We GarageBand for Mac users are incredibly lucky nowadays to have an almost endless supply of instruments and effect plugins at our fingertips.
With so much choice it can be easy to forget that GarageBand for Mac actually comes with dozens of stock plugins out of the box.
Some of these stock effects are brilliant. Others, not so much
In the video below I recommend the five GarageBand Stock Plugins you SHOULD be using!
The GarageBand Stock Plugins YOU Should Be Using
AUDistortion
GarageBand has a few stock distortion effects at it’s disposal. By default the AUDistortion effect tends to be on the more gnarly side, decimating pretty much anything you apply it to. Tame this beast of a plugin however and you can end up with some warm, grungy tones that sound great on things like drums and percussion.
Pedalboard
What can I say about GarageBand’s pedalboard that hasn’t already been said? Lifted wholesale from Apple’s other D.A.W; Logic Pro, the pedalboard recreates over a dozen classic pedals and effects and allows you to mix, match and build your dream pedalboard inside GarageBand.
Available in the Amps and pedals submenu, the pedalboard isn’t just for guitarists. You can apply the pedalboard and it’s plethora of fantastic effects to whatever loop, instrument or recording your heart desires.
Multipressor
For those of you who choose to forgo the auto-mastering provided by mega plugins like iZotope’s Ozone or online services like Landr and prefer to use GarageBand’s built in tools to get your projects up to broadcast volume will no doubt be familiar with this deceptively simple plugin.
For the uninitiated, the Multipressor is a bare bones version of the plugin found in Logic Pro. It acts as the sonic glue that brings your GarageBand Master together, despite only giving you limited features.
This minimal plugin may not seem like much, but it can make the difference between a good sounding and great sounding finished song.
Bitcrusher
The Bitcrusher is another stripped back version of a Logic Pro plugin that thankfully gives you a whole lot of customization options.
While the two knobs on offer here might not look like much, you are able to use the resolution and downsampling controls to create many different and unique sounds.
Space Designer
Last but by no means least is the Space Designer. The Space Designer comes loaded with over a hundred different reverb presets. You’ll find everything from top notch recreations of guitar rooms, vocal booths, drum rooms, halls, stadiums, canyons to weird warped reverbs and everything in between.
It’s great fun to play around with and has some VERY usable reverb sounds.
