Garageband '08 Review

Purchase Price: Free (came with my mac)


I just got a new MacBook! SPECS:

• 2.4ghz Processor
• 2gb RAM
• Superdrive

And with it came Garageband '08 (4.1.2).

For a beginner songwriter this program is great no matter what type of music you play.
It has a huge amount of midi instruments and all of them are totally customizable, say if you want to add a phaser and delay to an organ, you can! There is also a compressor and eq.

I had an old Zoom G2.1u multi effects processor that I didn't use anymore. It acts as a usb interface. I plugged that into my Mac and instantly garageband recognised it (I didn't have to install any drivers).

The drum loops built into the program are very easy to use, and they are completely editable.

When recording guitar there are many effects and amp modelling on garageband. These are very good and I am quite happy with them, but, it would sound better if you was recording from a tube amp. My video below (The Darkness - I believe in a thing called love cover) was recorded using only garageband effects and amp modelling.

I do, however, have a problem. I don't know whether it is Garageband, the G2.1u or my Mac but after about 2 minutes of recording really strange cracks and popping noises come into the signal, even if I record they will still be there. To fix this I have to restart Garageband, but then it just comes back again.

Another thing to point out is that you cant really change the tempo during a song, so you can't slow down at an ending etc.

Overall Garageband is extremely easy to use and will introduce any begginer to the world of recording. I find the interface very good, infact it inspires me.


PROS

• Easy to use
• Inexpensive
• Huge amount of built in effects and midi instruments

CONS

• Can not use it for advanced editing functions
• Can't change tempo during song