CSE2MA Sound Tutorial #1

Use headphones. At the start of the tutorial unmute the sound. At the end, mute the sound again.

System Preference > Audio > Output
Uncheck or check the mute box next to the volume control.

Introduction to Garage Band

  1. Open GarageBand
    Double click guitar icon or find in Applications
  2. Create a New Project
  3. Navigate to the directory in which to save your project (with your other multimedia work - GarageBand files can be big).
  4. Save the project giving it a name of your choice. Eg. tute1_song1
    Save As: tute1_song1
  5. Accept the defaults.
    Time: 4 /4
    120 bpm
    Key: C
  6. Usually GarageBand will open with a piano keyboard waiting for input. You do not need it at first, so close it.
    You can reinstate the keyboard at any time.
    Window > Keyboard
  7. Usually there will also be an empty track. Delete it.
    Track > Delete Track

Find the Apple loops.

  1. There is an eye icon in the bottom menu.
    Click the eye.
    Or
    Control > Show Loop Browser
  2. Usually, some of the loop browser buttons cannot be seen.
    To view them all, drag the grey brushed metal divider bar upward into the track area.
  3. There should be a button view, a column view, and a search box (magnifier icon).
  4. Click a button eg. Piano.
  5. To listen, click the name of a loop. This gives you a preview.
  6. To adjust the volume of a loop, use the slider at the bottom of the loops window.

Become familiar with the loop button browser.

  1. GarageBand sorts the loops. For example choose Piano.
    Some buttons are disabled.
    The buttons left are sorted Piano. For example, listen to some Intense loops.
    Try
    Piano > Intense > Grooving
    This should narrow down the loops to one.
  2. Deselect buttons by pressing them again.
  3. To reinstate the original set up, press Reset (top left hand button).
  4. What is in textures?
  5. Where can Crowd Applause be found?
  6. When you find loops you particularly like, add them to a list of favourites, using the Fav column.

Become familiar with the Tracks window.

  1. Choose any loop you like.
    For example, choose a loop from
    Country > Guitars > Relaxed
  2. Drag it into the empty track area.
    A new track is created.
  3. First play through the loop, by pressing the play button. You can also use the space bar instead of the play button.
    Stop play by pressing the play button again.
  4. Notice the looping (sometimes called cycling) button on the play head. To cause the song to loop rather than play through once and stop, press the looping button, and then press play.
  5. Change the size of the looping section by moving the ends of the orange looping indicator over the top of the waveforms.
    • Play again (with the looping button also selected), notice how the song loops over the section you have selected.
  6. Find the control that mutes the track so that it does not play (mute or unmute).
  7. Use the tempo control to slow down or speed the music up. Click on the tempo section of the counter display to find the control.

MIDI vs Real Instrument

There are two different types of loops - blue (or purple) real instrument loops and green MIDI (software instrument) loops.

  1. Select a MIDI loop and drag it to the track area.
    For example, choose a loop from
    Country > Bass
  2. Repeat the loop over a number of measure by dragging the top right hand corner with the mouse (a circular arrow looping arrow will appear when the mouse is in the correct position).
  3. You should now have one blue (purple) track and one green (MIDI). If you have two of the same, select a third instrument of your choice.
  4. Find the control that plays only one track and mutes all the others (solo and unsolo). In this way, listen to one track only.
  5. Try changing the volumes for different tracks.
  6. Select the green MIDI track.
  7. Double click on the instrument icon or the words describing the instrument. A software instrument window will appear.
  8. Listen to this track on its own.
    • Select another instrument.
      Choose to Discard changes to the current instrument setting.
    • Observe the effect of changing instruments.
  9. Now select a blue (purple) track and click on the instrument icon.
    • The dialog box should show that this is a Real Instrument track.
  10. Listen to the track on its own.
    • Select other instruments. Although instruments are listed here, you are actually selecting effects presets, which have been optimised for each instrument type - the sound itself was set when the track was recorded.
    • Apply effects. These are in the bottom Details window.
  11. Select a MIDI track.
    • Select a green loop with a different sound (software instrument) and drag it to the same track.
    • The loop sound should change to the track sound (so you have many more options available for building a song).
  12. Start with a blue (purple) track and drag a green MIDI loop to it. GarageBand turns it into a digital recording. The green loop turns blue and the horizontal bars turn into soundwaves.
  13. Start with a blue track and drag a blue loop with a different sound to it. Observe that the sound does not change.
  14. You cannot drag a real instrument blue loop into a green MIDI track - try it.

Track editor

  1. Highlight a track.
  2. Open the track editor by clicking on the Track Editor (scissors) icon.
  3. Lengthen and shorten the image (of waves or midi notes) using the slider in the left-hand panel.
  4. Try deleting, copying, pasting sections of sound.

Record MIDI

GarageBand offers the capability of working with MIDI files. However, the version on the eMacs does not allow you to import a MIDI file. Therefore, use the piano keyboard to record some MIDI of your own.

  1. Start a new project. You will use the piano keyboard that appears.
    If the keyboard does not appear, choose it from the Window menu.
    Window > Keyboard
  2. Track > New Track
    Select Software Instrument.
  3. Choose an instrument eg. piano. Choose create.
    A new track with green highlights appears.
  4. Press the red record button. You should here a beat beating the time.
  5. Try pressing a key along with the beat - eg. one key (C) every 4 beats
  6. Practise for a while then delete this track and start again.
  7. Try looping (cycling). Press one key every 4 beats the first time through the loop - another key the second time through etc. Also try sliding across a number of keys and sliding from a black key to a white.
  8. Try changing the instrument. Also duplicate the track and try with two different instruments.
  9. Edit the notes using the track editor.
    By lenghtening or shorting notes, moving them around, or by copying and pasting them, you may be able to compose an interesting piece.

Bring in WAV

You can bring in external digital sound files, such as WAV files (and MP3).

  1. Download some of the following files (into your multimedia folder).
  2. Drag and drop them on to the track window.
    The new tracks will appear as a third colour indicating they are digital audio files.
  3. choir1.wav   choir2.wav   choir_amen.wav   cronk5.wav   magpie2a2.wav   fran_atmospace.wav   i_dont_like_it.wav
  4. Try audio files of your own.

Loops with different tempos

Different loops have different keys (eg. D, C) and different tempos (eg. 80 beats per minute (bpm), 120 bpm). Do we have to use ones that match?
  1. Mix ones with different tempos and keys. GarageBand will fit them to the tempo and key of your song.
  2. We have to use 4/4 time if we want to use GarageBand loops. Let's try.
  3. Create a new project and change the default settings.
    Tempo - move the slider up or down (or change the bpm from 120)
    Time: most music of today is 4/4 - try 3/4 (waltz) or 2/4(march), better still, try some of GarageBand's less common time signatures - 9/8, 12/8
  4. Try selecting some loops (I think there may be some for 2/4 and 6/8 time). We have to create our own tracks when using unusual time signatures.
  5. Try another project - this time changing the key. Here, we want to find out how GarageBand hides loops that will not fit into the song's key from us. Loops can be transposed but some some of them start to distort if shifted too far from their starting points.
MIDI files are instructions for making sounds and contain no audio data. However, GarageBand's green loops are associated with AIF files - search for the name of a green GarageBand loop and you will find an associated AIF file. It is easier for the Mac to play back digital recordings in real time than to play MIDI in real time.

References

Pogue, D. (2004) GarageBand: The Missing Manual 1st edition Beijing: Pogue Press, O'Reilly

Fran Soddell
last updated 28 Aug 2008 P.Somerville@latrobe.edu.au