I'm using GarageBand 10.0.1. Do the built-in drum tracks only come in mono format, or is it possible to make them true stereo (i.e. Left and Right channels putting out different signals, to sound like the kit has been panned across the stereo field)?
All the Drum Kits available for GarageBand are mixed in stereo.
Logic provides the same 18 Drum Kits also as "Producer Kits", which are multi-track outputs,. Each Drum Kit Piece (Kick, Snare, HH, etc) and also room mice and overheads are routed to individual channel strips.
Here is a screenshot of one Drum Kit in Logic Pro X with individual Channels Strips. Each Channel Strip can be loaded with individual effects (compressor) and adduced with individual sends, etc.
What that means is that all the Drummers are professionally recorded and sampled with individual mics. The Stereo Drums Kits are just "stereo mix-downs" for easier handling and less CPU demand. I explain all the details about the Drummer ecosystem in my graphically enhanced manual "GarageBand X - How it Works"
Hope that helps
Edgar Rothermich
http://DingDingMusic.com/Manuals/
'I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.'
Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately I no longer have Logic to work with, and will probably be doing my main mixing with some kind of free program like Audacity. But I'm not to that stage yet, and what I'm doing shouldn't depend on or be affected by other programs (it's a purely GarageBand issue). Right now I'm just building some drum tracks in GarageBand, that I will export for use in other areas. What's happening is that the monitoring and exporting of the drum tracks I create using the drummer loops and kits ("drummer playing along with song" mode) are coming out as mono tracks. Both the playback and the file. I can hear that they are mono, and the L and R channel meter is identical on both sides, so I have something besides my ears telling me they are mono. I can find no setting to switch to stereo in tracks created this way. I am exporting the files as stereo (which, I understand, is the only way GB exports anyway). Am I missing something? Thanks for any help...
The only thing I can think of is that you have an AU Plugin inserted in the Drummer Track that summed the stereo signal to mono.
The Drummer Track is stereo. here is a screenshot of the meter. If I listen, the track is truly stereo. Especially the crash cymbal on the beginning of a Drummer Region should come from the left.
Just disable the kick and snare and only listen to the cymbals. You should definitely hear the stereo sound. It is a very lively sound, recorded with stereo overhead/room mics.
Hope that helps
Edgar Rothermich
http://DingDingMusic.com/Manuals/
'I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.'
I'm pretty sure it's not an AU plugin inserted on the track, since I've never used one in GarageBand before on anything, and I've looked to make sure there are no "hidden" settings turned on. I soloed the cymbals like you suggested and tried cranking certain parts of the kit, and still the meter read mono. I took several screen shots as a test and they were all perfectly mono, except this one:
I cannot get the kit to sound any more spread out than that fraction of a millimeter would indicate. Weird, I wish I knew why there is no spread...
I'm using GarageBand 10.0.1. Do the built-in drum tracks only come in mono format, or is it possible to make them true stereo (i.e. Left and Right channels outputing different signals, to sound like the kit has been panned across the stereo field)?
