Garageband file names problem Mac Book Pro

[cfbnsw]

Hi.
I am new to mac's but I recently bought a new MacBook Pro Retina 8Gb 256Gb flash, quad core i7 2.0 GHz. I am using it with Garageband 6.0.5 to record my hits and become famous. But.....I need HELLPPPPP !

I cant find anywhere on the 'net to explain how to get GB to display full file names without the "...." to shorten them. I always name the project files with the name of the song (strangely enough) and then do different versions of that song (as different projects) - each version having a meaningful extension. For example: "Best song in the universe ever - Key G" and "Best song in the universe ever - key A" and "Best song in the universe ever - unplugged".

Then when I look at them in GB they all look like "Best song in the....". VERY HELPFUL ! NOT.

I know you can get around this for desktop icons by changing the grid spacing or something, but that doesnt affect filenames as they appear in GB.

In windows, you simply mouse over a file icon for a second and it very helpfully shows a full file name, size, date and everything you could ever want to know about that file. Aren't Mac/OSX supposed to be smarter ? that's what everyone was telling me before I switched.

BTW - I tried the GB upgrade and it's crap. My midi keyboard wouldn't work for more than 2 notes, there's hardly any useful virtual instruments, lots of cringey loops for people who can't play instruments and need GB to do it for them. So I didn't even notice if it fixes the filename issue (prob not) but I won't use it again anyway. Went straight back to 6.0.5

Any ideas gratefully received and you get two free tickets to my first gig at Wembley.

 

[ChrisA]

1) you need to fix your MIDI problem

2) I think now that they are giving away GB they make you buy the virtual instruments

3) Have you looked at Logic?

4) Use list view, not Icon view, then make the column as wide as you need

5) In the finder I get the longer name in a pop-up if I mouse over the file name, not the icon itself.

 

[cfbnsw]

Hi Chris
Thanks for your reply.
I fixed the midi problem by going back to 6.0.5 - seems to work fine on that.
The new GB is free, but I did pay two and a half grand for the mac. I think it was a really bad idea for Apple to release an upgrade that is not fully backwards compatible In terms of bundled instruments, effects and layout etc.

Re Logic: I sense the GB upgrade has been done the way is has, to force people to consider Logic. The problem I now have is - do I spend another 200 bucks on Logic with the risk that Apple will release upgrades that are totally different and not backwards compatible.

Thanks for your tips 4) and 5) - will give it a go.

 

[ChrisA]

The new GB is free. However they sell instruments and loops for $4.99 so it might really cost you $20 before you get what you want.

I bought Logic ages ago and then when I upgraded GB ithe new GB was able to find all those instruments and third party plug-ins I was using with Logic. So I did not notice that the new GB had been stripped down.

One thing you could look at is Kontakt. Depending on which version you get the free one or the expensive one you get LOTs of instruments and high quality too.

The new GB looks a lot like Logic now. So if you have the new GB you might not like Logic. Better to move over to ProTools or whatever.

The problem with staying at the old version is that it may not continue to work forever. It does not but what if Apple updates the OS again? And will Apple continue to support the old version with bug fixes? They might for a limited time.

One thing you have to watch out for is the common tendency to say when people try new things: "This sucks because it is not exactly lie what I had before."

BTW, I just tried naming a song in the new GB "This is a really long file name I'm using just to see what happens when I use a really long name" It shows the entire name with no "..." if the screen is large enough. Then I tried an even longer name with and found there is a maximum length that I can save. I tried that on display it truncates down to whatever fits on one line which is more on the 27" iMac then on my 13" MBP.

 

[cfbnsw]

Thanks again Chris
Wow Kontakt is pricey. Good to know about it though.
I wont be rushing into Logic if it looks and feels like the latest GB
Maybe I will try again at some stage with latest GB and see how I go.
Meanwhile I really need to get to a conclusion with some demo material on 6.0.5