Comments on: Has a hit song ever been written or produced using Apple's Garageband software?

Question: Has a hit song ever been written or produced using Apple's Garageband software?

sntamonica — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 09:58:38 -0800

Has a hit song ever been written or produced using Apple's Garageband software?

By: cyphill

cyphill — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 10:09:02 -0800

I'm willing to bet no, the software just isn't sophisticated enough (although a few certainly sound like they were) and it is a relatively new piece of software in the producing market. It's probably only a matter of time, though.

By: empath

empath — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 10:10:51 -0800

Probably not, it's really limited into what it can do. But Apple's Logic software has produced plenty of dance music hits :)

By: smallerdemon

smallerdemon — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 10:11:40 -0800

Yeah, it's pretty much an introductory app from what I have heard. Still, you can have a lot of fun with it! :)

By: almostcool

almostcool — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 10:17:58 -0800

Garageband is a really nice starter program, and if a person was crafty, I think they could put together something fairly solid in it (as it seems that people already have). I know that several big-name artists (starting with Nine Inch Nails, I believe) have distributed packages of their songs to be remixed with Garageband.

As mentioned above, though, Logic seems to be the way that people go once they realize the limitations that Garageband has. A friend and I are doing an album in Logic Pro and I'm saying right now it's totally going to be a hit. :)

By: spakto

spakto — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 10:21:38 -0800

The Big studios own the industry. So I would say no.

By: revgeorge

revgeorge — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 10:36:24 -0800

Not really an answer to your question, but Nine Inch Nails offered one of their songs as a GarageBand file. This doesn't mean that they produced it with GarageBand, only that they put it up to be remixed with the app.

By: empath

empath — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 10:45:19 -0800

I think, btw, that a hit song COULD be written using only garage band. Certainly songs have been made with less.

By: Thorzdad

Thorzdad — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 11:49:05 -0800

Hit songs? No.
Though, I would bet that more than a few mixes have made their way into clubs.
More than a few popular podcasts, however, are recorded and mixed in Garageband.
It really is a fun little app. And a good intro to audio production.

By: AmbroseChapel

AmbroseChapel — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 12:02:52 -0800

If someone had done it, it would almost certainly have been as a stunt just to show it could be done, not because it's a professional tool.

By: mendel

mendel — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 12:56:32 -0800

I get the impression that the people saying "No, it's not a professional tool" are answering the "produced" part. "Written" is certainly a realistic possibility, though.

By: yeahyeahyeahwhoo

yeahyeahyeahwhoo — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 13:26:10 -0800

interesting question though, is there any place to see what artists have used what software?

i know some artists have used old atari and amiga computers, and i know beastie boys and some other big bands have used propellerheads reason, and pro-tools is almost omnipresent it seems.

By: ORthey

ORthey — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 13:30:50 -0800

The "hit" part is really key. People like Ariel Pink, Daniel Johnston, The Mountain Goats, etc have used far less sophisticated methods. Good question - I am very curious.

By: 31d1

31d1 — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 14:14:16 -0800

Dunno about Garageband, but hit songs have been written on a Playstation (a lot of grime stuff).

By: itchie

itchie — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 16:58:50 -0800

In an interview in Rolling Stone, Fall Out Boy admits to using GarageBand to record their demo.

By: Chuck Cheeze

Chuck Cheeze — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 21:10:51 -0800

I'm not sure if this song is a hit, or just a song onthe album, but I know Fort Minor has made it pretty big on the shoulders of Linkin Park's success. Anyway, here are the details of the garageBand loop on a song on their record.

By: jeversol

jeversol — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 22:08:56 -0800

The NiN track was, if memory serves me correctly, mixed in Apple's professional audio app Logic Pro and exported to GarageBand format so people could tinker with it.

By: vurnt22

vurnt22 — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 13:27:33 -0800

It's not impossible for someone using an "entry" level app like GarageBand to have a hit, even a #1. Why not? A great song isn't defined by the medium it's recorded in. The way it's recorded has an impact, of course, but not the medium. How many hit records are recorded that are out of tune? How many hit records have been recorded that speed up or slow down? How many hits are badly recorded, analog or digital? a mediocre song can sound amazing...even perfect, who cares?!