Subject: GB my life!?

Well it's gonna make me broke for one thing...

You see I don't think I'm good enough to sell any music ever... but it sure is fun to buy toys to make music!

In my math that is $0 income but $LOTS outflow!

Oh well... I'm not in this for money or fame anyway. I'm here to learn and to have some fun making music in the process.

So how as it changed my life? Well let's see:

Back in HS I purchased a 4 track reel-to-reel that could record a track at a time and thought... WOW this is the hottest thing going. We quickly realized we need a mixer so we bought a small (but very expensive) 8 track mixer. You can hear many of these results using this 4 track system in my profile.

After making two or three recordings I said... this is it... I love recording music! So I bought a Tascam 8 track and bought a Tangent 24 channel mixer. A few more songs and we were having a ball. Some of these can also be heard in my profile.

But college, life, careers intervened and "the band" went our separate ways. I found I didn't have much time for music so I sort of set it aside, sold everything but an acoustic ovation guitar.

Yes yes... I sold my treasured 1978 Gibson Les Paul Custom for WAY WAY less than it was worth. I'll never stop regretting that.

In the 90's my boss who is a great musician and Mac fan got involved with MIDI and a program called Vision. I hopped on the band wagon, got a keyboard, Vision etc. This was great but recording audio was a pain. I had to buy a very expensive audio card and even then I could only do 4 tracks max.

Well I played a little but didn't get very far. Life got in the way again. In 1998 we adopted a child from Romania... You can imagine there was little time for music.

My job has me programming software for Windows based PCs. So for a long time I didn't even own a Mac. Then in 2007 I decided to buy a powerbook. Well as my luck would have it I bought one about 3 months before the announcement of going intel.

When the MacBookPros intel based came out I was well stunned and I immediately bought one. A few short months later and Parallels made it possible to run Windows (my needed development environment) but still keep the Mac OS I loved. I've been hooked ever since.

When my MBP came I noticed GarageBand but frankly I think Apple could have picked a better name for it. In some ways the name is great but it did have the effect of making me think it was a "toy" program.

In fact I did my little loop based song "Piano Thoughts" a few months after I got my MBP and thought... ok this is cool... but it could quickly get boring. I had no idea GarageBand could record audio and do the things people were doing with it.

Yes I know... ignorance on my part. But until you go and research it, it doesn't pop right up in your face and say "Hey I can do amazing things!!!"

Well over the Christmas break I had time off and one night I searched the net for "GarageBand" and was stunned by what I found. I was curious if people were exchanging GB files and collaborating because I have a buddy up in WA that I would love to do this with.

I spent several hours that night reading page after page on GB and got pretty excited by what I read. I then hit MacJams in one of the searches.

I started to listen to some of the music and was floored. I couldn't believe people were doing this with a free program sent out with every new copy of OS X.

I joined MacJams and since I had really nothing new to post I posted some of my old 4 track and 8 track works. I found the people on MJ to be its biggest asset. People were helpful and all seemed to be interested in how to use GB to make better and better music.

What kills me is the stuff I hear on MJ often is as good or better in my opinion than I hear off pro cut CDs. In fact if I were the owner of a high end pro oriented recording studio... I'd be shaking in my boots about now wondering if my multi-million dollar investment was about to fade away.

I know they will always have business from top bands. But I think of Craig Chicacio (sp) and how he did the acoustic planet, highway and stuff from his own personal little studio. I frankly think GB and Logic which can be purchased for a few hundred dollars give the individual the ability to do exactly what he did.

So GB has changed my life by opening up a whole arena of recording abilities that I thought were out of reach.

I wasn't into GB for more than a couple months when I said, "I want more power!!!" I upgraded to logic and have not been unhappy in the least.

So today for the price of:

A new or used mac
A audio interface
A mic

People can make incredible music right in their own basement, home office, or studio.

This to me is life changing! I think all you have to do is look at the quality of music on MacJams and know that many of these songs we listen to never would have been made without GB and its cousins.

And people are bitching about the site's interface.

You and me, bro'.

There's always one more piece of software to buy.

Or hardware for that matter.

Victor.

A very cool --- and honest --- account, Mark.

It is amazing how many talents have come out of the woodwork, thanks to GarageBand and sites like this one. It has made me realize how much raw musical talent exists around the world and what a wonderful resource it represents.

Thanks for this thoughtful post. ;)


--- Joe

I totally hear you there man. Garageband was what got me into macs originally. I was totally a blue-screening-knuckle-dragger, and I was shelling out tons of loot for windoze programs that either had an impossible learning curve, compatibility issues, or worse latency issues, and it was massively frustrating. I was flipping through a magazine and I saw the garageband interface and I was like whoah! That's PERFECT.


I mentioned to my roommate that I was thinking of giving Macs a try and he though I was nuts- I held off and looked around at some sites, and the tracks I heard on MacJams convinced me that Garageband really was the way to go- a friend of mine told me that I'd push it beyond its capabilities within a year and I'd hate it.

That was about 3 years ago and I'm still nowhere near that point. Hearing my own music improve in terms of performance, production, and creativity was fantastic, but what makes it really possible is hearing what people here and iCompositions are doing. THAT is what amazes me. There are so many tremendously talented indie musicians that do this just because they love making music. That's why I do it. I hear stuff all the time that blows "pro" stuff out of the water, and I've been filling my iPod up with truly independent music since I first came here way back in the day (don't be fooled- I was someone else before radiorebelde... shhhhh). I love how people collaborate and critique and support each other, and in the end, will any of us get signed? Who cares! This fantastically free program that came with OS X gave music back to the people, and for that reason alone, I'll probably always stay Mac and you can be damn sure that the people here and on similar sites provide the community that makes me truly amazed to be a part, even just a small one, of a hugely vibrant community.

fugginaye.

So basically, Garageband, and the truly independent musicians here really do rock the world WAY beyond what pre-fab and so-called pros ever could, and it's only possible because everyone does it for love of music.

Excellent and though provoking post Mark. Glad I made the jump from being in bands that played on analog gear in cold garages and never really improving to being at a point where music really *IS* my zen. Good bad or otherwise.

cheers!

I've bought too many instruments/equipment that would have been reasonable, just for use with GB. I'm still holding out hope that i'll get some monetary return on my investment but for now it's just an expensive hobby that I figure keeps me mentally sharp, learning, and let's me express myself creatively. I'd say it's all worth it. GB rocks.

My only regret is I didn't have all this stuff 25 years ago when I was a bit younger and had a lot more time on my hands.
I spent 3 months washing dishes so I could afford to go into a studio to record 3 tracks.
Everyday I thought it was a paycheck closer to my dream.
Now I can turn my dreams into something resembling a reality..in the comfort of my home..without having to wash the dishes.
Ok I do the dishes but only when my missus cooks the dinner ;-)
Sometime I wake up at night and think how brilliant it all is, that I can make music on my computer and upload it on to the web and have people from all over the world listen to it.
It's BRILLIANT !!

and then i had this strange idea about playing music with someone 4000 miles away ......

It really, really is amazing. I can hear my ideas outside of my head, now, and share them with other people all over the world. For a musician, this is a change that rivals the introduction of indoor plumbing in its day. My kids will never know the revolution this is, because it's always been here for them, but I agree that GB has been a life changer for me, too.

4000 Miles away ???..beats !! are you on something ? man ...kick
Brocccolli get out smell some fresh air ...it must be bad stuff
you ate .... !!!!!

Wow…Garageband in my life….I can’t even begin to express the change that has been happening with me for the last 14 months.

My brother in law gave me an old eMac his company was no longer using. He’s a filmmaker and he knew that I edit video for a living and the mac had Final Cut Pro already installed on it….so he was truly hooking me up.

It took me almost a year before I “Explored” around Garageband. I was too busy editing video like crazy, plus I run two youtube pages (dvproducer and DaddyNDaMiddle) and was trying to keep my content fresh.

Then one day I toyed around with GB trying to get some original music to put with a slide show I was using in a video.

That was my formal introduction to GarageBand 3.0. I found pre-made jingles. 30-sec and 60-second musical soundscapes, fx sounds, audience clapping…..then I found the seemingly endless array of Hip-Hop loops and Modern Rock beats and Motown Funk drumkits…..that’s when Everything changed.

I’ve played guitar since I was in the 11th grade….way back in the ……well….let’s just say I was a college student when “Purple Rain” came out. Teaching myself how to play on my dad’s old acoustic by mimicking songs from Judas Priest and the Scorpions, I ended up playing guitar in a few bands no one has ever heard of ….an AC/DC cover band and my church's gospel band while in high school. A Prince cover band while in college. An R&B acoustic duo after college. A trip-hop band when I moved to NYC in 90 something…..I say all this to point out that I try to always keep playing the guitar….no matter what.

And then, no matter what, happened.

I got a job in television, learned how edit and shoot video and found a new passion. That passion led to new opportunities that had nothing to do with guitar….but I managed to keep one with me. An Ibanez acoustic. Then I got married. I really wasn’t playing guitar much then, but I did manage to whip out that acoustic to record a surprise wedding march for my bride to be ( I re-did the song and it’s called "Marry Me?").

Then we had kids. Not much playing then, but I still managed to keep that Ibanez around…touching it…literally touching it from time to time. Then a buddy of mine sold me his Strat for $150 bux. He was moving to Korea. I didn’t have an amp though….I didn’t play the Strat much either…still had that Ibanez though.

And then, years later, that moment happened…when I discovered those loops, beats and drumkits in GB…and everything changed.

I decided to learn more about this Garageband. I wanted to know how can I play my guitar to those beats. I managed to figure out how to record my acoustic to a real instrument track. That was a defining moment (The result of that moment can be heard on my first MJ upload ”"C'mon Get Ready"). Then, one Saturday, I was with my family shopping for clothes at Target’s and I see this Light Snake thing where one end plugs into an electric guitar and the other plugs into a USB port.

A light popped on in my mind.

I got home, fired up the mac, double clicked on GB, plugged in that light snake and GB immediately recognized it.

I got excited.

Found that monitor on thing and those guitar sounds, loaded a beat to the timeline and I completely lost my mind (“Love It or Leave It Alone”is the result).

Final Cut Pro got cut off. Every piece of time that I could find for myself was spent in GB and I was finally playing that Strat that had been sitting in a case……for years.

One day, looking for more beats to download, I came across this webpage that was talking about a “musical challenge”……taking a loop and turning it into a song…..something called “Loop It or Lose It”. Curious, I followed the page to MacJams….I didn’t participate in the challenge, but I discovered this wealth of knowledge and music and people who play guitar and have macs with GB just like me……my change was complete.

14 months later, here I am. A changed man. Thanks to GB, I have taken my original passion for playing guitar to places I’ve never imagined. Not only am I getting the songs I hear in my imagination out of my head now, I can actually record it…on my own, upload it and (this is the best part of it to me) download it to my iPod and listen to my tunes as I ride to work on the subway.

And thanks to MJ, this community has pushed me to go deep within and train myself to be comfortable with my voice and to learn how to use it….along with my software and my musical technique. Thanks to you guys, I have started doing open mics on Thurs nites with my acoustic. Just me, my voice, my acoustic and my now declining nervousness (28 months ago, this was unimaginable to me). I also take the Strat to a Tues nite Blues Jam around the corner….there, I played my Strat thru an amp for the first time since I bought it.

Garageband in my life?

I haven’t started the equimpment investment yet….I know it’s coming though….I got to get a faster mac! A Mac Book Pro! 17-inch, 2.5GHz. And it better have GB on it! Final Cut Pro too!

Now, if I can just pull it all together and create a Financial Change with GB….something like an “alternative source of income” with it! That’d be sweet!

Nice stories from everyone but consider mine. I have no musical talent ... NONE. Took lessons on piano and bassoon and french horn when I was a kid but none of it took. My father was, I am sure, disappointed because his whole life was music. He taught music at a university.

My lack of playing ability however was not a problem once I discovered GarageBand. I found I could put loops together to create something musical. Much like a collage artist takes found things to create a new work of art, I can explore my interest in music and in manipulating sounds and create a new piece. My dad says that Mozart(?) was known to use other peoples "riffs" in his music and that using loops as a basis for my stuff is not that much different. I think he is being kind, but encouraging.

Sure I'd love to play like Tobin, or like lbstrat, or write like Dennis James or make beautiful sounds like Tiler, but right now I can't. I have been thinking about buying a guitar though. I wonder if, at my age, (old ... really old) I have the patience and the time to learn how to play it.

Until then I'll keep slicing and dicing.

For all the fun that I have with software, the sound of a real instrument is still unbeatable. I'd say go for it. Even if you can only pick out single notes, slowly, you can still integrate that with your loops and bring a piece of music to life.

Playing a few measly notes is probably frustrating if you play by yourself, but if you can play them against a digital orchestra it becomes a different game. Put on some inspiring background, set a track to record and just pick away. I'm sure you'll come up with a composition in no time flat.

Victor.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Maybe santa will be good to me.:)

For me at least, Garageband has opened up whole new possibilities for home recording. Like many of you, prior to joining the Mac community I'd been tooling around with a digital four-track (Tascam) and lamenting the lack of versatility, poor recording quality, and lack of basic processing I needed to produce the cleaner tracks I'd been hoping for. I'd tooled around with Acid and Soundforge with slightly more positive results, but negotiating the interface and watching Windows crash with my tracks on more than one occasion was becoming frustrating. So I was pretty pumped when I got my 2008 Macbook.

Although ultimately I'd like to upgrade to ProTools when I get enough bread, I've found Garageband has enough flexibility keep me motivated and creative, writing tunes, and experimenting with ways to expand the sounds of a mandolin. GB has my highest recommendation to anyone wanting to step up their home recording process without having to shell out big bucks for the professional stuff (yet!).

<3 GB.
Wildlife Analysis

Good post Mark!

I also don't give a rat's patute about fame or sales. I went into this as "art for arts' sake."

There has, however, been an unexpected and delightful pay-off:

I've gotten to meet and even make friends with a number of people around the globe.

I did not foresee this at all.

I am and will remain grateful for this opportunity!

Peace!