Apple Training Series: GarageBand 3

Exporting to iTunes is as simple as choosing Share > Send Song to iTunes. Before you begin exporting, however, there are a few things you'll need to do to prepare your songs.

In the next series of exercises, you'll set your GarageBand preferences to create a playlist in iTunes. Then you'll evaluate a song to make sure that you are exporting the whole song, and you'll check the output levels for clipping. Finally, you'll export your songs to a new playlist in iTunes.

Since you'll be working with a finished, mixed song, this is a great time to practice your "ear for music" so that you can hear beyond the basics.

Setting GarageBand Preferences for iTunes

To prepare a song to export to iTunes, the first step is to set your song and playlist information in the Export pane of the GarageBand preferences.

Let's open the mixed "Highway Brothers" song from Lesson 7 and set up the song and playlist information.

1.

Choose File > Open and select 7-6 Highway Brothers mixed from the Lesson_07 folder.

2.

Choose GarageBand > Preferences to open the Preferences window.

3.

Click the General button to open the General Preferences pane, if it is not already showing.

Next, you'll need to name your iTunes playlist, composer, and album. By default, GarageBand names the playlist and album after the registered user of the computer.

4.

Type GarageBand 3 Lessons in the iTunes Playlist field.

5.

Type your name in the Composer Name field.

Technically, I composed the music in this book, but you'll want to use your own name for all of your original projects.

6.

Type GarageBand 3 book Album in the Album Name field.

7.

Close the Preferences window.

Now that you've set up the export information, iTunes will automatically create a playlist titled GarageBand 3 Lessons and include the composer's name as well as the album name information in the playlist.

Evaluating the Song's Output Level

Once you've set your information for iTunes, it's time to check the output levels for the song to make sure they aren't clipping. Remember, the Master Output Volume meters are located in the lower-right corner of the GarageBand window. You can use the Master Output Volume slider to raise or lower the output level as needed.

Also, since training your ears takes practice, remember to listen beyond the basic song: check the left-to-right placement of the different instruments in the stereo field, as well as the balance between the volume levels of the different tracks.

Let's play the song and check the output levels. If the levels are too high, you'll need to lower the output. If the levels are too low, you'll need to raise the output.

1.

Press Return, then the spacebar to begin playback. As the song plays, watch the Master Output Volume meters for signs of clipping.

If you see any clipping (red) in the meters, stop playback.

You should discover clipping around the 6th and 12th measures.

2.

Drag the Master Output Volume slider to 2.4 to lower the output volume and avoid clipping.

3.

Play the song again from the beginning and check the new output level in the meters.

Be careful not to set your levels too low. Ideally, your levels should peak between the highest green and yellow portions of the meter.

4.

Press Shift-Cmd-S and save the project as Highway Brothers mix to your My GarageBand Projects folder.

Tip

Always save your project with the corrected levels before outputting to iTunes. That way, if you decide to output the song again or go back to work on the song later, the levels will be correct.

Sending a Song to iTunes

GarageBand projects are sent to iTunes in AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format) at 44.1 kHz (kilohertz). Your songs can then be burned to an audio CD, downloaded to an iPod, or converted to another format, such as MP3, from within iTunes.

When you export a song to iTunes, the entire song or cycle region, if activefrom the beginning of the first measure to the end of the last regionis exported. (If you mute or solo tracks, only those tracks set to play will be exported.) Let's export the song to iTunes.

Note

If you have more than one version of iTunes on your computer (for example, OS 9 and OS X versions), GarageBand may export to the older version of iTunes. Launch the most recent version of iTunes before you export.

1.

Choose Share > Send Song to iTunes to export the song.

GarageBand begins to mix down your song.

The mixdown process means that all of the different tracks are mixed (at the current levels) into one stereo pair (left and right) for iTunes. A progress alert shows the progress of the mixdown. You can cancel the export process during mixdown by clicking Cancel. When mixdown is complete, iTunes launches with your song in the new playlist, and the song automatically plays in iTunes. If your iTunes window does not open, click the iTunes icon in the Dock.

2.

Click the playlist you created, GarageBand 3 Lessons, to open the new playlist, if it is not already open.

Note

If the playlist appears with your name (user name) instead of GarageBand 3 Lessons, change the playlist name in the GarageBand preferences and export again.

3.

In the playlist, double-click Highway Brothers mix to play the song, if it is not already playing. You don't have to listen to the whole song.

4.

Press the spacebar to stop playing the song, then press Cmd-Q to quit iTunes.

Once your song has been sent to iTunes, you can access it from any of the iLife applications through the Media Browser.

5.

Select the GarageBand window to make it active, if it is not already active.

6.

Press Cmd-R to show the Media Browser. Select the Audio pane, if it is not already showing.

The GarageBand 3 Lessons playlist appears in the iTunes library of the Media Browser.

Your song can now be used in any of the iLife applications, including Garage-Band. If you would like to export individual tracks from a song, perhaps for a musician to practice with, see "Exporting Selected Tracks" (Bonus Exercises > Export_Selected_Tracks.pdf) on the accompanying DVD.

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