My first GarageBand song

[JeroMiya]

This is my very first song from GarageBand. Indeed, the first song I've made with any program like GarageBand. But, before you cringe in fear, have a listen and then tell me what ya think. Keep in mind, I have absolutely no background in music theory, lol.

http://homepage.mac.com/jeremybell/AdventureOrchestra.m4a
Copyright (c) 2004 Jeremy Bell. All rights reserved.


*clicks "Submit New Thread", then ducks*
Jeremy Bell

[Nick]

I do have a musical background and I can say that this is good work. I don't think the slow intro quite fit but the rest of the song clicked very well. I especially liked the drum's entrance. All in all a very nice piece.

[Jake]

certainly better than my first musical creation in GB. Did you use all apple loops in there or did you actually record your own stuff?

[Steven]

Quite interesting. It's very good compared to what I've heard from some other first-time composers :p

[blobbo]

Wow, excellent work! This is a big compliment from me - I'm a classical violinist in my last year of my Bachelors degree in Music Performance, and I've got a lot of musical experience/knowledge under my belt. Plus I'm a snob ;)

Seriously, though, nice texturing of the strings. You make the string quartet texture sound really nice, and the string parts are realistic and convincing. The drums are funky, but the samples are dragging you down. Still, excellent work! I found myself doing a harmonic analysis of your song on the fly, which is something I don't do often! A Vb9! Wow! Nicely used, too - it resolves properly :) Good job.

[aaronsullivan]

Hey, blobbo don't get to excited about the strings part, it's all loops made by professionals. :) The piano blends in quite nicely however, and that particular piano and string section was a good combination of loops. Besides the first sustained 3 notes was anything played by you, JeroMiya? It certainly shows how exciting it can be to get into garageband. It's pretty addictive, and it leads you to want to make more and more sophisticated music once the use of the loops for some instruments becomes limited and familiar.

Keep playing with it!

[JeroMiya]

Lol, I have neither the equipment nor the skill to perform my own loops, beyond the simple, mundane melodies I've been able to construct thus far. This song was created entirely with loops from GarageBand and the Jampack, though I installed the jampack in the middle of working on this song. The only modifications I have done is to change the instrument on the piano loops towards the end and then blend it in with the original piano loops. And also to vary the volume on some of the tracks subtly throughout the song so that the beat and violin tracks didn't drown out the piano and music box track. I haven't yet experimented with applying effects and such to tracks.

[blobbo]

Here I am thinking that someone here has some incredible innate skill for complex harmonic progressions, and it's all a fraud!

Heh, just kidding - your mix is nice. Keep going with this - you've got an ear for it.

[Darkgold]

I have only used Garageband a few times, but I still think I could give some advice.

That first transition, where you bring in the piano and change string loops, is very abrupt. Not as smooth as you'd want it to be. My suggestion would be to either move the piano loop back a bit and fade it in as the strings change. Or move it forward and have it fade in after the strings change.

Now, I must give you some praise though around 1:05, when you bringing in the urban beat and mix it in with the piano. I really like the sound you have going there. The strings as well fit in great with the beat.

At about 1:54 when you add in that little techno-ish bells(not exactly sure what they are) it reminds me of something I'd hear off of Crash Bandicoot Warped. However, it kind of feels like you chang things up a bit too faster after that, leaving not enough time to enjoy what sounds you have going. But that may be more personal opinion.

If you care at all, here's a link to a song I put together in Garageband using only apple's loops. http://homepage.mac.com/jansanders/Respect The Banjo(v2).mp3