GarageBand ’09: Take Control of Making Music with GarageBand ’09

Take Control of Making Music with GarageBand ‘09

Get creative and make music with the built-in loops in GarageBand '09!

Seattle composer Jeff Tolbert's step-by-step instructions guide beginning and intermediate users through using GarageBand's built-in loops to create three songs, explaining not only how to use GarageBand's editing and mixing features but also how to be playful and creative while composing tunes that please the ear. You'll learn how to plan a song, get the most out of Magic GarageBand, edit and arrange Real Instrument and Software Instrument loops in numerous ways, create exciting mixes, and export your masterpieces.

The book also covers how to change track volume, tempo, and panning dynamically, and how to work with GarageBand's effects. Plus, it includes seven suggestions for solving performance problems.

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Contents & Intro
What’s New
FAQ
Blog

Read Me First
Introduction
Making Music with GarageBand Quick Start
Configure GarageBand
Make Your First Tune
Make a Great Song
Transform a Magic GarageBand Song
Learn More Loop Techniques
Export Your Song
Learn More
Appendix A: Improving Performance
Glossary
About This Book

Read Me First

GarageBand is an exceptional way for musicians and nonmusicians alike to unleash their musical creativity. This book shows you how to use loops, assemble them into a composition, mix the song, and use basic audio effects in GarageBand '09 (part of Apple's iLife '09 suite). Even if you have no musical ability or instruments, you can create an impressive song quickly and easily. This book was written by Jeff Tolbert, edited by Caroline Rose, and published by TidBITS Publishing Inc.

Introduction

GarageBand makes it easy for someone who isn't a professional musician to create music that sounds professional. It's inexpensive, and because it was developed by Apple, it's pretty to look at. The program does provide online Help, but this book goes beyond what you find in the Help and walks you step-by-step through a number of common (and not so common) procedures. Even if you have some familiarity with other music editing software, the tips and tricks in this book will help streamline how you work in GarageBand.

This book shows you how to create a song in GarageBand using the loops that ship with the product as well as using Magic GarageBand. You'll learn tricks for customizing the built-in loops and Magic GarageBand tunes, and ways to use mixing techniques and audio effects so that your songs will sound unique. Whether you're new to GarageBand or have already played around with it, plenty of audio-related goodies await you within. I won't, however, cover recording a guitar or vocals or setting up a MIDI keyboard; I cover those topics in my second book, Take Control of Recording with GarageBand '09.

I'm also passing along some of the musical knowledge I've amassed over the years, to help you create an interesting and effective composition. This information is oriented toward nonmusicians, so don't worry if all you know about music is that a grand piano is bigger than a ukulele; I've presented the concepts in plain English. You don't need to know what a diminished seventh chord is or how to sight-read an orchestral score to make a song that will impress your friends. If any of the terminology stumps you, you can look it up in the Glossary (or, if the term appears in blue in the text of the ebook, click it to move to where it's defined in the Glossary).

Take Control of Making Music with GarageBand '09 follows a step-by-step approach. I walk you through the creation of three songs: two using loops—one simple and one more complex—and one using Magic GarageBand. I point out exactly which loops, effects, and settings to use where. This specific, sequential approach keeps the book from being a dull and dry reference manual. I suggest that you follow the instructions as closely as you can.

Note: I recommend that you at least skim all three song tutorials, since I mention different techniques in each of them. Even if you don’t plan on ever using Magic GarageBand, for example, note that I cover some more advanced GarageBand features in that section.

After you've worked through a song, it's yours to play with. Fly, be free, create! GarageBand is a tool to unleash your inner genius. I hope this book helps you to do just that.

Making Music with GarageBand Quick Start

This book shows you how to create exciting songs using the music loops that come with GarageBand. I take a sequential approach and build on what I've shown in earlier sections. If you're a less linear person and like to jump around, you may have to backtrack occasionally if you come across something unfamiliar.

Set up:

Update GarageBand if necessary and set preferences so that it will run at its best; see Configure GarageBand.

Make your first tune:

New to GarageBand? Make your first song in no time! Learn what a loop is and how to work with it; see Add Loops.
Tweak your tune, make the loops work together, and give the song an ending; see Learn Editing and Mixing Basics.

Make a great song:

It's time to start making great music. Decide on your goal and find loops that help meet that goal; see Plan the Song.
Learn what it takes to make your composition interesting and exciting; see Consider the Elements That Make a Song Work.
Crop some loops and expand others, change instruments, and move notes around, using both notation view and graphic view; see Work with Regions and Loops.
Explore the basics of audio editing and effects—fades, equalization, panning and more; see Mix Your Song.

Customize a Magic GarageBand song:

Create a Magic GarageBand song, extend the arrangement, change keys and tempos, and cross-fade between instruments; see Transform a Magic GarageBand Song.

Experiment with advanced loop techniques:

Create a drum break, add chord changes to loops, import MIDI files and loops from other sources, and more; see Learn More Loop Techniques.

Finish your song:

Export your song to iTunes and turn it into an MP3 so you can share it with your friends, or into a ringtone for your iPhone; see Export Your Song.

Improve performance:

Learn how to get the most out of your CPU and minimize your chance of seeing the dreaded "System Overload" message; see Appendix A: Improving Performance.

Listen to Jeff

April 24, 2009 --

Author Jeff Tolbert talks about GarageBand '09 in MacVoices podcast #967 with host Chuck Joiner. You can tune in and find out what Jeff has to say about guitar amps, Magic GarageBand, in-GarageBand artist lessons, and more.

—Tonya Engst

Savvy GarageBand ‘09 Documentation Now Available

April 23, 2009 --

Good documentation can be hard to find these days, and Apple's GarageBand has particularly suffered in this regard, since relatively few books have focused on it over the years, with even fewer titles for later versions of GarageBand. Our guess is that most publishers didn't sell enough books about earlier GarageBand versions to make it worthwhile to release new editions. It's also tricky to find someone who is good at writing about how to use the Mac, who has time to write book-length documentation, and who is well-versed in real-world GarageBand usage.

In an example of ebooks breaking the constraints of the physical world, our two GarageBand titles have been steady sellers, and interest in them has grown over time, so naturally we wanted to update them for GarageBand '09. We were relieved that author Jeff Tolbert found the necessary time while working on his ever-increasing number of music-related projects. (We're hoping that we don't regret our flip "remember us when you're famous" line by having Jeff sucked out of the Take Control orbit when he hits it big.)

So, we've just released new editions of the 117-page Take Control of Making Music with GarageBand '09 and the 134-page Take Control of Recording with GarageBand '09." They cost $10 individually or $17.50 in a bundle. To purchase both books with the bundle discount, use this direct link or look for the "Buy Both" option in the left margin of either Web page.

Take Control of Making Music with GarageBand '09: This 117-page ebook provides step-by-step instructions and linked-in audio examples for using GarageBand's built-in loops to create three songs, explaining not only how to use GarageBand's editing and mixing features but also how to be playful and creative while composing tunes that please the ear. Readers will learn how to plan a song, get the most out of Magic GarageBand, edit and arrange Real Instrument and Software Instrument loops, create exciting mixes, and export projects. The ebook also covers how to change track volume, tempo, and panning dynamically, and how to work with GarageBand's effects.
Take Control of Recording with GarageBand '09: This 134-page ebook explains how to create musical compositions with vocals, drums, guitars, MIDI keyboards, and even the kitchen sink. Readers will learn how to get the most out of their existing gear or purchase new equipment that fits their budget and style. The ebook covers how to plan a recording session, and it discusses real-world recording studio techniques for tasks such as using a microphone effectively, getting the best sounds from your gear, applying effects, fixing mistakes, using the new Electric Guitar track and new stompbox effects, and recording multiple tracks at once. Two example songs demonstrate many of the techniques discussed.

If you own an earlier version of one of the Take Control GarageBand titles, you may have received an email message about getting a free (for those who purchased after January 1st, 2009) or discounted update; otherwise, open your PDF and click Check for Updates on the cover to get update details.

—Adam C. Engst

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