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Intro To GarageBand

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What is GarageBand?

  • GarageBand is a DAW - Digital Audio Workstation
  • One of the most popular DAWs due to its accessibility
    • Pre-installed on all Apple/Mac devices
  • GarageBand is FREE!!!
    • Other DAWs can cost hundreds of dollars
      • Logic Pro X is $200, Pro Tools $300-$400, Ableton Live $500
    • Much better than many other free DAW options

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Functions

  • 4 types of tracks:
    • Keyboard track
      • Also called software instrument track
      • Can record using a keyboard (actual keyboard or your computer keyboard)
      • Uses MIDI signals
    • Microphone track
      • Used to record audio, or you can drag loops onto one of these tracks
      • Can use a separate microphone or internal microphone from your computer to record
    • Guitar track
      • Can plug your guitar straight into your computer and use GarageBand’s amp simulators to create guitar sounds
    • Drummer track
      • Automatically creates drum beats
      • Has various different “drummers” that have unique grooves based on genre and style

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What is a track?

  • Think of it as a lane of traffic for audio
  • Allows you to record things separately

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Functions

  • Loops
    • Pre-recorded audio clips that you can repeat
    • Designed to work well with other loops
    • Can be filtered by instrument, genre, or descriptors
  • Transport
    • Play, pause, fast forward, rewind, cycle (repeat a selected section)
    • Tells time, tells you what measure and beat you are on
    • Includes a metronome, count in, and tuner
  • Edit Window
    • Shows you each audio file and its waveform
      • Some audio tracks look different: MIDI, audio, drummer
    • You can cut, splice, copy, paste, and delete audio files here

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Functions

  • Plugins
    • Effects such as reverb, echo, delay, distortion, pitch shift, and phaser
    • EQ (equalization) and compression
    • Autotune