How to Use Garageband?

Whatever your level of experience as a musician, you’ve must have heard of Garageband. When it comes to easy-to-learn, free digital music production software, none can beat GarageBand. Anyone from a seasoned sound engineer to a novice teenager can create professional-sounding tracks using this unique app.

When it comes to creating music, GarageBand is godsend. Plug in a guitar or microphone so that you can record yourself playing live and save it to your sound library.

Thanks to the app, musicians no longer need to invest in expensive audio equipment or studio time. Instead, a vast library of music lessons and sounds is available in GarageBand, including percussion, rhythmic accompaniment, and vocals. Isn’t it cool?

Because it’s such a valuable resource, we know you’ll be eager to learn how to use this App. You’ll learn everything you need to know about the App and how to get started making your own tunes. We’ve worked hard to make sure that all the information a newbie needs to know about Garageband is in place. So, let’s learn how to rock the world together.

Is Garageband Free?

GarageBand and its features are available for free to Mac (Garageband for Mac) and iOS (Garageband for iOS) users. It’s easy to get started because the app is pre-installed on all three of Apple’s major mobile platforms. All three major mobile operating systems — iOS, iPadOS, and MacOS — support the App.

Tracks can be added to multiple devices simultaneously thanks to Apple iCloud integration.

Is Garageband a DAW?

Yes, Apple’s GarageBand is a DAW (digital audio workstation). It allows you to record music using a library of GarageBand instruments, such as a GarageBand keyboard and other virtual keyboard pianos (even an online MIDI keyboard).

GarageBand is a simple DAW to learn, but it hides a surprising amount of powerful functionality beneath its user-friendly surface. You can bring your project to life by using the great-sounding virtual instruments included with the app. 

To access the library of available instrument sounds, create a new Software Instrument track and select a Patch from the Library panel. You can record your voice for a podcast using Garageband and the best podcasting headphones or voiceover and edit it with all the necessary arrangements within the app.

While GarageBand provides versatility and a plethora of robust features, it has grown in popularity since:

• It can be pre-installed on every macOS and is completely free to use.
• A free iOS GarageBand piano keyboard app is also available in the App Store.

What All Music Production Equipment You Need to Use Garageband?

You do not need any music production equipment to use Garageband.

Garageband’s ‘Musical Typing’ feature is sufficient to begin producing music right away, and it will suffice for the first couple of months.

However, when you’re ready to progress, here’s a list of equipment that will help you in your musical journey and inspire you to make as much music as possible.

• MIDI Keyboard
• Audio Interfaces
• Microphone
• Studio Headphones

How to Use Garageband?

Do you believe you need to be a professional producer to create music? Then, you’ve never used Garageband, have you?

Garageband is excellent for developing a budding music producer’s creativity and skills. It comes with clear and simple tools that you can learn how to use in no time. We’ll show you how you can create your music on Garageband and how to manage them in the sections that follow!

You can use Garageband on a Mac, iPhone, or iPad. Garageband on a Mac will have the macOS version, while it will have the iOS version on the iPhone and iPad. Furthermore, the macOS version has more nuanced controls and capabilities than the iOS Garageband, which is simpler and more user-friendly.

How to Use Garageband on Mac?

A pop-up window will appear when you first launch GarageBand on a Mac.

This provides you with several presets to choose from. So a preset is essentially just a collection of pre-existing instruments and sounds from which we can choose. We think it’s best to start with an empty project, but we’ll explain what some of these presets are if you want to look at them.

• Keyboard Collection: This is essentially a collection of various keyboards and synthesizers.
• Amp Collection: You can use GarageBand as an amplifier; you don’t need to have many different guitar amplifiers; instead, use some amps that sound similar.
• Voice: This has a variety of vocal presets for spoken word, male vocals, female vocals, etc.
• You will see a details drop-down button at the bottom of this pop-up window, where you will find a few more settings for your project—for example, the tempo section, which is essentially the song’s speed. As a result, the tempo is expressed in beats per minute (BPM) (beats per minute). We have different rhythms in different types of music. So you can change the tempo by dragging the bar or typing it in. If you have a rhythm in mind, you can tap it in with the mouse. You can also change the key signature and time signature, so most songs will be in 4/4, but feel free to use whatever works best for your music.
• The Input and Output Devices: You should use it as both an input and output device if you have an audio interface. If you want to output audio through your audio interface, connect your speakers to the outputs on the back of your audio interface or use the audio interface’s headphone output.
• Now that you have specified your requirements in the settings, you should be ready to begin the project; double-check your settings before pressing the create button; you can change all of these things once you’ve started. So all we have to do now is press choose, which will launch a new project.

At last, the main GarageBand interface will greet you. You’ll find a library of instruments on the left, which you can use to customize your song. The top-right panel of the workspace displays the Notes you’ve recorded and instrument tracks in your project. The editor, located in the lower-right corner of the screen, allows you to change your songs.

There’s also the musical typing keyboard, which lets you play music right from the keyboard of your Mac.

Play a Software Instrument Using Musical Typing

• Go to Window> Show-Musical Typing on a Mac in GarageBand (or press Command-K).
• The Musical Typing window displays the Keyboard layouts and controller information. Select the software instrument track you’d like to perform on.
• To play the software instrument, use your computer’s keyboard. You can carry out the following actions by pressing the other keys shown in the Window:
• Press Z or X to change octaves.
• To change the speed, press C or V on your keyboard.
• Press 4 to 8 or 3 to turn off the modulation (mod wheel) value.
• You can alter the pitch by lowering or raising the amplitude. You have the option of pressing either 1 or 2 to begin. When you press the key, you bend the pitch for as long as you hold it.
• Press Tab to turn on or off the sustain feature. Using a sustain pedal is akin to this.
• As you type, the Musical Typing window highlights the notes you play.

How to Use Garageband on iPhone?

• When you first launch GarageBand, you’ll see the ‘Sound Browser,’ where you can select a Touch Instrument to play. Touch Instruments for keyboard, guitar, bass, drums, strings, and other instruments help you make music quickly and easily.
• When you tap Live Loops above the Sound browser, the Template browser appears, from which you can select a template or an empty grid for Live Loops. Like a DJ or electronic music producer, you can use Live Loops to play, edit, and arrange musical ideas in real-time.
• You can also access the Sound Library from the Sound browser, where you can download additional Touch Instruments, sounds, and loops.
• Select a Touch Instrument
• Swipe left or right in the Sound browser to view the instruments, then tap the one you want to play. More Sounds allow you to hear additional sounds for that instrument.
• The control bar, which includes navigation, playback, and volume controls, is located at the top of the screen. A ruler shows musical time in bars and beats beneath the control bar. The playhead moves across the ruler to indicate which section of the song you are currently playing.
• You can begin playing your own music as soon as the Touch Instrument appears. The Touch Instrument is activated. To select another instrument, return to the Sound browser by tapping the Browser button on the left side of the control bar, then choose a different instrument. You can also hold down the Browser button and select another instrument from the list.
• Each Touch Instrument includes a play area as well as a control area. By touching the keys, strings, or other elements in the play area, you can play melodies, chords, and sounds, and you can change the instrument’s sound by using the knobs and other controls in the controls area.

How to Use Garageband on iPad?

A new, empty song is automatically created when you first launch GarageBand. You can make new songs to record and arrange your music. Also, you can duplicate, rename, save, and delete songs in the My Songs browser. You can also make folders and add and remove songs from them.

• When you first create a project in GarageBand, you’ll see the ‘Sound Browser,’ where you can select a Touch Instrument to play. Touch Instruments for keyboard, guitar, bass, drums, strings, and other instruments are available to help you make music quickly and easily.
• When you tap Live Loops above the Sound browser, the Template browser appears, from which you can select a template or an empty grid for Live Loops. Like a DJ or electronic music producer, you can use Live Loops to play, edit, and arrange musical ideas in real-time.
• You can also access the Sound Library from the Sound browser, where you can download additional Touch Instruments, sounds, and loops.
• Select a Touch Instrument
• Swipe left or right in the Sound browser to view the instruments, then tap the one you want to play. ‘More Sounds’ allows you to hear additional sounds for that instrument.
• The control bar, which includes navigation, playback, and volume controls, is located at the top of the screen. A ruler shows musical time in bars and beats beneath the control bar. The playhead moves across the ruler to indicate which section of the song is being played.
• You can begin playing as soon as the Touch Instrument appears. The Touch Instrument is activated. To select another instrument, return to the Sound browser by tapping the Browser button on the left side of the control bar, then select a different instrument. You can also hold down the Browser button and select another instrument from the list.
• Each Touch Instrument includes a play area as well as a control area. By touching the keys, strings, or other elements in the play area, you can play melodies, chords, and sounds, and you can change the instrument’s sound by using the knobs, buttons, and other controls in the controls area.

How to Make Beats on Garageband?

To create a beat in Garageband, select a melodic Apple Loop by clicking on the Loops icon, which resembles a hose on the right-hand side of the program. Then, press + + U to bring up a Drummer Track and select one of the Hip-Hop drummers, Dez, Anton, or Maurice.

How to Make Music on Garageband?

Making a good drum beat is the best way to start recording your song. Many producers map out their music by adding individual notes to the “Piano Roll,” which is the standard method.

There is, however, another way to do it that is quick, simple, and enjoyable; for example, you can use the keyboard to play the drums!

If you don’t have a MIDI controller, you can experiment with the built-in typing keyboard.

• Select “Software Instruments” from the “Add Track” menu.
• Click the “Library button” or press Y to open the Garageband sound library and select a patch from the browser on the left.
• To access the on-screen musical keyboard, press Command-K.
• Click the “Metronome button” or press K, followed by the “Record button” or press R.
• Tap your Mac keyboard in the direction of the keys displayed on the musical typing.
• Press the space bar or click the “Stop button.”
• You now have your very first MIDI track. You can copy and paste it and layer it with other drum beats to make more layers. Change the patches as many times as you want until you find the sound that feels right.

How to Record Live on Garageband?

You can record your real instruments and voice when your beats are finished. You can record a wet or dry track and add plug-ins from Garageband’s sound library.

Is this a personal recording project? Let’s start with dry tracks and then add effects from Garageband. If you believe that Garageband’s sound library is insufficient for your music, you can supplement it with third-party plug-ins.

• Include a new “Audio” track.
• Record your audio track using either the built-in line input or your audio interface.
• Select plug-ins from the “Library.”

How to Mix Songs on Garageband?

• Put the songs you want to mix in a folder on your desktop or an album on iTunes.
• Make a project that only has one audio track.
• Drag the audio files from the Media Browser > Audio tab to the audio track in the correct order (or from the folder on your desktop).
• To fade the songs in and out, use the volume automation curve on the audio track.
• Click the plus (+) icon to start a new instrument track. Connect a guitar or bass using the appropriate option. Apple Loops, GarageBand Instruments, and your bass or guitar can easily result in a memorable melody.
• Use the share menu to save the song to your hard drive or iTunes.

How to Edit Songs on Garageband?

1. Launch GarageBand and Create a New Project

Navigate to the Applications tab and double-click GarageBand to launch the application. Click on New Project, then Empty Project. Double-click Voice and give your project a name. Click the Create button.

2. Open the Media Browser

The media browser is a collection of songs and tracks from your hard drive and iTunes library. Click the Media Browser icon in the Control Bar to launch the media browser. It will display all songs in your iTunes library in the media browser panel on your screen.

3. Add the Song

Choose which songs you want to edit, merge, loop, and so on. Then, drag the Song from the panel to the center of the screen, where it reads ‘Apple Loops,’ should be dragged here. Now drag the Song to the left side of the track region to play and preview it. The Song will be divided into regions, and if you want to start playing it at a specific point, click on the point and drag the Song to the left to start playing from that beat. Your song is now complete and ready for editing!

4. Edit the Song

Split a Song

To begin playing the song you added from iTunes to your project, click the play button. Then, as the audio plays, the cursor in GarageBand will move forward. Press the play button again or the Spacebar on your keyboard to pause the song.

Check that the Song option is selected in the track header region. Click on the Time option/icon in GarageBand’s main menu bar. You can now drag the marquee pointer to any point on your Song to split it. Once you’ve decided on the duration you want to split, click Edit in the menu bar and then Split, or press + T on your keyboard.

You’ll notice that the audio track has been divided into two sections. First, you can now edit both regions independently.

Remove a Section of a Song

Now that you have two parts of your song, you can cut a region and use it in another song. Move the Song to the right by clicking on it and dragging it. Now, select the section of the song you want to cut and go to Edit in the menu bar, then Cut, or press + X on your keyboard.

Insert Another Song

Now that you’ve got the portion of the first song that you want to mix with another, let’s add another song. Then, select another song and drag it below the first Song, just as we did with the first Song from the iTunes library.

Build a Crossover of Two Songs

You’ll notice two tracks that are evenly above/below each other.

• First, make sure that both routes are to the extreme left at the start (00:00).
• When you press the play button, you will hear both songs playing simultaneously. They will sound jumbled because the two songs may not be intended to overlap. However, this is how you overlap any two tracks.
• After one track portion has ended, play another.
• You’ve already learned how to split and cut songs, select a portion of the second song, and split or cut it using the Edit option in the Menu bar. You can use this to make mixes, compilations, and so on of your favorite artists. When you’re finished splitting or cutting the song, choose which section you want to play first and set the track to 00:00. Drag the second (bottom) track to the right at the timestamp where the first one ends so that the second one plays immediately after the first one ends.
• When you press the play button, you will hear the second track portion begin after the first ends. Similarly, you can remove and re-arrange multiple verses from the track by dragging them to the right.
• You can also add more songs to the bottom of these to make a fantastic remix.

Transfer the Songs to iTunes: Once you’ve finished your masterpiece, it’s time to export the trackback to iTunes so you can listen to it and share it with your friends. Adding your own tracks to iTunes is such a fantastic feeling. To transfer your songs to iTunes, follow the steps below:

• Choose “Export to iTunes” from the File menu in GarageBand.
• You can see the name of your GarageBand file in the iTunes library once it has opened in a new window in iTunes.
• You can access preferences from the iTunes File menu by clicking on the Preferences button. Then click the “Advanced tab” to continue.
• To find out what options you have for converting your audio file, select the “Import Using:” list box. Using the drop-down menu, select “MP3 Encoder.”
• In the Preferences dialogue box, click OK.
• Select the music file in the library, then select “Convert to MP3” from the Advanced menu.
• After converting your file to.mp3 format, iTunes will start to play the audio file.

Song as Sound File: You’ll need to use Share > Export Song to Disk> Enter the file name, save location, file format, and sound quality in the dialogue box that appears. Save your song as a sound file so that you can share it with others.

How to Update Garageband?

You can do the following to update Garageband to avoid missing out on the latest features.

• Navigate to the App Store.
• At the top of the screen, tap the profile icon.
• Scroll down to see if there are any pending updates or release notes. If you only want to update one app, tap the Update button next to it, or if you want to update all of your apps, tap Update All.

How to Delete a Project on Garageband?

If you want to delete a Garageband project, follow the steps given below,

• Locate the project in the Finder in GarageBand for Mac.
• The App saves your Projects in the GarageBand subfolder of your computer’s Music folder by default.
• Move the project to the Trash folder.
• If you decide you want to keep the project later, you can drag it out of the Trash if you haven’t already. Be careful about this! You cannot recover the project after you empty the Trash.
• Select Finder > Empty Trash.

How to Program Drums on Garageband?

The Drummer feature in GarageBand is one of the most impressive aspects of the software.

It’s a quick and easy way to add high-quality drum tracks to your project, and the customization options are nearly endless. When you add Smart Drums, you’ll see a square grid where you can drag and drop various drum kit elements. Loud, Quiet, Complex, and Simple are the four sides. This means that if you want a busy, loud snare, place it near those two sides.

We’ll show you how to get the most out of Drummer in GarageBand if you’ve never used it before.

There are 28 virtual drummers and three virtual percussionists, each with a distinct style. You can tweak Drummer’s rhythm, sounds, and patterns to match your track perfectly.

If you haven’t already done so, navigate to GarageBand > Sound Library > Download All Available Sounds to save every Drummer option to your Mac.

How to Include a Drummer in GarageBand?

Drummer is a drum machine that plays automatically. It’s a quick way to get a drum track without “drawing” or playing MIDI notes. Drummer sounds realistic, and it’s the ideal tool if you can’t arrange drums yet or need temporary drums to play on while the real drums are being recorded. Or perhaps you think the Garageband presets are fantastic!

Don’t worry if something needs to be changed; copy and paste the track onto the “Piano Roll” and make the necessary changes!

• Include the “Drummer” track.
• Select a drummer character (genre) and a sound from Garageband’s sound library by clicking the “Library button” or pressing Y.
• Select the preset and the drums set-up by clicking the “Editors button” or pressing E.
• Include the “Software Instruments” track.
• Copy (Command-C) and paste (Command-V) the drums track into the new empty track.
• Click the “Editor button” to open “Piano Roll” and edit the notes.
• Choose a patch from the left-hand library browser.

Final Words

GarageBand is one of the most powerful apps included with macOS and iOS. If you’re a musician or producer looking to create a demo to send to labels or stream on social media, Garageband is the way to go. Making beats in Garageband is the best, easiest, and most enjoyable way to get started in music production, so why not set up a home studio and give it a shot?