GarageBand Explained

One of the most popular DAWs on the market, Apple GarageBand allows you to record your music simply and affordably. Apple Certified Pro Eli Krantzberg brings his GarageBand DAW expertise, covering the Basics, Advanced Techniques, and tons of Tips & Tricks to get you creating your own music fast, with this powerful, user-friendly DAW.

The Basics

• Fundamental Concepts (03:27) - Learn about GarageBand projects, tracks, regions, and patches.

• Window Overview (04:06) - Discover the main areas of the GarageBand window, including the Tracks Area, Control Bar, Library, Smart Controls, Note Pad, Loop Browser, and Media Browser.

• Starting a New Project (04:26) - Learn how to use the Project Chooser to set the tempo, key signature, and time signature for a newly created project, and how to save it to your GarageBand music folder

• Working with Apple Loops (06:24) - Learn how to use the Loop Browser to search, sort, preview, and load Apple Loops within a GarageBand Project

• Playback & Transport Controls (03:28) - Discover a few different ways to start and stop playback, and see how to reposition the playhead to start from different locations in the project.

• Looping Apple Loops (03:30) - See how regions are looped in the Tracks Area so that they continue repeating as the project plays, and how to switch between Apple Loop variations that are derived from the same 'family'.

• Catch, Zoom & Scroll (03:55) - Discover how to control what part of the GarageBand Window remains in view as the project plays beyond the current visible area, as well as how to zoom and scroll the display.

• The LCD Display (04:00) - Learn how to change project settings once the project has already been created, how to position the playhead precisely using the display, and how to change the units of measurement used in the project (bars and beats or absolute time.)

• Cycle Mode (03:37) - Learn to use cycle mode in order to have a specific section repeat while your project is playing (or recording).

• Snap to Grid (01:45) - Discover how to use the Snap to Grid feature and the zoom setting to control the resolution of movement in the GarageBand Window.

Working With Tracks

• Creating Tracks (04:07) - Explore the various ways of creating audio and software instrument tracks in GarageBand.

• Track Controls (03:45) - Discover how to customize the controls that appear on tracks by using the Configure Track Header functions, as well as how to rename, mute, solo, reorder, delete, and duplicate tracks.

• Drummer Track & Drummer Editor (05:44) - Discover garageBand’s drummer, and learn how to set the genre, drummer, preset, degree of complexity and volume, intensity of fills, and swing amount.

• Playing Software Instruments (04:32) - Explore the three different ways of playing GarageBand’s software instruments; using the musical typing keyboard, the on screen keyboard, or with a MIDI keyboard connected to your computer.

• Working with Patches (02:30) - Discover how to change the sound of a track by browsing and loading different patches in the Library.

Recording and Editing

• Recording on a Software Instrument Track (03:01) - Learn how to toggle the click track on/off, how to set up a count in before recording begins, and listen as a bass part is recorded on a software instrument track.

• Quantize, Follow & Groove Track (05:09) - Explore three different ways of adjusting the timing of recorded software instrument regions.

• Recording Multiple Takes (02:39) - See how to record multiple takes over the same section of a project and then choose from the takes later.

• Choosing Takes (02:24) - See how to choose from and manage multiple takes recorded to a take folder.

• Arranging the Regions (05:08) - Learn to select, split, move, copy, rename, and create regions in the Tracks Area.

• Recording Electric Guitar (03:42) - Watch as an audio track is set up with a patch containing guitar amp processing, and an electric guitar part is recorded while monitoring the sound of the patch.

• Recording a Guitar Solo (03:25) - Listen as multiple takes of a guitar solo are recorded on an additional audio track with separate guitar amp effects.

Building the Arrangement

• The Audio Editor (03:58) - See how the Audio Editor is used for basic cut, copy, paste, split, move, and trim functions; quantizing and transposing audio regions, and allowing your audio recordings to follow the project tempo and key signature.

• Flex Time Editing (02:10) - See how to use the Audio Editor’s flex time editing function to alter the length of notes within audio regions.

• The Piano Roll Editor (05:38) - Learn how to select, move, copy, resize, create, transpose, and scale note velocity in the Piano Roll Editor.

• The Score Editor (03:26) - See how the Score Editor is used to create and edit MIDI notes using a standard musical notation view.

• The Arrangement Track (02:48) - See how the Arrangement Track is used to create different song sections and try out different song arrangements by copying, moving, and deleting the sections along with their underlying regions.

Mixing

• EQ & Other Plug-Ins (09:09) - Explore how the EQ effect is used to shape the tonal balance of each track, how Amp Designer and Bass Amp Designer are used, and how the Sample Delay plug-in is used to widen the stereo image of the guitar track.

• Automation (04:38) - Discover how GarageBand’s automation features are used to change either a Track control, Smart control, or Plug-In parameter at different sections in the project.

• Fade Out & Sharing Your Music (04:51) - See how the Master Track, combined with volume automation, is used to fade out the sound of all the other tracks simultaneously; and how to share your music with others.

10.1 Update

• New Drummers (03:16) - Discover the new Electronic and Hip Hop genres and drummers, and the new accompanying electronic drum kit instruments available for use in GarageBand 10.1.

• New Apple Loops (02:22) - Explore some of the new Apple Loops added in genres such as EDM, hip hop, indie, disco, funk, and blues.

• Transform Pads (05:00) - Learn to work with GarageBand’s new synth sounds using the Smart Control’s new Transform Pad. See how it is used to morph between various snapshots of parameter values by moving a framing box around, either statically or in real time.

• Force Touch Trackpad Gestures (01:54) - Learn how GarageBand 10.1 implements force trackpad gestures (using the new force track pad found on newer Macbook and Macbook Pro laptops) to create new empty MIDI regions, add audio files to an audio track, rename regions, add notes in the MIDI editors, create new tracks, and create automation points.

10.2 Update

• The New Percussionists (04:45) - Hear GarageBand’s three new percussionists, and learn about the updated layout of the Drummer controls and pattern settings.

• Drummer Loops & Loop Browser Update (05:02) - See how the new Drummer Loops are loaded from the updated Apple Loop Browser.

• Touché (A Touch Bar for the Rest of Us) (06:59) - Explore the functions available with the new MacBook Pro Touch Bar, via the free Touché software download.