switched it on. But now the guitar had lost its FX and become some kind of 'basic track', not registered as an electric guitar track.

I would appreciate any advice and guidance. Trying to use this program and this technology on my own has blighted my life.

Surprisingly I did manage to go on and record some guitar lines, but I still do not know the answer to the random condundrum above - why won't it play back live guitar through headphones if I try to record over an old guitar track?

The FX boxes, amps etc also remain a mystery, in the way they pop up and disappear, though their FX can be entertaining.

Does anyone actually read / post to this board, now? Perhaps I will find out.

i don't really understand what you're asking exactly but it seems like maybe you could just set up a new track or duplicate your test track when you're rerecording the guitar part, then delete the test track, instead of trying to record over the test track?

Thank you for replying, n/a.

I did manage to go ahead by setting up new tracks and deleting the previous ones. I don't understand, though, why the computer won't let me go back to the same track and hear what I'm playing while I rerecord it.

stop press: believe it or not, I think I have solved this problem - CTRL + click on red button on track to get a monitor on / off switch.

I feel that I should report that I did manage to record some electric guitars in a way that made me happy. There is nothing quite like recording.

I still need a way of making my microphone work again, though. I think my Lexicon's phantom power has gone.

Does anyone think that there is any prospect of getting the Lexicon Lambda fixed?

Is there anyone in London to whom I could take this item for repair?

New question.

Garageband has a RECORDING LEVEL meter on the right hand side of its screen, under Monitor on / off.

I can't access this meter - can't change the recording level. It's just a blank, it doesn't respond to any clicking.

Does anyone know how to get at it?

I think that if I could do this, it might help me.

unclear why you can't access it. there's a slider right next to the words "recording level" - wait, beneath that, there's a box that says "automatic level control" - is that toggled? if so, uncheck that box and the slider will be accessible

All those recording level controls are inaccessible to me when I have an interface plugged in - in this case a Saffire 6 Focusrite.

I googled this and got the impression that if you plug an interface in to the computer, then you lose access to computer's Recording Level switch - and levels are delegated to the dials on the interface.

Is that correct?

I have actually managed to record something through this Focusrite. But it has just now served up a brand new problem. It's no longer recognizing the mic, is just giving back feedback.

I am encouraged by the fact that I've managed to do something in the last day, discouraged that every advance is followed by a retreat. And I am not the ideal person to leave in sole charge of trying to solve these problems.

I don't really know - I have never used GB with any external interfaces. I would think virtual rather than hard preamps would be the way to go

Could you say what you mean by that last sentence?

I'm afraid I don't really know what a preamp is.

I think I have to try to use this Focusrite box now, having little alternative. I am closer now to being able to record than I have been for some time.

I just plug into the analog input in my macbook but I guess tahts not very highquality. sounds fine to me though.
Anyone know of a good garageband alternative for linux?

maybe ardour? it's free, never used it myself though.

It's no longer recognizing the mic, is just giving back feedback.

are you monitoring through external speakers or headphones?

Well, different at different times. Lots of pulling plugs in and out.

I think I shouldn't have said 'feedback' here. What it was giving was not guitar feedback etc, but just fuzz, like radio static. No signal at all. Somehow I eventually got that to go away. But it tends to be one step forward and one back.

I'm afraid that that problem has come back, or not gone away.

Does anyone else ever have it?

It's not good.

The other problem now is volume of inputs. For some reason, what's going through the mic seems too quiet - OK, this might possibly relate to the Gain level on the box. I turned it up, but it started clipping. But then, even more worryingly, what's going in from the keyboard is ALSO way too quiet!

Any experience or advice on this?

I could add that these problems come in the wake of a rare period of relative success when I have actually managed to record one or two things, which is not like me at all.