Chapter 6. Working with Real Instruments

Lesson Files	GarageBand 3 Lessons > Lesson_06 > 6-1 Recording Test; 6-2 Tuning; 6-3 Punch-Ins; 6-4 Multitrack
Time	This lesson takes approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes to complete.
Goals	Edit and transpose a Real Instrument track
	Prepare a Real Instrument track for recording
	Record a riff
	Work with the Amp Simulation presets
	Work with the instrument tuner
	Record a punch-in and create a merged region
	Understand multitrack recording
	Find recordings in a project's contents

GarageBand gives you many choices of instruments, tracks, regions, and methods of recording. In the previous lesson, you worked with flexible, editable Software Instruments. This lesson is dedicated to what GarageBand calls Real Instruments.

Real Instruments are exactly what they sound like: regions recorded from real instruments. With GarageBand, you can record a real instrument such as a guitar, bass, or keyboard directly into the Timeline. You can also use a microphone to record instruments that don't have an output jack, such as a trumpet, violin, grand piano, drum kit, acoustic guitar, or even vocals.

To record a Real Instrument into the Timeline, you have to physically perform or play the part using a real instrument in real time. In contrast to Software Instruments, Real Instrument recordings are "as is"you can't edit the individual notes or change instruments. However, you can add effects and enhance the tuning and timing of Real Instrument regions once they're recorded.

Why would you record real instruments when you can use Software Instruments? Because they're real instruments! Certain instruments can't be simulated very well, so you want to record the real deal.

Suppose you're in a band and you want to record one of your new songs. How do you explain to your drummer that he has to play drums on a MIDI keyboard to get them into the computer? What about the lead vocal, guitar, and bass? Most musicians play best on their chosen instruments, not on a keyboard simulation. (Nothing against keyboards, which happen to be my instrument of choice.)

In this lesson, you'll learn how to work with Real Instruments once they are recorded into the Timeline, and you'll also learn how to record your own Real Instrument regions. Along the way, you'll also learn different recording tricks, techniques, and features.