Electric Guitar through an iMic?

GarageBand has a number of filters built right in for recording audio in, and it doesn't matter what kind of audio. I'm not sure if it applies the effect destructively or nondestructively, but you can plug in and start jamming immediately.

I like the telephone effect. Makes it seem far away. :)
 
Yeah, a Line6 Pod would be the way too go, but I seem to be too poor for one of those and I was thinking I could get away with using GarageBand to just jam with. I am kind of concerned that GarageBand doesn't have multi-effects that you can add (delay, etc.). There might just be prebuilt amp sounds. I may have to save up for a Pod... I installed the demo Amplitube and it keeps crashing whenever I open it. I really don't feel like paying for a program like that anyway, I'd much prefer an Apple product!
 
I'm sorry for ewven bringing up the pod! I remember reading somewhere that GB did have pod-like amp processors, but hey, concentrate on your music first and not all this gear stuff - it can drive you insane. I am living proof! :) Plus it really has no bearing on your musical skills - some people with no gear are fabulous musicians, some with tons of gear can be hacks or great musicians too. In 1989-1993 I had anything and everything for music processing and recording. Today, I have only two electric guitars and a pod, acoustic guitar, banjo, lap steel and an inherited Steinway piano - no booting up required for anything and I am quite happy!
 
MacNeo, if I remember correctly there are some effects that you can add. Checking Apples page http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/mix.html

Built-in effects: Compressor, Equalizer, Reverb, Echo, Gate, Treble/Bass Reduction, Distortion, Overdrive, Bitcrusher, Automatic Filter, Chorus, Flanger, Phaser, Tremolo, Auto-Wah, Amp Simulation.

And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. GarageBand’s Audio Unit support allows you to add hundreds of effects and recording tools.
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From the looks of it you can pretty much put the effects you need in the signal path and then mix levels so I think you will have what you need already.
 
karavite said:
I'm sorry for ewven bringing up the pod! I remember reading somewhere that GB did have pod-like amp processors, but hey, concentrate on your music first and not all this gear stuff - it can drive you insane. I am living proof! :) Plus it really has no bearing on your musical skills - some people with no gear are fabulous musicians, some with tons of gear can be hacks or great musicians too. In 1989-1993 I had anything and everything for music processing and recording. Today, I have only two electric guitars and a pod, acoustic guitar, banjo, lap steel and an inherited Steinway piano - no booting up required for anything and I am quite happy!
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No, I hear you though. I am pretty much just a hack player. I have a small selection of effects I like for main tone. I bought a Zoom multi-thing and I can't stand it anymore. It sounds just terrible. I have played for quite a few years, but haven't seemed to develop too well, especially when I moved out on my own. I live in an appartment and I can't use my amp at a decent volume, hence wanting something personal size such as a Pod. The whole GarageBand thing looks like a really cheap alternative. I don't like to play if I can't get some decent tones!
 
Ah, so your quest for tone might be fulfilled! Great. I can understand your issues with tone - I don't think it ever ends! Though I am not a fan of his song writing (or singing) apparently the guitar player Eric Johnson has passed blindfold tests in being able to tell gold vs brass cable jacks and even different batteries (Duracell vs some other brand) in his effect pedals! Could you imagine how miserable life could be with those kind of ears and no budget to match?!

I hope someone chimes in on the adapter for you - I can't imagine it working direct with a guitar without active electronics and/or some kind of little preamp (in the guitar) or a line out from some kind of amp/mixer/preamp, but I may be wrong.
 
karavite said:
Ah, so your quest for tone might be fulfilled! Great. I can understand your issues with tone - I don't think it ever ends! Though I am not a fan of his song writing (or singing) apparently the guitar player Eric Johnson has passed blindfold tests in being able to tell gold vs brass cable jacks and even different batteries (Duracell vs some other brand) in his effect pedals! Could you imagine how miserable life could be with those kind of ears and no budget to match?!

I hope someone chimes in on the adapter for you - I can't imagine it working direct with a guitar without active electronics and/or some kind of little preamp (in the guitar) or a line out from some kind of amp/mixer/preamp, but I may be wrong.
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That's crazy man! Eddie Van Halen is apparently really miserable about stuff like that too. He can tell when transistors and what not are changed in his amp.


I am trying an amlitube demo right now directly plugged in and it does not seem to be working. Guess it needs preamp. This cable on Apple's site must have something like that in it...?
 
Really? Okay, cool. (we can't all be expected to read every word in a 2 page thread can we?) I'm interested to see how this would sound with their processing. Should be interesting.
 
Arden said:
*Cough*
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Yeah sorry man, I kind of confused myself, I guess Amplitude is quite different in that aspect. I wasn't sure if there was something special about that Monster Cable thing. If it's just an adapter, it's quite the rip-off. GarageBand is going to be pretty cool if it sounds half decent! (No extra hardware needed!)
 
Well...I bought it. Can hardly wait to install it. I am going to force myself to wait until the morning though.

Arden...You have to forgive us for walking past the door so to speak. (Even after it was pointed out to us!) This is pretty exciting stuff don't you think?

I will try and post something once I get the thing up and running.

:D
 
karavite said:
Really? Okay, cool. (we can't all be expected to read every word in a 2 page thread can we?) I'm interested to see how this would sound with their processing. Should be interesting.
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MacNEO said:
Yeah sorry man, I kind of confused myself, I guess Amplitude is quite different in that aspect. I wasn't sure if there was something special about that Monster Cable thing. If it's just an adapter, it's quite the rip-off. GarageBand is going to be pretty cool if it sounds half decent! (No extra hardware needed!)
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bossa nova said:
Arden...You have to forgive us for walking past the door so to speak. (Even after it was pointed out to us!) This is pretty exciting stuff don't you think?
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Yeah, it's all good, I figured you guys had missed it so I refreshed your memories. :)
 
i just want to say for a guitar, the 1/8 converter is great, but if you use a mic, you'll need a pre-amp.
it's cool seeing people get into music with garageband. i wish we had this stuff when i had a band back in the day. we just used a 4 track tape-recorder and, well, a garage with mattress pads all over the place.
"when i was your age..." heh.
 
boi said:
"when i was your age..." heh.
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boi...you and I are probably the same age. I remember getting all choked up when the finally came out with the sound on sound feature on 2 tracks. Then the next thing that got me all worked up was the porta studio. I could hardly believe I could play along and bounce conveniently. Then there was the digital medium and now THIS!!!
 
Ok so I got up this morning and installed. Or should I say tried to install. Not enough room. So I moved a bunch of stuff. In my haste I didn't bring my power cable for my powerbook and it powered down in the middle of the install. When I tried to install again I couldn't because there were already sound files from garageband installed making the installer think that there wasn't enough space.

I eventually found where it put the sound files and I wasn't happy about it either. They are putting the loops in the "Application Support" folder. I would much prefer to be able to move them to an audio drive and hopefully I can do that but as yet haven't tried.

Since my titanium powerbook doesn't have a dvd drive I booting from my Quicksilver off of my powerbooks drive in firewire mode. It let me install it. I have been able to audition some sounds and so far so good.

One thing I like is that you can double click on sounds in the Loop Browser to hear them. Nice to not have to drag them into the song.

I plan to spend the rest of the day listening to the loops to see what I have to work with. If anyone has any questions let me know I will try and search out the answers.

rOcKiN!!!!
 
Thanks to everyone on this thread for their help. I bought iLife over the weekend, and I've already recorded two songs -- easier than expected.

I've been impressed by the quality of the PB's built-in mic for recording, and GB's (GarageBand, not the president) ability to smooth out and add fx to what I record, whether it be acoustic guitar or vocals. I still plan on getting a better mic (Shure SM-58, people tell me, is a solid choice, good value) and a midi keyboard, etc. but out of the box, GarageBand is almost insanely great.

I say ALMOST, because hard disk speed can be an issue. I was looking forward to portable recording/editing, but discovered that my 12" PB G4 drive is too slow to keep up. An external FireWire drive did the trick, but this may not be an ideal setup for some.

Another problem is how it always launches with the last project, whether you want it to or not, and it quits when closing the project window, which seems like a violation of Apple's own interface guidelines.
 
bossa nova said:
Ok so I got up this morning and installed. Or should I say tried to install. Not enough room. So I moved a bunch of stuff. In my haste I didn't bring my power cable for my powerbook and it powered down in the middle of the install. When I tried to install again I couldn't because there were already sound files from garageband installed making the installer think that there wasn't enough space.

<snip>

I eventually found where it put the sound files and I wasn't happy about it either. They are putting the loops in the "Application Support" folder. I would much prefer to be able to move them to an audio drive and hopefully I can do that but as yet haven't tried.
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This hint on GarageBand libraries might be of some help to you.
 
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