Apple’s GarageBand is a powerful music composition and edition software that comes pre-installed in Mac. You can easily play, edit, record, and mix audio tracks using GarageBand. Even if you have never tried your hands on instruments, you can create some great music using this software. In this tutorial, we will go through the steps to edit songs from iTunes library on GarageBand. Hope you have some songs on iTunes waiting to be edited. Scroll down below and check out the detailed process to do so.
- Open GarageBand and Make New Project
- Open the Media Browser
- Import the Songs
- Split the Songs
- Cut Part of a Song
- Add Another Song
- Overlap Two Songs
- Play Another Track Portion after One Ends
- Export the Songs to iTunes
1. Open GarageBand and Make New Project
- Search for GarageBand in Applications tab and double click on it to run the application.
- Click on New Project and then choose Empty Project.
- Double click on Voice and name your project. Click on Create.
2. Open the Media Browser
- Media browser is the collection of songs and tracks from your disk and iTunes library. Open the media browser by clicking the Media Browser icon in the Control Bar.
- On the media browser panel, all the songs from your iTunes library will be displayed on your screen.
3. Import the Songs
- Decide the songs which you want to edit, merge, loop, etc. Click on the Song in the panel and drag it to the middle part of the screen where it reads Drag Apple Loops here.
- Now move the Song to the left side of the track region so that you can play and preview it.
- The Song will be divided into regions, and if you want to play the Song at the specific point, click on the point and drag the Song to the left to play it from that beat. Your Song is now ready to edit!
4. Split the Songs
- Click on the play button to start the Song that you have added from iTunes to your project. You will see the GarageBand’s cursor moving forward as the audio plays.
- Pause the Song by pressing the play button again or by pressing the Spacebar on your keyboard.
- Make sure that the Song is selected in the track header region.
- In the main menu bar of GarageBand, click on the Time option/icon. Now you can move the marquee pointer to any point on your Song for splitting.
- Once you have selected the duration you want to split, click on Edit in the menu bar and select Split or you can press ⌘ + T on your keyboard.
- You will see that there are now two portions of the audio track. You can edit both the regions separately now.
5. Cut Part of a Song
- Now that you have two parts of your Song, you can cut a region further to use it any other song.
- Click on the right part of the Song and move it further right.
- Now select the part of the Song you want to cut and go to Edit in the menu bar and select Cut or press ⌘ + X on your keyboard.
6. Add Another Song
- Once you have got the portion from the first Song that you want to mix in another, let’s add another song.
- Just like we have moved the first Song from iTunes library, select another song and drag it below the early Song.
7. Overlap Two Songs
- You will see two tracks both evenly above/below each other. Make sure that both the ways are to the extreme left at the starting point (00:00).
- Click on the play button, and you will listen to both songs playing simultaneously. They will sound all messy because the two songs might not be meant for overlapping. But that is how you overlap any two tracks.
8. Play Another Track Portion after One Ends
- As you have already learned how to split and cut the songs, choose the portion of the second Song similarly and then split it or cut it using the Edit option in the Menu bar.
- You can create mixes, compilations, etc. of your favorite artists using this.
- Once you are done with the splitting or cutting of the Song, choose which portion you want to play first and leave that track at 00:00.
- At the point where that track ends, drag the second (bottom) track to the right at that timestamp so that the second one plays immediately after the first ends.
- Click the play button, and you will hear that the second track portion will play after the first ends.
- Similarly, you can cut multiple verses from the track and re-arrange them by dragging them to the right. You can also add more songs to the bottom of these and can create a fantastic remix.
9. Export the Songs to iTunes
- Once you are done creating your masterpiece, it is now time for you to export the trackback to your iTunes to listen to it and share it with your friends.
- Click on Share and choose Song to iTunes.
- A pop-up will be displayed where you can give a title to your Song. Enter the artist, composer, and give the album name if you want. ➢ Choose the quality of the Song you want to export.
- Next, leave the “Export cycle area only, or length of selected regions” unchecked, and the entire edited Song will be exported, removing any silence at the beginning or end. Check this box only if you want to export the cycle area or selected regions.
- Click on Share and wait for the audio track to compile and compress the Song for your chosen quality. The Song will appear in your iTunes library from where you can add it to playlists and even burn it to a CD.
So, that is how you edit songs from iTunes library on GarageBand. In the beginning, it might seem a little complicated. But when you do it all yourself, you will know how easy the navigation and controls are in GarageBand. Follow these simple steps and create great music for your playlist. Who knows your track will go viral! Happy creating excellent tracks!