How To Change Metronome Sound In Garageband Mac

  1. How To Change Metronome Sound In Garageband Mac 10
  2. Metronome Sound Beat
  3. Change Metronome Sound Garageband
  4. How To Change Metronome Sound In Garageband Mac Download
  5. How To Change Metronome Tempo In Garageband Mac

Home > Articles > Apple > Audio & Video

Change
  1. 6.) Change some of the default settings that are more suited to musical recording than a podcast. At the top of the screen, turn off '1234' and the metronome. Change the display from 'Beats & Project' to 'Time' to can keep track of the length of your recording. 7.) Before recording, check the audio input levels.
  2. A key benefit to recording in GarageBand is the tempo function. The tempo, or speed, of the song is measured in beats per minute, and can be created before you even begin laying down tracks. GarageBand tempos range from 40 beats per minute (extremely slow) to 240 beats per minute (extremely fast).

Apr 16, 2004  Anyway to remove the metronome during playback in Garageband? I did some voice recordings and I want to remove the metronome as that incessant click is.

  1. Recording a Simple Drum Part
< BackPage 8 of 10Next >
This chapter is from the book
Apple Training Series: GarageBand 3

This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

Recording a Simple Drum Part

You have listened to the drum and percussion loops used in the Alaska Sunrise song from Lessons 1 and 2, and the 80s Pop Beat 07 in the previous exercise. Now it’s your turn to create a drum region of your own. This exercise will be challenging, especially if rhythm isn’t one of your specialties. Fortunately, GarageBand comes with a built-in metronome to help you.

Turning On the Metronome

A metronome is a device used by musicians to keep time. The metronome clicks at a steady beat based on the tempo of the project. You can use the clicks as a guide for “practicing” instrument parts during playback and for recording them.

To hear the metronome during playback, you need to change a setting in the General Preferences.

  1. Choose GarageBand > Preferences, or press Cmd-, (comma).

    The Preferences dialog opens. If the General pane is not already visible, click the General button.

  2. Locate the Metronome settings near the middle of the window.

    There are two settings for the metronome: “During recording” or “During playback and recording.”

  3. Select the “During playback and recording” setting.

    The metronome will now play during playback (as you practice) and while you record.

  4. Press Cmd-W, or click the Close button (red X) on the General Preferences window, to close the window.
  5. Press Return to move the playhead to the beginning of the Timeline.
  6. Locate the time display at the bottom of the GarageBand window.

    The time display shows you are at the first beat of the first measure. Remember, this project is in 4/4 time, so there will be four steady beats in each measure. The metronome will count off the beats (4) to the project tempo (110).

  7. Press the spacebar to hear the metronome. Watch the beats count 1 through 4 in the time display for each measure.

    Notice that the measure counter advances one for every four beats.

    The beat changes with each click of the metronome. The first beat of every measure is of a slightly higher pitch.

  8. Press the spacebar again to stop playback.

Practicing with the Metronome

How To Change Metronome Sound In Garageband Mac 10

Before you record the actual drum part, it’s a good idea to practice a few times. For this exercise, you will use the onscreen keyboard to play a drum part and practice using the metronome.

  1. Press Cmd-K to open the onscreen keyboard.

    Make sure that the Kits track is selected and that the onscreen keyboard shows that you are working with the Kits instrument.

  2. On the left edge of the onscreen keyboard, click the octave change arrow until the first note on the keyboard is C1.

    To keep this exercise simple, you will only be working with the first five notes (white and black keys), which are C1, C1#, D1, D1#, and E1. Each note triggers a different sampled drum sound from the drum kit.

  3. Click each of the five notes with your pointer to hear what each one sounds like.

    Feel free to drag the lower-right corner of the onscreen keyboard to resize the keys.

  4. Select one of the five sounds to practice your timing.

    If you can’t decide on a sound for the recording, try C1. It’s a nice kick drum sample and will work well for this recording.

  5. Press the spacebar to start the metronome.
  6. Click the drum sound—the note you’ve selected on the keyboard—on each beat of the metronome.

    OK, so that’s kind of boring. Let’s make it a little more interesting.

  7. Play every other beat with the metronome.
  8. Play between metronome beats.
  9. Press the spacebar to stop playback.

Now that you are warmed up, you can try recording a simple drum beat. Notice that the emphasis is on simple at the moment. You’ll get to try a more complex beat in a few minutes.

Recording a Single Take

Here is the plan: you are going to record a simple drum part that is four measures long. You will click the same instrument key as before, only this time you’ll record it to the Timeline. Watch the time display so you’ll know to stop when you have finished recording four measures.

  1. Move the playhead to the beginning of the Timeline.

    Let the first measure pass (four metronome clicks) before you start playing. That will give you a chance to get in the groove.

    Try whatever pattern you want. If you are not sure what to record, try this: hit once on the first beat, skip a beat, then twice on the third beat, and skip the fourth beat. Then repeat the pattern.

  2. Make sure the Kits track’s Record Enable button is on. By default, the Record Enable button turns on when you select the track.

    When you are ready to try, you’ll click the Record button or press R to begin recording. Remember, skip the first measure to get your timing. Then begin recording.

  3. Press R, or click the Record button, and record your part.
  4. When you finish, press the spacebar to stop recording.

    Your finished recording will look something like the following picture.

  5. If you are unhappy with your recording, press Cmd-Z to undo the recording and try again. Make sure that your finished recording ends at bar 6. If it is longer or shorter than four measures, trim the region from the lower right corner until it ends on bar 6.
  6. Press Cmd-S to save your finished recording.

    Don’t worry if it isn’t perfect. The idea of this exercise is to learn how to record a single take in the Timeline, not how to record perfect drums.

    Did you notice that although you started your recording at the beginning of the first measure, the recorded region actually begins wherever you played the first note event?

    This is a great feature because it means you can click the Record button before you need to start recording to get into the groove of the song. The recorded region will begin wherever you record the first event.

Extending Your Recorded Region

One of the best things about recording Software Instruments is that you don’t have to record the same part over and over. You only have to get it right once. Let’s assume the drum part you recorded is perfect. Now you can loop the region by extending it.

  1. Drag the upper-right corner of your recorded region and extend it to the right to repeat four more measures.

    The extended region will have a notch in the middle to show where the original region ends and the extension begins.

  2. Play your looped region to hear how it sounds.

    OK, it’s still a little boring. But at least you know how to record a single take. The piano parts in the earlier projects were recorded the same way. The only difference is that I used a drum loop to play along with instead of the metronome. Let’s go ahead and mute this recording and try another recording.

  3. On the Kits track, click the Mute button to silence the track before we move on to the next recording.

Metronome Sound Beat

You just recorded a drum loop in GarageBand. Now let’s move on to creating some more complicated beats.

Related Resources

  • Book $47.99
  • Book $47.99
  • Book $43.99

Since Macs are often known as computers for creative types, they are often praised for being especially good at helping you make music. Just look at what any DJs and production studios are using and you’ll mainly see MacBooks and iMacs. So if you’ve just bought a Mac with a goal of creating the music you’ve always dreamed about — good choice! But now where do you start?

Naturally, there are lots of professional music-making and mastering apps, such as Logic Pro X and Ableton Live, but the learning curve to master them is so steep that most beginners will probably give up before making any significant progress.

How to change metronome sound in garageband mac pro

A better way is to start creating music gradually, covering all the foundations first before graduating into pro-level apps. That’s why apps like GarageBand exist to help you bridge the gap.

What Is GarageBand For Mac?

GarageBand is a digital audio workstation, meaning it lets you record your own music with a possibility of using a library of GarageBand instruments, such as a GarageBand keyboard and a variety of other virtual keyboard pianos (even an online MIDI keyboard).

Alternatively, you can simply record your voice for a podcast or voiceover, and then edit it with all the necessary arrangement right within the app.

While GarageBand offers versatility and plenty of robust features, it has become really popular for (1) being pre-installed on every macOS and (2) being absolutely free to use. An iOS GarageBand piano keyboard app is also available in the App Store at no cost. Sounds fantastic! Let’s begin with a simple GarageBand tutorial.

How to start a project in GarageBand

When you’re convinced that it’s not yet time to use any of the GarageBand alternatives, you’re ready to start on your learning path. To begin, let’s create your first project:

  1. Open GarageBand from your Applications folder (or download from the App Store)

  2. Let any sounds and add-ons download automatically if asked

  3. In the “Choose a Project” window, navigate to Project Templates

  4. Select one of the templates that resembles what you have in mind the most

  5. If you already know the tempo and key you want to play in, click Details to open additional options

  6. Hit Choose when ready

Let’s assume you’ve clicked the Keyboard Collection and get you all set up properly from there.

How to fine-tune your workspace

If you haven’t set up a custom tempo in the menu and not sure how to slow down a track in GarageBand, don’t worry — you can simply double-click the tempo in the middle of the top bar and enter the new value, or literally drag that number up or down. Similarly, if you’re wondering how to change pitch in GarageBand, you can use the dropdown menu next to tempo.

Since we have lots of different keyboards enabled, let’s get rid of the unneeded ones simply by clicking on them and hitting Delete. To add new instruments (or voice), click the plus (+) icon above the instruments, choose the tool you need, and then Create.

How to add Apple Loops

Another great reason to use GarageBand is its abundant library of Apple Loops that will quickly teach you how to sample in GarageBand — the essential skill for any music maker.

To use Apple Loops:

Change Metronome Sound Garageband

  1. Select View ➙ Show Loop Browser from the menu bar

  2. Filter the database by Instrument or Genre

  3. Click on the loop to play in preview

  4. When you like the tune, drag it over to your main instruments panel

To increase the loop’s length, just drag it to the right over how many bars you need. If you need to know how to cut a track in GarageBand, a good way is to position the playhead bar at the place you’d like the track to split and then use the shortcut ⌘ + T. Mastering how to cut in GarageBand will open completely new avenues for your creative expression through advanced sampling. While on this topic, to start your instruments at different times and get that layered feel, just move the tracks to the right.

How to record on GarageBand with instruments

While loops can carry you quite far, and you can even compose whole tracks with them, the dream of every musician is to create something original that has never existed before.

To record using GarageBand instruments:

Change

How To Change Metronome Sound In Garageband Mac Download

  1. Select the GarageBand keyboard track

  2. Go Window ➙ Show Musical Typing, or use the shortcut ⌘ + O to open the online MIDI keyboard

  3. Hit the record icon and use the keys on your Mac keyboard to play your music

  4. Click the record icon again to stop recording

While virtual keyboard pianos are quite limited compared to the real ones, you can record real instruments with GarageBand as well:

  1. Click the plus (+) icon to start a new instrument track

  2. Choose the option that allows you to connect a guitar or bass

  3. Connect your instrument to GarageBand

  4. Hit the record icon and play as usual for complete control

  5. Press Record once again to stop

The combination of Apple Loops, GarageBand instruments, and your own bass or guitar could easily result in thousands of unique tracks and compositions. Possibilities are endless!

How To Change Metronome Tempo In Garageband Mac

How to save and share your music

When your creation is ready, you naturally want to save it and share it with the world. To only save the GarageBand project itself and maybe work on it later, use the standard File ➙ Save As option.

To export your track into a complete song, go Share ➙ Export Song to Disk, where you’ll be able to choose the format as well as the quality of your audio. Now you just need really good speakers to get all the complexity you’ve put into your song right.

How to get the best sound possible

What if you don’t have the budget to splurge on expensive audio gear? How do you maximize your Mac’s sound then? The answer is Boom 3D.

Boom 3D is a simple but mighty equalizer and volume booster for your Mac. With a simple slider, it lets you override your Mac’s internal volume limits and really get the maximum out of your speakers.

In addition, Boom 3D is a precise equalizer that allows you to adjust all the frequencies to the kind of song being played, which works both for your music collection and your own tracks too. Just select the closest preset from the dropdown and fine-tune as you see fit.

How to graduate beyond GarageBand tutorials

While you’re learning how to use GarageBand on Mac, it’ll seem like it’s never going to get boring. But with time you’ll get too comfortable and even hit the ceiling in terms of being able to execute on your creative vision. At that point, you might start looking for GarageBand alternatives. Your next best step — n-Track Studio.

n-Track Studio is a fully fledged music studio right in your Mac, while still in many ways as accessible as GarageBand. The professional mixer and sequencer allow you to DJ right within the app, and live input recorder makes it possible to record all the songs live during a concert or session. Finally, the app’s own massive library of effects will considerably extend what you thought was possible in creating new sounds.

To sum up, finding out what is GarageBand really is an essential part of becoming a well-rounded musician. And using extra help provided by Boom 3D and n-Track Studio will only accelerate you in your goals.

Best of all, Boom 3D and n-Track Studio are available to you at no charge at all during the seven-day trial through Setapp, a platform with over 160 excellent Mac apps curated to significantly extend the possibilities of your Mac. With so many opportunities at your disposal, you have no option but to start creating music right away!