How Do I Get A Good Distortion Tone Out Of Garageband?

[JaySwear]

exactly as the title states... i've tried all their combinations of amps and effects and still am not happy with anything i've managed to come up with! right now it's really my "main" rig. my crappy practice amp is just not doing it for me right now, and any money i've got is going into my current warmoth project. i've heard a few tips like "layer the amps" by copy and pasting my riffs and using two or more different amps. but anything "metal" just sounds insanely processed and awful to me. should i try throwing my own distortion pedal between my guitar and laptop? i'll probably try that tomorrow, but thought i'd see if anybody had any tips they're used for garageband (or other programs). thanks for any help!

if i can figure this out maybe i can finally participate in some of those warmoth music compilations :icon_biggrin: maybe.

 

[dNA]

At the end of the day, no amount of tweaking GarageBand will make it sound like vaccuum tubes and a speaker cabinet. The distortion is going to sound aweful and processed because it is - and the more gain you layer on the more digitized it ends up sounding.

One thing I have found is that while the tone might sound bad and fake by itself, in the context of a mix and just listening back to it often sounds very different. Often if you take a well-mixed song and you isolate individual elements, they won't sound as huge and amazing as you perceive them to be, because they need to fit in a mix. So if you're doing this for recording purposes, just try and work with what you got and don't kill yourself trying to get that killer tone first.
If you're using it just for practice, get a decent amp. And that money you're going to put into a Warmoth? Put that into an amp. Because a great guitar through a s*** amp is going to sound like s***, but an OK guitar through a great amp is going to sound damn near professional.

 

[Cagey]

dNA's advice is very good. The only thing I'd add is you'd be wasting your time trying to process the signal going into GarageBand. You can't overdrive solid state inputs like you can analog inputs - it sounds absolutely awful - and it only gets worse when you're running that into an A->D front end that digitizes your signal. It's so bad, you'll think something's broken.

 

[Superlizard]

Confucious say, man cannot polish turd.

 

[AutoBat]

AmpliTube works with Garageband.

 

[Cagey]

Confucious say, man cannot polish turd.

Well, you can, but it'll still be a turd <grin>

 

[JaySwear]

thanks for the replies everybody! i definitely won't be trying to get pro-sounding distortion out of garageband. i won't be setting unrealistic goals for my distorted sound, but garageband's selection is pretty damn pathetic as far as high gain goes :sad1:

i definitely will be investing in an amp, but since i haven't gigged or been in a band in 3 or 4 years i just didn't see the need for it. i sold off my half stack because i just didn't use it (and we couldn't get to the washer and dryer with it in the laundry room :icon_biggrin: ) but i think a nice tiny 15 watt tube amp is in my future. the only reason i'm putting my money into warmoth now is that i really miss having a floyd system. should have kept my old ibanez 570!

anyway a friend of mine wants to record a few acoustic cover songs and it got my thinking about adding in a quick solo of some kind. the acoustic will be easy. i've got a rockband mic (yes, for xbox 360!) and it sounds surprisingly good when hooked up to garageband. i tried micing my amp at one point but it's not NEARLY as good. anyway i'll check out amplitude. thanks guys!

 

[jay4321]

For metal, you can go with the Line 6 x3 Live. Works pretty well and a couple of the models are pretty good. Not a true substitute for a big badass tube setup but you can get them on sale for about $400 or so new. I went thru GuitarRig 3 and amplitube and some others but the L6 had the best modeling for that. Especially nice if you live in a place where you can't crank an amp and are looking to do a little recording, particularly with metal.

In a perfect world, you've got an awesome tube head + cab and mic it well, but that's not always an option for everyone.

 

[JaySwear]

yeah, unfortunately in my room getting even a small 1x12 amp might mean i have to rearrange furniture to get a good spot for it. the good thing for me is that i don't live in an apartment anymore, so i don't feel as bad when i want to play loudly!

 

[stubhead]

1) Unplug computer
2) Soak computer in bathtub for eight hours
3) Plug computer back in
4) Connect headphones to computer & put them on
5) turn computer on

That brief, yet profound, little ~ BZZZT!!! ~ is the best distortion sound you will ever, ever get out of your computer.

 

[mayfly]

I've used a tonelab with good results in garage band.  Forget the models in garageband -

 

[swarfrat]

Not true, it's realtively easy to get awesome distorted guitar tones out of your computer. As long as you have awesome distorted guitar tones going in in the first place. JTM45/1960B/SM57 oughta do it.

 

[JaySwear]

i ran my cable through my beloved distortion pedal and then into garageband and was really impressed! i think the presets garageband has for clean tones and slightly over driven stuff is pretty good (not great, but good) but their heavier modern tones are AWFUL. anyway i'm just a bedroom player looking to screw around a little more with recording and hopefully getting some improvement out of my playing by doing it. i feel like i've really hit a wall with my playing, so hopefully this will help some.

mayfly, didn't you say somewhere that you recorded an album (or a few songs) in garageband? everything i've heard from your band i was impressed with, so if so that definitely gives me some hope! i might be thinking of another board member, but i can't remember now. anyway my chording is decent, but my leads need some serious work. i guess i can practice around with laying down some songs and then soloing over them.

thanks again for the responses. if i come up with anything interesting i'll post a link to anything i post on my purevolume account. it all sounded good through my headphones, but as somebody else said everything sounds just a little bit different in the middle of a mix.

 

[mayfly]

mayfly, didn't you say somewhere that you recorded an album (or a few songs) in garageband? everything i've heard from your band i was impressed with, so if so that definitely gives me some hope! i might be thinking of another board member, but i can't remember now. anyway my chording is decent, but my leads need some serious work. i guess i can practice around with laying down some songs and then soloing over them.

Yep - the album is now out:

http://www.cornflowerbluemusic.com/music/music.html

For some song samples, check here:

http://www.cornflowerbluemusic.com/music/assets/

 

[jimh]

Confucious say, man cannot polish turd.

But you can roll it in glitter  :icon_tongue:

 

[stubhead]

I like to stick dried macaroni noodles to mine and spray paint it gold - don't you guys watch Martha Stewart? :icon_scratch:

 

[Cagey]

Yeah, but Martha Stewart doesn't glue macaroni to things - you're thinking of Romper Room. Ms. Stewart likes to arrange yard waste into something only a spider would find attractive and spray that.

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

Man, I hate garageband soo freakin much. At school in the 9th grade, one my assignments was to compose a 5 minute piece in garageband, using apple macs from like 1998.

Guitar pro 6 on the other hand... Love it! It's dist. sounds are pretty tasty.

 

[JaySwear]

Man, I hate garageband soo freakin much. At school in the 9th grade, one my assignments was to compose a 5 minute piece in garageband, using apple macs from like 1998.

Guitar pro 6 on the other hand... Love it! It's dist. sounds are pretty tasty.

haha yeah, i definitely understand. i'm just trying to make due since it was free. if i REALLY improve then it might be worth it to invest in some cool recording stuff, but for now it's just good enough and i'm ok with that. of course seeing that Guitar Pro 6 is only $50 makes me wonder...

 

[Superlizard]

Confucious say, man cannot polish turd.

But you can roll it in glitter  :icon_tongue:

HAH!

:icon_thumright: