Making Music

Intro to Garageband

Summary
1. Subject(s): Music, Music Production, Music Theory, STEAM
2. Topic: Music Applications
3. Level: Intro
4. Objective: Students will be able to navigate the user interface of the application,
Garageband (Mac), by adding loops and instruments.

"Music can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable."

- Leonard Bernstein

5. Time Allotment: 1 Hour of Lecture, 30 Min of Practice

Implementation
GarageBand
Garageband is a free music software for Mac and iOs. With this application you can record audio,
sounds and vocals, play software instruments, and make beats with drum tracks to create your
very own songs or audio productions to share with the world.

It's just a theory… a Music

Theory!
Music Theory is the study of
tempo, pitch, rhythm, melody,
harmony, tone and genre. You
don’t need to read music, but
having foundations of theory can
be helpful when creating and
playing music.

1
Procedure
● Start a new project
● Navigating the Interface
● Create a musical phrase with multiple loops and/instruments.

Main Window

● Tracks: Where you record audio and MIDI regions, add Apple Loops and other media files,
and arrange the regions to build your project.
● Library: You can change the sound of a track by choosing a new patch in the Library, and
also save your own custom patches. For Drummer tracks, you can also choose the
drummer and genre.
● Smart Controls: Includes the transport controls you use to control playback of your
project, buttons to show and hide the different areas of GarageBand, and buttons for
other frequently used commands.
 ● Editors: GarageBand features a set of editors, including the Audio Editor, Piano Roll Editor,
Score Editor, and Drummer Editor, which you use to make precise changes to individual
regions and their contents.
● Note Pad: Features text areas where you can create, view, and edit project notes.
● Loop Browser: Gives you access to the included Apple Loops library so you can search
for and preview loops, then add them to your project.

Tracks Area

● Tracks area menu bar:

Contains controls for
adding tracks, showing
track automation, a Catch
button, and a zoom slider.

● Ruler: Shows divisions of

time, either in bars and
beats or in hours,
minutes, and seconds.
The ruler lets you align
items in the Tracks area,
and has additional uses
for various playback and recording tasks.

● Track headers: Each track has a header that shows the track name and icon, and includes
controls for muting and soloing the track, arming the track for recording, and other
functions.

● Tracks: All audio, MIDI, and Drummer regions appear on horizontal lanes called tracks,
aligned to time positions in a grid.

● Playhead: The thin vertical line extending from the top to bottom of the Tracks area, the
playhead shows the part of the project currently playing or where playback starts. You can
use the playhead to help align regions and other items, and for editing tasks, such as
splitting regions.
Library

You can view available patches

for the currently selected track,
and choose a new patch, in the
Library. Categories appear on
the left, and patches for the
selected category appear on the
right. You can search for patches,
and create, save, and delete
patches.

You can view all available

patches for the track, or view
only patches for a particular
sound pack or Producer pack.

When a Drummer track is

selected, you can choose drum
genres and drummers in the
Library, which apply to all regions
in the Drummer track. You can
choose preset settings for the
selected drummer from the left
side of the Drummer Editor.

● Track icon: The icon for the selected track is displayed in the upper part of the Library.
● View pop-up menu: Choose which patches to display. You can display all available
patches, or filter patches by sound pack.
● Search field: Quickly search for patches by name.
● Category and Patch lists: Select a category on the left, then select a patch on the right.
● Delete button: Delete a saved patch.
● Save button: Save the patch with its current settings as a new custom patch.
● Revert button: Revert to the original patch settings.
Smart Controls

Smart Controls let you quickly view and adjust the sound of the selected track. Each Smart
Control features a set of screen controls. Adjusting a single screen control can modify one or
more parameters for the track.

In the Smart Controls pane you can also add, reorder, and edit plug-ins, including Audio Units
plug-ins installed on your computer.

● Screen controls: Visual controls that let you control the sound of the track. Screen
controls are labeled to make their functions easier to understand.

● Smart Control inspector: You can access plug-ins including master effects, recording
settings (for audio tracks), and a keyboard sensitivity control (for software instrument
tracks).

● Master button: Shows the Smart Controls for the master track.

● EQ button: Opens the EQ effect for the selected track.

● Tuner button: Opens the Tuner (audio tracks only).

● Amp and Pedal buttons: Opens the Amp Designer and Pedalboard plug-ins (electric guitar
patches only).

● Arpeggiator button: Opens the Arpeggiator (software instrument tracks only).

Audio Editor

The Audio Editor displays the audio waveform of the regions on an audio track. You can copy,
paste, move, trim, split, and join audio regions. Using the Audio Editor grid, you can precisely
align edits with specific points in time.

● Audio Editor menu bar: Contains Flex and Catch buttons, and a zoom slider.
● Audio Editor inspector: Contains controls for correcting pitch, quantizing time, and
transposition.
● Waveform display: Shows the audio waveform for the region on a time grid.
● Ruler: Shows time divisions so you can align regions and make edits at precise time
positions.
● Playhead: Shows the current playback position.

You can also edit individual notes and beats in the Audio Editor using Flex Time. All edits in the
Audio Editor are nondestructive, so you can always return to your original recordings.

Piano Roll Editor

The Piano Roll Editor shows notes in MIDI regions as rectangles on a time grid. The position of
each note shows the time position where it starts playing, its duration (length), and pitch.

You can edit individual notes by moving them, resizing them, dragging them vertically to change
their pitch, and in a variety of other ways.
 ● Piano Roll Editor menu bar: Contains the MIDI Draw button, Catch button, and zoom slider.

● Piano Roll Editor inspector: Contains controls for quantizing note timing and adjusting
note pitch and velocity.

● Display area: Shows the notes in the MIDI region or regions as bars on a time grid.

● Ruler: Shows time divisions so you can align and edit notes at precise time positions.

● Playhead: Shows the current playback position.

Score Editor

The Score Editor displays MIDI regions as music notation, including notes, rests, and sustain
pedal markings. You can add and edit notes and other musical symbols.
 ● Score Editor menu bar: Contains the Grid pop-up menu and zoom slider.

● Score Editor inspector: Contains controls for quantizing note timing and adjusting note
pitch and velocity.

● Display area: Shows the notes in the MIDI regions as musical notation.

● Ruler: Shows time divisions so you can align and edit notes at precise time positions.

● Playhead: Shows the current playback position.

Drummer Editor

If you add a Drummer track to a project, you can view and edit Drummer track and region
parameters in the Drummer Editor.

In the Library, you can choose drum genres and drummers, which apply to all regions in the
Drummer track. You can choose presets for the selected drummer from either the Library or the
left side of the Drummer Editor. Presets offer a quick way to browse predefined, region-based
Drummer Editor settings, including kit piece pattern variations and fill settings.

The right side of the editor includes region-based settings, an XY pad for adjusting the
complexity and loudness of the region performance, and controls for editing performance
parameters, including kit piece pattern variations and fill settings.

● Genres and drummers area: Select a genre to view the drummers for that genre, then
select the drummer for the track.
 ● Drummer presets list: Choose a preset for the selected Drummer region. A preset consists
of all region settings, visible to the right of the presets area.

● XY pad: Adjust the complexity and loudness of the region performance.

● Drum kit controls: Turn on different instruments, and choose between different variations
for the drum and percussion pieces. You also have the option to play half time or double
time for kick and snare.

● Performance controls: Adjust the number and length of fills using the Fills knob. Adjust the
shuffle feel of the region performance using the Swing knob.

Notepad

You can create, view, and edit notes for a project in the Note Pad. You can type text notes, and
add images by dragging them into the Project Text area. Each project can contain one set of
notes.

Loop Browser

The Loop Browser makes it easy to find Apple Loops and add them to your project. You can
browse for loops or search using various criteria, preview matching loops, and add them to your
project by dragging them into the Tracks area.

● View buttons: Switch between column view and

button view.

● View pop-up menu: Choose which loops to

display. You can display all available loops, or filter
loops by Loop Pack or the user’s loop library.

● Search field: Type text to search for loops by

name.

● Keyword buttons: Filter loops by clicking

keyword buttons. Matching loops appear in the results
list below.

● Category columns: Filter loops by choosing

categories and subcategories from left to right.
Matching loops appear in the results list below.
 ● Results list: Displays all loops that match the search criteria. Click a loop to preview it, and
drag a loop from the results list into the Tracks area to add it to your project.

● Volume slider: Adjusts the volume of loops you are previewing.

Guided Practice
You can get a great start on a song using Apple Loops and a little mixing and matching. Loops are
divided into three types of sounds: Software Instruments, Audio, and Drummer Loops. Let’s first
make sure we have a track for each kind of loop.

1. Click the “+” icon in the Tracks Area Menu Bar to add a new track. Select “Software
Instrument”, then do this two more times to add an Audio (For now, click the Microphone
Icon), and a Drummer Track.
2. Open the Loop Browser and search through different loops by selecting specifiers for
instruments, genres and descriptions.
3. Preview the loop by selecting it. When you find a loop you would like to put in your song,
drag it over to the appropriate type. (Tip: You can also narrow your search by selecting a
specific loop type, and selecting a scale of Major or Minor will help your loop selections
stay in the same kind of scale.)
4. Mix and match different loops until you have a drum track, a software track and an audio
track that all go together nicely.

When you are ready to pause your music production session for the day make sure you SAVE
YOUR PROJECT!

Save your project as “FirstnameLastname.TitleOfProject” in a folder, the default is in the

“GarageBand” folder. This folder pathway is located in Finder: Macintosh HD > Users > Username
(“Adult”/”Senior”/”Teen”/etc.) > Music > GarageBand

Then either upload it onto your USB Drive (Make sure you bring your own USB Drive to class
EVERY TIME), or Email it to the instructor to save on a Google Cloud Drive for you.

To have the instructor save it: Open your browser and send an email with your project attached to
your email to [email protected]
Materials & Resources
a. Instructional Materials: https://support.apple.com/guide/garageband/welcome/10.4.9/mac
b. Resources:
Garageband:
https://support.apple.com/guide/garageband/welcome/10.4.9/mac

https://youtu.be/II2ALb1qsyQ?si=rXJmICs2cS6ffBbT

Theory:
https://www.musictheory.net/lessons

Duo Lingo - Music Course

Assessment Questions
Ask yourself the questions about the music you are making?

Is the music catchy and enjoyable to listen to?

Does the music convey any feeling, style or story to the listener?

Is the song in tune, on beat, on tempo, coherent and balanced?

What did I like about it, what might make it better?

If you can't record audio

In macOS Mojave or later, you'll need to allow GarageBand to access the built-in or connected
audio inputs.