Mixing Your Song

When you’ve chosen all the right loops and recorded your best performance, you’ll want to make sure everything sounds good together.

With GarageBand, you can adjust the volume levels of each track individually to make sure you can hear each piece clearly. You can also adjust how each track plays back in stereo to locate it in the stereo field. This is called "panning" (short for panoramic).

Tips

Automate changes in track volume or pan with curves

You can automate changes in the volume levels or pan position for each track that will be saved in your final mix. To show the volume or pan curve for a track, click the disclosure triangle next to the Solo button in the track header (the headphones icon). Select Volume Curve or Pan Curve from the pop-up menu. Click the curve to create a control point that you can move up or down.

Add more to your song by importing MP3s

You can drag audio files (in AIFF, WAV, or MP3 format) from the Finder to the timeline to add them to your song. Just drag the audio file to a real instrument track or to an empty area below the existing tracks.

Adjust the pan control to place an entire track in the stereo field

If you just want to place an entire track "stereo right", rather than having it change over the course of your song, just move a track’s panning knob in the track header to the right. Varying the panning for different tracks creates the sense that the instruments are located in different parts of a room, which adds realism to your song’s sound.

Lock tracks that you are finished editing

You can lock both Software and Real Instrument tracks to both improve computer performance and prevent any unintended changes. Just click the lock icon in the track header to "freeze" an entire track. This writes (bounces) the track to disk. You can still change volume levels and pan positions even when a track is locked. If you want to make any further changes, just unlock the track.

Accessories you can use with GarageBand

To find out about accessories you can purchase to enhance your GarageBand experience check out the GarageBand website. You can add to your loop library, find a pair of headphones or speakers, and even look for keyboards. Go to the GarageBand website.

Return track volume to "normal"

If you have changed a track’s volume but later decide you want it back to "O" or "normal" position, just hold down the Option key while you click the volume slider to return it to a neutral value (0dB).

Steps

Adjust the levels, panning, and volume curves in your song

Click Play to listen to your song.
Adjust the track volume sliders as the song plays to set the relative levels for each track.
Drag the pan control to the right or left to control where each track plays in the stereo field.
When you’re happy with your adjustments, choose Send Song to iTunes from the Share menu.