We are probably going to try our hand at Logic Express for the next song, upgrading from GarageBand. If that doesn’t work, it’s back to GB. Logic Express can import GB files but boy is it a different beast. We both think we’d like the step up — more flexibility, more control, much more power. But of course it comes with an appropriate learning curve, so it will take more time to learn. After three songs in GB we know it pretty well, and we have learned what it can do, but also what it can’t.
There’s always ProTools LE, but only Dan has the hardware to run that, and he doesn’t like it anyway. Apparently 7.3 was the “bad” version (crashes a lot, kept freezing a laptop, doesn’t work in Mac OS X 10.5), and that’s what he’s got. To upgrade, to 7.4 or 8.0, it costs $150, which quite frankly stinks. Now that he has the expensive hardware thing. But it also costs $150 to buy Logic Express 8, with less shenanigans.
Anybody with any experience in such stuff, let us know what you have found useful and comfortable.