Audacity

Audacity is a cross-platform, multi-track recording software.  Which means that it is like garage band in the fact that it will layer sounds, but it works on Windows computers.  It doesn’t have all of the tools and plug-ins and is less visually appealing than other audio software.  I have done my fair share of audio work using audacity, but only for importing audio files and exporting them as mp3s.  There  are a few plug-ins on their website like loops and an mp3 encoder. The loops are built for Windows platforms, so I can’t demonstrate them on my mac.

You could just use the program to record voices or an acoustic instrument through the microphone on your computer. Or import a soundtrack from another source.

Here is a link to download the software.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/

Here is a link to download additional plug-ins for Audacity (be sure to download the right plug-in for your operating system).

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/plugins

2011
09/12
CATEGORY
music programs
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Garage Band

As an avid mac user, I am very partial to mac-only programs. So it only makes sense that I start with them. Macs have been used for the past few years throughout the fine arts industry, and since then, several programs have emerged to enhance the capability of what is possible. But they’re all WAY too expensive for most people to buy and just mess around, and as far as I know, Garage Band is the only such program I know of that comes free on the mac.

I have yet to master Garage  Band. Not because i don’t use it often, but because of the amount of tools available.  Immediately out of the box, your mac can create music using the in app loops. You could make your own loops using the microphone or a plug in instrument like a keyboard or electric guitar. If you do not have your own keyboard to plug in, there is also an on-screen keyboard you can peck out notes on, but in my experience, using a real one gives you more of an expressive advantage.

 

There are too many loops on garage band for me to sit down and count. So, I’m going to give you a rough estimate  of  ten trillion bazillion (it’s a real word). I mean, there are limitless possibilities of what you or anyone who uses your mac could create.

Below are a few songs I have created using only the loops available in Garage Band. I know I have reused a couple of loops in a few songs. I did that to show you the flexibility of what is possible with this program.

… or not because i cannot upload any kind of music file. maybe later

2011
09/01
CATEGORY
music programs
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Computers in the music industry

Computers have been used to make music since the early 70s. But back then, computers weren’t what we think of now. Almost forty years later, we have a wide variety of programs and instruments that help to create music using our computers. Professionals can use programs such as Sibelius or Finale to write out entire scores of sheet music for ensembles, and novice musicians can have their hand at creating music through garage band on mac or the wide variety of programs for windows based computers.

I will be exploring most of those programs in later posts i make throughout the rest of this school year.

2011
08/29
CATEGORY
music programs
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