Apple GarageBand

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Loop Sequencers

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List of user reviews Apple GarageBand

Apple GarageBand By moosers on 03/25/2009 Music is my profession

Getting Started

Apple Garage Band was easy to install, as it came installed with my Mac Book Pro when I bought it. It is designed by Apple, for Apple computers, so I never had any compatibility problems at all and it has always run smoothly for me. The interface of the program is very easy to follow, and is really just a simplified version of Apple Logic. I mostly use this software to record ideas and demos straight from the microphone on my Mac into Garage Band. I don't have a manual for this, but if you have never used any program like this, it might be a good idea to have around. However, on the other hand, if you have any experience with audio or MIDI software, you should be able to figure this out without a manual.

Suitability/Performance

I am currently running Apple Garage Band on a Mac Book Pro that has a 2.2 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 4 GB of RAM. I have never had a problem running as many audio or MIDI tracks as I'd like in Garage Band with this set up. I have run up to about twenty tracks of audio or mixed audio and MIDI at once without issues. However, how many tracks and effects you can run at once really depends on your machine more than the software itself.

Overall Opinion

I've been using Apple Garage Band for around year since I got my Apple computer that it came installed on. While I have Apple Logic and Pro Tools that I use for most of my projects, I use Garage Band for demos and ideas when I just want to record straight from my computer microphone. The price of Garage Band is free with an Apple computer, but is cheap within the iLife bundle if you need to buy it. Garage Band is powerful software even though it comes with all Mac computers. It is great for beginners looking to try out this type of software.

Apple GarageBand By Audiofanzine FR on 11/03/2008

Getting Started

(Originally written by Billy B�gonia/translated from Audiofanzine FR)

It's a pity that the software has to be installed on the system's hard drive.

Suitability/Performance

I'm using an old iBook G3 800MHz with 640 M RAM and an external firewire HDD.
I admit that my system is not very powerful. But a consumer software should work with an old computer. I bought GarageBand in 2004 and I can only play 5 or 6 audio tracks. The amp simulations and the virtual instruments use virtually all CPU resources.
I know my system is old but it has enough resources to play 10 audio tracks with Tracktion and Reason via Re-wire.

I've read reviews from people who say they can only play 8 tracks with a Macbook Pro, so I guess it must be a software optimization problem.

[EDIT] I just replaced my old computer with a 2.4Ghz Macbook with 2Gb RAM. I'll stick to Garage Band until I buy Logic (I also have Cubase SE but I'm too lazy to learn how to use it).
Everything works fine. I don't care about the number of virtual effects and instruments anymore. I even compose music for movies without a hitch.

Effects are very convincing and virtual instruments are ok (of course you can find better ones).

I'll still give it an average grade because it's really lousy with an old system.

Overall Opinion

Pros:
Easy to install and to use
Not expensive
Good effects

Cons:
Few possibilities without a powerful computer
With my version I can't change the rhythm in the middle of a song.

Conclusion:
I'm happy that I found a free version of Tracktion that works very good with my old iBook. I can even record 8 tracks simultaneously which would be impossible with GarageBand.

[EDIT] It's perfect for demos production at home if you have a new computer :D.
I will use Logic to polish my songs.

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