Author:
Florence Bailey
Date Of Creation:
27 March 2021
Update Date:
1 July 2024
Content
Garageband is a fun and addicting app. It allows you to create pieces of music, learn to play instruments and much more.But Garageband, when you first meet it, can seem like a very confusing and incomprehensible program. This guide will teach you how to create simple songs with Garageband and maybe help you become a true pro.
This article will show you how to write simple songs without lyrics that look more like motives. These motives can be used for entertainment or inserted into other projects (slideshows, videos, etc.). In order to learn this, you do not need to have any special skills. You just need to understand how different instruments interact to create a song or motive. This can be done by trying and combining different sounds.
Steps
1 Open GarageBand and you will see a window with different kinds of projects. Select the Create Song project under the New Project tab. 
2 Give a name to your piece (you can do this later). Leave the default tempo, character and key settings, or change them as needed. 
3 Click Create. You should see an empty GarageBand project like this 
4 Click on "Hide / Show Loop" in the lower left corner. This will allow you to select instruments and loops to mix, fit, and create songs. 
5 Choose drums for your song. Click on the "All Drums" button and view the available options. You can refine your search and click on the illuminated buttons to select a specific drum type. To listen to the sound of the drums, click on them. With the drums selected, drag them to the center of the screen and they will automatically attach to the track. - You can copy and paste drums (just like any other instrument) to quickly lengthen the song.
6 Press the play button to listen to the drums. Now let's add the guitar. Click on the reset button (double arrow pointing backwards) and select the guitar bar. Again, you can narrow your search by selecting a specific type of guitar. With your guitar selected, drag it to the track, positioning it above or below the drums. - Combine instruments or let them sound one at a time by placing them correctly on the track.
7 Select the third instrument and add it to the audio track. Place it so that it matches your song. - At any time, you can press the play button (or the space bar) to hear what you have done.
8 Add a fourth and maybe even a fifth instrument.
9 Save the song and enjoy it!
Warnings
- Please note: GarageBand is a very sophisticated program that can be used to create a huge number of songs / tunes / sounds. This is just a basic guide to using GarageBand. It teaches the user the standard techniques and controls for creating a simple song.
What do you need
- Intel-based Mac (at least dual-core)
- Garageband app (09) (preinstalled on all Macs, but can be downloaded from the Apple website)
