Download GarageBand for Mac

GarageBand (GB) is a consortium of MacOS and iOS compatible digital audio workstations for creating music or podcasts. It’s made and marketed by Apple Inc. and is an iLife software suite component. The tool helps tap into different music instruments and also share the music created. The Sound Library helps select and download additional loop packs whenever fresh sounds surface.

A song’s length could vary based on the GB version used. For instance, version 1 and 2 accommodated 999-measure long tracks. Version 3 extended the number to 1999 measures. More measures do not necessarily mean a longer song as the song’s tempo could push up the measure count. More beats exhaust measures quicker.

GarageBand plays song at 44.1k sample rate. If a recording has a 48k sample rate, the playback would be lower in pitch and slower. On the other hand, a 22k rate import would have a higher pitch and play faster in GarageBand.

For conversion, drag and drop the audio file into iTunes, if it’s not there already. The iTunes Importing preference must be set to 44.1k, AIFF and 16-bit. In the Advanced menu, the option Convert to AIFF should be selected, with the name already chosen in iTunes window. Post conversion, a fresh file would be made and listed in iTunes.

A user can do anything with his/her GarageBand creation. However, the loops cannot be redistributed as they are. The loops can also not be repackaged in part or whole as audio samples, music beds or sound effects.

No, as GarageBand only supports one tempo per song. However, to come up with a varying tempo effect, a separate song could be created in each tempo and both used as exported AIFFs.

First, the built-in mic’s location needs to be determined as the position differs across Mac models. Once found, a fresh GarageBand project must be opened, and then a fresh track box. Select Real Instrument to create a track. After creation, head to the track’s info pane on the project window’s right hand side. Click “Monitor” and activate it to listen to what your inbuilt microphone is picking up.

A Mac comes with a line-in jack, which is louder than a microphone jack. In other words, a Mac looks for a louder signal, which a mic plug-in cannot provide. Moreover, using a professional microphone in combination with an adapter plug would result in an impedance mismatch, which means the signal won’t get through.

There are dozens of FireWire and USB interfaces available, within different price brackets. Some could sell as low as $30 such as Griffin iMic, and then there are other interfaces such as PreSonus FirePod that can be bought for just under $600. The various price ranges are typically indicative of the different feature sets on offer.

GarageBand can be used for editing books, but it won’t be as feature-packed as a dedicated video editing tool. The feature, however, comes in handy when wanting to add effects or a soundtrack to movies.