Do any control surfaces work with GarageBand?

Question

Level 2

199 points

Do any control surfaces work with GarageBand?

I have read that the only control surface that works natively with GarageBand is the M-Audio iControl, but it has been discontinued: http://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-9900-40729-00-iControl-GarageBand-Controller/dp/B0 009MH5P2?ie=UTF8&s=musical-instruments&qid=1207431679&sr=8-2

I'm not sure that this would even be compatible with newer versions of GarageBand anyway (I am running version 6.0.4 under MacOSX 10.7.3 on a MacBook Air).

I have also read about using GarageRemote along with other control surfaces, but it appears to also be old software and I'm not sure if it's a workable solution. So, is anybody using a control surface with one of the newer versions of GarageBand? If so, what are you using and how did you set it up? I know I could upgrade to Logic Pro, but that's a little more than I want to get into at this point.

Thanks in advance!

Posted on May 2, 2012 7:35 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Boyd Ostroff Author

Level 2

199 points

May 2, 2012 4:07 PM in response to Boyd Ostroff

Have been doing a little more research on this... it appears that the Korg nanoKONTROL2 is compatible with GarageBand if you install their control surface plug-in: http://www.korg.co.uk/support/downloads/nano2_dl.php

Anyone using this? I also found this old thread about problems with the Korg driver: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2630372?start=0&tstart=0

Reply

Answer 2

Boyd Ostroff Author

Level 2

199 points

May 4, 2012 1:31 PM in response to Boyd Ostroff

Well I guess I need to answer my own question - do I get points for that? 😉

For $60 I decided to take a chance on the Korg NanoKONTROL2 and I just received it from Amazon. Downloaded/installed the KORG MIDI driver, then the GarageBand plug-in. Everything seems to work as it should with no messing around.

It is somewhat limited, but gives full transport control and volume/pan for 8 tracks along with buttons for Solo, Mute and Record on each track.The pan knobs feel a little wobbly, but not too bad. All things considered, it looks and feels like a decent piece of hardware considering the low cost.

Maybe this will help someone else who is getting tired of using the mouse and keyboard shortcuts to control basic Garageband functions.

Reply

Answer 3

Aug 18, 2016 5:04 PM in response to Boyd Ostroff

Thank you it took four years but thank you! I'm setting up an old Mac Pro for garageband and have a Korg Nanopad that I used with my Mac Mini (worked straight out of box) and was pretty sure Nanokontrol would too. Going to persevere with screen controls and spacebar until I've picked up a used FireWire interface.

Reply