Using the Mouse and Keyboard

team bbl


There are at least two ways to do almost everything in GarageBand. You can either use the mouse, or you can use the keyboard. Since everyone has a preference, I'll show you different methods throughout this book. Choose whichever method works best for you.

Practicing Mouse Maneuvers

You use the mouse for many functions in GarageBand, including pointing, selecting, grabbing, clicking, dragging, dropping, and stretching. It's a good idea to practice using the mouse if this is your first time at the computer.

We'll start with the mouse as a pointer, and use it to move the playhead in the Timeline.

1.

Locate your pointer (it looks like an arrow).

2.

Move your mouse to move the pointer anywhere on the GarageBand window.

3.

Locate the playhead on the Timeline.

The playhead is a vertical red line with a triangular head at the top in the Beat Ruler. You can use the playhead to play all tracks in the Timeline simultaneously. The playhead moves from left to right in the Timeline and plays whatever regions (music parts) it scrubs across as it moves.

4.

Click the top of the playhead and drag it along the Beat Ruler.

The top of the playhead turns blue when you click and drag it to a new position. The blue color shows that it has been selected.

You can also move the playhead by simply clicking anywhere in the Beat Ruler. The numbers in the Beat Ruler count measures from the beginning of the song.

5.

Click the vertical line just to the left of the number 7 in the Beat Ruler.

The playhead jumps to the first beat in the 7th measure of the song.

Not only can you click and drag the playhead within the Beat Ruler, but you can also double-click the playhead to start and stop playback of the song.

6.

Double-click the top of the playhead to begin playing the song from the playhead position.

7.

Double-click the top of the playhead again to stop playback.

Using the Keyboard

Now let's look at how to use the keyboard to move the playhead in the Timeline.

1.

Press the left arrow key to move the playhead one measure to the left.

2.

Press the right arrow key twice to move the playhead two measures to the right.

3.

Press the Home key to move the playhead to the beginning of the Timeline.

4.

Press the right arrow several times to move the playhead to the right.

5.

Press the Z key to move the playhead back to the beginning of the Timeline.

As you can see, the Home key and the Z key do the same thing. Choose whichever key is easier for you to find and remember.

Tip

If you're working on a laptop, it may be easier to press the Z key to get to the beginning of the Timeline. On a laptop, the Home key is also the left arrow, so you need to hold down the function key first. The function key for Mac PowerBooks is located in the lower-left corner of the keyboard and is labeled "fn."


    team bbl



    Apple Training Series(c) GarageBand 2
    Apple Training Series: GarageBand 2
    ISBN: 0321330196
    EAN: 2147483647
    Year: 2005
    Pages: 139
    Authors: Mary Plummer

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