All user reviews for the Apple GarageBand

The software comes with the machine. Difficult to be more consistent. Simply assign the inputs and outputs on the sound card ... and roll!
There are some aid from the menu.
If a person has tinkered with software sequencers, we toured two / three hours.
And yet, we must admit that I am a bit slow because I tried all the guitar amps, from sheer gluttony.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

The computer is an iMac 21 inch with Snow Leopard. There is a dual core. If we glue his ear to the metal, maybe we can hear them fight. 'll Try, like ...

OVERALL OPINION

I have it for two months. Previously I tinkered with Pro 24 and Cubase Atari (to give an idea of ​​the age of the captain), I also approached the Music Maker on the PC and Cubase LE.
The latter configuration was very unstable, creaked, had made an average sound.
I use it to mock-up of titles.
I send my groovebox sequences or drum loops I have in an external HDD then I record guitars, vocals, percussion ...
And Ben ... is bluffing. The collection of amps is quite convincing (especially the Vox and Fender, but it is a matter of taste). The audio response is taken from his excellent (I have good microphones and good processing chain before recording and playback).
You can record in 24 bits and 16 bits for return to the CD format. All transactions are linked together with easy and logical as and when the progress of a recording and mixing. The compressor, reverb and delay are included in good order ... and adjustable.
There is an automation track in the mix.
I have not tried the software instruments because I did not use. I can not comment on it.
It lacks a console to see the mix, but frankly, for a software for the amateur musician, it's up to expectations.
To be more precise, in the case record and mix demos for a myspace, it's enough.

The setup was completely done already. The Application was already in the computer and there is no manual for it, it's just a mediocre software that came with the MacBook Pro. GarageBand is only compatible with Mac, as it was made by Apple Inc. so you can't use it in Linux or Windows. It was pretty easy to figure out how GarageBand works it lacks many important tools for real producing. The program is already configured for the Mac working system and the defaults shouldn’t really be changed since you don't need to. The typical functions are accessible and easy to understand since GarageBand is made for people who are new to electronic music production. Everything in the program has an easy, self-descriptive name. For example, when you change some audio's voice sound, the presets have names like "Deep Voice" or "Helium Voice", etc while in other more professional programs to do this you need to use the EQ, Pitch Change, Compressor, etc. So, it's very easy to use and understand GarageBand but it lacks a lot of professionalism.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

The software does work correctly with this configuration since the program is installed already when you buy the Mac Computer. The default is meant to have GarageBand work at optimum performance which obviously makes it stable since professionals had it configured to Mac machinery, so the program will rarely close by itself or have any errors. If used GarageBand for about 3 months before I got something better to produce.

OVERALL OPINION

What I like about GarageBand is that it's free and that it's easy to understand and access. It's pretty good for beginners and to play around with, but to produce professionally, it's very bad. The program lacks a lot of tools to mix voices in with an instrumental and it has very poor sounds to make instrumentals yourself. The sounds it offers you are just a few and they are very weak. GarageBand for making beats is horrible and for mixing, it isn't very affordable. Its value is great obviously since it's free but that still doesn't make the program better. The sound quality is pretty weak and it could be better. There are few tools to make sound be better. This was my first model to produce since it came with my MacBook Pro and I disliked it back then too.

This program comes standard on Macintosh computers. I never particularly cared for it very much, having been familiar with Pro Tools (and to a lesser extent, Logic) already before I purchased a MacBook Pro. The program is easier than Pro Tools to get started using, in fact, in hindsight it'd have been better to learn initially in this program. The setup is pretty basic, though it took me a little bit to figure some things out (for instance, to use the mic you have to set up a real audio track instead of an instrument track, etc.). The functions, which are somewhat limited, are easy to access.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

The software usually works fine for the most part. The configuration of the software with my MacBook pro is usually fine, however, sometimes I actually do a LOT of recording (like jamming and leaving it recording for the duration). When this happens, there have been times where it can't handle the workload. This can be prevented by keeping the number of tracks to a minimum. The performance is usually pretty fast, I think that maybe using it too frequently in a short amount of time would make it perform slowly, and occasionally stop recording in the middle of a take.

OVERALL OPINION

I like the ease of use that Garageband offers. I really think that it's the best thing to use if you need to make a rough demo of something, a project you have no intention of releasing. I've actually been able to record a full kit and bass guitar with the Apple mic, and have managed to get really good sounds just by EQing and compressing. As far as mixing goes, there's enough features to make your projects at least listenable. The virtual instruments certainly don't hold a candle to Logic, though, so don't expect to make great music with those. Overall, it's a good program to have.

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.

(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.