IN THIS CHAPTER

Finding out what MIDI is

Choosing software instruments

Recording tracks with software instruments

Altering the sound of software instruments

Dealing with drummer tracks

Testing your changes

GarageBand is more than just a recording-studio-in-a-box; it also includes an orchestra full of high-quality musical instruments. It's chock-full of pianos, guitars, drums, horns, synthesizers, and even a chorus of heavenly voices, all available to use in your musical compositions for free.

In this chapter, you first learn about MIDI and MIDI controllers, and why they matter. That topic is followed by pretty much all you need to know to play and record using GarageBand’s massive collection of software instruments.

What Is MIDI, Anyway?

MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface and is pronounced “middy.” The term covers a lot of ground, as you can see from this description by the MIDI Manufacturer’s Association (www.midi.org):

The Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) enables people to use multimedia computers and electronic musical instruments to create, enjoy and learn about music. There are actually three components to MIDI, which are the communications Protocol (language), the Connector (hardware interface) and a distribution format called Standard MIDI Files.

In other words, MIDI is a language, a hardware interface, and a file format. The language of MIDI allows different devices to talk to each other. The hardware interface sends and receives MIDI information between devices that speak MIDI. Music made with MIDI can be saved in a file format that can be understood by other MIDI devices.

The upshot is that many kinds of devices that you may use in audio (or video) production — such as keyboards, computers, mixing boards (control surfaces), and even lighting gear — can talk to each other in a common language called MIDI.

Controlling Software Instruments with a MIDI Keyboard

Although MIDI is a multiheaded beast, in the context of using GarageBand, I focus on using a MIDI keyboard to control GarageBand’s software instruments.

Note that word control. MIDI keyboards are appropriately referred to as MIDI controllers because you're using an interface — a piano-like keyboard — to control the software instruments on your Mac.

And, in fact, a pure MIDI keyboard is just that — a controller —incapable of making sounds of its own. All it can do is send MIDI information to a MIDI host (in this case, GarageBand on your Mac or iOS device), which translates the information into sound.

To further complicate things, many MIDI keyboards are also synthesizers, which can produce sound on their own. For the purposes of this chapter, think of your MIDI keyboard as just a MIDI controller, even if the keyboard can make sounds all by itself.

In the pre-MIDI era, when you played a device such as synthesizer, an electric piano, or an electric organ, the device didn’t control anything but its own internal circuitry. So each keyboard device produced only the sounds that its internal circuits knew how to make. For this reason, an Arp synthesizer sounded like an Arp, a Moog sounded like a Moog, and a Prophet 5 sounded like — you guessed it — a Prophet 5. Any artist worth his or her salt had a rack of different synthesizer keyboards for producing different sounds.

We’ve come a long way since then; that rack of keyboards and much, much more are built right into GarageBand at no extra cost.

By the way, if you have an older sound-making keyboard, it might support MIDI and be usable with GarageBand. If it is, you’ll see either a USB port or one or two large round ports, probably labeled MIDI in and MIDI out. If you don't see a USB port, you’ll need a MIDI interface — a small, reasonably priced piece of hardware — to connect those round MIDI in and MIDI out ports on the keyboard to a USB port on your Mac.

Here’s the bottom line: When you play a MIDI keyboard (controller), the keyboard isn’t producing sound. It’s noting the keys that you press, and how hard and how long you press them, and then sending that information to your Mac, where GarageBand translates it and plays that sound with a software instrument.

Conversely, when you strike a drum, the sound occurs when the drumstick hits the drumhead. When you play an electric guitar, the sound occurs when the pick or a finger strikes the strings and is captured by your Mac (or an audio interface connected to your Mac as discussed in Chapter 8), or is fed through an amplifier. And, when you play a piano, the sound occurs when the hammers hit the strings.

MIDI controllers can be used also to control other keyboards or anything dedicated to working with the MIDI protocol. For example, MIDI work surfaces look like miniature versions of a big-time mixing board, complete with sliding faders, rotating knobs, and VU meters with needles. You use these work surfaces to control audio applications such as Logic, Pro Tools, and even GarageBand. You can also use MIDI drum pads to tap out drum patterns with your fingertips. In addition, you can find MIDI stage lighting controllers and many other types of controllers that speak MIDI. The list of things you can do with MIDI is almost endless.

I highly recommend using a MIDI keyboard if you’re even half-serious about recording with GarageBand. For purposes of this chapter, I assume that you’re using a USB keyboard such as the M-Audio Keystation 49 MK3 keyboard ($99; www.m-audio.com), shown in Figure 6-1, which is a direct descendant of the MIDI keyboard John Mayer demonstrated when Steve Jobs introduced GarageBand at Macworld San Francisco in 2004. You may be able to find an even cheaper MIDI keyboard, but you can’t go wrong with the Keystation 49 MK3 for around $100.

If you’re not sure that you want to spring for a keyboard yet, don’t forget that you can control software instruments by using the onscreen keyboard (choose Window ⇒   Show Keyboard) or the musical typing keyboard (choose Window ⇒   Show Musical Typing or press ⌘  +K).

To avoid confusion, for the rest of the book I refer to the keyboard on which you type letters and numbers as the QWERTY keyboard. Keyboards that have black-and-white piano-like keys will be referred to as plain old keyboards.

Choosing Software Instruments

To record a software instrument, you create a software instrument track and then choose the instrument to record on it.

A software instrument may be more than one instrument. Drum kits, for example, contain 50 or 60 different drum, cymbal, and percussion instrument sounds, each triggered by a different key. So, for example, playing middle C triggers the sound of a kick drum, D triggers the sound of a snare drum, and D-sharp triggers the sound of a closed hi-hat.

Even though a drum kit contains 50 or 60 different instrument sounds, it's considered a single software instrument. In any case, a track may contain the sounds of many instruments, but they all have to be part of the same software instrument, like those 50 or 60 different drum sounds.

Make sure that the type of software instrument you use matches the track you're recording on. When you select a software instrument for a track, that instrument will play the MIDI notes on that track, even if they’re not the right notes for that instrument. In other words, you can do horrible things to a song if you’re not paying attention and, for example, drag a drum region onto a track assigned to a piano. The notes will play on the piano and it’ll sound bloody awful. Hey, it’s just a dumb machine. It does only what it’s told, and you told it to play a drum track with a piano.

So, don’t do that!

To set up a software instrument track for recording, follow these steps:

1. Create a new empty project (if you haven’t already) by choosing File ⇒   New.

   The Choose a Project dialog appears.

2. Click New Project in the sidebar, click the empty project icon, and then click the Choose button.

   The Choose a Track Type dialog appears.

3. Choose Software Instrument for your track type and then click the Create button.

   A new software instrument track with the Classic Electric Piano instrument assigned is created and the musical typing window appears in front of the project.

   If the musical typing window didn’t appear, choose Window ⇒   Show Musical Typing or press ⌘  +K.

4. Type F, F, F, W, E, E, E, A on your QWERTY keyboard.

   Congratulations! You just played the opening notes of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.

5. (Optional but highly recommended) Choose File ⇒   Save, name your project, and save it to disk.

   As I mention in Chapter 3, it’s always a good idea to save early and often.

Go ahead and play around with your electric piano by typing on your QWERTY keyboard or your MIDI keyboard (if you have one).

You now have a project with a software instrument track that uses the Classic Electric Piano patch. But what if you don’t want to record a Classic Electric Piano? No worries! GarageBand has hundreds of other instruments and sounds you can assign to a software instrument track.

Let’s change the Classic Electric Piano to something more appropriate for Beethoven:

1. If the Library isn’t displayed on the left side of the window, choose View ⇒   Show Library or press the Y key.

2. Choose a category in the first (leftmost) column, choose a subcategory in the second column, and then choose an instrument in the third column.

   If you don’t see all three columns (but would like to), hover the mouse pointer over the line between the library and the track list. When it turns into a resizer cursor, click and drag right to widen the library so you can see more columns.

   When you choose a software instrument, note that the icon to the left of the track’s name changes. Each instrument has a different icon. These features should help you keep track of what’s on a track.

   You can change the icon by right- or Control-clicking it in the track list. When the pop-up window of alternate icons appears, click the icon you want to appear on this track.

3. To hear the instrument you just selected, play a few notes on the musical typing keyboard or your MIDI keyboard.

You can use the up-, down-, left-, and right-arrow keys on your QWERTY keyboard to quickly change instruments when an instrument is selected (highlighted) and the library is active (surrounded by a thin blue outline), as shown in Figure 6-2.

Alternately, you can hover the pointer over the instrument’s icon in the library and click the left arrow (previous instrument or category) or right arrow (next instrument or category) to quickly check out various instruments.

You’re now ready to record a track with this instrument. You can find the details about recording tracks in the next section. Or, if you decide that you want to try a different software instrument (even if you've already recorded on the track), just select it in the library.

The change occurs as soon as you click the new instrument name. Your track instantly sounds different — perhaps completely different.

Recording Tracks with Software Instruments

After you create a new track and select a software instrument (see the preceding section), you’re ready to move on to the fun stuff — recording some music with that software instrument.

The funny thing is, this is either the hard part or the easy part, depending on your musical chops. If you know your way around a keyboard, you’ll probably find it easy to record a software instrument in GarageBand. Or if you simply have a bit of theoretical knowledge, the process will likely be a snap. But even if you don’t have a shred of musical talent, it won’t take long for you to figure out enough to make music, as long as you take the time to experiment.

GarageBand’s software instruments can sound like a million bucks — or a million cats fighting. In the immortal words of Peter Parker (also known as Spider-Man), “With great power comes great responsibility.” You hold the power of an orchestra in your hand; try not to abuse it.

To practice (before laying down a new track), just play your keyboard with the appropriate track selected. You can either play solo (without clicking the play icon), or you can click the play icon to play along with other tracks or loops in the project or the metronome (also called the click track).

The selected track is the track that will be recorded. If you don’t hear what you expect, make sure the proper track is selected and that no tracks have their solo or mute icon activated (see Figure 6-3). If you don’t hear what you expected to hear, the solo or mute icon is often the culprit. If a track’s solo icon is activated, you hear only that track during recording and playback; if a track’s mute icon is activated, you do not hear that track during recording and playback.

GarageBand offers two features to help you record: the metronome and count in. With the metronome on, you hear a soft click marking the beat of your song. Note that the sound of the metronome is never recorded.

You hear the metronome during playback and recording.

The second useful feature for recording is count in. When you have it turned on, an additional measure (or two) is counted before GarageBand starts recording.

To record a track, follow these steps:

1. Move the playhead to the point in your song where you want to record.

   To move the playhead, click and drag it. To move the playhead to the beginning of the song, press Return or Enter.

2. If you want to hear the metronome, click the metronome icon in the toolbar (and shown in the margin).

   The metronome icon is a toggle; it’s gray when disabled and purple when enabled.

3. If you want to use the Count In, click the Count In icon in the toolbar (and shown in the margin).

   You can also choose Record ⇒   Count In ⇒   One Measure or Two Measures to enable count in. Choose None to disable it. Like the metronome icon, the count in icon is a toggle and is gray when disabled and purple when enabled.

4. Click the record icon (the red dot) or press R, and recording begins.

That about covers it. When you click the record icon or press R, GarageBand counts in (if you’ve enabled the feature) and begins recording what you play on your keyboard.

When you’re finished, click the play/pause icon or slap the spacebar to end the recording.

Altering the Sound of Software Instruments

Apple made GarageBand incredibly powerful for a so-called consumer application. Although the company could have simply provided just the instrument patches, it included the power to edit software instruments. Ergo, GarageBand lets you edit software instrument patches to your heart’s content to get a different sound.

Some users will be happy with every software instrument just the way it sounds out of the box, never even opening the Smart controls for that instrument. But for the rest of us, Apple makes it easy to twiddle the sound of almost every software instrument, and that’s a good thing. If your drum track lacks bass, you can add more bass by using an equalizer. If your piano doesn’t sound like a piano, you can add echo, reverb, compression, and equalization effects until it sounds perfect. Almost anything you can think of doing to change the sound of an instrument can be done with the Smart controls built into GarageBand.

Following is a bird’s-eye view of how to make the magic happen, for those of you who just can’t wait. Don’t worry if the process seems daunting; you learn all about using Smart controls and effects in just a moment (and it’s easy — all you need are your ears):

1. Click the name of the track you want to alter to select it.

2. Open the Smart controls.

   You can choose View ⇒   Show Smart Controls; press the B key on your QWERTY keyboard; click the Smart controls icon in the toolbar (and shown in the margin); or double-click the gray area surrounding the track name and icon.

3. Adjust the Smart controls to change the sound of the instrument.

   Each instrument has a different selection of controls (as shown in Figure 6-5). Some instruments have more or fewer knobs, buttons, and faders, and they probably have different names than the ones you see in Figure 6-5. Don’t worry if you don’t know what the labels mean. Just play back your recorded track(s) or MIDI (or onscreen) keyboard while you listen closely to the changes as you rotate each knob (or slide each slider or enable and disable each button).

As soon as you make a change to a Smart control, the Compare button is enabled. Click it when you want to compare your changes to the original factory patch. Click it again to return to your edited version of the patch.

Delving deeper into Smart controls

Smart controls are the foundation of every software instrument. If you change the Smart controls for a software instrument, you can dramatically alter the sound of that instrument. If you’re looking for an unusual sound, one that you may not otherwise come across in GarageBand, changing a software instrument’s Smart controls is a good place to start.

But you knew that, so let’s dig a bit deeper into Smart controls and how to use them.

At the top of the Smart controls section you’ll find six buttons (left to right): Track, Master, Compare, Controls, EQ, and an inverted V that enables the Arpeggiator menu, as shown in Figure 6-4.

Figure 6-4 shows the Smart controls for a Mallet instrument called Aurora Bell. This instrument sounds more like an old clavinet or organ than any kind of bell, at least to me. The point is that you should listen to every patch, even ones with dorky names that don’t tell you much. You never know which patch is going to be “the one,” but it's frequently the one with a dorky, less-than-descriptive name.

Every instrument offers Smart Controls specific to that instrument, as shown in Figure 6-5.

Because each instrument has different controls, and there’s no way I could cover them all here, my advice is to listen to as many instruments as you can and adjust as many knobs and sliders as you can whilst listening closely.

Sadly, software instruments don't have a favorites feature, so when you find one you love, either remember its name or save a descriptively named version of it as a user patch.

Let’s go back to those buttons at the top of the Smart controls section:

• Track: Click to work with the selected track’s Smart controls settings.

• Compare: This button is enabled only when you’ve made at least one change to the Smart controls. When enabled, you can click this button to compare your customized instrument settings to the default settings.

  If you’re not happy with your customizations, you can return the instrument to its default settings by clicking the Revert button at the bottom of the library (or clicking another instrument and clicking Continue in the warning dialog).

• Master: The Master track contains effects applied to the entire project (as opposed to a specific track). I spend an entire chapter on mastering. For now, realize that mastering is the last (or next-to-last) step in the recording process.
• Controls: These are the main controls — mostly knobs — for the selected instrument.
• EQ: This button applies equalization to the selected instrument track. A section on equalization appears later in the chapters so I’ll leave it at that for now.

• Arpeggiator: When the Arpeggiator is enabled, chords you play on your keyboard are arpeggiated, or played one note at a time rather than all at once.

  When the Arpeggiator is enabled, the Arpeggiator pop-up menu appears next to the Arpeggiator icon (refer to Figure 6-4). From this pop-up menu, you can:

  • Choose an Arpeggiator’s preset.
  • Change the Arpeggiator’s note order.
  • Change the Arpeggiator’s note range.
  • Choose the Arpeggiator’s octave range between 1 (the default) and 4.

Now that you know what all the buttons do, let’s look at another way to alter the sound of your software instruments — by adding plug-in effects.

Adding and changing plug-in effects

Each instrument has a unique set of plug-in effects and settings. And each plug-in has a unique set of controls.

Dozens of plug-in effects are built into GarageBand, such as compressor, tape delay, limiter, and noise gate. However, three effects are always available (though they may not be enabled by default): equalizer, master echo, and master reverb.

The following sections concern modifying and saving custom settings for plug-ins — please be careful! If you forget to save changes you make to a plug-in’s settings, you will lose all the tweaks you just made. And don’t forget to rename your tweaked version for clarity.

So, please be as careful about saving modified settings (which I also call presets or patches) as you are about saving modified instruments. (You did read the “Don’t Blow Away Your Altered Instruments!” sidebar earlier in the chapter, didn’t you?)

First let’s look at the three always-available plug-ins.

Equalizer

The equalizer effect is like EQ in your home stereo (or iTunes or the Music app): It enables you to adjust the relative loudness of different parts of the sound spectrum. For example, if the cymbals on your drum track don’t sizzle and hiss enough, try the Brighten High Hat or Brighten Overheads patch, which emphasizes the high frequencies on the track. Or if your software instrument guitar sounds wimpy, check out the Guitar Sweetener patch, which reduces the emphasis on low and low-mid frequencies while slightly increasing the mid-high and high frequencies.

To enable EQ for a track, first make sure the Smart controls are enabled by clicking the Smart controls icon in the toolbar (labeled in Figure 6-6). Now click the EQ button (next to the Controls button in the Smart controls menu bar). The Smart controls are replaced by a graphic equalizer.

You can tweak the equalizer manually, as I show you in a moment, but it’s almost always easier to begin by choosing a custom setting from the Equalizer Settings drop-down menu, as shown in Figure 6-6.

In recording terms, brightness and high(s) usually mean treble; fullness and richness usually refer to sounds in the middle ranges; bass, low, and bottom refer to low frequencies; and flat means neutral equalization for all frequencies.

The preset names for EQ patches are mostly descriptive.

The best way to understand what each patch does to the sound of an instrument is to apply it to a track. If you don’t like the sound it creates, either choose a different patch or click the little power button to the left of the drop-down preset menu to turn off EQ.

If none of the patches does the trick for you, GarageBand also lets you make manual adjustments, as shown in Figure 6-7.

The eight icons across the top represent the eight frequency bands of the equalizer. Click an icon to enable control over that frequency band. Then click and drag that band’s control point, as shown in Figure 6-8 for band 5.

Finally, click the Analyzer button while your song is playing to see changes to its frequency curve as shown by the squiggly lines in the lower part of Figure 6-8.

Move the control points around and watch the changes to the song’s frequencies in real time.

Turn off the analyzer unless you’re using it because it chews up a lot of CPU cycles and may slow down other things.

There’s a lot more to the equalizer effect than I have space for here. I hate to use a “weasel-out,” but if you're interested in more information on using the equalizer as a high or low pass, shelving, or parametric bell filter; changing the Q or Gain/Slope parameters; and other equally exciting equalizer esoterica, all you have to do is open GarageBand Help (⌘  +?) and search for EQ. I was surprised at the level of detail; I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised as well.

Master echo and reverb

What what exactly exactly is is master master echo echo??

Hey, is there an echo in here? Okay, it’s a groaner, but I couldn’t resist. It’s the easiest way that I know to explain the sound of echo.

Reverb is another important effect, perhaps the most-used in recording history. Reverb is technically a kind of echo, but it’s more of a bouncing-off-the-walls-all-around-you sound than the repeated sound of echo.

When used judiciously, echo and reverb are potent effects. And, as usual, GarageBand makes using them simple. Enable the master echo or master reverb effect by selecting its check box. Then adjust the amount of the effect applied to the track by sliding its slider.

Echo (and reverb) make your tracks sound more lifelike and realistic. By adjusting echo (and reverb) you can simulate the sound of the instrument being played in a spacious cathedral or a sound-deadened recording studio. It’s your call — let your ears be your guide.

Each track can have one or more types of echo or reverb applied. The first types are master echo and master reverb, which are available by default for all tracks via the Master Echo and Master Reverb check boxes and sliders. These determine how much of the master effect is applied to the selected track.

The second types are echo and reverb plug-in effects, which are exclusive to the track they’re assigned. You can use either, neither, or both.

Note that the Master Echo settings in the Effects tab apply to every track, and the Master Echo slider determines how much (or how little) of that master echo will be applied to this track.

To change the settings for master echo on all tracks, click the Edit button below the Master Echo and Master Reverb sliders, or click the Master button in the Smart controls toolbar and then click the Effects tab. Either way, changes you make here will affect all tracks that have master echo enabled.

You explore mastering, master echo, master reverb, and the master track in full and loving detail in Chapter 11. Until then, this brief description should hold you.

The other type of echo and reverb are plug-ins, which, unlike master echo and master reverb, apply to only the current track.

You delve into enabling and using plug-ins in the Other Effects section up shortly.

Weird Al Yankovic recorded “Another One Rides the Bus” in a bathroom with just his accordion. In fact, recording engineers love bathrooms for recording because their hard surfaces give the recording a rich, warm, natural reverb. You can get the bathroom effect with GarageBand by cranking up the echo and the reverb.

The first electronically produced reverb effects used springs to create the reverberation effect. The effect was like listening in an enclosed room (such as the aforementioned bathroom, only springier, or more accurately, more metallic). In fact, many early guitar amps had springs to provide that spring reverb sound. And many engineers use a bathroom as an isolation booth for a guitar amp. They run a long microphone cable into the bathroom and record the amp sitting in the middle of this very live room with all its hard surfaces and reverberation.

Now let’s look at a few of the useful plug-in effects that are included with GarageBand.

Compressors and other plug-in effects

Each patch can also have up to four plug-in effects, which appear above the Master Echo and Master Reverb sliders, as shown in Figure 6-9.

This area is where you choose effect plug-ins for the patch, enable or disable them, reorder them (by dragging up or down in the list), or remove them (by choosing No Plug-In from the menu, shown in Figure 6-10).

Compressor

The compressor effect does just what its name suggests: It compresses sound. It’s hard to explain what something sounds like using only words, so suffice to say that compressing an instrument track does something in between making it louder and making it more intense. Technically, it’s making the softer passages louder and the loudest passages less loud. Unless you crank the Compressor’s sliders all the way up, its effect will be subtle.

If you have an instrument track with a lot of dynamic range — very loud and very soft passages — you should probably add at least a little compressor effect to it. To do so, select Dynamics ⇒   Compressor from the drop-down Plug-in menu. Next, click the show/hide plug-in settings icon (labeled in Figure 6-10); the plug-in’s settings window appears, as shown in Figure 6-11.

Settings differ greatly from plug-in to plug-in, so it's best to experiment by sliding all the sliders one by one while you listen carefully. If you’re following along at home, click the solo icon for the track and play it while you click the Settings menu (which says Pop Piano in Figure 6-11) and select various presets.

When you find a preset that’s close to what you want, you can adjust the intensity of its four parameters (Threshold, Ratio, Attack, and Gain) by moving each slider to the right for more of that parameter or to the left for less.

Make small adjustments and listen closely. You may have to lower the overall volume level of the track as you increase the compression; keep an eye on the track’s LED lights and take the level down a notch or two if you start seeing red.

When the settings are perfect (hah!), you can close the settings window and use these perfect settings in only this project. Or you could save the settings and have them available in all tracks and projects evermore.

When you have the settings just the way you like them, click the Settings menu, choose Save As, name your file, and then click Save.

If you use generic names you’ll never remember which custom settings do what. Instead, name your patches descriptively by including the instrument name and something specific about the settings, such as My Perfect Piano or My Great Lead Guitar Compressor. That way, you can more easily remember what that patch is when you come back to it later.

To reuse your saved settings on another track or project, click the Settings menu and select it, as shown in Figure 6-12.

Other plug-ins

Dozens upon dozens of other plug-ins are available, and you can have up to four enabled for each instrument.

When you choose a software instrument, between zero to four of its plug-in slots will already be populated. For example, in Figure 6-13, the Steinway Grand Piano instrument has three effects enabled by default — channel EQ, compressor, and tape delay.

Now check out Figure 6-14, which shows additional plug-ins that can fill that fourth plug-in slot or replace any of the three plug-ins enabled by default.

You can choose from the presets that each effect includes, or you can click the show/hide plug-in settings icon and create your own settings.

As with Smart controls, the settings for each plug-in effect are specific to that particular effect, and some effects have fewer options than others.

For laughs, I added the distortion II plug-in’s Biting Distortion Heavy preset to Steinway Grand Piano, as shown in Figure 6-15.

If necessary, I can tweak the Biting Distortion Heavy preset by adjusting the sliders.

Look for a reason to leave things alone! Too many effects or too much of an effect on an instrument can ruin it by making it sound muddy — or just plain stupid. Most of the software instruments sound quite good using the built-in presets without additional tweaking. If you want to add something but aren’t sure what, try adding a little reverb, chorus, or echo.

Finally, remember that you don’t need to add or alter the effects for every instrument on every track; sometimes it’s best to just leave things alone.

Drummer Tracks

Drummer tracks are a special type of software instrument track that add a virtual drummer to your project. You can choose from a variety of different drummers, each with its own genre, drum kit, and playing style.

To create a drummer track, choose Track ⇒   New Track, click Drummer Track, and then click Create. Now, to fine-tune your drummer’s performance:

1. Choose a genre.

   I chose Rock.

2. Choose a drummer and a subgenre.

   I chose Max as my drummer and Punk Rock as the subgenre.

3. Choose a drum kit.

   I chose East Bay.

4. Choose a preset.

   I chose Mudslinger. See Figure 6-16.

Now try different drummers, genres, subgenres, drum kits, and presets until you find the sound and style that suits your project. Then, if necessary, use the XY pad, drum kit controls, and performance controls to fine-tune your drummer even further.

Here’s how:

• XY pad: Adjust the complexity and loudness of the selected drummer region. Drag the big yellow dot up to make your drummer play louder, down to play softer; left to make the drummer’s playing simpler; and right to make the playing more complex.

  

  Drag the dot a tiny amount and wait to hear the result before moving it further, and then repeat until you're satisfied.

• Drum kit controls: Click an instrument to enable or disable it. Slide the sliders to add more or less Percussion, Hi-Hat, or Kick & Snare.
• Performance controls: Adjust the number and length of fills with the Fills knob; adjust the shuffle feel with the Swing knob.

Fiddle with these controls until you achieve the drum sound you’re looking for.

One last trick: In the drum kit controls area, enable the Follow check box for Kick & Snare and then choose a track from the pop-up menu that appears. Now your drummer will play in time with that track!

There’s much more to drummer tracks than I have space for here. If you care to dig deeper into drummer track features, search for Drummer in GarageBand Help. The coverage of drummer tracks is extensive and includes such diverse topics as using a brush kit to adjust the snare brush technique with drummers; using half time or double time for your kick and snare; and additional information on all the controls I cover in this section and more.

Testing Your Changes

It’s easy to be overwhelmed by all the sliders and their esoteric names in plug-ins, instruments, and effects. Here’s my prescription for creating “perfect” settings quickly and easily without tearing out your hair:

1. Click the track’s solo icon to listen to only that track.
2. Turn off the effect in question by deselecting its check box or by clicking its on/off button.
3. Click the play icon or press the spacebar and listen to the track without the effect.

4. Turn on the effect, and listen to the track again while choosing different presets.

   When you find one that sounds pretty good, click the show/hide plug-in settings icon for the effect.

5. When the Settings window appears, slide one parameter slider to the right until you can definitely hear its effect, and then slide it to the left until you can barely hear the effect.

   You’ll find the perfect setting somewhere between those two points.

Repeat the above for each parameter and you’ll get the sound you like quickly and with a minimum of overwhelming-ness!