audiogaragebandmidi
I've been using GarageBand to play my MIDI keyboard for a few years, just because of its built-in software instruments for keyboards. Now I'm thinking about purchasing some jam packs only for the extra keyboard software instruments.
Which ones should I buy? Are there any more places or third-party software where I can get more keyboard instruments? I really want to have a huge selection of keyboard sounds, but don't know where or how to get them.
There are Vocal Effects in Garageband. Open Garageband and create a voice project:
Then go to the Info pane in the bottom right hand corner:
Under Real Instrument>Vocals, you will find all the effects you were looking for.
Support for playing .mid files in Safari was removed in 10.8. The QuickTime plugin from 10.7 or 10.6 still works in 10.9 though. See https://discussions.apple.com/message/23948316#23948316.
/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/QuickTime Plugin.plugin from a 10.7 or 10.6 installation to ~/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/ on your 10.9 or 10.8 installation.Run these commands:
f=~/Library/Internet\ Plug-Ins/QuickTime\ Plugin.plugin/Contents/Info.plist
defaults write "$f" CFBundleName 'QuickTime Plugin.plugin2'
defaults write "$f" CFBundleIdentifier 'com.apple.QuickTime Plugin.plugin2'
defaults write "$f" WebPluginMIMETypesFilename com.apple.quicktime.plugin2.preferences.plist
Save this file as ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.quicktime.plugin2.preferences.plist:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>WebPluginLocalizationName</key>
<string>en_US</string>
<key>WebPluginMIMETypeFilteringVersion</key>
<integer>1</integer>
<key>WebPluginMIMETypes</key>
<dict>
<key>audio/mid</key>
<dict>
<key>WebPluginExtensions</key>
<array>
<string>mid</string>
<string>midi</string>
<string>smf</string>
<string>kar</string>
</array>
<key>WebPluginTypeDescription</key>
<string>MIDI</string>
<key>WebPluginTypeEnabled</key>
<true/>
</dict>
<key>audio/midi</key>
<dict>
<key>WebPluginExtensions</key>
<array>
<string>mid</string>
<string>midi</string>
<string>smf</string>
<string>kar</string>
</array>
<key>WebPluginTypeDescription</key>
<string>MIDI</string>
<key>WebPluginTypeEnabled</key>
<true/>
</dict>
</dict>
</dict>
</plist>
Quit and reopen Safari.
After that you should be able to play .mid files in Safari, but you have to allow websites to use the plugin manually:
You can also play .mid files with VLC or QuickTime Player 7.
Best Answer
There are many third-party virtual keyboard instruments. Do a search at the kvraudio.com virtual instrument news site. Anything that is in Audio Unit (AU) format will work with GarageBand. Here is a search result I have prepared for you.
Popular products you might consider:
Anything by Native Instruments
Pianoteq
Buying Apple Logic Express or Logic Studio will give you all the Apple Jam Pack sounds in one purchase, with many other features besides. Apple Logic Express and Logic Studio.
Finally, read Keyboard Magazine. They provide a lot of coverage and reviews of products in this category.