Ipad recording app recommendations sought

[Mike Shipman]

Hi , i have an Ipad and an Apogee mic and have been using Garageband to record acoustic instruments and vocals.
I find that the recording quality rather 'harsh' and was wondering if anyone had any recommendations of another app that might suit acoustic recording better?
Thanks, Mike

[Joseph Hanna]

Originally Posted by Mike Shipman

Hi , i have an Ipad and an Apogee mic and have been using Garageband to record acoustic instruments and vocals.
I find that the recording quality rather 'harsh' and was wondering if anyone had any recommendations of another app that might suit acoustic recording better?
Thanks, Mike

Mike,

If your having problems getting a good quality recording look for the answers in many, many places. It of course happens to all of us and is part of the journey in recording acoustic instruments. That said I'll guarantee the problem is decidedly not with Garageband. It is an endlessly capable recording medium. That's the wrong rock to look under

[louparte]

Auria.

I use it. I recommend it. It's my #1 DAW now.

[Joseph Hanna]

Originally Posted by louparte

Auria.

I use it. I recommend it. It's my #1 DAW now.

Yes..one of the audio engineers here at work has and uses Auria. It's a great package and when I get my new iPad that's what I'll use. It's a good "in general" suggestion for someone looking for a DAW solution on an iPad.

You're not however suggesting to the OP that Auria will solve his harsh sounding acoustic instrument recordings are you? It of course won't provide any sonic improvement over GarageBand. Auria is not a "better sounding" DAW (albeit more capable) and buying something new (despite the very reasonable cost of Auria) is not the solution for someone trying to get their feet on the ground of home project recordings.

I dunno what solutions we might provide to the OP to cure his "harsh recording" ill's as we don't have enough info to make even an educated guess. I do know for sure however the answer is not a new DAW.

[Mike Shipman]

Hi folks, thanks for your responses.
I ts good in one respect that you say that Garageband is ok, as i need to think how ive got things set up, the acoustics of the room etc.
i ll have a look around on the www for some hints and tips.
Thanks again, mike

[Doubleneck]

GarageBand is awesome on a full notebook computer. Their Ipad appt is very limited as to options. It's ok but the notebook option is where I go now.

[Joseph Hanna]

Originally Posted by Doubleneck

GarageBand is awesome on a full notebook computer. Their Ipad appt is very limited as to options. It's ok but the notebook option is where I go now.

You're of course right Doubleneck Comparatively GarageBand (in any form) is throttled against almost any other major DAW solution. The point I'm trying to make to the OP however is GarageBand is NOT the culprit here, limited or not. We're a "rush to buy great sound from Sweetwater" bunch around here. You just can't buy a great sounding recording. If ones recordings sound harsh in GarageBand they're gonna sound harsh in Logic or Pro Tools or Reaper or....

The answer always lies in some manner of time invested and blood, sweat and tears. There a forum member here who a couple of years back recorded an acoustic EP entirely in GarageBand. I can't find his link right now but hopefully he'll chime in again. It's a really wonderful sounding EP and a shinning example of "not the hardware/software but the pilot's in command" that make things sonically great.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Joseph Hanna

…The answer always lies in some manner of time invested and blood, sweat and tears.

Hi Joseph...

The resolution/capability of the recordings is usually limited by the physical interface. Apogee One for iPad & Mac advertises 24bit recordings up to 96kHz and specifies that when used with iOS devices, it was optimized for Garage Band.

The interface, preamps, mics will have a strong influence on our final recordings, and probably equally influential is the room/space we record in.

A good portion of the blood, sweat and tears needs to be devoted to locating or creating a proper space, and learning to use the outboard gear.

The software we use has to do with capture and processing of files. GarageBand is a capable capture software.

[Mike Shipman]

I'd appreciate any info on what constitutes "a proper place"?
Many thanks, Mike

[Joseph Hanna]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi Joseph...

The resolution/capability of the recordings is usually limited by the physical interface. Apogee One for iPad & Mac advertises 24bit recordings up to 96kHz and specifies that when used with iOS devices, it was optimized for Garage Band.

The interface, preamps, mics will have a strong influence on our final recordings, and probably equally influential is the room/space we record in.

A good portion of the blood, sweat and tears needs to be devoted to locating or creating a proper space, and learning to use the outboard gear.

The software we use has to do with capture and processing of files. GarageBand is a capable capture software.

Hey Larry,

Yes of course to all those issues But those topics weren't on the table. The OP's original question was:

"was wondering if anyone had any recommendations of another app that might suit acoustic recording better?" ostensively to cure harsh recordings.

As I mentioned earlier it would be difficult to offer any other suggestions and or solutions to the OP since the only thing we know, at this point, of his situation is 1) his recordings are harsh and 2) he is entertaining thoughts of switching DAW's in hopes of curing that harshness.

Whatever may or may not precede the actual software (pre-amps, compressors, mic's, mic placement, proper room treatment, techniques, playing abilities are all variables and part of the learning curve ie: blood sweat and tears. That may be a topic the OP wants to visit but still, and in the end GarageBand (or any other DAW) is never the source of "harsh recordings".

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Joseph Hanna

Hey Larry,

Yes of course to all those issues But those topics weren't on the table. The OP's original question was:

"was wondering if anyone had any recommendations of another app that might suit acoustic recording better?" ostensively to cure harsh recordings.

As I mentioned earlier it would be difficult to offer any other suggestions and or solutions to the OP since the only thing we know, at this point, of his situation is 1) his recordings are harsh and 2) he is entertaining thoughts of switching DAW's in hopes of curing that harshness.

Whatever may or may not precede the actual software (pre-amps, compressors, mic's, mic placement, proper room treatment, techniques, playing abilities are all variables and part of the learning curve ie: blood sweat and tears. That may be a topic the OP wants to visit but still, and in the end GarageBand (or any other DAW) is never the source of "harsh recordings".

Hi Joseph...
I was agreeing with you...it's not the app that's going to improve quality.

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by Mike Shipman

I'd appreciate any info on what constitutes "a proper place"?
Many thanks, Mike

Mike, that's a huge topic. You can find lots of info on the web, and how far you take it is up to you. "proper" might mean anything from "as good as I can make the living room without my wife objecting" to "professional acoustician-designed room". Here's a few places you might start with, tho a search on terms like "room acoustics" "acoustic treatment" and so on will turn up lots of references:

info on Ethan Winer's commercial site:

http://realtraps.com/art_basics.htm

Fran Guidry's Blog

http://www.homebrewedmusic.com/tag/acoustic-treatment/

An article in SOS:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr1...s/acguitar.htm

and article I wrote for Acoustic Guitar:

https://www.acousticguitar.com/News-...-for-Recording

That's the space aspect, but there's also micing techniques and a ton of other issues, all part of the learning curve Joseph and Larry are talking about.

[Joseph Hanna]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

hi joseph...
I was agreeing with you...it's not the app that's going to improve quality.

.............