How to play music using your Mac's keyboard with GarageBand's Musical Typing. By Malcolm Owen Thursday, August 09, 2018, 07:18 am PT (10:18 am ET) Want to add elements to a GarageBand composition.
Play the Keyboard in GarageBand for iPad. Using the Keyboard Touch Instrument, you can play different keyboards, including grand piano, electric piano, organ, clavinet, and synthesizer, by tapping the keys. You can choose a keyboard sound, move higher or lower on the keyboard, hold notes, and change the keyboard layout and size.
While GarageBand offers versatility and plenty of robust features, it has become really popular for (1) being pre-installed on every macOS and (2) being absolutely free to use. An iOS GarageBand piano keyboard app is also available in the App Store at no cost. Sounds fantastic! Let’s begin with a simple GarageBand tutorial.
Use keyboard shortcuts with GarageBand for iPad. If you have an external keyboard connected to your iPad, you can use keyboard shortcuts in Tracks view to play, navigate, and edit your GarageBand song.
If you are not aware, let me tell you GarageBand is Apple’s freeware digital audio workstation which means this software enables you to create, customise of the mix up your music just like a professional music composer, available for download from the Apple app store for all iOS and Mac devices, absolutely free. Garageband is available for Apple devices officially and comes with advanced features including in-app recording, Virtual studio technology, MIDI editing, a collection of instruments and loops, artist lessons, etc; gets better when all of that packed into an intuitive and easy to use interface.
Oct 08, 2019 While you can add Apple Loops and import samples to use in your GarageBand creations, you can also use an onscreen keyboard to make music. On Mac, you can use the keyboard as it appears on a piano or organ in addition to musical typing with your computer keyboard. The keyboard, through the USB port, should be able to connect to your laptop. In the past, MIDI Keyboards were connected through the use of Pin Drivers, but new MIDI Keyboards usually use USB. If you want to connect an older keyboard into Garageband, you’ll need a MIDI to USB adaptor. What MIDI keyboard should I use for Garageband?
The music composing app has all the instruments and sounds that can help you in creating great music. In this post, you will get to know, how to create music on it. If you are using a windows PC you can download garageband on PC here.
How to get GarageBand on Mac?
Installing GarageBand on apple devices is super easy. Make sure you have latest MacOS installed on your Macbook, iMac or iPhone. Apple is rolling new updates to improves the bugs and fix them quite often, if available just update to the latest MacOS. Once you are done, now you can proceed.
Installation:
You can download GarageBand for Mac from the Apple’s official website named, APP STORE. Initially, it came as the pre-installed app for iPhone as well as on Mac computers but now the GarageBand is available on App store and it’s just a click-away from installation.
For more clarity, Here are the detailed steps for you:
1. Open the Launchpad and then look for App Store in it.
2. Once you found the App Store, open it.
3. Now, on the App Store, look for GarageBand. It would be the first app you will see. Simply click and download.
4. Once you install the app, it is ready to use.
5. Go ahead and create some soulful music on your Apple beast.
How to use GarageBand on Mac?
Using GarageBand on Mac or any apple device is really easy, the interface is same. GarageBand offers you different project templates that you can choose as per your need. Before creating the music, here is some basic stuff you need to know:
Step 1: Opening the Project
First of all, you need to open the project area where you will create music. To do that, open the app and go to File menu and then select ‘New‘. You can also use shortcut key by pressing ⌘+N to open the new project.
You will find a couple of options. In songwriter mode, you will get the preset instruments, audio and other stuff you need to create a new song. Similarly, in Electronic, you will get the preset trance sounds, bass and drum kicks that will help you in creating EDM and other electronic music.
You can choose either of them as per your need but if you want to start from scratch without any preset sounds, simply open Empty Project.
Step 2: Adding Instruments on Empty Project:
If you have chosen the Empty project, here is what you need to do to start creating music on GarageBand. On the new empty project, you will get a basic Classic Electric Piano. Use your keyboard to play the Piano notes and to record it. You can see the Piano Keyboard on your screen by going to Windows > Show Musical Typing or press ⌘+K.
If you wanted to add more Tracks, simply click on the + icon (see screenshot), select Empty Project and add another track. Choose any instrument you wanted to add in your song and go on.
Using Loops on GarageBand:
Once you opened the project, now it is time to create some music on it. Creating music on GarageBand is so easy and so much fun, honestly. There is an inbuilt library of Loops that you can use in your songs as well. There are loops from different Genres, Moods, Instruments. You can sort the loops as per your need and type of music. You will get to know the Note of the loop as well as the BPM or Tempo of the loop which is also useful for any music creator. You can open the Loop menu from the Top Right corner. See Screenshot below.
Record External Instrument on GarageBand
How To Use Mac Keyboard On Garageband
Recording an external instrument like Piano, Guitar or Drums on GarageBand is so easy. For recording the Analog instrument as a digital sound require a converter that will convert the analog sound of your Guitar or Piano into Digital sound. You can use Tascam iXZ interface for iPad, iPhone. That is a brilliant gear for your setup. Using this, you can easily record external instrument into the app. You can also record the sound from the inbuilt microphone but the output would be terrible with noises. To open the External instrument interface on GarageBand, you need to go to File > New Project and choose Audio Project. Using the same option, you can also record your own voice on it.
FAQs
Ques – Is GarageBand free for Mac?
Ans- Yes, GarageBand is a free digital audio workstation available for download in the Apple app store. The free package includes a full set of features and a considerable number of sounds, loops, drummers, lessons, etc. You can, however, expand your content by making a one time purchase of $4.99. It also includes some Artist Lessons that would require you to make an in-app purchase.
Ques- How much does GarageBand cost for Mac?
Ans- GarageBand is free of cost for Mac users. The digital audio workstation is available for download in the Apple app store. The free package includes a full set of features and a considerable number of sounds, loops, drummers, lessons, etc. You can, however, expand your content by making a one time purchase of $4.99. GarageBand also includes some Artist Lessons that would require you to make an in-app purchase.
Ques- Do all Macbooks have GarageBand?
Ans- Even though GarageBand is not pre-installed on all Macs, it is available for all Macbooks. Any Mac user with an Apple ID can download the software from the Mac App Store.
Ques- Where do I find GarageBand on my Mac?
Ans- If you haven’t downloaded GarageBand, you will find it in the Mac app store where you have to search and download. In case you already have the music composing app downloaded on your Mac, you will most likely find it in the tab at the bottom of your screen (with a guitar icon). You can also search for it by name from the search bar at the top of your desktop screen. Alternatively, you can also open the Finder and from the panel on the right, click on Applications. Now when you scroll through your applications, you will find the app.
Ques- How do I remove GarageBand from my Mac?
Ans- To delete GarageBand from your Mac :
Open Finder.
Select Applications from the window on the left side
Find GarageBand and then drag it to the Trash icon at the bottom of the screen
Alternatively, you can right-click on the icon and tap on ‘Move to Trash’
Empty the trash folder (right-click on its icon and select ‘Empty Trash’ option)
Alternatively, you can also use this method to get rid of GarageBand :
Open Launchpad
Type and search for GarageBand in the search bar
Click and hold on the GarageBand icon, a small cross should appear at the top left of the icon
Tap on that x and select Delete on the window that pops up
Ques- How do I get rid of music creation files on my Mac?
Ans- To get rid of music creation files from your mac :
Click on the Apple logo, and then select ‘About this Mac’
Now go to Storage and select ‘Manage’
Click on the ‘Music creation’ option
You’ll find a button to remove GarageBand, click on it to remove music creation files.
If you don’t find a button to remove GarageBand, you’ll have to first re-install the software on your mac from the App store. Once you have re-installed the app, start this whole procedure from the beginning.
If you want to further remove GarageBand files and clear up space : Go to the Finder window and search for GarageBand. Now scan the ‘This Mac’ and ‘Library’ folders and delete all GarageBand or Apple Loops files from them.
Ques- How do you delete instruments and lessons on GarageBand in Mac?
Ans- To get rid of music creation files from your mac :
Click on the Apple logo, and then select ‘About this Mac’
Now go to Storage and select ‘Manage’
Click on the ‘Music creation’ option
You’ll find a button to remove GarageBand, click on it to remove music creation files.
If you don’t find the button, you’ll have to first re-install the software on your mac from the App store and then start this procedure from beginning.
How To Work Garageband
If you want to further remove GarageBand files and clear up space: Go to the Finder window and search for GarageBand. Now scan the ‘This Mac’ and ‘Library’ folders and delete all GarageBand or Apple Loops files from them.
If you have nothing but iLife and your Mac for making music, you can create a song by using the tools and features built in to your computer, thanks to GarageBand. GarageBand includes an onscreen music keyboard. So within iLife ’11 you can record music on your Mac using the Software Instrument: Just choose Window→Keyboard. To use the keyboard, click the piano keys.
Click the keys (top) or type on the Mac keyboard (bottom).
As you play, follow these handy tips:
How To Use Mac Keyboard On Garageband Laptop
To simulate playing the piano keys harder or softer, click lower in a white or black key to play the note harder, and click higher in the key to play the note softer.
To move the onscreen music keyboard to any location on your screen, click in the space between the keys and the side of the keyboard and drag it.
To expand the keyboard, increasing the number of keys that are shown, drag the expansion triangle in the lower right edge of the keyboard.
To change the range of notes you can play, click the small triangles to the left or right of the keys — the left one lowers the keys by an octave, and the right one raises them an octave. You can also click the thumbnail of the piano keyboard above the keys to select an octave. By expanding the keyboard and changing its range of notes, you can play almost every note imaginable.
While the onscreen music keyboard is a touch primitive, you can use it to experiment with different instrument sounds and effects. Still, you may find it difficult to play by clicking the pointer, and you can’t play more than one note at a time. To play several notes at a time (as in a chord) from your Mac keyboard, click the Musical Typing button (the A Key icon) in the upper left corner of the onscreen keyboard or choose Window→Musical Typing.
Use Mac Keyboard On Garageband
The Musical Typing onscreen keyboard lets you click keys or use the Mac’s alphanumeric keyboard. You can press several keys at a time on the Mac keyboard to play chords. Here’s how the Mac keyboard works:
Mac Keyboard Shortcuts
The keys in the second row (A to single quote) are the white piano keys in a 1-1/2 octave range from C through F.
The keys in the third row are the black piano keys (sharps and flats).
Press Z to move down an octave, or X to move up an octave.
If you wish to change the location of your download you can change here by clicking on Change Install Location as shown in below window. . Next the Installation Type window will appear. How to right click on a mac teamviewer.
Press C to lower the velocity level, or V to raise it.
To add pitch bend to notes you play (that is, to adjust the pitch of a note in the range of plus or minus one tone), press 1 to lower the pitch or 2 to raise it.
To sustain notes you play, hold down the Tab key — notes are sustained for as long as you hold down the Tab key.
To add modulation to notes you play, press 4 through 8 to add increasing amounts of modulation or press 3 to turn off modulation