Chapter 1. Working with the Interface | Apple Training Series: GarageBand 3

Lesson Files	GarageBand 3 Lessons > Lesson_01 > 1-1 Alaska Sunrise
Time	This lesson takes approximately 1 hour to complete.
Goals	Launch GarageBand
	Explore the GarageBand window
	Navigate in the Timeline
	Work with the transport controls
	Start and stop playback in the Timeline
	Open the editor
	Compare Real Instruments and Software Instruments
	Edit regions in the editor
	Open the Loop Browser in Podcast Sounds view
	Add a video clip from the Media Browser

GarageBand is powerful enough to record and mix a professional-sounding music demo, podcast, or video score, yet simple enough that anyone can use it right out of the box.

Over the years, I've worked with many frustrated musicians who bought their first computers and software specifically to try recording their own music. Unfortunately, instead of finding inspiration and a new creative tool, they got more frustrated because the software was way too complicated.

That was before GarageBand. This software is different. You don't have to be a computer major or audio engineer to record music. You don't even have to be a musician. If you can click a mouse, you can turn your Mac into a basic recording studio for music, scoring video, or producing podcastsit's really that simple.

In this lesson, you'll take a guided tour of the GarageBand basic interface and learn how to use the transport controls and navigate in the Timeline. Along the way, you'll learn some of the new GarageBand features, as well as some useful keyboard shortcuts as you get to know the program.

If you've been working with GarageBand for a while and are already comfortable with the basic interface, editor, and navigation, feel free to jump ahead to Lesson 2.

Before You Start

Before you start, you need to load the GarageBand 3 program onto your hard drive. You also need to copy the GarageBand 3 Lessons folder from the CD in the back of the book to your computer's Desktop.

The instructions for loading the software and files are in "Getting Started," the introduction to this book. After you complete those two steps, you can move forward with this lesson.

Now that you have the GarageBand program and lesson files loaded onto your hard drive, you're ready to begin this lesson.

Note

Make sure your screen resolution is set to 1027 x 768 or higher in the display preferences for your computer. If your resolution is below 1027 x 768, you won't be able to see the entire GarageBand window on your screen.

Launching GarageBand

There are three ways to launch GarageBand:

On your hard drive, double-click the GarageBand application icon.
On the Dock, click the GarageBand icon.
Double-click any GarageBand project file.

For this exercise, you'll launch GarageBand by opening a project file.

Locate the GarageBand 3 Lessons folder on your computer.

Note

If you haven't copied the GarageBand 3 Lessons folder to your hard drive, do so at this time.

Select the Lesson_01 folder, then double-click the 1-1 Alaska Sunrise project file to open the song and launch the program.

An initializing progress window appears, showing that GarageBand is opening the selected project. When GarageBand opens, you will see a large window containing all the elements for the song 1-1 Alaska Sunrise.