GarageBand’s music and audio creation and recording capabilities make it an excellent piece of software. It comes with a sizable sound library that contains a wide variety of musical instruments, synthesizers, drum kits, and other sound effects.
What is GarageBand?
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GarageBand is a digital audio workstation. It enables you to record your music and access a collection of GarageBand instruments, including a GarageBand keyboard and a range of additional virtual keyboard pianos.
You also have the option to record your voice for use in a podcast or voiceover and then edit that recording within the program, making any required adjustments to the arrangement.
Even though it is completely free to use and comes pre-installed on every macOS computer, GarageBand has grown quite popular because it is extremely versatile and contains many powerful features. There is also free software in the App Store that serves as a piano keyboard for use with GarageBand for iOS.
1. Launch GarageBand.
After downloading and installing the software, you can launch it by double-clicking on the program’s icon.
Whether you have never launched GarageBand on your device, it will ask if you would like to download a library of Apple loops and samples. If you say yes, it will begin downloading the collection. It is recommended that you carry out this action so that you may gain access to some excellent information that is available for free.
2. Create a new empty project
When you first use GarageBand, the New Project window will automatically appear on your screen. You can browse instrument sets, create voice tracks, or start an empty project when you are presented with this window.
Because it does not preconfigure the sound or style of your track, an empty project is the best starting place for novice users who are just getting started with GarageBand. You have complete control over every aspect.
After you double-click the Empty Project button, GarageBand will ask you to select an instrument to add to the track. You can select Audio for recording with a mic or line input, Software Instrument for a digital instrument such as guitars or keyboards, or Drummer for contributing a drumline to your musical production.
Let’s choose Software Instrument for the sake of this GarageBand lesson and then go to the next stage in the process.
3. Exploring GarageBand’s workspace.
The workspace may appear intimidating to first-time users, but as you become familiar with its layout and the functions of its many components, you’ll find that navigating it is rather simple.
4. The Musical Typing Keyboard.
The Musical Typing Keyboard is the first instrument you should investigate more as a tool. If you do not see it when you see the workspace, you may open it by pressing the Command and K keys on your keyboard. However, you can use this shortcut if it does not open automatically. Because it is a floating window, you can move it to any area you see fit.
With the help of the Musical Typing Keyboard, you’ll be able to convert your standard keyboard into a piano keyboard. You may also play the game by tapping the appropriate keys directly on the screen if you use a touchscreen device.
Controlling the Musical Typing Keyboard using a USB MIDI keyboard is another fantastic alternative if you already have one.
5. The Library.
The Library is yet another essential component of your workspace; it can be found on the left-hand side of the screen. You’ll then decide on the instrument you want to play. The piano is chosen in GarageBand by default; however, you have various other instruments and sound effects from which to pick. Determine one of the available instruments you would like to play initially.
Near the library sidebar, you can see the tracklist. When you add a new instrument, it will automatically be put to the tracklist. This will allow you to visually record all of the instruments, loops, and beats you have added.
You’ll notice a menu bar at the top of the screen and many buttons for recording and playing back music. This section of your digital recording studio is where you’ll find the “record” button, as well as the “play” button, “rewind” button, and the metronome, among other helpful tools and controls.
Get started making music right away.
Playing around with the free samples with the GarageBand software is the simplest method to create music using the program. However, there are a few other ways to go about it. To access the collection of loops, go to the top right corner of the menu bar and click on the button labeled “Loop.” Before adding loops to your track, you may preview them by clicking the loops.
Simply dragging the loop, you wish to utilize into your project will cause GarageBand to generate a new track for the loop once you have located it.
From this point on, you can add more instruments to your loop. You may experiment with adding a piano line to your track by using the Musical Typing Keyboard, or you could add drums to your song by selecting a drum beat from the collection.
After some familiarization and exploration, most of GarageBand’s users report that the application is intuitive and simple. The more you use it, the more proficient you’ll get with it.
How can you make your workstation more efficient?
You can change the speed of a track in GarageBand by double-clicking the tempo in the center of the top bar and entering the new value or by dragging that number up or down.
This works even if you haven’t set up a custom tempo in the menu. Similarly, the dropdown menu located next to the tempo slider in GarageBand may be used to alter the pitch of an audio track.
Given that we have access to a wide variety of keyboard layouts let’s get rid of the ones that aren’t being used by selecting them and then pressing the Delete button.
You may create new instruments (or voices) by clicking the plus (+) symbol above the instruments, selecting the tool you require, and then clicking the Create button.