GarageBand sucks
I recently tried to use GarageBand to create a podcast. What a terrible mess. GB has a huge amount of potential, but when it fails, it fails miserably and utterly. You have to do an insanely complicated dance to get anything close to what you want out of it.
The Setup
I co-host a weekly live streaming internet radio show, Audiophobe. As we do the live broadcast, I record the audio from our microphones to 16-bit, 44.1khz mono AIFF files for later mixing. Music comes from an iTunes playlist, though we use djay on the air. I wanted to create enhanced podcasts with chapter stops and artwork, since I’d seen one before, and thought it was really nice. GarageBand seemed like the only reasonable application to do this with.
The Concept
I figured that I could take the two AIFF files with the mic audio, drop them into tracks in GarageBand, drop in the music, edit any screw ups, add chapters and artwork, and export as AAC (Enhanced Podcast) and MP3.
Problems
Unfortunately, I encountered a litany of problems.
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GarageBand cannot edit large audio files.
After I dropped in the mic audio and got them synced up, I started adding in the music. Due to small differences in timing, the mic audio ended up out-of-sync with the music around 20 minutes in. “No problem,” I thought, “I’ll just edit out some of the space in between breaks.” Nope. When you try to edit any part of the region past 0m33s, GarageBand deletes the region from the start of the selection to the end of the region.
The solution is not pretty. I have to slice up the mic audio in Audacity, import each section, and sync up each break. There are approximately six breaks per show; this is incredibly time-consuming.
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GarageBand will not accept some files, for no reason I can surmise.
I tried to drop one of the songs we played into GB. It would not let me drop it into the timeline. I had to decode it to a WAV, which I could then add to the project. I got absolutely no indication as to why GarageBand would not add the original MP3.
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GarageBand cannot accept artwork dragged from iTunes.
You heard me right. You cannot drag artwork from iTunes into GarageBand. When this happened, I thought, “maybe you can copy and paste.” No, you can’t. “Maybe,” I thought, ̦“if I drag the image to the desktop first, GarageBand will take it.” But, no, that doesn’t work either. Want to know the solution?
- Locate your track in iTunes.
- Reveal the artwork viewer, if it’s not already visible.
- Right-click the cover.
- Select “Copy.”
- Open Preview.
- Select File -> New From Clipboard (Cmd-N).
- Select File -> Save.
- Select “PNG” from the Format menu.
- Click “Save.”
- Locate the file you just saved. If you press Cmd-D in the save dialog, it will save to the Desktop.
- Drag the image into GarageBand.
Ridiculous.
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GarageBand cannot export a WAV of your project.
It can export an AAC file to disk, or export a file to iTunes in a couple formats, which is dependent on iTunes’ settings and other non-obvious factors, which I will discuss next.
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GarageBand’s export settings differ based on the visibility of parts of it’s UI.
If you have the Podcast track visible, GarageBand will only export an AAC file, no matter what. If you hide it, you can wrangle a WAV out of it by doing this dance:
- Hide the Podcast track.
- Launch or switch to iTunes.
- Go to iTunes -> Preferences
- Select “Advanced.”
- Select “Importing.”
- Change the Import Using pulldown to “AIFF.”
- Click “OK.”
- Switch back to GarageBand.
- Select Share -> Export to iTunes. Wait.
- Switch to iTunes.
- Go to iTunes -> Preferences.
- Go to “Advanced.”
- Go to “Importing.”
- Change the Import Using pulldown to “WAV.”
- Click “OK.”
- Locate your track.
- Right-click your track. Select “Convert Selection to WAV.” Wait.
- Locate the WAV of your file; converting creates a new WAV file, and leaves the AIFF as-is.
- Right-click the WAV. Select “Show in Finder.”
- Drag your file somewhere more useful.
- Switch back to iTunes.
- Delete both the WAV and AIFF files from iTunes.
- Switch your importing preferences back to whatever you normally use.
Ridiculous.
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GarageBand cannot create enhanced podcasts.
Or maybe it can, but it sure can’t export them to any format other than it’s own internal one. Any exported AAC has no chapters or artwork.
After going through all the hassles above for the sole purpose of creating an enhanced podcast, to have GarageBand strip out all the chapters and artwork is beyond maddening. I’m livid with rage. GarageBand is the most useless heap of binary offal Apple has ever created. The only other option for doing this kind of authoring is Logic Express, which is $300.
GarageBand sucks.
November 22nd, 2006 at 4:53 pm
I ran into many of the exact same problems you have… and I really think the export options are what most cripples GarageBand; followed closely by how idiotically GB handles long segments of audio. I know it’s supposed to be crippled compared to Logic Express, because it’s Apple’s free program… but it shouldn’t be crippled to the point it is now.
One can only hope the next version fixes many of these huge shortcomings.
November 27th, 2006 at 9:47 am
export is only one aspect– in general — garage band blows rocks — what should be simple functions are laughably difficult and of course Mac wants to sell LP but beginners should have something that is workable. Instead, GB is a horrible, horrible little audio program and apple should be ashamed of themselves.
I thought i would make some simple 3-4 track demos in the program before going to tape for production. the interface is Polish. simple non-linear recording shouldn’t be this bad in 2006.
there’s freeware built better than GB. i worked in a post audio facility that had non-linear before most anyone could afford to have it at home — back when pro-tools ruled non-linear audio and could charge sinful amounts for it. i have a 10 year + background working with protools, cubase, nuendo — and i feel sorry for non-linear audio first timers ever opening the program up — the people who this program is supposed to be built for.
and yet garage band isn’t easy to work with or learn — there isn’t a good reason for this. and now apple is selling GB to podcasters in their literature.
i screwed around with GB for a couple of hours on 3 different occasions because i have novice clients that want to sit at home and accomplish some simple audio tasks or they are frustrated musicians that want to experiment with non-linear recording. i wouldn’t DARE recommend GB to them. they’d run away from non-linear audio forever.
when i started messing around with at-home non-linear audio production, i did so on a PC — it was syntrillium’s cool edit pro — didn’t sound great but it was SO easy to work with for someone just figuring out a non-linear interface and THAT WAS 1999!!!
I’m a little shocked GB is an apple program. i know many of their ilife programs are limited in what they can do but those other programs (idvd, imovie) still do an alright job of helping the new user get SOMETHING decent accomplished. GB doesn’t.
apple should gut the entire interface and be a little more fair with their new users.
December 14th, 2006 at 4:24 am
Hmmm. I couldn’t DISagree more.
I really like GB for podcasting. I’ve tried Cubase and Pro Tools and Audacity–none are as good.
I haven’t had problems with long files, and I found creating an enhanced podcast to be quite easy, although not intuitive: show the podcast track, and drop a photo in. Then cut it appropriately.
Artwork was easy: drag it in from iPhoto. I don’t know why it won’t accept it from iTunes–but you have to admit iTunes is a strange place to keep photos.
Exporting does, as you say, suck.
December 16th, 2006 at 11:17 pm
Adam,
I don’t store photos in iTunes, I store album artwork. When I use music from my iTunes library, I like the artwork to show up in the podcast. You can’t do this without the song and dance I described.
The long file issue seems to be a problem with importing AIFFs. If you record direct in GarageBand, it works fine. If you drop a long AAC file in, it works fine. If you add an AIFF, it breaks. I’m not the only one to experience this problem.
Creating an enhanced podcast wasn’t the issue. The issue was that none of the chapters or art were present when I saved the podcast. I have found no solution to this problem.
Your comparison of GB to Pro Tools is a specious argument; they’re intended for very different tasks. Just as you wouldn’t arrange and post-process a film soundtrack in GarageBand, you probably wouldn’t create a podcast in Pro Tools.
GB is better than Audicity, though.
December 17th, 2006 at 5:22 am
Let’s be perfectly fair, here: you say that my comparison was specious: I would like you to apply the same standards, then, to “GB Loather”, above, who implies that Pro Tools and Nuendo are easier to use than GB. Clearly, his argument is specious too, no?
Despite what you say, I suspect that you should, in fact, be using a more complicated editor. Long files of different formats can be very tricky–and I know, because I’ve had the very same problem, but with much-more-expensive Pro Tools.
I also think you’re asking a bit much of a $30 program. It’s hobbled, intentionally so, but not, I think, to sell Logic. It’s hobbled because it’s for amateurs. Look at PT, or Cubase, or any of the others (except, perhaps, that neato Tracktion). They’re really, really, really hard to learn (despite what ‘GB Loather’ says). GB is really, really easy to learn because it’s streamlined. I think it’s damned-near miraculous that an idiot like me can create a podcast in minutes. I mean really–with iTunes, iWeb, and .mac and GB, a total noob can make a podcast that sounds damned good. Wowza!
As you’ve found, GB can be coaxed into some quite complicated tasks. In this respect, it’s better than its iLife brethren. And the thing is this–if you try Logic, or ProTools, or whatever, I’ll bet you’ll find yourself trying to coax your software into some very simple tasks. God knows I’ve spent hours trying to get something simple done. Pick your poison: easy and dumb, or hard and smart. I like my software like I like my women. (Ba bum bum!)
January 13th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
[...] The following (From here) is a good example of how it bugs me. I believe I shortened the process by copying it to my UNIX server and using some command-line tools — but the point is that it’s “ridiculous.” If you have the Podcast track visible, GarageBand will only export an AAC file, no matter what. If you hide it, you can wrangle a WAV out of it by doing this dance: [...]
January 14th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
I appreciate “GarageBand Sucks” author’s routine for converting to a .wav file.
I wanted to produce a few simple demos of the Gypsy Jazz music we play, and while I was learning how to use GB, I discovered it would not import files as .wav’s. GB is all I have to work with, and I’d already recorded several tunes (not published to our web site as of this posting), so I was disappointed when I tried to export them. But my Internet search has given me an answer I can live with.
I agree the routine is “ridiculous,” but after a couple times, it becomes pretty fast. And it is already paid for.
Thanks for the tip!
January 23rd, 2007 at 3:43 am
Adam,
My issue is that GB should be able to do things which it is not able to do; and when it fails, it gives no indication of what is happening.
It’s about expectations. Apple sells their systems as “podcasting out-of-the-box.” Consequently, I expect that I will be able to make a podcast with GarageBand. However, the reality is that it does not work. Are my podcasts more complicated than the ones GB is intended for? Perhaps slightly, but I don’t think I’m terribly demanding.
I have used Logic Express. It’s much more than I need. I don’t need it’s filters. I don’t need 32 tracks. I don’t need busses. I don’t need the overwhelming majority of what it does. But it works. And that is what I need: software which works. GarageBand does not fall into that category. I understand that it doesn’t have the features Logic does. But destroying my region when I split it is not a missing feature, it is a bug.
January 31st, 2007 at 7:26 am
Last week was the first time I try GB to score a video project. I’m a Protools user, and have been for a long time, I’ve been very comfortable using PT and never thought of switching to anything else. However, I’ve been hearing good things about GB, and thought of giving it a try. Here’s what I experienced, so far:
1. It is soo simple it’s almost confusing: Editing tracks can be a pain sometimes because you can’t find the right tools.
2. Can’t directly export to other formats.
3. Nice sample library, but I think i might try the Jam Packs at some point to see how they sound.
I would love to try Logic.
Thanks for the info here, I finally got my mixed down track to be exported as .wav :)
April 13th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
I agree, I’ve tried using GB to do an enhanced podcast and it’s SO confusing. Apple’s tutorials are not very helpful, and I can’t even find the podcast I supposedly exported.
Going back to Premiere.
November 5th, 2007 at 3:56 am
I had been using GB to create sucessful enhanced podcasts for the past several months but then i had to upgrade my os and now i can no longer export the chapters and art. It is incredibly frustrating since I’d had it working before and no one seems to know how to fix the issue.
Does anyone know of another softwarre that I can enhance my podcasts with?
February 27th, 2008 at 2:33 am
May I share your hatred for garageband’s shitty shittiness? Dealing with it has made me want to murder everyone and myself countless times.