Garageband Tutorial 1

Garageband
for beginners.
Tutorial 1
1
Saturday, 18 September 2010
What is Garageband?
Garageband is a software
application that allows users to
create music or podcasts. It is
developed by Apple as a part of
the iLife software package.
To start Garageband on your
computer click on the guitar icon
in the dock
2
Next step........
You are now onto the
main GarageBand menu!
As you can see it defaults
to the Piano setting.
Thats fine - just leave it
there and click on
Choose on the bottom
right of the window. You
are now ready to explore
GarageBand!
3
Let the music take control

The first time you start GarageBand
it asks you to provide certain details
about your first song. A name, a
chosen tempo, time signature, and
key. This can be a little scary to the
beginner! You may know that the
key makes a difference to a song,
but you cant tell what a particular
key sounds like. Dont worry - you
can change key at any time !
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Real time or Step Time?

As with most music sequencing software programs, Garageband allows you to record notes by
two methods - Real Time and Step Time. Youre now asking yourself the question;
What method is best for me?
Well, the general rule is, if you play a keyboard instrument such as piano or maybe a synth in a band,
you should choose Real Time. If you dont play a keyboard instrument, its probably best to use Step
Time.
Step Time
Use this method if you cannot
play a keyboard and if you find it
difficult to play in time to a
beat
Real Time
Use this if you can play a
keyboard instrument and if you
are confident playing to a
metronome
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Main screen
Once you click choose the
next screen you will see will
be the Garageband main
screen where the tracks you
create will be on the left and
the library of sounds and
loops that are built into
Garageband will be on the
right. The blank area in the
middle will be where your
recorded tracks appear.
Tracks
list
Sound bank
Recorded tracks
will appear here
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Lets take a closer look at that screen!
Record
At the bottom of
the screen you will
see some controls
and a little LCD
screen. These are
very useful! They
are.....
Rewind
Fast Forward
Play
This little screen allows

you to see the bar and beat
number. Also, if you click on
the quaver note, you can
change it to view key and
time signature
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Make music!
The screenshot on the right shows the
loops menu in detail. Click on Kits . You
will now see the list of drum loops appear
starting with
Classic Rock Beat 01
.
Click that loop (it will highlight in blue),
hold the mouse button and drag it into the
blank section in the middle of your screen.
Now release the mouse button and hey
presto, youve now created a drum beat to
get your piece of music started!
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Getting started...
Your
drum loop will
appear HERE!
You will now see your drum beat appear as a green strip
and a new Kits track is created. Click on the Play button on
the bottom of your screen (the one that looks like this ).
You can now hear your drum loop playing. In the next slide
you will find out how to make it longer in duration.
9
Making your loop longer...

Click on the
loop here and drag to the
right
Loop now becomes 8 bars long
To make your drum loop longer, simply click on the top

right of the loop, hold the mouse button down and drag to
the right. I have made the original 4 bar Classic Rock loop
twice as long - you try it now!
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10
Adding another track

To add another track to your
piece, simply click on Track
from the Menu at the top of
the screen then New Track
The window on the left will then

appear. Select Software Instrument,
then Create
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Adding another track

After clicking on Create, a new track will be created on the
left of the main window. The screenshot on the right shows
the list of instruments which you can assign to your track. It
will have been created as a Grand Piano track. Just click any of
the instruments in the list to change this. You should be able
to hear the new sound in your earphones by playing it on the
keyboard connected to your computer. Keep repeating this
process until you have created your desired number of tracks.
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What if I make a mistake?
Firstly, dont worry! The advantage of using a program such as Garageband is such that, if you
record a wrong note, chord or rhythm, it is so easy to correct the mistake without having to
record the whole section again. On the bottom left of your screen you will see a scissor
button. Click this.
This will open up the Notation
View window. Then click on the
Score tab (
) and
voila, you will now see the music
you have just recorded! If you
have played a wrong note, simply
click on that note, hold the
mouse button down and move
the note up or down in pitch
until you reach the correct one.
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Changing note durations

When you select a note by clicking on it, a duration bar in green appears for that note. You
can change the notes duration (how long the note lasts) using the duration bar.
To change the duration of a
note:
1. Select the note.
2. Drag the right edge of the
duration bar left (to shorten the
note) or right (to lengthen the
note). Duration bars work just like
the notes in graphic view.
Click on the end of the

duration bar and drag right
or left to lengthen or
shorten selected note.
In the next 2 slides, well look at how to delete notes and

change velocity.
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Deleting notes
You can delete notes that you no longer want to include in your project.
To delete a note:
1. Select the note.
2. Press the Delete key
3. Simple!
The selected note, (in

this case middle C), has
now been deleted!
Now well look at how to change the velocity of a note.

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15
Changing velocity
What is note velocity? Well, in simple terms, velocity is a measure of the speed with which a
key on your keyboard is pressed. It can be used to adjust volume levels of a note or group of
notes.
To adjust note velocity in
Garageband, you simply follow the
same process for Changing note
durations. When you click on the
note, the Velocity slider on the left will
become active. Simply click on it and
drag it to the right for a higher
velocity (louder), or left for a lower
velocity (quieter).
Click
on the button on the
Velocity slider to change
the velocity of your
note
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Garageband
for beginners.
Tutorial 2 coming
soon!
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Garageband

Let the music take control

Real time or Step Time?

What method is best for me?

Lets take a closer look at that screen!

This little screen allows

Making your loop longer...

Loop now becomes 8 bars long

To make your drum loop longer, simply click on the top

Adding another track

The window on the left will then

Adding another track

What if I make a mistake?

Changing note durations

Click on the end of the

In the next 2 slides, well look at how to delete notes and

The selected note, (in

Now well look at how to change the velocity of a note.

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