How to Use Mac OS X Leopard Garage Band

Garage Band is one of five iLife applications that come standard on Mac OS X Leopard. With Garage Band, Mac users may not need any other music recording software, as they can record their own audio files and convert them into the format they need.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Creating a Track

1. Open Garage Band and choose to create a new music project. Save it to your computer immediately. The project will open with one Software Instrument track set to a Grand Piano.

2. Add a musical track by selecting "New Track" in the Track menu. Select "Delete Track" if you want to remove a track, like the one that was there at the beginning.

3. Choose whether you want the track to be for software instruments or real instruments. Software instruments include those within Garage Band or directly connected to the computer. Real instruments are those recorded through a microphone.

4. Connect a microphone to the computer if you are using a real instrument track. Your computer may have a built-in microphone. If you do, the sound levels on the track's mixer will move when you speak.

5. Connect your instrument(s) to the computer or select Garage Band instruments if you are using a software instrument track. The list of instruments is on the Track Info window to the right of the screen.
   

Recording

6. Prepare a track for recording by clicking the circular button on the track's button panel. The horn button mutes the track, the headphones mute the other tracks, the padlock prevents editing and the arrow opens the track automation.

7. Click the circular button at the bottom of the Garage Band window to begin recording. The playback button will come on at the same time. Click the playback button to stop recording.

8. Use the playback button (the single forward arrow) to hear your recorded track. The double forward arrow moves the cursor up one measure, the double backwards arrow moves it back, and the backwards arrow with a line takes it to the beginning.

9. Open the Track Editor by clicking the scissors button. Drag the cursor when it looks like a cross to highlight the part of the track you want to edit.

10. Go to the Edit list to select the editing options you want, whether it's cutting, copying or splitting that track section. You can move the track across the measures when the cursor is two arrows and paste a copied track to an open space.

11. Copy your project to your iTunes program by going to "Send Project to iTunes" in the Share list. You will be given a choice of making it an MP3 file or an AAC file as well as choosing the quality.

Tips & Warnings

• If you hear a clicking or popping sound while you record and want it to remove it, go to the "Control" list. There should be a check mark by "Metronome." Click on it to disable it.