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Garageband Yosemite Update

Garageband 10.0.3 Yosemite Update – First Impressions

OS X 10.10 Yosemite is here – and with it a brand spanking new update to Garageband 10. Where versions 10.0.01 and 10.0.02 were minor updates, featuring mostly bug fixes and small asthetic changes, 10.0.3 promises to be a more substantial revision.

I’ve spent around 6 hours with Garageband v 10.0.03 so far and i’ve got to be honest, it really looks like Apple have taken on board a lot of the critisism directed at the program in the last year.

It’s fair to say they dropped the ball with the initial release of Garageband 10, stripping away a lot of the features and functionality that users had grown accustomed to in previous versions, not to mention unashamedely omitting basic stuff like a usable Compressor effect and being able to export your project as an MP3 file…

With that said, i’m happy to report that with this update, Apple have taken a HUGE leap in the right direction.

 

In With The Old and The New

Garageband veterans will no doubt remember Garageband ’11’s huge array of built in effects. Great sounding and simple to use, these effects could be applied to any type of track you wished. If you fancied running your drum loops through an amp simulator, or slapping tape echo on your vocals, or even bitcrushing, distorting and pitchshifting that guitar solo – you could.

Not so in Garageband 10 – until now!

That’s right, there’s now a full array of built in effects for you to sink your teeth into. The list includes pretty much all the effects found in Garageband ’11 (6.0.5) , new additions (like the Direction Mixer, Exciter and Enveloper) as well as the ability to run any track type through Garageband 10’s Guitar and (brand new) Bass amps.

 

http://thegaragebandguide.com
Effects are back – with a few new awesome additions!

 Bringing the Bass

A completely new addition to Garageband 10, the Bass amp designer is yet another feature lifted straight from Apple’s premium digital audio workstation, Logic X.

Working in exactly the same way as the existing Guitar amp designer, you have access to dozens of pre-sets, amp head, cab and speaker settings as well as the incredibly useful ability to ‘place’ your selected mic (there’s 3 to choose from) in relation to your speaker.

 

Bass Modeller

 

Your mileage will vary depending on whether you’re jacking in a real Bass or using Garageband’s Software instruments, but it’s incredibly easy to get high quality Bass tones from this thing!

Here’s a small taste of some of the sounds you can get from Garageband’s new Bass amp designer’s pre sets:

 

Size Matters

Asthetically, not much has changed in 10.0.3. One thing you’ll definitely notice, however is how your track headers and regions dynamically change shape depending on how many tracks you have in your project. A welcome addition, especially if you’re working on a smaller screened Macbook Pro or Air.

Http://thegaragebandguide.com
Track and Region heights change dynamically depending on the number of tracks used. Clever!

There’s More?

Yep, MUCH more! You can expect a full in depth look at everything that Garageband 10.0.3 brings to the table soon – including a hands on video with the new Bass Designer.

In the meantime make sure you’re subscribed to my newsletter and make sure you don’t miss a thing!

Show Comments (52)
  1. Hey there Patric, I just checked out the update info. Thank you . All of this looks and sounds good. Just a couple questions though. Is Yosemite a new & different OS ? and if so does that mean it will take the place of Mavericks ? Also is it free like the previous updates ?

    Thanks again, Jim.

    1. Hi Jim! Yosemite is the latest version of Apple’s OS X, yeah. It is free, just like Mavericks was. If you’re not 100% sure about updating to Yosemite just yet you can still update to the latest version of Garageband – it works just fine on Mavericks!

      1. Hi Patrick,

        you read my mind and answered my question, so thats great news ! I can lose Yosemite if I want to as I liked Mavericks a little more for the functionality but so far am VERY impressed with GB 10.0.3!!

        CHEERS again mate

        P 🙂

      2. Hey man thank you for this review.

        I had a question about tempo changes:

        How can you adjust the tempo of an imported song from iTunes? In 10.0.2. you could just click track and then click “follow tempo and pitch” checkbox.

        Is there anything like that in this version? Please help me 😛

        Thanks

  2. Hey Patrick ,

    Any word on hardware/other DAW software compatibility /issues like we saw with mavericks, but now with Yosemite?
    We in the semi-pro audio world have been warned 10 times over from upgrading to mavericks because of its horrendous
    record of third party audio gear — hard & soft — compatibility. So far I haven’t heard anything good, nor bad regarding
    Yosemite, but I’d be arrogant to think I was the only engineer wondering/ hoping the mavericks curse is lifted for Yosemite.

    Cheers!

    Chris

    1. There are a few compatibility issues Chris – i’d recommend checking out company websites for any hardware you’re not sure of. MOST stuff works just fine, though.

    1. Hey Patrick, since I downloaded the GB update I keep getting a ( could not find layout general audio 10 ) error message. I cannot use the built in audio from my macbook, and also can’t listen thru headphones on my interface. I have to turn on my monitors to listen to a song. Any thoughts ? Looking forward to using all the new toys.
      Thanks, Jim.

      1. Hi Jim – I got the same thing. To fix, give this a try:

        1.In Garageband window, open the loop browser.

        2.At the top of the browser window you’ll see the word ‘loops’ with two very small arrows next to it. Click on it.

        3.At the bottom of the drop down menu that appears you’ll see the ‘reindex all loops’ option. Click it.

        4. Once done, close and then re-open Garageband and you should be all set!

        1. I tried your suggestion for the “could not find layout general audio 10” problem and I am still getting the message. Are there any other tricks I can try?
          Thanks,
          Francyne

  3. Thanks for the write up. I got the new download. Can’t say I noticed any big improvements so far. The bass designer looks promising (and I am mostly playing bass these days) but what I was really hoping for was the ability to run my bass through some of the guitar effects. Instead what I have to do is select a guitar amp instead. Admittedly its fairly rare I want to do something like this (add some tremolo to a bass line) but I think it would be better if I could just use some guitar pedals.
    –Zack

    1. You can absolutely run your bass through all of the guitar effects Zack. Open Smart Controls and select ‘Pedalboard’ from the ‘Amps and Pedals’ submenu in Plug ins!

  4. I was wondering if anyone else has run into this problem.
    The day after I upgraded to 10.0.3 I received a notice that additional content was available.
    I started the download process, then it asked for my admin password in order to install the new content.
    Did that, but the new stuff was not installed. A friend of mine did it the same way, and everything was added.
    I’ve gone through the process about 3 times now, and none of the new content is there.

    Thanks, looking forward to more tutorials,
    Jakamo

  5. Hi Patrick,
    thank you for the write up. The new version really got me excited about garageband again. I am escpecially impressed with the former in app purchase which is now free.
    I was wondering, if there is a way to see all my MainStage instruments with full smart controls? Instruments like Sculpture are great in MainStage, but so far I am just seeing a couple of knobs in Garageband. Please tell me there is an easy way to use the main interface. Please. 😉
    Keep up the great work you’re doing with this blog!
    JS

    1. Hey!
      Nice to know that you could successfully install the now-free ‘in-app purchases’, for I get stuck up every time I try to download them. What happens is this:
      It shows an estimated time of around 30 hours remaining (over a day), and when i shut down my Macbook pro (mid-2012), all the progress made is gone. this has been happening for the past 5 days now.
      It would be gr8 if you have some suggestions as i want the content eagerly.
      Thanks in advance.

      1. Hi RATD,

        the iap is about 14GB and I guess it took me 2-3 hours on wifi to download it all. I later purchased MainStage 3 which has about 50GB content and I downloaded it via LAN to speed things up. I did leave the mb on for the entire night though. 30 hours for the GB iap alone seems to be a bit long in my opinion. Maybe this is an issue with your wifi or lan connection? I did not stop the download in between and I am not sure if the downloader is able to pick up where it left of. For my home recording projects I use my old mid 2009 macbook (with extra ram and and an sdd), so your hardware should have no problems.
        Hope that helps.

        JS

  6. Hi Patrick, I could never find a way to send out individual tracks on my existing GB – i.e. I want to send out /return my vocal track on its own so that I can use an external hardware effects unit, while listening to/monitoring the other tracks playing back on GB. I know this is possible on Logic, but is this now possible on GB?

  7. Howdy Pat I am still fighting with getting my apogee condensor mic to work in garageband i just get a static hissy sound…….Done the usual stuff like system preferences and selecting the ONE mic in apogee.Ive heard you need to pull out and put back in the external mic plug even if your not using it……..Got any ideas?…….thanks tom

  8. Okay. Very good update. I am literally BRAND NEW in the GB world. I just updated to Yosemite and began using GB 4 days ago. I record for personal use only and yet, I still want the best quality instrumentation. I have successfully linked my keyboard and recorded a song – and I even added additional instrumentation using my keyboard as a controller. Learned a lot scouring the Web and honestly, you are practically the ONLY one with a correct update site.
    My question is: What is the most efficient way to get high quality instruments into GB, in your opinion? I have loaded Kontakt 5 free and there is a bit of a learning curve (although I have loaded their free sound library – with no luck getting other third party sounds to load/work properly). Any EASY recommendations? Can i upload direct to GB without all the other fuss?
    Thanks for being the only legit update out there in this crazy sub-world of GB music makers!

  9. Hi Patrick, I have got a problem. When I make a beat and try to play it, sometimes. if not most of the times, it stops all of a sudden and gives a system overload error. What could be the cause for that and how can it be solved? Also, the sounds become muffled the more I add instruments. How can I overcome these issues. Thank you for helping.

  10. Thanks for the great information. A question that might be elementary but I am just not finding: Is there a way to get new software instruments in Garageband 10.0.3. An couple of example: I am seeing just one flute, one piano, one trumpet etc. Are there ways to get more of these? Thanks in advance.

  11. Hi Patrick, thank you for your precious site and all your information.
    Just a question: where are the “Tempo” and the “Key” columns in the loop’s library in Garage Band 10.0.3?

    1. Hey Blue, You need to dive into the Garageband preferences menu (⌘ + ,) and click on the ‘Loops’ tab. From here, click on the box marked ‘Display Original Tempo and Key’. That should do the trick!

  12. OLD LOOPS VANISHED AFTER UPGRADING? When I upgraded to Yosemite and Garageband 10, a large percentage of old Apple loops vanished from my loop browser. Some were gone from my machine entirely. I tried a number of steps including reinstalling, and redownloading additional Garageband loops. Nothing worked. Luckily I still have an old MacBook with Garageband 6. On a lark I decided to copy (to a thumb drive) the old loops from the Apple Loops for Garageband folder on that machine (GoTo Folder /library/audio , then drill down to the Apple Lopps for Gargaeband folder) I deliberately copied the just .caf files and not their folder. Then, with Garageband closed, I found the same folder on my current machine – MacBook Pro – and pasted them there. (When the Replace/Duplicate dialog box popped up I selected replace and Apply To All.) I then opened Garageband, used the reindex function in the loop browser and all of my old loops were there. Before I pasted in the old loops the Loop browser listed a little under 1200 items. Now, it’s just under 4400. There may be some gotcha related to using the old loops I haven’t encountered yet, but so far so good. I hope that helps somebody avoid wasting a few hours of life trying to restore old loops.

  13. Hello,

    I am playing with GB 10.0.3 and when trying to load old songs and to access controls, I keep getting messages such as

    Could not find layout General Audio 10

    and

    Could not find layout Default Echo GB

    Some of the controls are there sporadically others though are missing.

    I tried to go to the Apple downloads site and to download GB 10.0.3 again but it won’t let me (it sees that I have it installed and would only give me the “Open” button which launches the bugged version on my hard drive.

    Please help!!!

    Vlad

      1. Hello Patrick,

        Thank you so much for your reply. When I asked my question, I had tried the recommended download already. To no avail. Apparently I have to do something at a System or Library level because oddly enough my GB 6.0 is still functioning, although at time strangely.

        Thanks again!

  14. Hi Patrick,

    I like many others have had problems with the transition from the previous garageband to 10.0.3. 2 things mainly are , 1. loads of midi sounds & loops no longer play with 10.0.3 & my jam pack CD,s now seem to be redundant. There is a lot less choice than before & I have lost loads of things such as bass sounds & orchestral sounds. I heard somewhere that downloading MainStage 3 is a good option. Would you recommend it?

    Cheers

    Paul

  15. Hey Patrick, thanks for the update.

    I have a question, since updating to Yosemite, I cannot open GarageBand for some reason, it says the plugins within the software require an update. Here’s the sequence of pop-ups I get before it crashes for good:

    1. “An error has occured with an installed Audio Unit plug-in.
    GarageBand unexpectedly quit while trying to use the Audio Unit “Oxford DeClicker” by “Sonnox (AU Native)”.
    This plug-in may require an update.”
    2. “Scanning Audio Units.
    GarageBand will now scan 30 installed Audio Units plug-ins. This may take some time. This scan only occurs the first time you open GarageBand or after installing new Audio Units.”
    3. “Sonnox Restore Tools
    Sorry, this plugin will not load because the required VecLib Framework could not be loaded, although it does appear to exist on your system.”
    4. “GarageBand quit unexpectedly”

    Any ideas on how to solve this anyone? I need to use GarageBand…

      1. I as well, however i get this error when using jbridge to bridge 32bit to 64bit for a 64bit DAW?

  16. How do I change the key of the iTunes imported track only and then record my voice to another new track without changing that key also. i.e. lower the key of the iTunes track and then record my voice to the new song key.
    I found a procedure for AU pitch, but that changes the key of all tracks even the voice as it is being recorded.

  17. Hi! I just changed my hard drive and the people at the Apple Store updated to Yosemite, but Garage Band is not included, I have to pay to get it to my computer, it has always been free. Am I the only one?

    1. Was it free? They replaced my faulty hard drive and upgraded it to Yosemite from Mavericks without asking. I’m taking it back.

  18. Hello, not having much success conecting my guitar to garageband 10.0.03 using lead to connect to USB but the lag is horrendous ! Starts off without lag but interference for a few minutes , when this clears guitar sound is good and clear but the lag makes it unplayable. Any Ideas ?

  19. Is this site being monitored by you Patrick as my question from December and the other’s after have not been answered?

  20. I just got Yosemite and the new GarageBand version. GarageBand works when I plug directly into the mac but does not work with my tascam 144 mk II. I uninstalled the tascam driver and reinstalled a Yosemite-compatible driver from the tascam site. GarageBand recognizes the tascam as an input and output source but when I play guitar there is no sound going into GarageBand. I know the tascam works because I hear the guitar in my monitors, but it’s the dry signal with none of the GarageBand effects. The tascam and the old version of GarageBand worked fine. Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.

  21. Patrick,

    I’m a new follower of your blog and the great work you are doing with garage band tutorials, etc.

    Question, does GB 10.0.3 only have two channel outs to send to my external processor (focusrite Pro 26).

    I need to send up to eight separate outs from GB to the pro 26, but right now, I only see DAW 1 & 2.

    If this is addressed in any of your publications, I’ll certainly consider buying the publication.

    By the way, I am running mac with Yosemite OS and the latest GB update.

    Many thanks,

    van wood

  22. Hi Patrick,
    I have GB 10.0.3 running on Yosemite. When I turn on Cycle, I do not see the yellow cycle display. Can you please advise?

  23. Patrick,
    Read your beginners guide.
    Have 10.0.03 which looks brilliant.
    I am moving from Yamaha 1600 and new to software.
    I really need a comprehensive guide to using this software. Are you or anyone coming out with a book?
    I have a focus rite 2i but a never seem to manage to get both my condenser mic and my acoustic guitar to light up the input LED. It’ always seems to come in via input 1. Getting them both to signal is a nightmare.
    I have changed guitars, checked pickup batteries, re booted the Mac . Etc.
    Regards

  24. Patrick, I am only seeing 4 choices for AU Plug in effects in 10.0.3. where I can insert reverb, compression, delay, etc. for each track. Other tutorials I have seen have a list of at least 10! Is there something I need to do in order to get a larger slelction. The box where the selections are made seem limited? I am running Mavericks on a brand new iMac. Thanks!

  25. Hola Patrick,

    I tried to change tempo in the middle of a track using Tempo Track showing a nice graphic with a curve I can manipulate. That’s fine, but even after playing with the curve the track continues to play at the original tempo, unaffected.
    I’ve tried it with the track in purple, and in orange, but that makes no difference. I’ve tried it with the Automation button selected and de-selected but that makes no difference either. I’ve also tried it with new projects opened as Software and as Audio tracks, but no difference was made.

    Is there an ‘apply’ function I’m not finding?

    Thanks for your advice.

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