If you're a fan of blockbuster music videogame Rock Band (casually referred to in the Mac|Life office as the Greatest Thing Ever Invented, Ever), you've probably banged on those plastic drums quite a bit. Perhaps you've even wondered if you could turn them into a real electronic kit.

Well, you're in luck, Rock Band rockers. We've discovered two different methods for using the drum controller to record into GarageBand. First we'll give you the cheap and easy way, and then a slightly more complicated method that's free to try, but costs more to keep the rocking rolling.

What you need:

> GarageBand (part of iLife '08, included with new Macs or $79, www.apple.com)

> Rock Band USB drum kit

> Either the GamePad Companion controller driver ($15 shareware, free to try, www.carvware.com) or the MIDI patch program JunXion (about $95, with a free feature-limited demo, www.steim.org/steim/junxion_v3.html)

> If you're using the Xbox 360 version of the drum kit, you'll also want the donationware Xbox 360 Controller Driver (tattiebogle.net)

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METHOD ONE, CHEAP AND EASY

1. Set the stage.

Install GamePad Companion and, if necessary, the Xbox 360 Controller Driver. Now fire up GarageBand, create a new project, and select Track > New Track. Make sure Software Instrument is selected and click Create. Choose Drum Kits and select a specific set—we'll start with a Rock Kit.

Are you ready to rock?!?! Rock Kit, that is. (Click to embiggen.)

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2. Rock with your fingers.

Select Window > Musical Typing to bring up GarageBand's keyboard input. Hit Z or X until the octave is set to C1. If set correctly, hitting A will trigger a bass drum sound, and hitting S will trigger the snare.

The Musical Typing window lets you input notes with your keyboard. Soon we'll sub the Rock Band drums in for the keyboard... (Click to embiggen.)

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3. Get everybody talking.

Now plug your drum kit into a free USB port. (If you're using the Xbox 360 version, go to System Preferences and click on Xbox 360 Controllers to verify the kit is being detected.) Go to System Preferences and open GamePad Companion.

Xbox 360 Controller to Major Tom... commencing countdown, drivers on. (Click to embiggen.)

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4. Letter rip.

Tap on the drum kit's red pad. You'll notice GamePad Companion's Selected Element drop-down will switch to a numbered button. (It's different for each version of the kit.) That's good. Now select Single Key from the Action drop-down, and hit S on your keyboard; this assigns a snare sound to the red pad.

Following the same procedure, assign T to the yellow pad (for closed hi-hat), Y to the blue pad (relaxed hi-hat), O to the green pad (crash cymbal), and A to the foot pedal (bass drum). Once you have all the pads mapped, choose Save A Configuration from the Configuration drop-down menu. The click Start to begin the emulation.

GamePad Companion lets you map keyboard controls to your drum kit, then save that configuration. (Click to embiggen.)

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5. Let's rock, let's rock, today.

Switch back to GarageBand. Verify that the Musical Typing window is still on top. Now tap on your kit. Hey look, drums! One problem: Even on very fast machines, you'll experience some lag when playing, enough to frustrate serious drummers. Luckily, we have another trick in our bag...

With the Musical Typing dialog still on top, you're ready to pound those plastic drums till you break your sticks. Watch out for the lag, though. (Click to embiggen.)

Next: How to fix that lag, and even how to use the guitar controller.

METHOD TWO, LESS CHEAP AND SLIGHTLY MORE DIFFICULT

1. What's your function?

Follow Step 1 from the Method One walkthrough, minus the installation of GamePad Companion. Instead, download the JunXion demo and fire it up. As soon as you start JunXion, you should get a notice from GarageBand that the number of MIDI inputs has changed. This is a good thing.

Yep.

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2. Patch things up.

In the left-hand pane of JunXion, select the drum kit. Tap on the red pad and note which button shows a change in value. If you see two changing at once, test the other pads to eliminate the one that triggers with each pad. On our Xbox 360 kit that's Button #8, so we'll ignore that one.

Once you've isolated the correct button, click on the title and drag it into an Input Sensor field. A drop-down menu in the Action column should automatically appear. Tap on the pad again and you'll hear a sound sample—but probably the wrong one. Let's fix that right now.

The first thing we'll do in JunXion is figure out which "buttons" are triggered by each of our drums. (Click to embiggen.)

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3. Get the right sound.

Click the Actions tab in JunXion. Near the bottom, you'll see a field labeled Note NR with a slider next to it. This determines which sound is triggered by that button. For the red pad, we want a snare sound, so let's drag the slider down to 38.

Now repeat the last two steps for the remaining three pads and pedal. For the yellow pad, choose note 42 for a closed hi-hat. For blue, choose note 44 for a relaxed hat (or 46 for a fully open hat). For green, choose note 52 for a crash cymbal (or 51 for a ride cymbal). And for the pedal, choose note 36 for the kick drum.

JunXion lets you assign specific sounds to all the pads on your fake plastic drums. (Click to embiggen.)

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4. For those about to rock...

You've done it. Switch over to GarageBand and give it a try—virtually no lag! Just don't forget you've only got 20 minutes until the JunXion demo quits, and you won't be able to save your patches without buying the full version. But $95 is a small price to pay to turn a toy into a functional electronic drum kit, isn't it?

Once you see how cool this is, you'll want to pony up for the full JunXion license—we did. (Click to embiggen.)

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5. Go avant-garde.

We've talked about the Rock Band drum kit here because it's the most like a real instrument. But the exact same procedures can be followed for any USB guitar controller. You'll only get six notes (five buttons plus the strum bar), but you'd be surprised at what you can do, especially if you set buttons to trigger multiple notes simultaneously. Experiment, have fun, and enjoy your virtual rock-stardom.

Want to use the guitar controllers too? Go ahead, write a five-note pop masterpiece. (Click to embiggen.)