So many questions about Garageband, so few answers
One reason I’ve not done more with Apple’s Garageband app is that, while nifty, it’s hard to work out what you really can and can’t do.
For instance, it’s cool that Trent Reznor released his latest single “The Hand That Feeds” in Garageband format so you can play around with the settings. I mean, we all get to tweak the flanger and stuff. Great fun: “more top on the snare!” etc.
However, Garageband 2 has lots of very neat features involving MIDI, but I’m stuffed if I can work out how to really do useful things with them.
So here are my questions. Answers welcomed.
1) you can get a real-time transcription of what you’re playing (through a MIDI keyboard) in GB2. How do you print that out, or copy it to a text editor?
2) can you save something you’ve recorded from a MIDI output (eg keyboard) in a GB2 track as a MIDI file? At all? Rather than having to export it to iTunes?
3) if you have long pauses and other unwanted bits in a GB2 track (which came from a MIDI input..) how do you edit those long pauses out? I haven’t found any way to select part of a track to cut it. I can only find ways to select the whole thing, or nothing.
Plus - and here’s the real killer - it can’t solve sudoku grids. Obviously this will have to be addressed in Garageband 3, or possibly an earlier update.
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May 23rd, 2005 at 3:11 am
I’m not an expert at Garage Band. But I think I know the answers to your questions.
1. No printed transcription of the song, but there is a realtime display in the editor–choose the notes display.
2. GB2 does not output in MIDI, it does import a MIDI file by draging on to the Main display. Alternatively, if it is a MIDI file with a number of different instruments, use a free MIDI extractor to break up the files and them drop them each on a separate instrument line in GB2. Try Dent du Midi, it’s free.
3. Easy–Highlight the track — and split it (see the edit pull down menu). Split out the silence and highlight it and hit delete.
Not sure what you are talking about in the last one–
May 23rd, 2005 at 3:28 pm
Take a look at a book called “Garageband Session Starter” by Merton, Egan and MacQueen. It’s actually the DVD on the back cover of the book you want. This DVD had a play by play how to. It was very good.
It’s time to make music
Fred