Subject: GarageBand 5!

Hi all,

Now that GarageBand 4 is released I was wondering what people would like included in GB5 (if it ever gets released)?

Personally the one thing that would make my life easier would be an automated chord generator, so rather than using the pen tool, or musical typing feature I could just say "I want a C chord for piano" and click a button to create it! Also, as a guitarist that doesn't know squat about the piano, something like this would really help me to build keyboard parts quickly, and with more authenticity.

Interested in your wish lists.

Phil

p.s haven't got GB4 yet, so am commenting without having used it yet:-))

That is nice.
I think Tabs would be great. To be able to print out guitar tabs. It would be nice to have something like a Roland G20 guitar synthesizer with a GK-3 then it would be easier to print out Tabs of some of my compositions.

I see Jobs trying to go into two directions with GB4 with Magic Garageband, that caters to more at a beginners level, but the other things really seem to be going in the general direction of a pro app. Such as "Arrangments", the visual plugs ins graph etc.

I would love to see GB5 be an actual pro app. But maintaining it's historical simplicity and ONE page interface (Love that part for sure) !

On a lighter note:)
I think Garageband should be divided in sections :) Please don't take me too serious on this, but if I was head of the company I probably would do it :^)


Baby Garageband - Something like a simple computer board with a touch screen. Mothers can get there bright-eyed-bushy-tailed baby to put warm smiles on his or her's face when he touches a funny clown nose on the screen and jumps for joy when he hears a funny sound.

Toddler Garageband - have it of course very visual- but along with a touch-tablet screen. Being able to alter lets say clowns noses into a beeping car horn then having the toddler learn how to press save on the touch screen button and save a morphing clowns nose with a beep car etc. But both would have two different sounds. Thus getting the toddler to understand variations of sound but learning manual dexterity.

Elementary Garageband - This could be something like MagicGaragband that just came out in G4. But much more rudimentary. Instead of sophisticated sounds that are in that now. Have traditional young - kids sounds like Barney etc.

*
Again in all of the listings above, have the audio and midi editing completely adapted to the age level that the various Garageband represents. Things that could be on a very,very simplistic level

YouTube Garageband - Like imovie but geared towards music< videos

Garageband (That Know Nothing About Music) Adult Style
For all the adults (there must be millions) that find even Garageband tough but the children's level just to humiliating to learn :^)


But in all sincerity, anything (on a pro level) that you could throw in Garageband that could make it "Garageband Pro". Making sure that it still has that easy-to-use single interface design. Kind of like those multiple gizmo utility knifes on steroids. You know those red ones that have scissors, screwdriver, saw, nail file<. clippers. I mean you have to wonder how they can get so much in such a small space.
Gargeaband Pro can do the same, but only in a software package and adapted to the best in music editing and composing etc.

Having that main window a complete fold out, making sure not to go into any other interface section !!!! If it exceeds that boundary and it of course goes into the Logic, Pro Tools territory and would cease to be the Garageband I appreciate.

I hope that if jobs wants to go the route of that Magic Garageband, he could end up going more of a kids route-Which then he could break into sections I indicated above. But I hope he sees the value of a Pro-Garageband. I think it could end up being the best application that Apple has ever made.

Great ideas there... you should send him an email :D

Where ?

Does Jobs have an email available? They probably thought of this. I think
there are some people or one here at MJ that maybe belongs to the apple garageband team and if they have not thought of it will relay the post or part of it.

I read here in the forum one person got hold of GB 4 earlier than when it came out. Maybe he is a member of the GB Team? Not sure.

I sure love this new update though.

I believe the AU protocol does not support plugins that output Midi. (Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!) If it weren't for that, plugs such as what you want, and way more fancy than that, would have been written long time ago.

Victor.

I just installed two wonderful plugins. East West symphony orchestra and an extra orchestrations with it. Very nice but what terrible support. I hate it when these companies don't have any access to phone support and get back to you with wrong info when they do email you.

I talked with Sweetwater rep and they are trying to do the opposite. They have pro support.

I would like to see a feature that will let you export the midi from Garageband to another software like Sibelius. That would be very handy.

more than anything i would like to see garageband sounding better. its damn impossible to get any bass on it... that makes me wonder, im using gb2, do the newer versions sound any better?? if so, i may have to get 4...

I did a quick search through the net and found that his email is either steve@mac.com or sjobs@mac.com. Someone actually got a short response on the first one. I read once where he personally emailed someone that had a serious problem with their mac, and they had originally wrote to general customer service....

A cross platform version that runs on both mac and PC

I was begging for someone to ask this question :-D.

I whined about this in another forum post. Why with all these advanced new feature upgrades: 24 bit, multiple take functions, tempo change additions... have they not added non-destructive loop editing. You'd think this would be a fundamental change. I keep hoping with every upgrade they'll include this.

Another thing I would like to see is a TR808/Rebirth like drum machine interface that you could actually assign Garageband midi note numbers to... so you can use Garageband's sounds to create drum loops. Maybe provide the option of switching between human touch sensitivity and preset accented drum levels like in Rebirth so you can get that machine like sound. That might be asking for too much.

I would love to see more Jam Packs... maybe a famous Producer Pack with each of the producer's trademark sounds. A David Foster layered piano or a Babyface electric piano, Phil Collins gated drum samples.

Let's see... more advanced arpeggiator with guitar strumming patterns?

How bout integrated MIDI out support?

Hmmm... what else? How bout a direct link into the library of congress so that we can just click a link with our credit card number to copyright our songs.

OK... that might be reaching.

I can dream. :-)

I totally agree about the paucity of Jam Packs. I've got Rhythm Section and Orchestra and think they are both great but - man - am I bored with some of the drum loops! The thing is that we all have our favourite sounds, and while it's good to branch out and experiment, I would often just like more of what I like e.g I really like the "Rhythm & Blues" named drum loops, but would like more variety of this, and a lot more fills.

Also another thing I would really like - and maybe they are heading slightly this way with the Magic GarageBand - would be a way you could automatically set up groups of instruments to sound like your favourite band. So you can get a "Pink Floyd" or "Coldplay" template that has all the instruments set out on tracks in a blank document. Similarly I've often thought "I'd like a Dave Gilmour guitar sound please" and wished there was a pre-set that gave me that sound. Maybe there are copyright issues with this kind of thing, but I'm sure everyone would understand what the "Jimmy Hendricks" & "Eddie Von Haylon" pre-sets are wouldn't they? I suppose these are quite intro level ideas - but would be fun if nothing else:-))

1. ability to assign midi inputs on a software instrument track via a pulldown menu, in the same way that you set your audio inputs on a real audio track. this way you could record multiple midi inputs at once. for instance a keyboard player, and a drummer on e-drums.

2. full control surface support. i want to be able to use a usb mixing-surface/transport with garageband!

3. basic editing tools added to the edit window. we already have cut, copy, paste, etc. now we need reverse, normalize, change gain, silence, etc. also the noise removal functions of soundtrack would be great to have in the editing pane too!

4. we have the ability to freeze tracks already, but we need the ability to freeze groups of tracks as well. a few other apps like mackie tracktion and ableton live can do this.

5. internet jamming and recording sessions similar to "ejamming.com". apple could do this a million times better than anyone else... just think of an ichat/garageband video jam/recording session with four band members around the globe!

6. garageband "nodes". just like in logic. this could run invisibly in the background with every installation of garageband. you wouldn't notice it until you had networked nodes adding cpu and RAM power to your system.

7. chord generator/arpeggiator.

8. the ability to easily import/edit exs24, DLS, and soundfont samples to create and save your own instruments.

9. more instruments, and more effects.(something like dblue glitch would be awesome!)

10. last, but not least... more, more, and more jampacks!!!!

Hi..What am I missing ??? Why not get Logic Exspress8 ??

Why insist on working in an inferior enviroment when there already exists a much more superior one ??

Obviously it was not the case with version 7 of Logic.. But now that things have changed, There is no need for GB, ,, ,,,that is if you are serious about what you wish to do musically.. JjET

Without hyperbole, I can honestly say that is the craziest thing I've ever heard in my entire life!

Hi..As an aside...Pro-Tools just kicks anything that Apple has, or for that matter, most anybody else has going on..The advancements made in PT 7.4 are unbelievable..

Theese are things long awaited by Logic users for many years..But Apple seems to not have even a clue..Or seem to care about...So actually in my opinion..Pro-Tools is the best DAW out there..All the rest pale in comparison..JjET

Also Logic WAS cross platform.. Til Stevie got his mitts on it..That was a sad day, when Apple bought it and made it no longer available to those who had been using it for years on their PCs..

I was almost going to agree with your earlier post, till I read this one. I am not a fan of Pro Tools, and I will tell you why. I am quite sick of industry standards. Why do you pay thousands of dollars for a Marshall? That stupid plaque with his name on it. Yeah, no doubt a great amp, and one which has become the rock industry standard, but does it give people the right to monopolize the market? Does it give them the right to claim they are the best thing out there for a specific application, so lets charge a fortune for it? I don’t like the fact that Pro Tools have managed to take over the recording market by duping people into thinking there are no alternatives, nor substitutions.. I like logic, and I like the interface better. It is a personal preference issue. I don’t believe it kicks anything Pro Tools has or vice verse. It is apples and oranges, or if you prefer, Apples and Windows. Garageband, in my opinion is designed to get us former rock stars off our Asses and making some music again. This site is living proof of its power. But, as we get better, so should our recording capabilities. This is why final mixes are low volume, and low bass, and low dynamics in Garageband. With GB4, you can record in 24-bit, just like everyone else, but it still does not sound as good as a tune in LE8, LogicStudio 8, or even the vaunted Pro Tools.
But LE8 sounds just as good as Pro Tools if done right. Just like a great Line 6 mod, run through a 4x12 celestion cabinet can match tonally and sonically to the JCM800 on its best day. Personally, I think GB is designed to make you want more. It is designed to get you back into music and off the couch. And once you start, you have to progress to a larger world. Which is why Logic has all of the things we wish Garageband had. We just wish it were easier to pick up and use. But, to make it more complex, there has to be a greater learning curve. Remember riding a bike? Not the same as driving a car, and at the time, a bike was a favorite mode of transportation, I loved my bike, rode it everywhere. But when I finally leaned how to drive a car, the bike went to the shed out back.

On another note, JJET, welcome to Mac jams; a place where Macintosh-based musicians can get together and share their music, collaborate with other Macintosh-based musicians from around the world. A community of Macintosh-based players, loving their Macs for their ability to do all the things a Windows Machine can do and more. Really, I don’t want a cross platform. And nether does Mac. If I want to run a computer that crashes and locks up, I will turn on Boot camp, and watch my screen go blue…..

Allen, perhaps you need to take your med.s now..Wow,,,Make believe is a great thing, but nothing I said has anything to do with your response.. LOL..JjET

it was never my intention to offend you, i was really just trying to offend the makers of pro tools.... and my meds are kind of a sensitive subject......

No worries Allen as you hopefully already know.. JjET