GarageBand is a fully equipped music creation studio right inside your Mac — with a complete sound library that includes instruments, presets for guitar and voice, and an incredible selection of session drummers and percussionists. So, I like to produce music sometimes, I have dual boot systems on my mac, OSX 10.7.5 i think which has garageband, and OSX 10.8.4 which does not. But ever since OSX 10.9 maverics came out, GarageBand can't be downloaded to 10.8.X. I already know what the majority of you are thinking, my mac does not have a CD drive, it being an older Macbook air.
If you are not aware, let me tell you GarageBand is Apple’s freeware digital audio workstation which means this software enables you to create, customise of the mix up your music just like a professional music composer, available for download from the Apple app store for all iOS and Mac devices, absolutely free. Garageband is available for Apple devices officially and comes with advanced features including in-app recording, Virtual studio technology, MIDI editing, a collection of instruments and loops, artist lessons, etc; gets better when all of that packed into an intuitive and easy to use interface. The music composing app has all the instruments and sounds that can help you in creating great music. In this post, you will get to know, how to create music on it. If you are using a windows PC you can download GarageBand on PC here.
How to get GarageBand on Mac?
Installing GarageBand on apple devices is super easy. Make sure you have latest MacOS installed on your Macbook, iMac or iPhone. Apple is rolling new updates to improves the bugs and fix them quite often, if available just update to the latest MacOS. Once you are done, now you can proceed.
Installation:
You can download GarageBand for Mac from the Apple’s official website named, APP STORE. Initially, it came as the pre-installed app for iPhone as well as on Mac computers but now the GarageBand is available on App store and it’s just a click-away from installation.
For more clarity, Here are the detailed steps for you:
- Open the Launchpad and then look for App Store in it.
- Once you found the App Store, open it.
- Now, on the App Store, look for GarageBand. It would be the first app you will see. Simply click and download.
- Once you install the app, it is ready to use.
- Go ahead and create some soulful music on your Apple beast.
Using GarageBand on Mac or any apple device is really easy, the interface is same. GarageBand offers you different project templates that you can choose as per your need. Before creating the music, here is some basic stuff you need to know:
Step 1: Opening the Project
First of all, you need to open the project area where you will create music. To do that, open the app and go to File menu and then select ‘New‘. You can also use shortcut key by pressing ⌘+N to open the new project-
You will find a couple of options. In songwriter mode, you will get the preset instruments, audio and other stuff you need to create a new song. Similarly, in Electronic, you will get the preset trance sounds, bass and drum kicks that will help you in creating EDM and other electronic music. You can choose either of them as per your need but if you want to start from scratch without any preset sounds, simply open Empty Project.
Step 2: Adding Instruments on Empty Project:
If you have chosen the Empty project, here is what you need to do to start creating music on GarageBand. On the new empty project, you will get a basic Classic Electric Piano. Use your keyboard to play the Piano notes and to record it. You can see the Piano Keyboard on your screen by going to Windows > Show Musical Typing or press ⌘+K.
If you wanted to add more Tracks, simply click on the + icon (see screenshot), select Empty Project and add another track. Choose any instrument you wanted to add in your song and go on.
How to use loops on GarageBand?
Once you opened the project, now it is time to create some music on it. Creating music on GarageBand is so easy and so much fun, honestly. There is an inbuilt library of Loops that you can use in your songs as well. There are loops from different Genres, Moods, Instruments. You can sort the loops as per your need and type of music. You will get to know the Note of the loop as well as the BPM or Tempo of the loop which is also useful for any music creator. You can open the Loop menu from the Top Right corner. See Screenshot below:
Record External Instrument on GarageBand
Recording an external instrument like Piano, Guitar or Drums on GarageBand is so easy. For recording the Analog instrument as a digital sound require a converter that will convert the analog sound of your Guitar or Piano into Digital sound. You can use Tascam iXZ interface for iPad, iPhone. That is a brilliant gear for your setup. Using this, you can easily record external instrument into the app. You can also record the sound from the inbuilt microphone but the output would be terrible with noises. To open the External instrument interface on GarageBand, you need to go to File > New Project and choose Audio Project. Using the same option, you can also record your own voice on it:
FAQs about GarageBand and Accessibility-
Ques- Is GarageBand free for Mac?
Ans- Yes, GarageBand is a free digital audio workstation available for download in the Apple app store. The free package includes a full set of features and a considerable number of sounds, loops, drummers, lessons, etc. You can, however, expand your content by making a one time purchase of $4.99. It also includes some Artist Lessons that would require you to make an in-app purchase.
Ques- How much does GarageBand cost for Mac?
Ans- GarageBand is free of cost for Mac users. The digital audio workstation is available for download in the Apple app store. The free package includes a full set of features and a considerable number of sounds, loops, drummers, lessons, etc. You can, however, expand your content by making a one time purchase of $4.99. GarageBand also includes some Artist Lessons that would require you to make an in-app purchase.
Ques- Do all Macbooks have GarageBand?
Ans- Even though GarageBand is not pre-installed on all Macs, it is available for all Macbooks. Any Mac user with an Apple ID can download the software from the Mac App Store.
Ques- Where do I find GarageBand on my Mac?
Ans- If you haven’t downloaded GarageBand, you will find it in the Mac app store where you have to search and download. In case you already have the music composing app downloaded on your Mac, you will most likely find it in the tab at the bottom of your screen (with a guitar icon). You can also search for it by name from the search bar at the top of your desktop screen. Alternatively, you can also open the Finder and from the panel on the right, click on Applications. Now when you scroll through your applications, you will find the app.
Ques- How do I remove GarageBand from my Mac?
Ans- To delete GarageBand from your Mac-
- Open Finder.
- Select Applications from the window on the left side
- Find GarageBand and then drag it to the Trash icon at the bottom of the screen
- Alternatively, you can right-click on the icon and tap on ‘Move to Trash’
- Empty the trash folder (right-click on its icon and select ‘Empty Trash’ option)
Alternatively, you can also use this method to get rid of GarageBand-
- Open Launchpad.
- Type and search for GarageBand in the search bar.
- Click and hold on the GarageBand icon, a small cross should appear at the top left of the icon
- Tap on that x and select Delete on the window that pops up
Ques- How do I get rid of music creation files on my Mac?
Ans- To get rid of music creation files from your mac :
- Click on the Apple logo, and then select ‘About this Mac’
- Now go to Storage and select ‘Manage’
- Click on the ‘Music creation’ option
- You’ll find a button to remove GarageBand, click on it to remove music creation files.
- If you don’t find a button to remove GarageBand, you’ll have to first re-install the software on your mac from the App store. Once you have re-installed the app, start this whole procedure from the beginning.
- If you want to further remove GarageBand files and clear up space: Go to the Finder window and search for GarageBand. Now scan the ‘this Mac’ and ‘Library’ folders and delete all GarageBand or Apple Loops files from them.
Ques- How do you delete instruments and lessons on GarageBand in Mac?
Garageband Download Mac Ios
Ans- To get rid of music creation files from your mac:
- Click on the Apple logo, and then select ‘About this Mac’
- Now go to Storage and select ‘Manage’
- Click on the ‘Music creation’ option
- You’ll find a button to remove GarageBand, click on it to remove music creation files.
- If you don’t find the button, you’ll have to first re-install the software on your mac from the App store and then start this procedure from beginning.
- If you want to further remove GarageBand files and clear up space: Go to the Finder window and search for GarageBand. Now scan the ‘This Mac’ and ‘Library’ folders and delete all GarageBand or Apple Loops files from them.
Download Garageband For Mac 10.11.6
Check out Charles video who describes it in 10 minutes, how you should start with this app. The best quick and perfect tutorial I have come across: