Mallsoft remix tutorial for GarageBand

August 5, 2022 7:36 AM

I have a song I want to remix so it sounds like it's coming from another room. I've heard this genre is called "mallsoft", but when I search "how to make a mallsoft remix in GarageBand" I get a lot of hits for how to make an original mallsoft song in GarageBand or how to use GarageBand in general. How should I make a mallsoft remix in GarageBand?
posted by pxe2000 to Media & Arts (5 answers total)

Listening to those examples, the main thing I hear is to roll the treble way back in the eq settings, and add reverb. Maybe a bit of boost in the upper bass/lower midrange to add a bit of a "boxy" coloration too. My experience is with a 10 y/o+ version of Garage Band, but there was a setting for something like "global track reverb" which would effect all the individual tracks.
I'm sure someone else will have better/more specific advice, I just thought I'd get the thread rolling.
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 7:56 AM on August 5, 2022 [3 favorites]

I've never heard the (I'll call it annoying) name "mallsoft", so I looked it up, and it's a reference to the genre (music that sounds like it would be in an 80s shipping mall) and not the sound itself. Larry David's tips are right on. You can use the EQ or the Filter plugin. A little low end boost always helps with this kind of effect because it helps make it sound like the room is resonating.
posted by jonathanhughes at 7:59 AM on August 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

There is a post-production tool to do this called Indoor from Audioease (makers of Altiverb).
posted by cape at 8:15 AM on August 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

A little tiny bit of delay can be nice along with the reverb in constructing an artificial "space" for your mallsoft audio to live in.
posted by transitional procedures at 1:30 PM on August 5, 2022

low pass filter + some room reverb then stick another EQ after that and adjust to taste
posted by burr1545 at 1:33 PM on August 5, 2022