Using automation, you can make sounds move left, right, forward, and backward through a scene or song.

 

It takes great effort to create music that moves people; creating movement in music is way easier. Toss in Apple’s GarageBand, and the feat is downright simple. Using the automation features in GarageBand ’08, you can virtually set instruments in motion in your music or create sound effects that move forward, backward, and across the stereo field. To demonstrate the basics of creating motion, here’s how to create a sound effect of footsteps walking across a room and then out a back door. You can hear the results at MacLife.com.

 

WHAT YOU NEED

> Apple GarageBand ’08 ($79 as part of iLife ’08)

> Microphone - either your Mac’s built-in mic or an external mic connected to your Mac’s audio input or an audio interface

> Hard-soled shoes (not tennis shoes)

> A hard surface to walk on

> A door

 

If you want to skip the recording step, download the sounds we used for this project here.

 

1. Create a New Project. In GarageBand, choose File > New, and select Create New Music Project. In the resulting dialog, type a name for your footsteps effect, leave the default song settings as they are (since we’re not creating a song), and click Create. Once the project window opens, close the Keyboard window (if it’s open) and delete the default Grand Piano track (select the track and press Command-Delete). Make sure that the Metronome is also turned off (from the Control menu, choose Metronome to deselect the checkmark).

 

Since your sound effect won't rely on a tempo or key, ignore the song settings when you create your project.

 

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2. Pave the Way for Audio. For this effect, we want to record two sounds - footsteps and a door closing (or slamming) - so we need two audio tracks. To create one, choose Track > New Track, select Real Instrument Track in the resulting dialog, and click Create. Repeat to create a second track. Then make sure that your chosen mic is ready for use; choose GarageBand > Preferences, select Audio/MIDI, and choose your input source from the Audio Input pop-up menu (built-in mic, built-in audio input, or your connected audio interface).

 

To have Garage Band record through our Ozone-connected mic, we chose the interface from the Audio input pop-up menu.

 

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3. Walk This Way. OK mateys, time to walk the plank! Select your first audio track and make sure that it’s record-enabled (the button should be red). Put on your shoes, position your mic (or Mac) near your walking surface, and walk (or stomp) in place to gauge the audio level (if you have an aversion to a mini-workout, you can clomp your shoes on a tabletop with your hands). To optimize the level, use GarageBand’s track volume slider or your interface’s gain control. Then click the Record button to start recording, walk or stomp in place for 15 seconds, and then click the Stop button.

 

Place the mic near, but not on, the surface on which you'll be walking for the best results.

 

4. Step Four, Shut the Door. Now record the sound of a door closing (or slamming shut if you chose to stomp in the last step). Mute your footsteps track by clicking the Mute button (the speaker icon) and select your second track to record-enable it. With your door open, position your mic (or Mac) near the door but out of its path. Then shut (or slam) the door a few times to gauge the sound level, optimize the levels as needed, and record. Record as many slams as you want - you can choose which one to use later.

 

Don't worry about the timing as you record your door slam - you'll move the sound into place later.

 

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5. Clean Up and Arrange Your Effect. To delete noise or space before and after your footstep sequence, mute the door track, select the footsteps track, unmute it, and double-click the region to open it in the editor. Play back the track to review the recording. Then drag on the left side of the audio waveform to select unwanted audio at the beginning and press Delete. Repeat on the right side of the waveform to clean up the sequence’s ending. Then mute the footsteps track, select the door track, and unmute it.

 

If you recorded multiple instances of the door shutting, play back your track, find the best take, then delete all audio that occurs before and after it. For single instances, clean up the beginning and ending in the same manner. Then drag the door region further down the timeline so that it plays when your footsteps end.

 

We banished our unwanted audio (in blue) with a press of the Delete key.

 

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6. Walk Across the Room. Time to add some motion. For the first part of the sequence, we want to have our “walker” walk across the room from left to right. Select the footsteps track and click the View Automation disclosure triangle to display the automation curve. From the resulting pop-up menu, choose Track Pan. To start your walker on the left side of the room, drag the starting curve point from its +0 position (center) straight up to -64 (full left).

 

In GarageBand’s LCD, choose Time from the LCD modes pop-up menu to display the timeline in time increments. At the 7-second mark, click on the curve to create another point and drag it straight down to +63 (full right). At the 15-second mark (or your sequence’s end), create a third point on the curve and drag it to center (0). When you listen, your walker should walk from left to right and back to center.

 

Here's what your Track Pan curve should look like if you followed our instructions.

 

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7. Add Room Ambience and Depth. Right now, your effect sounds flat because there’s no room ambience or sense of depth. So let’s create some. On the footsteps track, choose Add Automation from the automation pop-up menu, click the Echo & Reverb disclosure triangle, select Reverb, and click OK to display the Reverb curve. Drag the starting curve point up around the 5 to 10 percent range to create some room atmosphere (the bigger the number, the more cavernous the room).

 

At the 7-second mark, create another curve point at the same level as your first. At the 15-second mark (or your sequence’s end), create a third curve point and drag it up around 30 percent to create the perception of distance (less reverb brings the walker closer to you). Then choose Track Volume from the automation pop-up menu, create a curve point at the 7-second mark at 0 dB, create a second point at the 15-second mark, and drag it down to about -7 dB. Take a listen, and fine-tune your settings if needed.

 

GarageBand now lets you select which effects and instrument parameters to automate per track.

 

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8. Finish and Finesse. Now bring your door sound into the same room as your walker. Because it’s just one sound instance, simply select the track, display its Track Info (Command-I), click the Details disclosure triangle, and move the Reverb slider to the same level as your footsteps at the 15-second mark (in our example, that would be 30 percent). Take a listen and adjust the volume, if needed, using the track’s volume slider, and the sound placement. And there you have it!

 

Audio geeks: You can get even better results using GarageBand’s Matrix Reverb on each track instead of the default Reverb to work in room reflections, and experimenting with automating EQ as the walker walks away.

 

We livened our effect further by speeding up the tempo, using the Master track Tempo curve, to have our walker bolt out the door.