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OT: Garageband alternative for Windows 10 in 2018?


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It's 2018. Is there something yet on the PC comparable in ease of use to Garageband on the Mac? This is for my 10 year old kid by the way who is a complete beginner.

 

I had a Mac up until 2012 and loved Garageband and iMovie. Switched to PC and haven't looked back until now. My kid is 10 and wants to do some movie editing and compose some sound tracks for his movies. I've tracked down a good iMovie alternative. But the Garageband is trickier.

 

He's going to want the loops and virtual instruments like Garageband playing them over a MIDI controller. He's not going to need external VST support or anything. Just some play some music over drum tracks, bring in audio files, record narrations. That sort of thing.

 

I saw some threads from years back but there was no conclusion. Right now it seems like MixCraft 8 might do the trick. What are your thoughts?

 

The other option is just to bite the bullet and get him an iMac (maybe a refurb 21.5 with Fusion Drive) since it looks like I'll be spending about $300 just for the PC software and my PC is due for replacement in the next year or so (3.4GHz i7-3770).

 

Just looking for real easy stuff to get my kid started, something like Cubase LE would traumatize him for sure.

 

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Microsoft shut down Windows Movie Maker On Windows 10 and Youtube shut down their Editor. Help! I need something, not just anything, Help! I need something, Help!

 Find 660 of my jazz piano arrangements of standards for educational purposes and tutorials at www.Patreon.com/HarryLikas Harry was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book."

 

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Microsoft shut down Windows Movie Maker On Windows 10 and Youtube shut down their Editor. Help! I need something, not just anything, Help! I need something, Help!

 

You can download Movie Maker as a standalone app to run on Win10, I have it on my pc at home.

 

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Microsoft shut down Windows Movie Maker On Windows 10 and Youtube shut down their Editor. Help! I need something, not just anything, Help! I need something, Help!

 

Davinci Resolve - it is free.

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Steinberg Sequel is the most directly comparable as far as included instruments and loops as well as simplified work flow.

 

 

Hey Elmer thanks for the heads up on Sequel. The description on the site sounds like it'd be perfect and it's just $80. I'm going to download the trial tonight.

 

The Garagebandesque DAW is the hardest thing to figure out for the PC. Video editing has tons of options like Vegas Movie Studio, Adobe Elements, and Movavi. Hopefully Sequel is it for the music.

 

 

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Hi, Ive used V2 and V3 with students. Its easy to get around.

Audio and instrument tracks.

Loop and instruments library you can load/drag and drop.

The sound bank has a lot of stuff from Yamaha (light version of Halion).

Also a useful GM sound set.

Yamaha CP88, Casio PX-560

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Refurb Mac Mini? Just sayin

Hardware:
Yamaha
: MODX7 | Korg: Kronos 88, Wavestate | ASM: Hydrasynth Deluxe | Roland: Jupiter-Xm, Cloud Pro, TD-9K V-Drums | Alesis: StrikePad Pro|
Behringer: Crave, Poly D, XR-18, RX1602 | CPS: SpaceStation SSv2 | 
Controllers: ROLI RISE 49 | Arturia KeyLab Essentials 88, KeyLab 61, MiniLab | M-Audio KeyStation 88 & 49 | Akai EWI USB |
Novation LaunchPad Mini, |
Guitars & Such: Line 6 Variax, Helix LT, POD X3 Live, Martin Acoustic, DG Strat Copy, LP Sunburst Copy, Natural Tele Copy|
Squier Precision 5-String Bass | Mandolin | Banjo | Ukulele

Software:
Recording
: MacBook Pro | Mac Mini | Logic Pro X | Mainstage | Cubase Pro 12 | Ableton Live 11 | Monitors: M-Audio BX8 | Presonus Eris 3.5BT Monitors | Slate Digital VSX Headphones & ML-1 Mic | Behringer XR-18 & RX1602 Mixers | Beyerdynamics DT-770 & DT-240
Arturia: V-Collection 9 | Native Instruments: Komplete 1 Standard | Spectrasonics: Omnisphere 2, Keyscape, Trilian | Korg: Legacy Collection 4 | Roland: Cloud Pro | GForce: Most all of their plugins | u-he: Diva, Hive 2, Repro, Zebra Legacy | AAS: Most of their VSTs |
IK Multimedia: SampleTank 4 Max, Sonik Synth, MODO Drums & Bass | Cherry Audio: Most of their VSTs |

 

 

 

 

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Acoustica Mixcraft, perhaps? There was even a book with lessons written in parallel for both GarageBand and Mixcraft. As far as I know it was never updated:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Making-Music-GarageBand-Mixcraft-Book/dp/1435458702

 

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/making-music-with-garageband-and-mixcraft-robin-hodson/1100256474?ean=9781435458710

 

In addition, Acoustica has a teacher's guide and lesson plans for the current version of Mixcraft:

 

https://www.acoustica.com/edu/

 

https://www.acoustica.com/mixcraft/mixcraft-8-teachers-guide.htm

Michael Rideout
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  • 1 year later...
FL Studio maybe? I've never used it, but I know it was popular with kids starting out a few years ago.

 

Yes, you do have better GarageBand Alternatives for Windows. Cubase is currently running its ninth version and over the year acquired considerable value among professionals. Here is the guide on that.

http://garagebandonpc.com/

Cheers!

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