WATMM is a place for music makers to discuss the active process of making music.
Is Garageband good enough?
I am on a very tight budget. I am a broke and currently unemployed college student. I'm planning on selling beats in the near future so I can truly consider myself a working musician and connect with other artists. Is GarageBand sufficient enough for me to produce while I get my money right and eventually buy a better DAW?
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GarageBand is so underrated man. It’s way more capable than people think. You can most certainly make quality beats on GarageBand.
And with it being completely backwards compatible with Logic, it makes the switch easy if you decide to do so.
Selling music is what makes you a musician? That mentality will definitely show in how the music sounds. Make music because you love music. But yes, garage band is great for starting out. I recommend using garage band and then upgrading to Logic Pro.
That’s not what I mean. I want to make music because it’s the only thing that makes me feel truly fulfilled. I just want to have something to show for my passion is all. Thank you for the sentiment though I completely agree.
Garageband is basically free. If you get good at it and you get a few hundred dollars, you will already have a good start to knowing how to use Logic Pro and your tracks will still be fully compatible.
Yes
Absolutely!! I started on GarageBand and graduated to Logic Pro after a few years of practice. The just has so many decent stock plugins that will allow you to test a wide range of midi instruments and mic/guitar presets.
Honestly it’s pretty good, that’s what I use when I started, and besides you gotta start someone and GarageBand is a really good starting place, it’s got a decent sampler, it’s got a host of sounds and instruments/synths. But yeah, it’s really good. Edit: mobile or Mac?
So GarageBand is Logic with a bunch of features removed. You can compose and arrange music with Garage band without issues. So it’s great for getting started and learning how to make a beat. And if your going to get someone else to mix/master your tracks it’s fine for that too. But, by design GarageBand sucks for mixing since there are no busses, no sends, or track groupings, side chaining, fades, advanced editing functions etc. So it’s not designed to be able to create a final product.
I’d recommend using GarageBand to get to the point where you are making stuff worth mixing and once you get to that stage, switch to a full featured DAW.
SoundForge was enough for Burial, I think you'll be alright with GarageBand.
Try Reaper by Cuckos reaper.fm.
I've been using it for years for beats and recording mics and DI guitars. You will need to source your own VST and AU plugins as it doesn't come with much. It is semi-free also (60-day evaluation period but you can continue using it after that)
I used Reaper for 7 years then Logic for 3 years and now I'm back on Reaper. Hope this helps.