Garageband Hints and Tips: There is more than Four Four Time!

Greetings Garageband lovers.

Todays Garageband Hints and Tips has to do with the meter of your music and how it relates to Garageband.

I normally write my music in 4/4 time, but every once in a while, I remember there are other time signatures in music besides 4/4! and so I change it to 3/4 time or 6/8 time. 

But here is the cool part! When you change time signature/time meter in Garageband, Garageband automatically shows you a different set of loops in the loop browser that are made for the time signature you are in! This means you will discover some new loops you never had in 4/4 time :) and this can often inspire a new song out of you :)

Give it a try!! and leave a comment to let me know what you think!

Keep making great music, and think outside the box!

Svend

http://www.svend007.com

Garageband Hints and Tips: Composition

Garageband Hints and Tips: Composition

One of the "tricks" I use to create an interesting song in garageband is to have a drum track that I use to play a piano part let's say... for 3-4 bars. I then repeat this motif for 16+ bars. 

I then slide the drums down 3-4 bars, so the song starts with a piano and then the drums come in for a nice dynamic transition :) You get the idea... you can use this method in many ways...

Sometimes I will create a complex mix of 8+ tracks, all sounding very magestic. I will then slide all these far to the right and pull individual tracks back one at a time so the song build with one track... then two... then three... etc...

Give it a try!! and leave a comment to let me know what you think!

Keep making great music, and think outside the box!

Svend

http://www.svend007.com

Garageband Hints and Tips: Selecting multiple tracks to apply quantisization

Selecting multiple tracks to apply quantisization

Sometimes I have multiple tracks in Garageband that need to be quantized to 1/16th beat. You can select multiple tracks in the upper part of the GB window, and then select your quantisization and it will apply it to all tracks.

Give it a try!! and leave a comment to let me know what you think!

Keep making great music, and think outside the box!

Svend

http://www.svend007.com

Garageband Hints and Tips: Dynamic Recording in Garageband

Greeting musicians and Garageband lovers! It's is 2009 and it's going to be a great year!

I was working on a song today... and I had the urge to record 3-4 tracks in one go at it!

Well... you can do that...

If you are like me... you set up a template file that has all your favorite instruments all set up and ready to roll, so when the mood strikes you, you can quickly get your ideas into Garageband!)

Start recording.... and as you are recording, pause to hit the record button off, then select another track, and hit the record button again.... continuing to record!

I liked this, because it kept me in the flow of the recording... vs. recording a track / stopping recording / rewinding/ hitting record again... etc....

Give it a try!! and leave a comment to let me know what you think!

Svend
www.svend007.com

posted by jaggerdiggydog

Garageand Hints & Tips: Free Apple Garageband Loops

Garageand Hints & Tips: Free Apple Garageband Loops

Greetings all, and it is soon time to say farewell to 2008... Boy... did it go by fast!!!

Loops are a great way to get inspired for a new song idea! And free loops are a cool way to add to your musical arsenal!!

check out these links for 

http://www.icompositions.com/site/tour/freeloops/

http://jeroenr.typepad.com/the_garageband_studio/2005/07/free_apple_loop.html

Keep making great music with garageband!! One of the greatest writing tools of all time!

Svend

www.svend007.com

posted by jaggerdiggydog

Garageband Hints and Tips: by passing count in click

here is a quick tip...

often when I am recording a long song, I was to record something a
minute or two into the song.
If I hit record, then I have to put up with the 4 click intro then
wait till I am ready to record...
One thing you can do is to hit play... then hit the record button...
This bypasses count in :)
You can also double click up on time bar to start payback a few bars
before your recording point, then hit record button.
These are simple things but can save a lot of time ;)

Svend
www.svend007.com

posted by whitediggydog

Garageband Hints & Tips | Creating A Cool Tremolo Effect

Here is a cool effect I used on a rocking organ in Garagebands Organ category.

Pick your favorite organ sound.

In the effects section you can pick up to 4 effects from the drop downs.

Now it is pretty normal for someone to add the TREMOLO effect once, and adjust as needed.

The trick here is to pick it again and give it a different value!! This way you get the tremolo effect working together to create a cool phase in and out effect. Experiment!! :)

keep making great music, and think outside the box!

Svend

http://www.svend007.com

posted by jaggerdiggydog

Garageband Hints and Tips | Vary your song tempos!

I have a master garageband template that I call up when I am writing a new tune. It has all the instruments I normally need, and a basic drum loop and mastering settings the way I like (EQ, reverb, delay, etc)

This makes it easy for me to start a new song in an instant. A couple problems with this is I tend to write my music in the same tempo and using the same instruments. SO... the template idea is great, but make an effort to change those instruments and tempo's!

keep making great music, and think outside the box!

Svend

http://www.svend007.com

posted by jaggerdiggydog

Garageband Hints and Tips | Getting the BEST out of your Music!

Once you have a song that you like... leave it alone for a week and then come back to it with fresh ears. At this point you can make subtle adjustments that take a good song and make it great! Like tuning the EQ... or ramping up a volume curve so an instrument is not all at the same volume... or panning tracks to get a wider stereo field... etc... etc...

keep making great music, and think outside the box!

Svend

http://www.svend007.com

posted by jaggerdiggydog

Garageband Tips | Hints - Getting cool backing tracks!

I use a cool program on the mac called limewire to find free public domain files on the internet. You can use this to find cool backing tracks without vocals!! Great to practice along with or get song ideas!

Enjoy writing music! You can hear Svend's instrumental newage music here

posted by jaggerdiggydog