A huge feature missing from GarageBand is the ability to record with multiple USB mics on different tracks at the same time. If you're recording a duet, or a podcast with more than one person, it's a pain.
If you're planning on singing Islands in the Stream or podcasting with a few friends, there is a way to get GarageBand to recognize all of your USB mics. All it takes is a quick trip to the Utilities folder to visit the Audio MIDI Setup app.
Difficulty level:
Medium
What you need:
> GarageBand '08 or later
> Mac OS 10.4 or later
> Multiple USB mics
> 30 minutes to spare
1. Mic Check
We grabbed three random mics. A Sennheiser Headset, Blue Eyeball and Rock Band mic.
Plug in all of your USB mics. We plugged ours into a powered USB, so you're not hindered by the available ports on your machine. Remember though, the more mics you plug in, the harder GarageBand has to work to record.
2. Audio Input Setup
Audio MIDI Setup is a great utility that no one knows about.
Go to Applications>Utilities>Audio MIDI Setup. Go to Audio in the menu bar and select Open Aggregate Device Editor.
You'll create one device for all of your mics.
Click on the plus button under the Aggregate Devices window.
Naming your new Aggregate Device now will help you later.
Click on the new Aggregate Device and rename it. We choose, Podcast Mics since we'll use this setup for podcasting.
This window will show you all of your audio in and out devices.
In the structure window you should see the USB mics you have plugged in. We have two mics and one mic/headset combo plugged in. Check the Use box beside the mics you want to use. For a headset, be sure to choose to Use the choice with the In option not the Out. In signifies audio in and Out signifies audio out.
Your Aggregate device should only have Audio In devices.
The choices you made will move to the top of the Structure list. We check the Resample option for our setup. Test your audio setup for best results. Click done and quit Audio MIDI Setup.
Senior Duche
February 21, 2011 at 9:19pm
I am having a problem doing this because when in Audio/Midi set up My headset reads as an input and 2outputs and unlike in your demo, I cannot separate the two. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!
Computergoddess
April 06, 2009 at 4:11pm
Ever heard the saying "Mention something out of the ordinary it will surface again within 24 hours"?
We were just discussing this very topic this afternoon when we were recording a duet. Now we have the skinny. Thanks Roberto Baldwin and Mac/Life.Cosmic Things happen everyday if we just take he time to notice them.
