Free GarageBand Plugins GarageBand for MacOS comes loaded with many excellent plugins and effects that you can use to shape your sounds and mix your projects to a professional level. One of the best things about GarageBand is that you can install third party Audio Unit plugins, which really opens up some exciting sonic possibilities. Apple Garageband is a novelty (like most Apple products) but also receives its own share of skepticism from amateur music producers who cite it as being very limited in terms of tools.Like most DAWs, Garageband supports plugins, but it does so in the Audio Unit (AU) format as opposed to the more common VST plugins.
So You Want To Record Authentic-Sounding Guitar In Your DAW
In this article, I'll show you exactly how to plug your guitar into GarageBand. The way that I find works best is the most convenient and sounds pretty good as well while minimizing latency and other problems.
How to Plug Your Guitar Into GarageBand
There are a few different ways of doing this, and some are significantly better than others. I'm just going to show you the way that I do it.
I have a couple of pieces of necessary gear:
- Obviously, your guitar.
- A Firewire to USB Cable
- an Audio Interface (I use the Focusrite Saffire 6USB. The Scarlett 2i2 is good too.)
- A USB-C to USB cable (The only reason this adapter is necessary is I'm using the latest edition of the MacBook Pro. The older generation MacBook Pro doesn't need this adapter).
- Regular Guitar Cable.
If you're new to music production, understand that a lot of this equipment will come in handy for years to come.
If you're serious about recording and producing, much of this equipment and more are a necessity, so just grab some of it off Amazon and be done with it.
Without further ado,
The actual steps:
Mozilla firefox kostenlos herunterladen. 1) Connect your Firewire cable to your MacBook Pro. In most cases, this cable will come with your purchase of an audio interface, or a MIDI keyboard. However, if you don't have one for whatever reason, I'm sure you can pick one up from Amazon for cheap.
2) Usually, the port for the firewire cable is on the back of the Audio Interface. Plug the other part of the firewire cable into the back of the Audio Interface.
In my case, the Firewire to USB has to go into the USB-C adapter that I mentioned earlier.
3) Now, assuming you have the Focusrite Saffire 6USB, it should be powered by your computer. You don't have to plug it in or anything like that, so all of its lights will turn on which you can see on the front of the unit.
4) Open GarageBand.
5) Click 'Open Project,' or one of your old existing files. It doesn't matter.
6) Once it brings up the 'Choose A Track Type Page,' Click on where it says: 'Built-in Input.'
7) This should be all that's needed for this part of the process. However, assuming this is the first time that you've ever done this, it wouldn't be a bad idea to click on where it says, 'Built-in Output.'
8) That should bring up your 'Output' and 'Input' Devices under the Audio-MIDI region preferences.
9) Make sure you've selected 'Built-in Output,' if you're using your computer as your speaker, or the speakers that are hooked up to your laptop.
10) Select your Audio Interface for the 'Input Device.'
11) Now, once you're back at the 'Choose A Track Type Page,' then click on one of the two subheadings below, either the 'Guitar option,' or the 'Microphone option.' This should bring up your MIDI Region and all of your controls.
12) In the 'Smart Controls Area,' make sure that you've selected your audio-interface where it says, 'Input.'
13) Now, plug your guitar into the front of your Audio Interface.
14) Click on the 'Monitoring Button,' which looks like an upside down Wi-Fi symbol. This part is important, otherwise, you won't be able to hear what you're even playing.
Multimedia hard disk. 15) You can now select whatever kind of amp you want, whether it's a 'clean guitar,' 'crunch guitar,' 'acoustic guitar,' 'distorted guitar,' 'experimental guitar,' 'clean bass,' 'crunch bass,' and 'experimental bass.'
16) You want to hit the 'Monitoring' button beside your track-header as well. I've highlighted the upside down Wi-Fi-looking symbol with a black circle. It'll turn orange once it's been selected.
Under each heading, there are quite a few options that all sound pretty good, especially after you tweak them to your preferences.
And it's pretty much as simple as that. Terraria biggest house.
There are some problems that you can run into when doing all of this for the very first time. For that reason, I'll explain some of the problems that I've had when I first started out.
Common Problems and Annoyances As A Beginner
1) Make sure that the gain on your Audio-Interface isn't turned up too much, otherwise, you're going to be feeding GarageBand too hot of a signal, which will make it sound distorted and bad.
2) Make sure the 'Pad,' and 'Inst,' buttons are turned off on your audio interface, assuming you own a Focusrite Saffire 6USB. I imagine there are similar controls on other audio interface models.
I find that these buttons make the signal too powerful as well, and thus, create distortion.
3) Latency. I've never actually had latency problems when using an Audio Interface, but some people do have this problem. I have an entire article on Latency which you can read more about here.
Essentially, if you're having latency issues, there could be a number of different causes, however, most of them will be a result of your set-up and incorrect settings for your gear.
For instance, you want to make sure that – if you're running more than one track – you have the monitoring button turned on for only one of them, rather than every single track.
Other Ways Of Recording Your Guitar In GarageBand
1) You can also use your MacBook's microphone. This is for very rough demos, obviously, because this way of doing it is going to make a very low-quality recording. However, if you're desperate, and want to record something, this method will work.
- To do this, you just open a new 'Audio' track in your workspace.
- And then click on the 'Record' button.
- Start playing the guitar with your amplifier close to it, and that should be enough for a very rough demo.
2) You can also purchase a Guitar to USB cable and hook your guitar directly up to GarageBand. This is an inferior way of recording guitar tracks as well, but it works if you're running on a string budget.
(This is what a guitar-jack to USB looks like. I don't own one so I couldn't take a picture. I had to piece these two images together, but this is what it looks like).
GarageBand will immediately recognize this as an input, so you don't have to worry about there being compatibility issues.
However, like the method above, you'll likely run into latency.
3) Use a small portable audio interface if you plan on only running one instrument through your DAW. This is pretty much the same as the main method which I described in detail above.
The only difference is that you'll be using a much smaller, and likely, limited audio interface. The good thing about this is that it's relatively inexpensive. Small interfaces are becoming exceedingly popular, like the iRig for example.
I haven't picked one of these up yet, but once I start traveling around Europe, I imagine I'll eventually purchase one. I'll make sure to write a review on it once I do.
Update: You have to use the iRig HD if you want it to work with a PC computer or Mac. The iRig 2 is only good for mobile.
4) Another popular way would be to mic your guitar amplifier up to your audio interface and then through GarageBand.
This is a decent option, but I prefer just to run my guitar directly through GarageBand, rather than doing this. Amplifiers are too big and cumbersome, and I would much rather limit the amount of gear I own.
Before playing your guitar in GarageBand, know that there's an actually fairly useful tuning mechanism set up in the DAW. It's not as good as a good old fashioned Korg tuner, but it still works pretty well. I usually use it if I'm too lazy to go over and grab my tuner.
You can read more about other audio interfaces on my recommended gear page.
How To Tune Your Guitar Using GarageBand
1) Your guitar is plugged into your audio interface in the computer, so it's as simple as clicking on the tuning fork beside the center of the DAW where it shows the time signature, tempo, and key signature.
2) When you click on the tuning fork icon, it'll bring up the meter where you can tune your guitar.
Other Features
One of the great things about using a DAW for your guitar is all of the great VST plug-ins that you can use for your guitar.
For example, you can download amplifier simulators and cabs for your set up, and while it may not sound good as the original which the plug-ins are modeled after, they still sound good enough to use, and they're good enough for the vast majority of people who aren't tone-purists.
I'll show you how to download plug-ins into your DAW in a later article.
That's all for now. If this helped you out, do me a favor and share it on social media.
YouTube Video Tutorial
Conclusion
I hope this was helpful to you. Share it on social media, it would be greatly appreciated.
Of all the elements that need mixing, vocals are often the most difficult to get right. For one thing, they leave the deepest impression on most listeners. A good vocal line with well-crafted lyrics can make or break a song. But more than that, the human voice presents unique challenges. Unlike other instruments or electronic signals, human vocals rely on complex biology to function. No single take will be identical to another, nor will any attempt be 'perfect.' Tone, projection, pitch, and pronunciation will always vary for better or worse. And no matter way you slice it, vocals need to both stand out and blend in. Fortunately, several types of vocal plugins can help mitigate the unwanted variation of the human voice, and enhance the natural qualities of it as well.
You could spend weeks scavenging the web for all the vocal plugins out there. But to save you some time, we've compiled the 10 best vocal plugins on the market right now. Some of them don't even cost a penny. From vocal effects to compressors and de-essers, these vocal plugins will prepare you for any project. Let's take a look!
The Waves plugins
Best Plugins For Garageband
Waves offers so many great plugins we could fill an entire list filled with only them. Their collection of vocal plugins runs the gamut, filling every need possible when mixing vocals. Rather than list them all, we'll talk about four that make a huge difference.
1. Waves Vocal Rider
This little tool will save you hours on mix automation and compression down the line. The vocal rider essentially automates the volume level in real time so that the vocals don't stray too far from an even volume. The plugin detects the vocal track as well as the rest of the mix, keeping everything in context. In other words, you won't have to go through and manually adjust clip gain or overcompress your vocal tracks. Just let the vocal rider do the work for you.
2. Waves MV2
The Waves MV2 isn't specifically a vocal plugin, but it's especially useful when mixing vocals. Once the vocal rider we just mentioned does its job, the MV2 can step in and bring the vocals right up front. The plugin offers faders for both low-level and high-level compression with automatic make-up gain. This means you have full intuitive dynamic control.
3. Waves Aphex Vintage Aural Exciter
Like the MV2, the Aphex vintages aural exciter works wonders at bringing the vocal track to the front. However, it does this in a different way. We've already discussed how aural exciters work. In short, an exciter acts as a harmonic distortion effect and phase shifter. Tweaking these parameters results in more clarity and brightness in the mix. The Aphex Vintage Aural Exciter is one of the best and most popular exciter plugins.
4. Waves Reel ADT
This plugin, an emulation of the artificial double tracking processor used for Abbey Road, serves a very specific function. If you're looking for the stereo vocal sound the Beatles pioneered, look no further. The Reel ADT plugin was actually designed in conjunction with Abbey Road Studios. How's that for authentic?
Other great vocal plugins
Now let's get into some other vocal plugins (not made by Waves) to add to your arsenal–a de-esser, a reverb, and a synthesizer.
5. FabFilter Pro-DS
This de-esser has become the go-to for many engineers and producers. With a highly intelligent sibilance detection system, the plugin finds any instance of sibilance and highlights it on the waveform. You can adjust the threshold, range, and other parameters of the Pro-DS. Because the Pro-DS does such a great job of detecting and removing sibilance, it can also help limit other high-frequencies (i.e. drums or full mixes).
6. Lexicon PCM Native Reverb
For truly professional sounding reverb, you can't get better than the Lexicon PCM Native Reverb bundle. In this bundle, you'll find vintage plate, hall, room, chamber, and several other types of reverb. Each one offers distinct qualities with hundreds of presets. These plugins won't come cheap, but they offer the highest quality, natural sounding vocal reverb.
7. iZotope VocalSynth 2
If you produce in the EDM, pop, or hip-hop realm, this vocal synth has it all. The VocalSynth 2 comes packed with five vocal processors, each with specific relevant controls. The plugin even offers Biovox, with controls that mimic or reduce natural human vocal qualities (breath, nasality, etc.) With hundreds of presets, you'll find what you're going for in no time. Plus, iZotope's characteristically easy to use interface just adds icing to the cake.
Freebies
Free Garageband Plugins For Mac
Even if you lack some spare change your vocals don't have to suffer. Here are three more vocal plugins that are absolutely free.
Plugins Para Garageband Pro
8. Voxengo Oldskoolverb
This one made it onto our list of the 25 best Mac free plugins, and for good reason. The Voxengo Oldskoolverb provides a vintage reverb effect for any instrument, but it perhaps works best on vocals.
9. Acon Digital Multiply chorus
Acon Digital makes great free plugins (see Acon Digital Reverb in our 25 best Mac free plugins list). The Multiply chorus is no exception. This plugin perhaps works best for background vocals, as it spreads the sound along the stereo field and adds warmth.
10. Flux BitterSweet
Perhaps the simplest of the vocal plugins on this list, the free version of Flux Bittersweet features just one knob. On the left you'll see 'sweet,' and the right, 'bitter.' The more 'bitter,' the sharper the consonants. The 'sweeter' side reduces transients. If used on vocals, this plugin can emphasize harsh consonants for a punchier sound. It might not look like much, but this plugin can pack a punch.
Conclusion
The 10 vocal plugins listed here are certainly some of the most powerful tools you can have for mixing vocals. However, so many other great plugins exist, too. This list only scratches the surface. Still, it should give you plenty to mess around with until you're ready to explore even more vocal plugins.
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