a eggamuffin	2006-09-26 22:31
New macs come with a program called Garage Band, which is a music editing package - I'm starting to get the hang of it - Apple did a great job of making what's normally difficult into a user friendly thing. (seriously, if this were a review, I'd be gushing and slobbering about it - it's really good) We've accumulated a bunch of guitars and amps, and to fill out the set, I picked up a cheap electric bass guitar at a nearby pawnshop. I've never really played one before - at first I was tempted to use a guitar pick, but I knew that most bass players don't use one, so I set out to learn how to use my fingers. Plunged into it with no instruction or internet research on technique, which is kind of dumb. It's not at all easy - fatigue sets in fast. I'm a right handed (six-string) guitar player, and my left (fretting) hand does pretty well on the bass, but my right hand, doing the plucking and slapping, has a way to go. I picked up an instrument -> USB cable at Target, which let's you go straight into the computer - not bad, but there's some noise on the minimac (to be embraced, rather than regretted) - maybe it's better with more upscale models. With the levels set right, it does sound surprisingly good. Here's a mp3 made with the stuff (unabashedly ripping off the main bass riff from Bob Marley's "Stir it up"). Get the Flash Player to see this player.
/music permanent link

4 comments

josey wrote

That's cool that you can hook up directly to the computer, I guess it makes sense that you should. How awesome! That sounds like fun.

josey wrote

I just listened to the mps--it sounds really good on my new speakers. With the "Garage Band" are you just editing music, or are you able to play background, canned tracks? Meaning, did you personally record all of the instruments from that mp3?

josh wrote

I played the bass and the electric guitar, each through that cable in the picture. I used two pre-existing drum loops from Garage Band, and one animal sound effect. I searched the internet for a set of steel drum samples that were compatible (EXS24) and spliced them in following a procedure I found in another web search, then "played" them with a music keyboard that attaches via another USB cable. Then, mixed the various tracks, applied a little reverb to the master track and exported to mp3.

josey wrote

That's pretty cool, Josh. I have a CD of Steel Drum music that is on my hard drive in mp3 format. Would you like me to send you any files? Also, what other things are there to choose from in the Garage Band--I suppose I can look that up on the internet.