Is Garageband good enough quality to get forwarded?

[themadpad]

Hi guys! I have a macbook with garageband on it which i use to record my stuff with..... but is it really good enough quality for it to get forwarded?
I think i will join taxi to mainly submit full songs for labels looking for songs for artists, as opposed to t.v./ commercials.......... so in this case surely the quality doesnt quite have to be as good because the song will obviously get re-recorded?

I also just downloaded logic 8 but it looks extremely complicated! Should i rally ditch garageband and start on logic?

Also i find on garageband whenever i export a project it is never loud enough..... and then when i raise the mater volume of the track it starts clipping and getting distorted?????

I NEED HELP AND ADVICE!!!!!!!

[mojobone]

Garageband is certainly good enough, in terms of sound quality. In fact, the most common cause of substandard recordings these days is operator error, rather than poor equipment. That said, if you're really committed to becoming a professional music producer, it's never too early to start learning Logic. Garageband has some limitations; Logic has very few.

Most modern music goes through many stages of dynamic compression; in most cases, each stage makes the music louder. If you're not using compression, small wonder if your mixes aren't as loud as most others, but don't be disheartened; compression also tends to degrade sound quality in general. Best practices in audio have always included maximizing the signal to noise ratio; the trick is to manage the gain stages in such a way that the signal is least degraded while you're making it louder.

[garrettmiller]

Also i find on garageband whenever i export a project it is never loud enough..... and then when i raise the mater volume of the track it starts clipping and getting distorted?????

I NEED HELP AND ADVICE!!!!!!!

What do your levels look like when you are recording? What kind of music?

[mazz]

If you know what you are doing, you can certainly make an excellent sounding recording in GarageBand. I was very impressed with I opened it for the first time. I think it's an excellent gateway drug to the more powerful (and more expensive) DAWs out there and there's pretty much a direct line to Logic from GarageBand. I think GarageBand would be a great way to learn the basics of recording and mixing and composing and it's a pretty powerful piece of software. As I said before, in the right hands, a song created in GarageBand could certainly compete in the markeplace.

That being said, I wonder how you downloaded Logic? The only places I can see that offer it as a download are the torrent sites, and isn't that illegal? Not that anyone here would knowingly steal software or music, but I was just wondering how you were able to pull that one off?

Jump in and get started, it's a steep curve but a fun ride!

Mazz

[fusilierb]

Busted.

Garage band is Logic "Light". There is no difference in the deep down sound engine between the two programs as I understand it. One just doesn't do as much as the other, hence the "charge".

Bottom line is that virtually any program that allows you to record audio at really high bit rates is more than fine for "broadcast level" recording. It's not the program that makes you sound good. It's the stuff you put into it.

That requires, knowledge, skill and good external gear. Unless, of course, your using only plugins. Which then, requires good plug in's (costs money unless your a thief) and the knowledge of how those plugins work.

Bottom line. If your music sounds really great while you play it outside of a computer, then you can make it sound great in garage band (with the right mics and knowledge of engineering). In fact, way beyond what "broadcast quality" means in some instances. If you rely on plugin's (like I do!) then it still will work great as long as your music doesn't suck in the first place and you take the time to learn how to make stuff sound good with just a computer.

hth's
B

[orest]

I think you can make good recordings in Garageband but you will need good sounds though.

I would invest in good software programs for drums, piano, and so on. Think you are allowed
to use a few plug-ins in Garageband.

I think you will learn the basics rather quickly in Logic though. The bouncing thing is so much
easier in Logic than Garageband in my opinion.

If you only record audio tracks it really doesn't matter that much I think. There's a limit in
Garageband I think? Regarding how many tracks you can have and how many plug-ins you
can use at the same time?

[Len911]

I think you've already got the best advice. I am listening to some jazz that was recorded from the 20's,30' and 40's, remastered to a cd of course, and it is obvious the original recordings were atrocious compared to today's standards, but nothing is lost on how great these artists played, that comes through loud and clear. It is also pretty apparent they got that way through practice. So is garageband capable, yes, but I think you sort of answered your own question really about why you might want to upgrade to a more complete program like logic when you say that your recordings never seem loud enough, and by that I am sure that you are not meaning volume since garageband can certainly pump out enough volume, or the amps can. The bottom line is that if you desire more in your recordings than the you have now, you will have to invest your time and money for those things that you think necessary. It does seem overwhelming at first, but there really aren't any shortcuts for what you want, unless you hire expertise in the areas you don't want to spend time on. I know they say that you don't need a lot of fancy production, but I have never known anyone who wasn't serious about what they were doing that ever settled for the "beginner" anything, including instruments, or else surrounded themselves in hired out studios, or pro musicians, producers, etc.

[themadpad]

Hey guys thanks very much for the replies.......

The equipment i use is quite good... i use an apogee one as an audio interface.... i use it to record the vocals, i also have an SM58 microphone.... which would be better to record vocals with??? I have fender guitars, bass etc..... so pretty decent instruments aswell.

I do use compression on individual tracks and also on the master track.

Yous mention 'plug-ins'..... what exactly do yous mean by this???

Also, how can i get more sounds for my garageband music libary? Am i able to download seperate drum machines and link them in with garageband?

Also, is taxi better for people who write music for tv/ad's as opposed to people who want to sell their songs to artists.... is there as many opportunities on taxi for the latter?????

When i export my project i export it to itunes..... is there any better way to export it to get better sound quality?

[orest]

Plug-ins are different programs like effects and instruments (Called AU for Logic and it should be the same for garageband).

You can buy different software programs for your need.

EZ drummer is a pretty good and easy software if you want to record drums.
You can play the drum kit on your keyboard or with midi pads/drums.

There are also several other programs out there for piano, orchestra, eastern instruments, synthesizers and so on.
T-racks make pretty good programs for compressor, limiter and so on.

I think Taxi works for you as well, it might take a little longer to get a forward because it's a tough business to record songs for artists. But it's a learning process as well, if you write and write and improving your mixing skills nothing is impossible.
For all I know you could already be there.

[Casey H]

Also, is taxi better for people who write music for tv/ad's as opposed to people who want to sell their songs to artists.... is there as many opportunities on taxi for the latter?????

Taxi offers opportunities for both film/TV and artist pitches. However, the reality of the world is there are hundreds or thousands of more opportunities for film/TV. With cable (in addition to network TV), there are so many channels and so many shows and they all need music. The "bar" is often not as high in film/TV as for artists (not that music doesn't have to be very good).

The competition to get music in film/TV is stiff. The competition (as well as hurdles) to get a song cut by an artist is stiff on steriods.

Taxi can help you learn to write better music and record it better. This applies to whatever your target is-- the better the music, the better the sound the more chance you have. Even with artist pitches, high sound quality demos are usually required nowadays.

You can post links to some of your work on this forum (Peer-To-Peer) and get some feedback as to where your music stands and what you can do to improve it.

Good luck!
Casey