Apple announced Tuesday an update to the media suite iLife during their Macworld 2009 keynote presentation.  Here is an early list of some of the new features announced.

iPhoto ’09 – Support for GPS geo-tagging (with Google Maps), face recognition, built in uploading to Facebook and Flickr.  The face recoginition will actually remember faces that you’ve tagged in Facebook and tag photos automatically!

iMovie ’09 – Advanced and easier to use editing, true drag and drop controls, image stabilization, more video effects and Indiana Jones style animated travel maps!  Apple actually acknowledged the uproar over iMovie ’08 (the majority of users considered it a downgrade from iMovie ’06) by stating “it was missing some features.”

GarageBand ’09 – Built in video lessons for piano and guitar and downloadable “Artist Lessons” for $4.99 each where the artist teaches you how to play their song (for example Sting will show you how to play guitar on “Every Breath You Take”).

Hopefully we’ll see some other additions to GarageBand ’09 such as more software instruments and improvements to the interface.  Stay tuned to the Studio Files for information on GarageBand ’09 as its released.

-PJ

The rumor mill has been swirling for months over at www.appleinsider.com with reports that the Mac Mini will get a much needed revamp, along with new iMacs featuring Intel Quad Processors.  It has also been reported that iWork is due for an update and I personally think that iLife will see an update as well.  Perhaps in light of the new Pro Tools release, Apple will make an announcement regarding Logic and Logic Express too! Hopefully, since this is Apple’s last year at Macworld, they’ll go out with a bang.  We’ll keep you posted.

Have any expectations or predictions for Macworld 2009? Tell us about it in the comments!

-PJ

I copped my headset for cheap in a bundle with Socom: Confrontation** on Amazon by using my favorite website of all time – www.cheapassgamer.com (aside from thestudiofiles.com of course!).   The headset is available separately as well.

Pairing your headset in OSX

1.  Click on the Bluetooth Logo ( ) on the top right corner of your screen and select “Set up Bluetooth Device.”

2.  On the Welcome screen click continue and then select “Headset” as your device type.

3.  With the headset of, hold the power button down on your Playstation headset until the Mic/Mute button flashes red (about 4-5 seconds).  The device is now discoverable and should appear on your headsets list.  Click continue.

4. Type in the Passkey “0000″ for this device.  That’s it!

Enabling the headset in GarageBand

1. Open GarageBand and click GarageBand – Preferences in the taskbar.

2. Under Audio/Midi preferences, click on Audio Input and select your headset from the menu.

Click Yes when prompted to change the audio driver.

3.  Create a New Track – Real Instrument track.  You’re done!  Now you can record from your Bluetooth headset in GarageBand.

If you would like to see more tutorials like this or have a specific question about GarageBand, Logic and anything music or video game related, shoot me an email or drop a comment below.

-PJ

**Gamers Note:  As you may know, Socom shipped in October with a few bugs – a broken matchmaking and stat tracking system for starters, which made the game nearly unplayable.  With the most recent patch (version 1.2), most of these problems have been fixed.  Luckily, I waited for the update and after about 30 minutes installing and patching the game, I was able to enjoy it as the developers intended.  My initial impression of the game is positive – this is Socom on the PS3 and Playstation Network.  The gameplay is intact and the headset is essential for this squad based multiplayer shooter.

NOTE 1/4/09: You can also view this article on the Cheap Ass Gamer forums at http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=5389 

www.icompositions.com

This is definitely one of my new favorite websites.  I stumbled upon it one day whilst googling “place to share garageband songs” and found just that.  The main music area is very active with about 50-100 songs uploaded a day or you can sort it out by your genre of choice.  Add in the slick comments and ratings system and you have an excellent site where you can get instant feedback on your tunes or just listen to other users’ original music.

The site was redesigned in October giving it a new look and much faster upload speeds for songs.  The upload form, which is one of the big reasons I like the site so much, lets you upload MP3 and/or AAC, title songs, write a description, select a genre, select the program it was created with and other miscellaneous details on how to handle comments and song rights.

Creating an account gives you access to the Backstage area where you can manage your profile, song library and favorite songs and artists lists.  To give you a better idea of what the profile page looks like, here is mine:

http://www.icompositions.com/artists/pjATthestudiofiles

EDIT 12/30:  Heres a couple artist profiles I would recommend checking out also.  I’m a big fan of these guys and even collaborated with Waleed on track (more to come!) 

http://www.icompositions.com/artists/Waleed

http://www.icompositions.com/artists/FEAHM

In addition to the tunage, iComp also has an active forum and live chat.  All this makes icompositions.com a winner in my book and I recommend that any audio enthusiast or hobbyist give it a whirl.

Have a website that you would like featured on the Studio Files?  Know of a site that you’re just dying to tell people about?  Send us an email or drop us a comment below!

-PJ

Better late than never! I finally made the switch to Leopard by way of a new Macbook Pro (Feb. 08 Edition) and with it the newest version of GarageBand.

By the way I don’t think I’ve formally introduced myself. My name is P.J. I work for a local Dayton company as a Network Admin, Database Manager, Graphic Designer, Webmaster and everything else computer-related. I’m also a full-time Computer Science student and digital audio enthusiast, which brought me to the Studio Files.

Along with being an avid gamer, my biggest hobby is working with GarageBand (and more recently Logic) so needless to say I am thrilled to own the latest version. After my initial run through of GarageBand ’08, I discovered a lot of neat little additions and features that I’d like to cover in this post.

New Start Up Screen

Straight from the get-go you will notice things are a little different on the new start up screen. Apple has added a “Video Tutorials” button which is simply a link to the Apple site that features basic videos for all iLife applications. Even for advanced users, these videos are worth a look if only for the production value.

Magic GarageBand

The movie score button from GB 3 is gone replaced by the Magic GarageBand button. Press the magical button and this happens:

It’s magic! This is likely the biggest addition to GB ’08 and is designed for the first time GarageBand user as an interactive tutorial and introduction to the program. You start by selecting a style of music and then select the accompanying instruments. Center stage is all you and after clicking “create project” GarageBand starts and loads tracks and loops for the instrument you selected and a blank track so you can jam along. Here is a magical video of the whole thing:

Magic GarageBand ’08 Demo

It may seem silly but the tunes are pretty catchy and it can be a fun distraction.

New “LCD” Display

Ok, so the magic is over but let’s get into the real meat and potatoes of ’08. The UI has a slightly tweaked and more stylized look starting with the track strips on the left and more noticeably the new display now called the LCD.

All the goods are still intact including the counter, tuner, key and tempo but are now selectable by scrolling with the up and down arrows instead of the microscopic icons from GB 3. Indeed, a definite improvement.

Full Effect Automation

The track strips now have an “Add Automation” click under the volume and pan automations (shown below).

This is by far my favorite new feature. You can now automate any parameter that generates the sound. Previously in GarageBand 3, these were only available in the details windows as non-automated parameters. This opens up unlimited combination’s of effects with your tracks.

Visual EQ!

GarageBand ’08 takes a page out of Logic’s book and offers a slick visual interface for the equalizer along with a handy “Analyzer” feature. Very impressive!

Better effects and more of them

In addition to the new effect automation, you can now add more effects per track (4 versus 2 in GB 3) and some effects have been reworked with new interfaces and more detailed parameters (including a much needed update to the compressor which was simply a slider bar from 0 to 100 in GarageBand 3). Here is a look at the updated details window and compressor interface.

Trimming the fat

So this last item is not exactly a new feature but I found it interesting nonetheless. GarageBand ’08 actually comes with FEWER loops than GB 3. Instead, many loops are grayed out in the loop browser with an arrow next to file that displays this message:

In my opinion, this was actually a pretty smart move. Even though every new Apple computer comes with GarageBand, my guess is that more than 50% of users never even open the program. So this is simply a way to save space – 1.2 GB of space to be exact. Side note: Since I will be installing Logic Pro I won’t need to download these as all GarageBand loops are included with Logic.

Is it worth the $79 upgrade fee?

Considering that for $79 you will get the entire iLife ’08 suite, I would say this is absolutely worth the price. However if none of the other iLife apps interest you, I would recommend putting the $79 towards Logic Express. If you are hungry for more software instruments and effects, better recording ability or looking for a GarageBand “Pro”, then Logic is where its at. The best part is that all of your GarageBand files are fully compatible with Logic Express and you can take advantage of all those additional features to breath new life into your tracks.

Ok, so that’s my initial rundown of GarageBand ’08. If you use GarageBand and have any questions don’t hesitate to contact me via email or leave a comment below. Thanks!

PJ

Transcript: This video will show how to use GarageBand to tune your guitar (this also works for other instruments and voice as well). To begin, create a new track and select “Real Instrument.” Next, select your microphone input (or the input on your interface if you have it plugged in directly) in the details window.

To display the instrument tuner, click on the tuning fork in the timing display. Now, play a note and the meter will display the pitch and correctness. That’s it!!

Questions? Email me or drop a comment below.

-PJ

So with the “special event” Apple has planned in September looming on the horizon, is anyone expecting a new iLife or GarageBand announcement to accompany the unveiling of the Macbook redesign? I certainly am and here’s what I would like to see in the next iteration of GarageBand:

• New Software Instruments
• New Effects (and more per track)
• A Dedicated Mixer
• A “Live” feature like Mainstage to replace Magic GarageBand
• New Jam Packs!!

So what would you like to see in the next GarageBand? Or is this all wishful thinking and we won’t see a new iLife until 2010? Let us know in the comments!

PJ

Update: It has been reported on the Apple Support forums (thread here) that the July 2008 Airport update does indeed fix this problem.  The update (for OSX Tiger only) can be found here. 

PJ

The basic process is going to be soloing each track you have and individually exporting it to disk.  Then, once all tracks are exported, you will import them into your DAW (such as using the Import Audio command in Pro Tools).

Let’s look at this GarageBand demo song.

There are 8 different tracks that we need to individually export.   Start by soloing the Rock Kit track and choosing Share>Export Song to Disk.  (Notice that the yellow headphone icon is highlighted on my Rock Kit track, indicating that the track is soloed).

When you choose this, a dialog box will open asking you where you’d like to save the file.  I would go ahead and make a folder to put the tracks into.  (You’ll see later that I am exporting all my tracks to a folder on the desktop called “Daydream Export”).  Repeat this export process for each track in your song.  Be sure to label the exported files properly so that when you import them into the new DAW you can easily identify them.

Now that my files are all exported, this is what my folder of files looks like:

This is an easy way to transfer your GarageBand files into Pro Tools (or whatever DAW you may be using).  Just keep organized, and this process runs very smoothly.

(You can also use the freeze tracks function, described in the comments below.  This is a little faster way to do it, but a little more complicated)

C

The Studio Files

If you’ve ever found yourself humming the overworld theme from The Legend of Zelda or have the title track from Battletoads on your iPod, then you should definitely check out the “Magical 8-bit Plug” for GarageBand (or any app that supports AU plugins).

Magical 8bit Plug is a plug-in style software-synthesizer for producing primitive electronic sounds like the old 8bit game consoles. In Macintosh environment, it runs with AU (Audio Units)-supporting applications: ex. Logic, Digital Performer, GarageBand. In Windows environment it runs with VSTi supporting applications: ex. Cubase. Most of the software/hardware synthesizers include the most primitive waveform: square wave and pulse wave. But almost none of them include the pseudo-triangle or the low-resolution noise that will most characterize the 8bit sound’s unique taste. Magical 8bit Plug will help you producing the old 8bit sounds by providing those unique waveforms.

You can download the plugin here. For install information check out this article.

PJ

After giving most of them a test drive, I can say that this collection is refreshing, especially if you have grown tired of the GarageBand sound set. The samples sound great and each instrument has a decent amount of customization options. As I mentioned in the first post, I really like the ability to combine instruments together in the menu and have them in the mixer as the same channel. One of the most impressive and highly touted new features of Mixcraft 4 is the ability to use VST, VSTi and Direct X plugins. This is one area where Mixcraft trumps its Mac counterpart, GarageBand. This is a benefit to beginning users or even Pro Tools users who already have a large collection of VST’s and want to use Mixcraft as a scratch pad for ideas before going into Pro Tools. Another useful feature is the ability to use Acid or Apple Loops with Mixcraft. This would be particularly useful for a Intel Mac user that has Windows installed. I have personally tested Mixcraft 4 on a Mac with Windows XP installed via Boot Camp and I can verify that the program runs without a hitch.  So far Mixcraft is looking like a viable alternative to GarageBand for Windows users. Keep an eye out for more Mixcraft related posts in the future. If you have any questions about Mixcraft or GarageBand, leave a comment below or email me.

PJ

The Studio Files

If you have any questions about GarageBand, leave a comment below or email me.

Update: Here is a short video showing the process described above:

Click here to view the embedded video.

PJ

Acoustica has recently released version 4 of their Mixcraft music creation software. You can download an unlimited 7 day trial of the program here. Once the 46 MB download is finished and installed you will be greeted with the New Project dialog screen:

I was anxious to try out the software instruments and effects to see how they compare to GarageBand so I selected “Build Virtual Instrument Tracks”. Now you can see the full interface. If you are familiar with GarageBand, you will instantly feel right at home because this program lends a lot of its design to GB, evident in the way the channels and controls are arranged. In fact, the “Transport” control looks almost identical and is located in the same place as GB, as well as the counter, BPM control, time signature and key.

First, I wanted to check out the software instruments. Clicking the keyboard under the track name brings up the software instruments dialog box shown below:

There are lots of preset instruments to play with and the “Show Details” button displays information on a selected preset such as the volume percentage, pan percentage, octave range and velocity range. In this same box is a “Select Synth” button that allows you to choose Software Synthesizers including the MinimogueVA, Impulse and Hammond VB3 Organ. Clicking on “Edit” will bring up the synth’s interface. So far, I am very impressed with the collection of instruments that Mixcraft offers. Here is what the 3 included synth interfaces look like:

Another cool feature is that you can select more than one synth and it will combine the two (or more) together, creating some unique instruments. This is a process you can do manually in GarageBand, which I will cover in a future post. Keep checking back for more impressions and maybe even a Mixcraft vs. GarageBand showdown. If you have any questions about Mixcraft 4, leave a comment below or email me.

PJ

In the meantime, you can still create some great tunes in GarageBand by using just the keys on your keyboard. This is called Musical Typing. To get started, open GarageBand and click on Window – Musical Typing or use the shortcut Shift+Command+K. You will be greeted by this window:

Now your keyboard is mapped to the corresponding keys on screen. In addition to keyboard keys, you also have some other handy controls at your disposal. The 1-2 numbers keys perform a pitch-bend and numbers 3-8 control the modulation value. Holding down the tab key simulates a sustain pedal. The Z and X keys change the octave range you are playing and you can see exactly where you are on an 88-key represented by the highlight blue area at the top of the window. Lastly, you can change your note velocity by using the C and V keys. If you have any questions or comments regarding Musical Typing or GarageBand in general, leave a comment below or email me.

PJ

The Studio Files