Various editing functions in GarageBand. This is Assignment #2 for the course "Introduction to Music Production" @Coursera.

1. Editing with GarageBand
Assignment #2
Music Production @Coursera
July 31, 2014

2. Introduction
• I am Ranjit from California, USA.
• I play synths & program music using ChucK.
• This lesson is my assignment for week 2 of
Introduction To Music Production @Coursera.
• I’ll describe how GarageBand X (Mac) performs a
variety of useful editing functions
• I’ve tried to throw in some additional details
which I found interesting
• Thanks for your time!

3. LESSON
Editing with GarageBand X

4. GarageBand
• GarageBand is a music creation studio for the
Mac — it comes with numerous instruments
& presets, and a sound library.
• You can plug in your guitar or mic and choose
from various amps and effects.
• It’s not as powerful as tools like Ableton Live &
Logic Pro but it provides numerous features
which are ideal for beginners

5. Trim
• Definition
– Trimming an audio track is like cropping an image. Select the portion
to keep and when you Trim, the rest is removed.
• Often used to remove silence at the ends of tracks
• Interesting variant
– A ripple edit is a one-sided edit, meaning that only an In or Out point
of a single clip item is affected. All clips following the shortened or
extended clip are moved accordingly in the Timeline.

6. GarageBand: Trim

7. Separate
• Definition
– Break up an audio track into multiple tracks
– Synonyms: Splitting , Cutting
• Uses
– Dividing a recording into separate songs in preparation for burning
them to an audio CD, e.g. live recordings
• You can often specify the silence gap between tracks
– Apply Fade-in and Fade-out if necessary
– Some tools help you find Zero Crossings for a clean split
• Splitting Technique
– Specify markers and then Split at all markers

8. GarageBand: Split

9. Crossfade
• Definition
– Fade out one sound while fading in another
• Useful to patch abrupt signal transitions between musical
Regions, which can cause audible pops or clicks
• Many tools allow you to control the fade curve (duration,
shape, position)
• Pick as small a Fade Region as possible for better fidelity
• Fades are similar to crossfades, but apply where there is no
overlap between Regions, for fading up the volume of a
Region from 0 (fade-in) or fading down to 0 (fade-out).

10. GarageBand: Curve
• The only way to achieve crossfade in GarageBand is to use Curve Shaping

11. Merge
• Definition
– Combine multiple audio tracks to create a single track
– The opposite of the Separate function
– Synonyms: Consolidating, Gluing, Joining, Splicing
• Splice points can cause audible glitches
• This is a Destructive edit, i.e. can’t be reversed
• Some tools offer a Nudge function, useful for creating short
crossfades to hide splices and other glitches

12. GarageBand: Join

13. Grid
• Definition
– (noun) The grid represents the granularity of points in a waveform
– In Audio Editing, the grid represents equidistant points on your
timeline
– (verb) You can enable the Grid (or Snap to Grid) feature in your DAW
to ensure that every time marker or region aligns to a Grid point.
• Snapping to a Grid is also called Quantization
• Feature for Pros
– Cakewalk has an option called Magnetic Snap. The closer your drag
point gets to the snap target, the more strongly the object is pulled to
the target.

14. GarageBand: Grid

15. Cycle
• Definition
– Cycle mode can be used to repeatedly play a selected passage
• Uses
– Composing a section of a project (e.g. verse or chorus)
– Practicing, before making a recording
– Recording individual tracks consecutively
– Editing events
– Recording multiple takes

16. GarageBand: Cycle Region

17. Markers
• Definition(s)
– Mark or label a specific time location in an editor window
– May also be referred to as a bookmark
• “While Regions define specific locations on a Track, Markers
define meaningful locations in your Song”
• If Grid is enabled, markers snap to the nearest point
• Additional Note
– Interpolation is a process to smooth out the waveform between start
and finish markers, often used to remove a pop or click.

18. GarageBand: Add Marker

19. Zoom
• Definition
– In Audio Editing, Zoom refers to the level of detail in your view of an
audio track (waveform)
– Zoom In to magnify your view => fine-grain detail
– Zoom Out to diminish your view => coarse detail
• Zooms can be enabled in a few different ways
– Buttons
– Mouse-scroll
– Right-click
• Useful Hint
– In many tools, if you select an area before you Zoom In, the view is
centered

20. GarageBand: Zoom
• Keyboard shortcuts
– Zoom out: Option-Control-Left Arrow
– Zoom in: Option-Control-Right Arrow

21. Name & Color
• These have a similar function
• Definition
– To distinguish between Regions of your recording, you can use Names
or Colors or both
• Use descriptive names instead of relying on names auto-
generated by the DAW
• Ensure that adjacent Regions use contrasting colors
• You can also name & color your Markers

22. GarageBand: Name Region
• GarageBand does not support assignment of
colors to individual tracks or regions

23. Bibliography
• GarageBand intro
• GarageBand Support

24. Reflection
• This was a pretty substantial lecture. I was planning to
give a discourse on MIDI but decided instead to go with
the more practical topic of working with GarageBand.
• I’m quite familiar with Powerpoint, so decided to stick
with that for now. I plan to learn more about
recording/editing for future assignments, e.g. short
screen captures.
• I spent 3-4 hours on this, mostly coming up with crisp
definitions for the terms and digging into GarageBand.
• I hope you, the reviewer, found this useful and learnt
something new. Cheers!