If you have a mac, you've probably experimented with Garage Band a bit. After a few minutes, it gets boring and you move on to something else. Most people don't really use Garage Band as a tool, they think of it as a fun little toy. In reality, Garage band is very much a musical recording and creating program. I'm going to teach you ----- steps on how to make a Garage Band song sound good.
Getting to Know the Interface
First things first. The instruments. The instruments are what the songs are created from. Knowing how to find the right instrument and track that you want is of utmost importance. After opening garage band, press the small eye in the bottom left hand corner. You'll see allot of choices. The first thing you should do is familiarize your self with all the selections. Try and find things that you like, just look around. Next, you need to learn how to start a song.Constructing a Song
A song needs to start with a solid drum-line or beat, depending on what kind of song you want to make. Find one that you like and build off of it. Add things on to it that you think sound like they go together. To make tracks longer, put your cursor in the upper right corner and drag it to the right. Try and put variety into your songs. Making more complex melodies and harmonies is the next step.Blue and Green Tracks
Blue and green are very different types of tracks. Blue tracks will sound the same no matter which instrument you play them under. Green tracks will be played differently depending on which instrument they are at. Also, Blue tracks are the only kind that you can record over. Knowing the difference between blue and green is very important. Different Keys
Have you ever wanted to change keys in a song? Or go up or down an octave? Well now you can. Next to the eye in the left corner is the scissors. The scissors help you modify tracks in your song. You can change the pitch, timing, and tuning. By switching these things, you can really spice up your song. Volume and Pan
Pressing the downward facing arrow in the track panel will bring up a blue line under the track. This line controls volume. Clicking on this line will create and move a dot that can raise and lower volume gradually or suddenly. Volume is a very important part of music and most people don't know how to manipulate it. Pan is putting the sound on one speaker or another. It's a cool little effect that's nice to throw in there once in a while. I hope you use these things in your songs and appreciate how much thought apple put in to this product.
