To get started using Beat Sequencer, either create a new song or open an existing one. If you've created a new song, the Sound browser opens automatically. If you want to add Beat Sequencer to an existing song, tap to open the Sound browser.
In the sound browser, swipe until you see Drums, then tap Beat Sequencer.
Quickly add a beat to your song
Play Make music. With or without an instrument. The moment you launch GarageBand, you can start making music. Play stunningly realistic Touch Instruments, instantly build big beats, and create music like a DJ — all with just a few taps. Jul 11, 2010 My friends and I used to use FL studio to make hip-hop/rap-style beats, but the computer that had FL studio on it fried, so we're gonna try and use my Macbook with Garageband to make some beats. To anyone with experience in both programs: Does Garageband offer the same depth that FL studio.
In Beat Sequencer, tap , then choose the pre-designed pattern that best describes the style you want. The pattern plays back at the tempo you’ve set for your song, and loops depending on the length of the pattern. Each pre-designed pattern has unique settings, including the pattern length, which you can change.
To stop and start to the pattern, tap . If you want to add the pattern to your song, record the pattern.
You can change the pattern by turning steps on or off. Each row corresponds to an individual instrument in the drum kit, which is shown along the left of the grid. To turn off a step in the pattern, tap a lit step in the grid. To turn a step on, tap an unlit step.
You can also change the sounds in the pattern. To change the entire kit, tap button at the bottom of the screen that shows the currently selected kit (such as Trap Door or Hacienda). In the Drums window, select the style of sounds from the left column and the individual kit from the right column. To download additional sounds, tap 'Get more drum kits,' then select the sounds you’re interested in from the Sound Library. When you’ve found the kit you want, tap Done.
Build your own beat
If you want to build your own beat from scratch, tap the , then choose New Pattern. Tap Step/On Off to add and remove steps. You can add and remove steps while Beat Sequencer is playing back or idle.
After you’ve added steps, you can edit each individual step:
To change the volume of a step, tap Velocity. Slide your finger down on the step to decrease the volume, and slide up to increase the volume.
To slice an individual step into multiple steps, tap Note Repeat. Slide your finger upwards to increase the number of slices, and down to decrease the number of slices.
To add human-like variation to a step, tap Chance. Then, slide your finger down to increase the variation of the step.
If you want to edit an entire row’s settings, tap an instrument along the left side of the grid.
To change an individual kit piece, tap Kit Piece in the Row Settings window, then tap the piece you want assigned to that row. That row now plays back the newly assigned kit piece.
To change the length of each step in the row, tap Step Length, then select a length.
To change the direction Beat Sequencer plays back that instrument in the pattern, tap Playback Mode, then choose an option.
When you've created your beat, you can save it as a pattern. Tap , then tap Save. Enter a name for the pattern, then tap Done. You can recall that pattern and add it to different songs.
When you're ready to add the pattern to a song, record the pattern.
Record the pattern
To record the pattern to your song, tap in the control bar. Beat Sequencer starts automatically. The pattern plays back in a loop until you stop recording. When you’re finished recording the pattern, tap Tracks view button to view the recorded track. Tap in the control bar to hear the pattern in the context of your other tracks.
After you’ve recorded the pattern, you can edit and adjust the track as you would any other instrument track.
View and Change Pattern Settings
Beat Sequencer uses steps to determine the length of a particular pattern. If your song is in 4/4 time, you can set the pattern length between 16 and 64 steps. If your song’s in 3/4 or 6/8 time, you can set the pattern length between 12 and 48 steps. You can also manually change the loop length of each individual kit piece by tapping the Loop Start/End button, then dragging the handle each row.
To view information and change settings for the current pattern, tap.
Set length of pattern (16, 32, 48 or 64 steps in 4/4 time, and 12, 24, and 48 steps in 3/4 and 6/8 time)
Set the step length (1/8, 1/8t, 1/16, 1/6t, 1/32)
Set the Playback Mode (Forward, Reverse, Ping Pong, Random)
Set the amount of swing in the pattern
Reset the pattern. If you started with a blank pattern, tapping Reset clears the grid.
If you're new to GarageBand or the process of recording vocals using Apple's free DAW, join Richard Lainhart's step-by-step guide through the basics.
Home music production really took off with the introduction of Apple's GarageBand, included with all new Macs. The massive collection of Apple Loops and software instruments included with the program, as well as the huge variety of third-party content available, make it easy for even beginner users to produce professional-sounding songs.
Inevitably though, the time will come when you'll want to add your own vocals to a song you've created in GarageBand. Or perhaps you want to record a podcast or some other non-musical material. So, in this tutorial, we'll show you the basics of recording vocals into GarageBand '11.
Equipment
Before you can begin recording your vocal track, you'll need something to record your voice with and a way to hear what you're doing. Now, you could record your voice through your Mac's built-in microphone and in some cases, like recording a podcast or a simple video voiceover, you could get useable results. However, for recording vocals for a song, unless you're going to be heavily processing the voice track or are looking for an intentionally raw sound, you'll want to use a reasonably professional vocal microphone.
There are a million different mics available that are appropriate for vocals, and we aren't going to recommend any specific ones here. But if you're looking to get a vocal sound that compares with professional recordings, one of the standard types of mics used in the recording industry is what's called a large-diaphragm condenser (LDC) microphone. There are many of these available too, with prices that can run into the thousands of dollars for a top-of-the-line model. But for home recording purposes, you can do well for under two hundred dollars.
The advantage of an LDC mic is that they're more sensitive than the standard dynamic mics you're more likely to see on a live stage, and they tend to 'warm up' a recorded voice, which is why they're favored for studio recording. Condenser mics do require an external power source, referred to as phantom power, so if you go for a standalone condenser mic, you'll need to be sure that your audio interface supplies phantom power.
However, there's a more recent development in the world of home recording that you should investigate also: the availability of a variety of USB-powered large diaphragm condensers. These are especially useful for beginner home recordists, because they combine an LDC and an audio interface in one device. Many of them even provide a headphone jack for monitoring. A USB LDC connects directly to the USB port on your Mac; the USB port supplies the phantom power for the condenser. In addition, the USB mic is its own audio interface, so you don't need to purchase a separate interface to plug the mic into. And, as mentioned, most USB mics also have a headphone output that you can use to monitor your GarageBand inputs and outputs.
How To Make A Rap Beat On Garageband Ios
This is important because if you listen (on external speakers) while you're recording your vocals, the mic will either feedback into itself, or you'll pick up your instrumental tracks through the mic along with your voice, and you won't be able to mix the final results properly.
By the same token, you'll ideally want to use closed-ear headphones rather than earbuds for monitoring; closed-ear phones generally sound better than earbuds, and also provide more insulation against audio leakage into your mic while recording. And because LDC mics tend to be more sensitive to picking up Ps and other popping sounds, a pop filter is also a good investment. Pop filters are small screens that you mount in front of the microphone to reduce the force of those 'P' vocal sounds (called plosives) without affecting the basic tone quality of the voice.
Step 1 - Create a New Track
OK, assuming you have all your vocal recording gear set up and that you already have an instrumental track in your GarageBand project to record over, you'll need to create a new track to record into. Choose Track > New Track... (Command-Option-N), then click Real Instrument. Under 'My instrument is connected with', choose your mic input (if you're using a USB mic, it will probably appear as USB Audio CODEC rather than the actual name of the mic). Under that, choose your input channel (which for a USB mic will probably default to Mono 1). Under 'I hear sound from', choose your monitoring output (again, choose USB Audio CODEC if you want to monitor through the mic's headphone output. Otherwise choose your available output device). Finally, click the 'I want to hear my instrument as I play and record' checkbox to hear your voice through your monitoring device as you sing:
Then click 'Create' to make the new track.
Step 2 - Set Your Monitor Source
When you create the new track, the Track Info Pane will automatically open to the right of your tracks. You've already set your input source, so don't worry about that. But you do want to set your monitor source in the Monitor pop-up menu: choose 'Off' to disable monitoring, choose 'On' to monitor your mic and the instrumental track through speakers, or choose 'On (no feedback protection)', which is specifically designed for headphone monitoring, which is what we want here:
Step 3 - Set Your Record Level
Next, sing or speak into your mic and look up in the track name area at the record level meters for your new track (it's located above the slider). Note that this slider doesn't affect the input level, just the playback level. For a USB mic, the recording level is probably set on the mic itself; otherwise you set it in the Track Info area where we just set the Monitor source.
So, while singing or speaking, adjust your recording level so the meters read, on average, in the upper end of the green area. It's OK if the meters go into the amber range occasionally, but don't hit the red marks at the ends of the meters otherwise you'll get distortion in your track.
Step 4 - Set Effects for the Track
At this point, you can just start recording your vocals, but many people like to hear what vocal effects will sound like on the track as they record it, so they can respond to the effect while singing. This is strictly a matter of taste but for now, let's apply effects while recording.
So, with the track selected, click on Vocals in the right side of the Browse tab in the Track Info Pane, then choose different vocal effects settings while singing and listening to the results. Again, this is a matter of taste and you can always change the effects setting after recording. For now, choose Pop Vocals from the list:
Step 5 - Record!
Alright, let's record: with your new track selected, drag the playhead to the location in the track where you want to start recording (or click the 'Go to the beginning of the song' button in the Transport), then click the Record button to begin recording. You'll hear your instrumental track playing back (adjust its playback level with the Set the track volume slider if necessary) and as you sing, you'll see your vocal track appear in red in track window. When you're done recording, hit the Spacebar to stop, after which your track will appear in purple:
Rewind back to the beginning and hit Spacebar again to hear your recording, adjusting the relative track volumes as needed. If you don't like what you just recorded, simply undo to remove the recording and record again.
And those are the basics. From here you can, for example, try applying different vocal effects to your vocal track by just choosing them from the browser, or you can add another vocal track by recording into a new track.
Did you know there are plenty more tricks on recording audio in GarageBand? Learn more in Garageband'11 101.