[macvoiceover] Re: GarageBand 6 and EQ?
- From: Bryan Smart <bryansmart@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "macvoiceover@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <macvoiceover@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2011 04:04:30 -0500
Sorry Keith, but there is no real help for this. You generally draw a curve
with the mouse to set EQ. That's part of the whole visual EQ concept. VoiceOver
can't see any controls in the window, UI automation offers no help, and there
isn't any Applescript control of it.
The only way that I know to work it is through a control surface. The iControl
could do it, I think.
I had a hack to get a control surface that uses Logic Control protocol to work
with GarageBand, and was using my ProjectMix with it, but I don't use it
anymore. There are a lot of conflicts.
The very sad situation about GarageBand is that, not only is it limited in what
it can do, but it's crippled on purpose, in very specific and intended ways, to
annoy you so that you'll upgrade. This isn't normally so bad. Sure, Logic
Studio is something like $500, but, for those on limited budgets, Logic Express
is only something like $80. If you're really in to recording, $80 is not much
at all to spend, and you get a lot for that money. Of course, our problem is
that, due to the accessibility problems, even if we want to, and we do want to,
we can't upgrade at any price. I'd consider it a bargain if I could pay Apple
$1,000 for an accessible version. For the type of music that I make, the Logic
line of sequencers has a really great workflow, and would give me much better
results, in a shorter period of time, then I can get with either Sonar or Pro
Tools. It, of course, isn't available at any price, though.
Things are getting better. The plug ins in Logic have accessible user
interfaces, to some extent, if you're aware of a few qwerks. Much of the
interface is accessible. However, the arrange group is totally inaccessible, so
changing track parameters, selecting and editing regions, and other key
functions are out of bounds. Unlike GarageBand, Logic has 0 support for
Applescript, so no help on that side, either.
It's too bad. Sure, GarageBand is a lot of fun in a way. I've enjoyed playing
with it. You can throw song ideas together quickly. However, when you really
start to create with it, you start running in to walls at every turn.
The included software instruments sound great, but that's because they're only
given presets for the things that they do well. There are all sorts of
essential sounds that they can't create. Even when it comes to something dead
simple, like making a synth program with a filtered saw wave (like for a bass),
you can't do it. You'll look at the analog basic generator, only to discover
that it works exclusively in a poly mode. Okay, so you try the more simple
analog mono generator, but find that you only have the choice of a square or
triangle wave, plus you don't even have a full set of envelope controls to
adjust the amp or filter characteristics. Other generators, like the analog pad
or analog swirl have full envelope control of at least the amp, but they're
locked to a single wave.
Beyond the analog stuff, the effects are crippled. The master and track echoes
are a single stereo delay line with feedback. No ping pong echo or multitap
features are available. The reverb only sounds nice as long as it is quiet. If
you turn it up, it is harsh and metallic. Some effects don't make sense. The
amp sims are stereo, both in and out. If you put an electric piano through an
amp sim, it will still be all spread out in the stereo field when it comes out.
Nothing in the real world ever sounds like that. Effects like auto-wa are so
crippled that they can barely be used. Auto-wa has so few controls, and you
consequently have so little control over it, that it is almost impossible to
use it to color a sound or add a little edge. It's either off, or so dramatic
that it's cheesy. You have absolutely no control over the master compressor,
even if you can see. You can simply pick a preset, and hope that works for your
situation. You don't even get control over the input gain to the master
compressor, which makes it difficult to get a good mix.
When people mix large projects on pro DAWs, they mix groups of instruments in
sections (all of the drums, all of the background vocals, etc), blend the
groups together, work out the over-all level of the project, and finally shape
the dynamics and EQ curve of the whole song. GarageBand doesn't have buses, nor
does it support mix groups, so you can't combine tracks in to groups. You must
mix all of your tracks as one group. This is frustrating, but can still be
managed in most DAWs. You can simply pull down all of the levels, bring up your
tracks in priority order (bring up and mix the drums, bring up and mix the
bass, bring up the guitars and rhythm keyboard parts, etc), until you have
everything balanced. This is difficult in GarageBand, though, as you don't have
access to any meters, and so can't tell if the combination of signals is too
loud, and will end up clipping the master bus when you export. You can avoid
that by mixing everything together at a much more quiet level than necessary,
but then you're probably going to have an over-all level that is way lower than
the presets in the master compressor expect. With most DAWs, you'd select a
preset for your master compressor, and turn up its input gain so that the
signal coming in is at the right level, but that isn't possible in GarageBand
It seems like GarageBand will be a fun scratch pad to run on my MacBook, but I
can't do anything professional with it. Music would come out sounding like it
was mixed in a project studio by someone that was totally oblivious, when,
actually, the needed tools were unavailable to me.
Hopefully, we'll get access to Logic soon. Until then, Pro Tools and Sonar
still remain necessary for anything beyond play and tinkering.
It's a sad situation, though, for people that just have a casual interest in
recording music. They don't have a need that justifies spending a lot for
something like Pro Tools or Sonar. The low end versions of Logic are supposed
to fill that need, but can't. So, people with a casual interest either must
spend a lot of money for a big DAW package, or else deal with the intentional
limitations and roadblocks that have been put in to GarageBand.
Bryan
-----Original Message-----
From: macvoiceover-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:macvoiceover-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Keith Reedy
Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2011 4:52 PM
To: macvoiceover@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [macvoiceover] GarageBand 6 and EQ?
Hi folks,
Has any one figured out a way to do a better job with EQ in GarageBand 6? I
have been able to use the presets, but, I was hoping for a 10 band EQ, or, a 5
band, or, even a 3 band EQ. Am I just missing it?
Keith Reedy
Click the link below to download MP3's of Keith Reedy's music as a gift from
Bibles For The Blind.
http://biblesfortheblind.org/download_music.shtml
God gives His best to those who leave the choice with Him. J Hudson Taylor.
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