Let’s mix a complete song

So, for the sake of this tutorial we’re going to assume you already know how to lay down a funky drum beat, plug in a real guitar or keyboard, and make up your own killer riffs and solos using the Smart and Touch Instruments. Of course, recording is only one part of the process-- the next step is to get it all sounding great and wrap your head around the way GarageBand organizes your songs into Sections.

GarageBand’s Sections aren’t immediately obvious, but once you understand them you’ll find they offer an easy way to duplicate verse and chorus parts so you don’t have to endlessly copy and paste or re-record existing material.

Since we’re dealing with mixing, we’ll mainly use the Tracks view-- the eight-track recorder at the heart of GarageBand. Your tracks appear as different rows in this view, with your song starting at the left and moving to the right. When you consider that an eight-track recorder used to be the size of a washing machine, it’s impressive that Apple has managed to squeeze it down into something as thin as an iPad or an iPhone.

To finish off, we’ll look at your exporting options. There’s no built-in way to share your music creation on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube, but you can export it to iTunes or email it, then upload the file to a social network later. You can also use iTunes to import the file from GarageBand for iPad or iPhone then open it up in the full version of GarageBand on your Mac.

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How to Mix a Complete Song in GarageBand for the iPad

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  Use the Tracks View

  All your mixing is done in the Tracks view – every instrument you’ve recorded has its own track. You can have up to eight tracks and extra options (shown here) are revealed by swiping the Instruments column to the right.

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  Listen Solo

  When mixing, you’ll sometimes need to listen to one track in isolation. This is achieved by tapping the headphone icon in the track’s options. Or to remove the track from the mix completely, tap the mute icon.

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  Change the Volume

  Getting the volume mix right between tracks is crucial. In the track options is a volume slider – just move this left or right. You can also tap on the levels icon, top right, for Track Volume, Echo Level and Reverb Level sliders.

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  Edit Sections

  GarageBand arranges songs in Sections, starting with Section A. Tap the jigsaw icon, top left, to see your Sections. The easiest way to add more verses and choruses is to simply duplicate a section. Hit Edit to delete a section.

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  Change Section Length

  Sections are eight bars long by default, but sometimes you’ll want to change this so you can record more or less. Tap on the blue arrow next to a section to change how long it is, using the up and down arrows.

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  Edit Tracks

  You can move sections, or blocks, of music around, rather like moving clips around in iMovie. Tap one to select it and you’ll notice you can drag it to other places in your song. You can also move the edges inward to trim the clip.

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  Edit Tracks

  Double-tap on a track to bring up the editing options – Cut, Copy, Delete, Loop and Split. Splitting occurs at the playhead – if you chose to Split you’ll see a scissors icon. Drag this downwards to make the cut happen.

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  Try Apple Loops

  One thing we haven’t addressed so far are the Apple Loops. These are handy pre-made sections of music you can drop into your creations. Tap on the loops icon at the top, tap on Instruments, and choose one.

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  Add Loops

  To preview a loop, tap on it and it’ll play. Find a loop that you think will complement your song, and drag it into your piece. You can drop it onto an existing track or into a blank space, where a new track will be created.

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  Sharing Options

  Now we’ve got our track the way we want it, let’s explore the sharing options that GarageBand has. To get to them, tap on My Songs at the top left of the Tracks view. Swipe left and right to move between your songs.

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  Share Your Song

  Tap the Sharing icon at the bottom left to email the song or send it to iTunes. Sending it to iTunes brings up two options – choose GarageBand to open the song in GarageBand on a Mac, or iTunes for AAC format.

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  Share as an Email

  If you’re sharing over email, enter details such as composer name and a new mail message pops up in GarageBand with the song attached as an m4a file. Address the email and hit Send to send from your default account.

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  Share to Your Computer

  Connect your iPad to your computer and in iTunes click on your iPad, then choose the Apps tab. Under File Sharing, select GarageBand in the Apps list. Any file that can be shared will be here under Documents.

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  Save the Song

  Select the file you’d like to open using either iTunes or GarageBand on your Mac, then choose Save As and save it to a memorable location. Note: files that GarageBand can open end in the .band file extension.

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  Copy from iTunes

  Import options are fairly limited, but you can import a song created on your iPhone or another iPad. You’ll need to have shared it to iTunes on that device using step 11 first, then sync with iTunes and it’ll become available.

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