Giada helps you work with music creation in multiple ways. It is mainly intended to function as a loop machine; however, it may also be used for other purposes, including drum machine, sequencer, live sampler and even plugin/effect host. It supports VST and MIDI, which makes it compatible with your workflow.
The tool has an easy-to-use interface; however, since it is quite different from those of other applications of the same type, it may take some time for you to feel comfortable with it. Fortunately, there are various online resources to help you, including some YouTube video tutorials.
Its main window has two columns, which you can edit separately by inserting different types of sounds, like MIDI and samples. Unfortunately, you cannot load samples in any compressed format, like the popular MP3. New sounds on a given channel can be pre-listened at any time by clicking on the square on the left. On the upper part of the window, there is the Control Panel, which has the usual Play, Pause, and Reverse buttons. Moreover, there is a button with a circle to record events and another one with a dot to record audio.
The application supports using multiple beats per sequence. Likewise, it lets you adjust the volume for each channel separately. Via the contextual menu click, it is also possible to assign keyboard keys to a channel. Similarly, you start to process the actions associated with the channel, which are grouped into three areas: start/stop, mute, and volume. This way, the tool allows defining start points as well as adjusting the volume without much effort. Fortunately, the application also lets you program actions quite accurately, for instance, by entering the number of individual loops.
It is excellent that Giada comes with a built-in audio editor, which you can use to process the audio signal. In addition to the usual playback controls, there are others intended to set the start and end points of the loop you are editing. Likewise, the audio editor also allows you to normalize sound and control pitch. In this regard, it is good that the application can try to automatically adjust the speed to the specific beat; yet, it not always does a good job.
In conclusion, Giada is suitable for studio recording and, thanks to the possibility of playing channels and sounds via the computer keyboard, it is equally appropriate for live performances. Luckily, it also supports saving your work as a project that can be shared with others or copied to another machine. Although it is generally stable, it may freeze when dealing with high workloads. The product is fortunately opensource so it is a good option if you are running on a low budget.
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