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GETTING STARTED with GarageBand (iLife’09 version) Before launching GarageBand, set up your keyboard: a. Power on b. Turn local control OFF— GLOBAL (left) MENU (right) (steps for Korg Triton LE- F2 (under screen) other keyboards will be different) F8 (under screen) Down arrow (right) to “Local control on” Turn wheel counterclockwise to “uncheck” box SEQ (left) c. Plug in/power on other devices like an interface box for mics or guitars. 1. LAUNCH: Scroll to your dock click the guitar to launch GB. GB sometimes just opens the last open project… If that happens, use the pull down File menu--New to start fresh (or cmnd-N)

GB gives you several templates to start with. If you’re not sure what kind to choose and you are NOT recording a podcast or using live instruments, select Loops. You can always add tracks and set features later. Click Choose to get to the next step

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2. NEW PROJECT:

1. Type song title (file name) default is “My Song” (and a number, if you’ve left the default before) 2. Click arrow to select location to save (default is User/Music/GarageBand) 3. Select key & time signature (leave defaults for podcasts) 4. Click “Create

3. LOOP-BASED SONG NAVIGATION: Track timeline/ruler shows measures in 4/4 open space to insert loops loop menu + add track record & playback controls scissor - edit track master volume “eyeball” to open/close loop browser Time counter window counting measures “i” to open/close track info/settings Click the note to switch to time clock, project settings (tempo, meter, key) or guitar tuner

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4. LOOP BROWSER: Start building a song a. Click any button on the top, then click any loop from the choices on the below to

hear it play. Click another one to change, or click it again to make it stop. GREEN loops are MIDI and can play on any instrument track (i.e. copying a piano loop into horns will change the timbre) BLUE loops are digital audio – you can’t change the timbre

*GarageBand will auto-adjust tempo & key for all loops displaying tempo & key in menu **Notice the “Reset” button on the left to get back all of your choices.

b. When you’ve found a loop you like, drag & drop it into the gray in the center. The timeline will indicate the measure where you’re inserting. You’ll see a “plus sign” dot—GarageBand is adding the loop. c. To make a loop keep going once it’s in your track above, approach it from the upper right corner —you’ll get a curved arrow cursor that tells you it will “loop” if you pull to the right. If the cursor has a straight line & arrow, it will not loop—try again from the upper right corner.

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d. Play back your song. a. Press the spacebar on the keyboard to start/stop play OR b. double-click in the timeline to play from a particular place OR c. use the playback controls---click the arrow to start/stop **notice—reset to beginning

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5. BASIC EDITING (you can always copy, cut, paste & drag sections of track) a. Control Buttons -Track Volume (controls one part at a time) – use the slider to adjust volume for entire song; create a volume curve with ‘bubbles’ (see a-c below) for fades -Pan (controls sound to Right/Left speakers) Click/turn the knob on the track label bar—set for entire song or with ‘bubbles’ like track volume i. Click the down arrow on the track label bar to open track volume window or switch to pan. ii. Click the faint colored line to place/slide bubbles iii. Pull the bubbles up/down to change the volume level to create fades, etc Zoom sliders add new track(+) open/close track edit window(scissor) mute open/close track solo volume & pan whole track pan record enable lock tracks whole track volume

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zoom to select note detail zoom track windows switch between bar graph & notation (changes timeline @ top) b. Track Editor (Scissors) Copy/Cut/Paste/Change/Drag individual notes or groups of notes in GREEN tracks (MIDI) You can also “quantize” (equalize/correct rhythms) Copy/Cut/Paste pieces of waveform for BLUE tracks (digital audio) Splitting tracks…. To shorten or get a piece of a track: use the Zoom slider to get a better look

Place the cursor at the beginning of the part you want: Edit - -Split or Cmnd-T Move the cursor to the end of the section; Edit - -Split or Cmnd-T again

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6. TRACK EDITING (GREEN/MIDI) Piano Roll View: notice the sideways piano indicating absolute pitch. Click an individual note—it will turn green. Select the notes you want to fix by clicking individual notes or selecting a group by drawing a box around the notes:

Move vertically or horizontally with the mouse. Push or drag the sides of notes to make shorter or longer. Copy it; move the redline cursor, and paste in another one. Change other aspects of notes using: View – change to sustain, modulation, etc – advanced editing Pitch - transpose all selected the notes up/down by half-steps Velocity will make the individual notes lighter or darker (softer or louder) Auto Align will correct rhythm to nearest . . . (“quantize”) remember that you can get more room to view by closing side panel Score View: notation is helpful but not always 100% accurate…beware of triplets.

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7. TRACK EDITING (BLUE/Digital Audio)

sorry . . . not a whole lot you can do other than cut/paste and enhance tuning & timing. timing & tuning features are not as sophisticated or reliable as in ProTools. Track effects (reverb, etc) can be edited through this menu

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8. RECORDING A. Make sure your MIDI instrument, USB mic or interface is connected… ***Check GarageBand>Preferences>Audio/MIDI now…be sure the correct input & output devices are enabled.

**If you change these settings and signal from input device isn’t lighting up in track volume: SAVE, QUIT & RELAUNCH **If you plug in a device after launching project, always check this menu. B. Select (full color) a track already in your song or add a new one: Track>New Track OR the “+” button (lower left)

Also helpful: Track>Duplicate Track - same as whichever existing track is lit Track>New Basic Track - shortcut for a real instrument track

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C. If recording a Software Instrument – likely through a keyboard: -try Window>Musical Typing if there’s no keyboard -record as one type of instrument, change to another -edit as in section 6 above. D. If recording through a microphone or with an instrument cabled into an interface box: -Double click the track, select Track>Show Track Info OR Apple-I OR the “I” button (lower right)

-Turn Monitor “on” to hear the effect you’ve chosen while practicing, or “off” to avoid making yourself crazy. ***Always use “Monitor Off” when recording vocals… latency (processing delay) will really mess you up!

(Most likely, you’ll be recording in Mono, unless you’re using a stereo cable to capture a sound built into an electronic keyboard, with local control back “on.” ) *****E. Recording “live”

i.--If you need a ‘count in’ - Go to Control>Count In (1 measure prep) ii. Place the timeline cursor where you’d like recording to begin. iii. Be sure the track name you’re recording into is highlighted in full color

(click on the name on the left)

iv. Click the RED DOT to begin recording,

v. Click the PLAY ARROW or SPACE BAR to STOP. (clicking the red dot will continue playback)

*remember cmnd-Z to undo, cmnd-X to cut This would be a great time to SAVE---cmnd-S

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9. IMPORTING AUDIO & MIDI A. File to be imported needs to be accessible to computer … (iTunes library, desktop, download file, wherever), flash drive or unencrypted CD. B. Simply drag and drop the file into GarageBand project as if it were a loop C. MIDI files will import as multiple tracks…sometimes instruments are reassigned. D. Audio files import as ONE TRACK. GarageBand cannot separate the tracks from the original mix.

10. EXPORTING TO iTunes & Burning CD’s When your song is finished . . . Share>Send Song to iTunes: add to playlists/burn CD/upload to iPod, etc or Share>Export Song to Disk… (choose file format mp3 for posting to websites, AAC for higher quality/larger file) or Share>Burn Song to CD

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11. GarageBand bonus content – Podcast Template

Pre-formatted, but works just like music project . . . add video or art/graphics Auto ducking – make background fade behind voice tracks

time clock default use the Loop Browser to add music, jingles, sound effects by selecting the ‘eyeball’