Garageband

Garageband is an audio recording and editing program which is part of the iLife media editing suite. Garageband allows users to add their own vocal or instumental tracks, as well as mix tracks using the built in sound effects. The three main project types in Gargeband are music project, podcasts and movie score.

Podcasts

The podcast creation interface

The podcast creator is one of the easiest to use features of Garageband. Although the interface may look complicated, it is actually not very difficult to use to make simple recordings. The key is to realize that you do not have to use every option that is available in order to create a high quality sound recording. Options available include multipul audio tracks, personal sound recording, and the ability to import outside audio, pictures and video into the podcast. The podcasts can then be saved as AAC files, which is a compressed file type which works with iTunes on both Windows and Macintosh operating systems.

Voice Recording

To record a single vocal track, open the Podcast option and select one of the open audio tracks (these tracks are, by default, titled "Male Voice", "Female Voice", "Jingles" and "Radio Sounds" but you may re-name them by editing the name in the "Track" box below the main recorder, however this name will not be the final name of your project)

Once you have selected a track you may begin recording by clocking on the record button (the red circle). When you are done, hit the play button to stop the recording. When you have finished you may move the cursor back over the recording to playback what you have just recorded.

If you wish to delete your recording and star over you may do so by clicking on your recording and hitting the delete key.

Importing External Audio

Importing a sound file

If you would like to import an external audio file, such as an assignment file or background music for your podcast, you may do so in one of two ways. The first way is to use the built-in Media Browser. To open the Media Browser, go to the Control menu at the top of your screen and choose View Media Browser the media browser should then appear on the right-hand side of the screen. To import music, click on the Audio tab at the top of the browser. This should give you a list of the sound files found in your Garageband and iTunes music folders. To add one of these songs to your project, click on it and drag it into the desired track within your project. You may also import music by simply dragging the file from Finder into the project. Once inside your project, the sound track may be shifted around so as to best fit within your podcast.

Importing Image Files

Much like importing exteral sound files, you may use either the Media Browser or drag and drop from Finder to add images to your Podcast project. Images may be added as one basic image for the whole episode, or as a slideshow of images to appear at different points during the audio playback.

Saving and re-playing Podcasts

Once you have finished your recording to your satisfaction, go to the File menu and choose Save As... In the box that pops up you should name your file and decide where to save it. (Note, if you are working on a lab machie you shouold NOT save the file to the desktop, but to a folder within your Home Directory. Once you have named it and chosen a location you need to check the box next to Compact Project. This will save your recording as a .band file so that you may go back to it using Garageband.

To save your file as an iTunes friendly AAC (.m4a mpeg file) podcast, go to the Share menu and choose Send Song to iTunes. This will compress and convert your file and open it automatically in iTunes. Once it is in iTunes you can get to the file itself through Finder by looking in the iTunes music folder.

Example Garageband Podcast

Here is an example of a podcast created with Garageband, by Alison Sommer that contains a main track, background music and accompanying images: