Compose Music Using GarageBand

GarageBand is used to record music on Mac Computers. It features an onboard keyboard, a multi-track recorder, and an extensive loop library. Music made in GarageBand can sound very professional and harmonious if it is done correctly. Read this guide to learn how to use GarageBand.

Steps

Getting Started

  1. Launch Garageband and select "File > New" in the upper left-hand corner. Create the title for your new song and adjust the tempo and key that you want to make the song in.
  2. Once the screen loads for your new song, click the "+" symbol in the lower left hand corner of the screen. This will create a new track.
    • Note: you can also do this by selecting "Track > New Track" in the top menu.
  3. Decide if you want to use "Software Instrument", "Real Instrument", or "Electric Guitar".
    • "Software Instrument" allows you to record using the built-in GarageBand instruments using the keys on your computer, or a keyboard attached via MIDI or USB.
    • "Real Instrument" allows you to record voice or instruments using the microphone on your computer.
    • "Electric Guitar" allows you to modify electric guitar recordings with built-in GarageBand amplifier, sustain, and delay settings.

Adding "Software Instrument" Tracks

  1. Choose the "Software Instrument" option. The default instrument is "Grand Piano", but you have a vast array of instruments to choose from. When you add a new track, a full menu of these will be available on the right side of the screen.
    • To bring up or hide this menu, click the "i" icon in the lower right corner.
  2. Bring up the GarageBand keyboard. You can play music using whatever instrument you choose by using the on-screen keyboard available in GarageBand. To make the keyboard visible, select "Window > Keyboard" or hold "Command+K". Simply click on the keyboard's keys with your mouse to play music.
    • You can also use the "Musical Typing" option, which allows you to play music with your computer's keyboard rather than with the mouse. For this option, select "Window > Musical Typing" or hold "Shift+Command+K". You can also switch to this mode from "Keyboard" mode by clicking the "A" icon in the top left of the keyboard.
    • In both of these modes, the part of the miniature keyboard highlighted in blue is the octave that you are currently in. You can adjust the octave by clicking on a different part of the miniature keyboard.
  3. Record a track. To record, press the round red button near the bottom of the screen. Then, using the "Keyboard" or "Musical Typing" window, begin to play. When you start recording, a bar for that track will appear next to the icon with the name and picture of the instrument. As long as you are recording, this bar will be red, and will keep growing out to the right. When you are finished recording that track, press the red record button again. The bar for that track will now change from red to green.

Adding "Real Instrument" Tracks

  1. Select the "Real Instrument" option when adding a new track. You can record your voice or other sounds using the microphone on your computer. After selecting this option, an icon of a speaker and the words "No Effects" will appear under "Tracks" on the left side of the GarageBand window.
  2. Record a track. To start recording, click the round red button at the bottom of the screen, the same as for recording with a "Software Instrument." When you click "Record", the bar for that "Real Instrument" track will turn red and expand out to the right until you press "Record" again. When you stop recording, the bar for that track will turn purple.
    • When recording with your computer's microphone, make sure that you sing or play clearly and close to the computer. Try to eliminate outside noise as much as possible.

Adding Loops

  1. Open the "Loop Browser." Loops are prerecorded clips of music that come automatically with GarageBand. To access them, click on the icon of an eye in the bottom right corner. This will open a window with many different types of loops that you can use.
  2. Browse for the loop you want. The "Loop Browser" allows you to filter loops based on a variety of characteristics, such as scale, instrument, mood, genre, and tone. You can filter for multiple characteristics simultaneously; for example you can search only for those loops that are "Jazz", "Piano", and "Grooving". Once you have turned on the desired filters, you will see a list of the available loops. You can listen to one of these loops by double-clicking on its name. You will also see information about the loop's tempo, key, and duration, and have the option to add it to your favorites list.
  3. Drag your loop over to the track list. To add your loop as a track in your song, drag it from the list of available loops over to the middle part of the screen. Let go, and the loop will be added as a new track, represented by an image of the instrument used in the loop.
    • You can repeat the loop simply by dragging multiple copies of it over from the list and then arranging the loops end-to-end.

Importing Media Files

  1. Open the "Media Browser". This allows you to import songs from your iTunes library. To open the "Media Browser," click the icon of a musical note and roll of film in the bottom right corner of the GarageBand window.
  2. Search for the media file you want to import. Type the name of a song or artist into the search bar near the bottom right of the GarageBand window. You can listen to a song by double-clicking its name in the list.
  3. Drag your song into the track list. Select the song you want, and drag it into the middle panel. Let go of your mouse button, and the song will be added as a new track, represented by the name of the song and an icon of a speaker.
    • You can now edit the track and combine it with your own tracks and loops to create remixes of your favorite songs.

Editing Tracks

  1. Play around with GarageBand's different features. When you have added all of the tracks that you want, you can edit them to make them sound better in combination. There are many different features that you can use; these steps will teach you some of the most useful.
  2. Split tracks. This allows you to split tracks into multiple parts and then rearrange them. In order to do this, drag the red line that shows your position in the song to the spot on the track where you want to split it. Then, on the main menu, select "Edit > Split". You can now move the parts around separately.
    • To put split tracks back together, click on the first part you want to merge, then hold "Shift" and click on the second part. Both parts should now be highlighted. Then select "Edit > Join" in the main menu.
  3. Change track volume. You can adjust the volume of individual tracks to make some louder than others. You can do this 2 different ways.
    • Under "Tracks", where you see the icon and name of the instrument. You will also see a circle with "L" and "R" next to it. (More on these later.) Next to that, there is the volume adjuster. Slide the dial left for lower volume and right for higher volume. This changes the volume of the entire track.
    • To the right of the instrument icon, click the downward arrow. A box will now come down that says "Track Volume". To the right of this is the track volume control. The default setting will have the volume about halfway up. Click on the thin line (this line has the same color used to represent the track, so, for example, green in the case of a piano track), and drag it up or down. (A little node will appear at each point that you click on.) You can click and drag at different points in the track give different volumes to different parts of the track.
  4. Adjust track panning. This allows you to make tracks come out of the left or right speakers/headphones. Like track volume, it can be adjusted in 2 different ways.
    • To the right of the icon of the track instrument, you will see a knob with "L" and "R" on either side. Turn this knob to adjust the track panning. Turning it all the way to either side will make that track play back entirely through the speaker/headphone on that side. Turning it part of the way will make it favor that side, but sound will still come out of both sides. Any changes you make will affect the entirety of the track.
    • Under the name of the track instrument, click the downward arrow. Click on the box that says "Track Volume" and switch it to "Track Pan". You can now adjust the pan in the same way used to change the volume described above. Click on the thin colored line and drag it up or down to adjust the left-right balance for the track at different parts of the song.
  5. Adjust the pitch, duration, and alignment of notes. This feature allows you to manually alter the characteristics of the notes you played on a "Software Instrument" track. To access this feature, click on the scissors icon in the bottom left corner of the GarageBand window. This will show you a close-up view of the individual notes on the track. To select a note, click on it. It will turn from white to the color of the track. Every time you click on the note, it will be played back for you.
    • To adjust pitch and duration, slide the dials under "Pitch" and "Velocity". You can click on the note to hear it with your adjustments. (Changing pitch makes a note higher or lower, while changing velocity makes it last for a longer or shorter period.)
    • To adjust alignment, i.e. to quantize a note, click on the bar below "Adjust to". (The default setting is "None". Then, select a time interval, and the selected note will be moved to the nearest of that time interval.
      • You can also quantize all of the notes simultaneously. To do this click inside the area where the notes are shown, but not on an individual note. Then, "Adjust to" should change to "Enhance Timing". You can then click to bring up a list of the different intervals. Click on one to quantize the notes. You can always select "None" to return to the original version of your song.

Exporting Your Track

  1. Save your song. Select "File > Save" in the main menu to save the track under the name and location that you chose when you first created a new project. Select "File > Save As..." to change the name or location.
  2. Send to iTunes. To send your new song to your iTunes library, select "Share > Send Song to iTunes". You will be asked to enter information for the track. It will then take a few moments for the track to be converted and exported. If you do not have iTunes open, it will open and begin playing your song.
  3. Burn to a CD. To burn your song to a CD, you must first insert a CD into your disk drive. Then, select "Share > Burn Song to CD". Wait for the CD to completely finish burning before you remove it.



Warnings

  • Remember to save your work. Garage Band, unlike iPhoto, doesn't have the auto-save feature.

Related Articles

You may like

Retrieved from "https://kipkis.com/index.php?title=Compose_Music_Using_GarageBand&oldid=352033"