DAW, smacks forehead.. wish it were easier

[stuntbass77]

So I’m coming from 20 years of GarageBand and with a gifted PC ( just a sixth gen i3 ) I am finding through my research that there is no substitute for GarageBand. I just need plug and play with things like chorus, reverb, compression, delay, and some echo. I also need and use about 4-10 tracks. I downloaded reaper to test and watched a hour long tutorial on how to use it. I understand that it is a mature DAW in garage fan is seen more as an entry level. GarageBand however does everything I needed to do and very easily. The quality as far as I’m concerned is very good and just about anybody could plug it in and figure it out without any help. The problem is the tutorials that I’m finding most of them their reaper screen looks different and set up different than mine. They are running windows 10 as well. I’ll probably be able to figure it out at least once I understand how reaper works. The problem is the first video didn’t explain that you need to set up a folder on your desktop and tell reaper to send your work to said folder and that fine but would be the thing I would have started with if I were the one making the video on how to use it. There is a part two in the video tutorial and maybe he will get into that but again that should have been in the first one. The second video seems to get more into things outside the basics. I just wish there was a program that has what I need and doesn’t cost over $100, or to mention works easy so I can concentrate on creating music. I’m not so old as I cannot learn but seems like GarbageBand has no competition in this category. Sorry, just ranting !

 

[Tosh]

It's a Mac vs Windows thing, really. One reason GarageBand is (relatively) easy to quickly get working with is because of the tight integration with Mac OS.

If it were me (and it was, years ago) I would plan on getting a Mac, and not a new one. I say this because you are right - there's nothing to replace GarageBand in the Windows universe

 

[stuntbass77]

It's a Mac vs Windows thing, really. One reason GarageBand is (relatively) easy to quickly get working with is because of the tight integration with Mac OS.

If it were me (and it was, years ago) I would plan on getting a Mac, and not a new one. I say this because you are right - there's nothing to replace GarageBand in the Windows universe

I agree. I wish the second hand market was better for used mac’s. Yes, some can be had for what seems like dirt cheap but the fine print usually gives away there may be an issue with it or doesn’t come with OS not installed. The prices some people are asking for a 10 year old Mac is just crazy. I mean lost of them are running El Capitan which is not supported and they want like $200 and up for a Mac mini that sold for like $600 new 10 years ago. I absolutely love Mac but I’m seeing how much cheaper one can get a pic that is running windows 10 and still has life left in it.

 

[pfschim]

OTOH, I would say that as a reasonably capable DAW user (Cakewalk, Ableton, Reaper) I find Garage Band, which I'm admittedly not super experienced with, maddeningly difficult to do what I would consider simple stuff with. I would never call it an obvious DAW, it has a learning curve like anything else. I have it on an iPad Mini 4 for use when I travel. I primarily use Amplitube and an iRig pro on the iPad for that purpose but have tried to do what I would consider pretty simple stuff with Garage Band ... like loading an mp3/wav file and adding a bass track to it ... or even tying to use some of the smart instruments to add a layer to a basic track. Not at all obvious how to do either of those things .. at least to me.

so, I'd say (again) that all these great tools with tons of features and capabilities and just need to be learned. None of them, IME anyway, are just install and go type tools unfortunately.

 

[stuntbass77]

OTOH, I would say that as a reasonably capable DAW user (Cakewalk, Ableton, Reaper) I find Garage Band, which I'm admittedly not super experienced with, maddeningly difficult to do what I would consider simple stuff with. I would never call it an obvious DAW, it has a learning curve like anything else. I have it on an iPad Mini 4 for use when I travel. I primarily use Amplitube and an iRig pro on the iPad for that purpose but have tried to do what I would consider pretty simple stuff with Garage Band ... like loading an mp3/wav file and adding a bass track to it ... or even tying to use some of the smart instruments to add a layer to a basic track. Not at all obvious how to do either of those things .. at least to me.

so, I'd say (again) that all these great tools with tons of features and capabilities and just need to be learned. None of them, IME anyway, are just install and go type tools unfortunately.

I agree that all have some learning curve. I have never tried the iOS version of GarageBand. I have tried the free versions of protocols, ableton, and audacity ( I know audacity is not really the same as the others ). I have found that the others are indeed harder. I know this is very much subjective. Not trying to say you are wrong in your experiences, just voicing mine

 

[DirtDog]

It's a Mac vs Windows thing, really. One reason GarageBand is (relatively) easy to quickly get working with is because of the tight integration with Mac OS.

If it were me (and it was, years ago) I would plan on getting a Mac, and not a new one. I say this because you are right - there's nothing to replace GarageBand in the Windows universe

Agreed. There’s nothing in PC world to replace GarageBand. Only thing I can think of that comes close to the GN UI is BandLab. But still doesn’t have half the functionality of GB.

My first experience with GB was before my daughter was born. At the in-laws for the holidays, got onto my father-in-law’s new iMac 27” and spent a few hours stitching together a bunch of “tunes” .....really just Drummer + Loops. But that was enough to break my spell of working in Cakewalk on a PC and get myself a Mac. It’s just what worked to spark a bit of creativity for me. YMMV.

 

[Mrmatt1972]

The preferences menu in reaper is your friend. Really pretty easy once you get your interface and reaper talking to each other. Double click to make a track, choose your input with a dropdown, arm and record. Easy peezy. What reaper doesn't have is built in instruments, and especially drums.

 

[stuntbass77]

The preferences menu in reaper is your friend. Really pretty easy once you get your interface and reaper talking to each other. Double click to make a track, choose your input with a dropdown, arm and record. Easy peezy. What reaper doesn't have is built in instruments, and especially drums.

Admittedly not having the same instruments or one’s “I” feel are easy to dial in is been a bit of a disappointment but I know there many out there to be had and can be used in reaper. I like that GarageBand has always had easy to find usable effects that can be toggled on and off as well as adjusted is very nice. Things like being able to lock a track are super easy as well all the simple dragging and dropping. I would have never needed a tutorial nor have I ever watched one from GarageBand. With the other DAW’s I feel a an absolute need to. Again, reaper is a fully mature DAW and can do things that garage band can’t. For someone as a professional garage band must be maddening as I can’t do as much. But for the home user like me it’s simple and gets the job done. It’s also very cheap after you have bought into a Mac at least. I’m gonna keep plugging away at reaper for now and watch as many videos as I can and hopefully be able to figure it out well enough. I’m hoping to also have enough plug-ins and VST‘s that compare in sound to the ones I use in GarageBand. The ones in garage band are actually quite good. I’ve heard of some professionals even releasing material they recorded with GarageBand . I’m sure it was all mixed in a different program but still goes to show that it’s capable. I’m not happy with how things are going since Steve Jobs is gone and I’m trying to embrace PC, hope I can !

 

[stuntbass77]

Just to be clear maybe it’s just me and coming to a new DAW. Curious if other people feel the same way I do.

 

[ClusterFlux]

I primarily use Amplitube and an iRig pro on the iPad for that purpose but have tried to do what I would consider pretty simple stuff with Garage Band ... like loading an mp3/wav file and adding a bass track to it ... or even tying to use some of the smart instruments to add a layer to a basic track. Not at all obvious how to do either of those things .. at least to me.

Garageband on iOS is a bit different than on OS X.

Adding sound files (MP3, WAV etc) is just drop-and-drag on OS X. Same thing for using any of the built-in loops.

I believe the "smart instruments" are on iOS, though I think the drummers work the same. OS X also has tons of drag-and-drop loops.

It should go without saying that because GB is less powerful than other DAWs (like Reaper, Cakewalk, ProTools etc), it's much easier to learn. That doesn't mean it takes 5 seconds, but it is much faster.

 

[silky smoove]

Just to be clear maybe it’s just me and coming to a new DAW. Curious if other people feel the same way I do.

I feel this way every time I open an unfamiliar DAW. For the record, I’m a professional audio engineer with plenty of experience and any time I’m not in Logic it takes me drastically longer to do basically anything. I’ve also tried on three separate occasions to get into Reaper and I simply can’t. I find the UI and workflow to be unintuitive and clunky, which is entirely a factor of learning and spending most of my time on other DAWs. There’s nothing wrong with it, or any other DAW, it’s just not what I’m used to or prefer.

In other words; It’s not just you.

 

[pfschim]

I agree that all have some learning curve. I have never tried the iOS version of GarageBand. I have tried the free versions of protocols, ableton, and audacity ( I know audacity is not really the same as the others ). I have found that the others are indeed harder. I know this is very much subjective. Not trying to say you are wrong in your experiences, just voicing mine

it's all good man, I'm definitely in the 'use what works best for you" camp. All these things are (hopefully) tools to help us with our creative impulses and its astonishing to me that there are so many available with tons of capabilities. And, as has been said, it's hard to argue with free when it comes to Garage Band on iOS or MacOS.

 

[Wood and Wire]

Might be worth demo-ing Ignite.

It's a radically different approach from most DAWs, and incredibly easy to use - it also has a ton of instruments included, and tight integration with a variety of keyboards / controllers.

Scroll down to see a list of devices that bundle it free - I've no idea how much it costs on its own (it was completely free originally).

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[Chrisk-K]

You like GB. Then, get Logic Pro X.

 

[stuntbass77]

I feel this way every time I open an unfamiliar DAW. For the record, I’m a professional audio engineer with plenty of experience and any time I’m not in Logic it takes me drastically longer to do basically anything. I’ve also tried on three separate occasions to get into Reaper and I simply can’t. I find the UI and workflow to be unintuitive and clunky, which is entirely a factor of learning and spending most of my time on other DAWs. There’s nothing wrong with it, or any other DAW, it’s just not what I’m used to or prefer.

In other words; It’s not just you.

That’s the thing, you found what works for you.

You like GB. Then, get Logic Pro X.

I totally would but my old Mac mini is showing it’s age and not worth the money as the OS I’m running is not supported anymore. I’m running EL capitan which is like running windows 7 or below on a PC. I’ve been limping it along as I love GarageBand but the writing is on the wall and the gifted PC I have will most likely run not only the current windows 10 but the next incarnation of windows as well. I see that my Mac days are coming to an end as they are getting out of reach financially. When I was able to work I alway had a tower ( like a G5 ) and was spoiled as I could upgrade at anytime. I would just get a bunch of pedals and use audacity but at that point I could buy a used Mac that is newer than the one I have now. Now I’m thinking about some of the sweet basses I’ve owned in the past. Gas is real folks and even I get an attack once in a great while Life is feast and famine so you look back and smile at the times that were feast

 

[Deleted member 165050]

Garage Band works equally well on an iPad, and can have as many channels in as your external interface can provide. It's much easier to record and mix on an iPad than I expected when I first tried. And of course you can easily export to a PC or Mac. I'd say if you miss GB but don't want to shell out for a Mac, get an iPad. You can also get a better iPad DAW like Auria if you get into the tablet thing.

 

[Clark W]

So I’m coming from 20 years of GarageBand and with a gifted PC ( just a sixth gen i3 ) I am finding through my research that there is no substitute for GarageBand. I just need plug and play with things like chorus, reverb, compression, delay, and some echo. I also need and use about 4-10 tracks. I downloaded reaper to test and watched a hour long tutorial on how to use it. I understand that it is a mature DAW in garage fan is seen more as an entry level. GarageBand however does everything I needed to do and very easily. The quality as far as I’m concerned is very good and just about anybody could plug it in and figure it out without any help. The problem is the tutorials that I’m finding most of them their reaper screen looks different and set up different than mine. They are running windows 10 as well. I’ll probably be able to figure it out at least once I understand how reaper works. The problem is the first video didn’t explain that you need to set up a folder on your desktop and tell reaper to send your work to said folder and that fine but would be the thing I would have started with if I were the one making the video on how to use it. There is a part two in the video tutorial and maybe he will get into that but again that should have been in the first one. The second video seems to get more into things outside the basics. I just wish there was a program that has what I need and doesn’t cost over $100, or to mention works easy so I can concentrate on creating music. I’m not so old as I cannot learn but seems like GarbageBand has no competition in this category. Sorry, just ranting !

Check out MixCraft Studio by Acoustica.
I have the Pro version which is around $150. The standard version is $75. You can download a fully functional 2 week trial version to test drive.

I have been using Vegas Pro for video editing for over a decade. MixCraft reminds me of it as far as workflow in a lot of ways. So I didn't have much of a learning curve with the software.

Mixcraft 9 Recording Studio multitrack recording software.

 

[Bodeeni]

I use Amplitude by IKmultimedia. It has very good amp modeling and effects along with a very straight forward. I think 2 tracks in the free version. Upgradable to 8. I also have Jamup by positive grid. I think their intro version comes with a very simple 8 track. Also with effects and modeling.

 

[mmon77]

As was said, most every one of the DAWs out there has a vastly different interface and workflow. If you're proficient in one, that doesn't enable you to jump right in to another one without a struggle. Just about every DAW out there can do what you need, but you need to find one that you can get along with.

If I were in your shoes, I'd start downloading demos and trying them all out to see which one you click with.

 

[DirtDog]

That’s the thing, you found what works for you.

I totally would but my old Mac mini is showing it’s age and not worth the money as the OS I’m running is not supported anymore. I’m running EL capitan which is like running windows 7 or below on a PC. I’ve been limping it along as I love GarageBand but the writing is on the wall and the gifted PC I have will most likely run not only the current windows 10 but the next incarnation of windows as well. I see that my Mac days are coming to an end as they are getting out of reach financially. When I was able to work I alway had a tower ( like a G5 ) and was spoiled as I could upgrade at anytime. I would just get a bunch of pedals and use audacity but at that point I could buy a used Mac that is newer than the one I have now. Now I’m thinking about some of the sweet basses I’ve owned in the past. Gas is real folks and even I get an attack once in a great while Life is feast and famine so you look back and smile at the times that were feast

I’m running the latest Logic Pro X on a mid-2013 iMac topped out at El Capitan. Works just fine. I’m even using relatively recent hardware with it no problems.