Comments on: GarageBand sucks

By: Jed

Jed — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 02:33:38 +0000

May I share your hatred for garageband’s shitty shittiness? Dealing with it has made me want to murder everyone and myself countless times.

By: susieretrofutur

susieretrofutur — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 03:56:39 +0000

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?

By: Minor Planets

Minor Planets — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 18:10:25 +0000

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.

By: Hashim

Hashim — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 07:26:30 +0000

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 :)

By: Ian Eure

Ian Eure — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 03:43:10 +0000

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.

By: Ken

Ken — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 15:56:45 +0000

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!

By: Thinking Aloud » Garage Band Woes

Thinking Aloud » Garage Band Woes — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 22:04:05 +0000

[...] 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: [...]

By: Adam

Adam — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 05:22:41 +0000

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!)

By: Ian Eure

Ian Eure — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 23:17:36 +0000

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.

By: Adam

Adam — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 04:24:06 +0000

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.