GarageBand

I've wanted to own my own multi-track recorder for some time. Ever since my friends and I formed a band in high school and bought our own 4-track recorder I've enjoyed recording songs.

When I moved back to the UK I bought a stereo which had a 'mixing mic'. It allowed me to mix in a track via a line in whilst recording from one tape deck to the other. It was a straight forward process, though the end results sounded a little crude. With each new track the overall sound quality would degrade and slow down due to the drag of the tape. But I recorded a lot of songs that way, and even sent some back and forth to my old band mate Wayne to add in his own tracks. Great fun.

I wanted to buy another 4-track recorder but I could never bring myself to part with the cash. Then, somewhere along the line, computers started taking over from antiquated tape machines, and I became aware that there were programs on the market that you could buy to turn your computer into a sort of home recording studio. However, they seemed a little daunting and complicated, and cost prohibitive. Not long after I bought my iMac I downloaded a 'lite' version of Cakewalk, a well know piece of recording software. But I didn't really have great instructions with it, or the patience, to really understand how it worked, so I never really used it.

Time passed and I'd heard that Apple had brought out a new program called 'GarageBand'. Now this seemed to be the ticket. Apple programs are know for their user-friendliness, intuitiveness and nice interfaces. Best of all it came free with the operating system as part of the new iLife package (which rolled iTunes, iMovie and iDVD into one package with GarageBand). The trouble was that my old iMac didn't have the capacity to run it. So I was stuck.


Then, when I started my current job, I was given a mac. One of the better aluminum tower G5 models - and sure enough, it had GarageBand on it. I used to check it out from time to time, but there was no way I could really use it at work. It's not like I could bring my guitar into the office or anything (unlike Dom's work where it seems to be commonplace). They key came when I was told that I also had a mac laptop. An older model, a G4 iBook, but a better model than my iMac - and it had GarageBand. So I was in business. Of course I used the computer mainly for work stuff, writing reports etc., but it seemed a shame to have this program and not use it!

Over the years I'd built up a small arsenal of instruments and recording equipment: a steel string acoustic; an amp; a drum machine, which was a 21st birthday present from my parents; a classical guitar from Costa Rica, a gift from my friend and former bandmate Wayne when he and his family came to visit one summer; a second hand bass guitar bought off a friend; a guitar FX unit; a Wah-Wah pedal, and a harmonica. Unfortunately, I'd sold my beloved electric guitar when I finished University as a broke student for £100. A difficult but nevertheless necessary sale. To do some real recording I really needed a couple more items.

About a year and a half ago I saw a review of an electric guitar called an iAxe in an electronics magazine. This was a Fender Strat-style electric guitar that you could use as normal, but crucially also had a USB connection to allow you to hook it up to a computer. Perfect! I added it to my birthday wish list that year and sure enough Laura got it for me! :) It's great, even came with its own FX simulator program.

GarageBand allows you to record in one of two ways: real or software instruments. 'Real' meaning something which you plug into the input, like a guitar, or a mic for vocals, and 'software' meaning a MIDI device, like a keyboard. Either way Garageband has an impressive array of preset and modifiable effects that you can use to modify the sound of whatever you record.

I started to try and get to grips with the program, but never really gave it my full effort. There were so many features that you could only really tap into with a MIDI controller. But last Xmas Laura got me just that - a MIDI keyboard. So I was ready to go!

I downloaded a very helpful video tutorial to help me get to grips with the program. Pretty quickly I was up and running and started working on a song. One of the great things about recording electronically is the ability to easily see, access and edit just about anything. It really is lightyears ahead of recording by tape. And, best of all, it's digital! So you know you're going to get great quality at the end of the day.

I spent a few months working on a track, adding bits here and there when I could, getting to know the program better. I'd even add working versions onto my iPod to listen to on the way to work. It got to the point to where I was just about finished my first song. Then, a few months ago, disaster struck. For some reason my work laptop crashed...and wouldn't wake up. Luckily, I'd backed up the Garageband track onto an external drive, but it was at an early stage. Always backup. I must remember that.

A while passed before I bought my new laptop and I couldn't do anything. But a couple of nights ago I copied the saved track off my hard drive and started to re-record what I'd done on my new mac book. I could actually use a copy I'd saved onto my iPod, but it's just not the same given I'd mixed all the tracks together - it just wasn't at that stage yet.

So, I'm sort of embarking on a little project. It's been over a year in the making so to speak, and it may take a while to finish yet, but it'll be fun making it. Watch this space.