Apple GarageBand

If you're a Mac user this is a free DAW that will come pre installed on your machine. It's very easy to use and has good instruction and how to tutorials built into it.

If you have problems there are always youtube videos out there that you can use to further educate yourself with (for free).
It recognize usb devices that are plugged in automatically. So, if you are using a midi controller or USB mic (for recording vocals) it would pick it up.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

As far as stability it's pretty stable although if you have a problematic plugin installed it may crash garage band (which is not the fault of the DAW itself).

Garage Band is just as good as any of it's competitors out there in terms of audio quality. I will admit it's not as flexible as some of the others but again we are talking about a FREE application here. Can't complain much when we're talking about free tools.

I've been using this DAW since July of 2012 (that's when I purchased my MACBOOK)

OVERALL OPINION

The only thing I don't really like about Garage Band is it's graphic look (the GUI). Don't get me wrong, it's clean and really nice to look at I just wish it looked like some of the others on the market (maybe I'm just being picky).

It's one of the best DAWS out there in it's price range (again FREE you pay nothing for it.)

Audio quality is good, customer support is good (if you every contact customer support about anything). I've tried a lot of DAWS out there: Cubase, Sonar, Pro tools, Logic Pro and I can say I'd still fire up garage band over most of the DAWS I've listed because if it's simplicity.

It's just an easy program to use. In all honest if this program were not free I probably would have never tried it, so good marketing on Apple's part for including it with the MAC purchase

GarageBand is an excellent place to start for the aspiring engineer. If it came with your brand new Mac then you are ready to roll as soon as you turn your machine on! The help files/manual are easily accessible within the program and sufficiently cover anything you need to know about using the software. All of the typical functions are quite easily accessible with just a little bit of poking around.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

I've been using GarageBand since 2005 and have upgraded since then as newer versions arrived. In terms of performance, GarageBand does quite well. As long as you have a sufficiently powerful computer you can easily create tracks using up to 30 some software and real intrument tracks without too much slow down or crashing. This is quite a good track count for a program like this.

OVERALL OPINION

Obviously what is to like about GarageBand is it's simplicity and the amount of power and control over your recording and mix that can be had, especially for a newcomer to digital recording. It does have it's limitations though. One of the biggest issues that I have encountered with GarageBand is dealing with editing. GarageBand only allows you to zoom in on a waveform just so much. Ocasionally you may encounter a waveform that you just cannot trim to a null point, this can be worked around using volume automation but it's still annoying,(what you may experience are some unwanted clicks/pops at times)
The newer versions have increased the power of GarageBand alot! Now it offers real time multi-tracking!-(you'll need an external interface) Also, it even comes with a real-time spectrum analyzer! Although the spectrum analyzer is VERY primitive it is helpful and, like the program itself, a good starting point for training yourself to do your own recordings/mixes.
Another limitation is a shelf on how many effects can be used on a certain track. There is a workaround but it can be frustrating at times.
The overall sound quality of GarageBand is adequate for the beginner or intermidiate engineer but it falls way short of the quality that a professional engineer would prefer. However, GarageBand's easy to use function to export directly to iTunes or to a podcast is definitely a plus.
I've personally used many, many DAWs over the years and while GarageBand certainly would not be my first choice for serious recording, it does have it's charms and remains a tool that I use often regardless if it doesn't quite meet my quality desires. Since it comes pre-installed on nearly every Mac you really can't go wrong playing around with it!

Comes with Mac OSX

I got this software bundle in the new MAC OSX

First and foremost its free, (if you get a new mac). Simple to use and very intuitive. This is a great program for musicians who want to start to get into producing or just want to record there own music. There are tones of different tones and filters you can add to your instrument and a lot of different MIDI instruments to play around with and be creative. If you have never used audio editing software this is a great way to get started mixing and producing. You can do a lot with this program without much practice.

It is not very versatile. There is a reason you wont go to a pro studio and see the sound engineer running garage-band, it just can't do as much. Some of the MIDI instruments don't sound as authentic but that is to be expected

I would guess 'construction' would mean coding, and in that case I would say its very good, and I personally have not had it crash out on me very often.

If you are serious about producing music, you are better off with a mac anyway, and since all new macs come with this software, its worth a try. If you are going to invest money in real production, I would shell out some dough for a more robust piece of software (Logic/Reason/ProTools/Etc).

If you are just a musician who wants to compose some tunes, without learning a complex program, then Garageband is your program!

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

This peice of software was given to me as part of an iLife upgrade. It was 59.00 cdn or 49.00 US for the bundle of 5 iApps thrown in.

The first thing I noticed abot this software was the lack of tecchnical ability needed to use it. I have some ability but had been completely out of the industry for 10 years. This fact alone is significant. You could almost say that Garageband is what sucked me back into a world I swore to leave behind. After playing with the loops for a couple weeks I could not bare it anymore. My friend loaned me his guitar and I plugged it directly into the stereo line in jack on the 2 years old eMac.

one of the best things about GarageBand was the nice amplifier simulators. Some may balk at them but it was just like plugging in to my old fender chorus tube amp. The guitar I borrowed was an old rivera with these pickups that you could find on the old Harmony guitars. Its in bad shape but I'm no guitar technician. I can barely play really.

I'm told it works with most digital audio workstations but this is something I have yet to find out for sure.

Very little is bad about this software. Mixing down songs could be done at higher bitrates. It does abuse the computer processor more than other packages like cubase ot abelton live. right now I am workign on an eMac G4 700Mhz with one gig of pc133 ram. Right now my only limitations are my lack of computer and a good tactile DAW.

A great user interface that mimics apple's Soundtrack software with audio controls that are very easy to learn. The midi capability is great and seems to intigrate with any unit I ask about.

With a more powerful mac (say a dual G5 with a couple gigs or more of ram) I could probably break the 8 track barier that has been hedging my creative juices. There are many people out there using this software on older iBooks and making great music. Perfect for recording live performances. For 49.00 US you just can't go wrong if you own a G4 or G5 Macintosh with OS X running. Oh and it actually comes free with all new Macs.

you can hear some evidence from me and thousands of others at http://www.icompositions.com/auditorium/
my tracks are listed under the artist BlackLily.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com